Time is Running Out for Tigers

By Posted on: May 15th, 2013 in Baseball 1 Comment »
513ab60cc8fef.image- Jordan Ebert

Last week the Auburn Baseball team had a great week going 4-1 including consecutive SEC series wins over No.18 Ole Miss and No.19 Florida.

On Tuesday of that week, Auburn was trailing Jacksonville State 8-0 in the top of the 8th. Then the Tigers mounted a furious rally (with their biggest scoring inning in 13 years) to come from behind and beat the Gamecocks 12-8 giving Coach John Pawlowski his 500th career victory.

The Florida wins  moