Tag: Auburn Tigers (Page 7 of 10)

      2010 College Football Predictions

      August 30, 2010 /
      Jan 1, 2010; Pasadena, CA, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes players huddle before the 2010 Rose Bowl against the Oregon Ducks. Photo via Newscom

      Conference winners, sleepers, power rankings and one big, fat national championship prediction.

      Enjoy.

      Big Ten

      Champion: Ohio State
      Yes, it’s true – the Buckeyes need Terrelle Pryor to be more consistent in the passing game this year if they expect to win a national championship. But stop acting like that’s the difference between OSU winning the Big Ten and them turning into Vanderbilt. Choke on this for a second: The Buckeyes return all three leading rushers from 2009 in Pryor, Brandon Saine and Dan Herron, the secondary features three senior NFL prospects, and they own the best defensive end in the nation in Cameron Heyward. Pryor is also coming off a dominating performance against Oregon in the Rose Bowl and reports state that he has committed himself this offseason to being a better teammate. Sorry Buckeye-haters, but the gap between them and Alabama is closer than you think.

      Conference Champion Sleeper: Michigan Slate
      My biggest concern with the Spartans is that despite pulling off an upset nearly every year, they also manage to lose a game they shouldn’t. But they have a slew of playmakers and plenty of depth on both sides of the ball, plus feature a ton of offensive firepower in Larry Caper, Edwin Baker, Keith Nicol and Mark Dell. Oh, and linebacker Greg Jones is the best defender in the nation. If this team can avoid being tripped up by an inferior opponent, they could easily surprise this season.

      Conference Power Ranking: #1 Ohio State, #2 Iowa, #3 Wisconsin, # 4 Penn State, #5 Michigan State, #6 Northwestern, #7 Michigan, #8 Purdue, #9 Illinois, #10 Indiana, #11 Minnesota.

      I admit that I had Michigan rated too high when I did my Big Ten preview last week. Having any sort of trust in Rich Rodriguez right now is a dangerous proposition for obvious reasons. Just when you think he’s going to figure things out in Ann Arbor, he makes a decision to muck everything up. Penn State might be ranked a little high given their quarterback concerns. Wisconsin is going to give teams trouble this year and Northwestern is going to be a tough opponent every week as well.

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      College Football, External Sports

      Auburn beats Northwestern in Outback Bowl thriller

      January 1, 2010 /

      In a game that rivaled Idaho’s win over Bowling Green in the Humanitarian Bowl on Wednesday, Auburn beat Northwestern 38-35 in an Outback Bowl thriller on New Year’s Day.

      On a whole, it was an extremely sloppy game. The Tigers intercepted Wildcats’ quarterback Mike Kafka five times, including twice in the end zone. Auburn also had a crucial fumble late in the fourth quarter when trying to run out the clock, which gave Northwestern a chance to tie the game at 35-all with just over a minute left to play.

      That said, what an incredible finish. Up 35-21 midway through the fourth quarter, Auburn looked like it had complete control of the game. But Kafka led Northwestern on an impressive 15-play, 58-yard drive that was capped by his 2-yard touchdown run. On the drive, the Wildcats were successful on three fourth down conversions, including a 4th-and-5 from Auburn’s 15-yard line.

      But even though the Wildcats had cut the lead to 35-27, their extra point was blocked. Their ensuing onsides kick attempt also failed, but Ben Tate’s fumble on the NW 33-yard line gave the Wildcats another opportunity to tie the game, which they did when Kafka found Sidney Stewart on an 18-yard touchdown. NW then used a trick play on the 2-point conversion to make the game 35-35.

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      College Football

      Charles Barkley says race factored in to Auburn not hiring Gill

      December 16, 2008 /

      Charles Barkley is angry at his alma mater, the University of Auburn. Barkley is saying that the only reason Auburn didn’t hire Buffalo University head coach Turner Gill to be their next head football coach (they hired Iowa State’s Gene Chizik) is because Gill is black.

      Gene Chizik“I think race was the No. 1 factor,” said Barkley, who played basketball for three seasons at Auburn during the early 1980s. “You can say it’s not about race, but you can’t compare the two resumes and say [Chizik] deserved the job. Out of all the coaches they interviewed, Chizik probably had the worst resume.”

      Gill, a former Nebraska quarterback, took over one of the country’s worst programs at Buffalo three years ago. He guided the Bulls to an 8-5 record and their first MAC championship this season, upsetting previously unbeaten Ball State 42-24 in the Dec. 5 conference championship game.

      The Bulls won 10 games in their first seven seasons at the Division I-A level. Gill guided Buffalo to 13 victories during the last two seasons combined.

      “I’m just very disappointed,” Barkley said. “I just thought Turner Gill would be the perfect choice for two reasons: He’s a terrific coach and we needed to make a splash. I thought we had to do something spectacular to bring attention to the program. Clearly, if we’d hired a black coach, it would have created a buzz.”

      Barkley, who works as an NBA analyst for Turner Network Television, said he spoke with Gill before Gill interviewed with Auburn officials last week.

      “We talked about the whole race thing in Alabama,” Barkley said. “I told him it’s there and it’s going to be anywhere you go. I told him you can’t not take the job because of racism. He was worried about being nothing more than a token interview. He was concerned about having a white wife. It’s just very disappointing to me.”

      I have no idea if race had anything to do with Auburn hiring Chizik over Gill although there’s no doubt that it’s a little strange when you hire a guy who went 5-19 at Iowa State over a coach that turned around a morbid Buffalo program. And it’s not like Iowa State is facing the likes of Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma in the Big 12 South every year.

      It was an odd hire to say the least. Did race play a factor? Maybe, although let’s not ignore the fact that Chizik was the defensive coordinator at Auburn from 2002 to 2004. It’s not like they hired a guy that went 5-19 at Iowa State that had no affiliation with the school. So his hire might have more to do with having the right connections than the color of his skin.

      College Football

      Auburn’s next head coach Texas’ DC Will Muschamp?

      December 12, 2008 /

      FOX10 News is reporting that Auburn’s next head coach will likely be Texas Longhorns’ defensive coordinator Will Muschamp.

      FOX10 News sources have told us Auburn will likely name Will Muschamp its new head coach sometime Friday. Muschamp was Auburn’s defensive coordinator two years ago. WVUE in New Orleans first reported Muschamp would likely be the Tigers new coach.

      This season he was on the sidelines as the Defensive Coordinator for the Texas Longhorns. He was also named as the Longhorns Head Coach in waiting.

      If true, this would be a nice fit for Auburn. Muschamp has experience recruiting, knows many of the current Tiger players and overall is an energetic coach that could possibly breathe life back into the Auburn program. Some AU fans might have a gripe that the Tigers need an offensive mind to turn things around since their defense is already solid as it is. But still, this presumably would be a good hire.

      College Football

      SEC Championship Game is going to be wild

      November 29, 2008 /

      Alabama Crimson TideNot even their rivals could slow down Alabama or Florida. The Crimson Tide rolled to a 36-0 victory over Auburn, while the Gators trounced Florida State 45-15 in Tallahassee on Saturday.

      Even before their victories on Saturday, the two teams were set to meet in the SEC Championship Game, which will be played December 6. But their performances did add an air of intrigue to the SEC’s title game, because both teams looked so dominant against two squads in Auburn and FSU that are no pushovers.

      Perhaps the best matchup in the SEC Championship Game will be ‘Bama’s defensive line vs. Florida’s massive offensive line. The Tide’s front four gives most teams fits, but the Gators certainly have the bodies up front to keep Tim Tebow upright. It’ll be interesting to see whether or not ‘Bama can get enough pressure to get Tebow out of rhythm. Another thing to keep an eye on is how healthy Florida wideout Percy Harvin will be after he left the FSU game due to an injury. He’s been such a huge part of Florida’s offense this year that it would be a huge blow not to have him in the lineup.

      As of this post, the Big 12 Championship has not been determined, but an argument could be made that the SEC title game will provide the better matchup.

      College Football

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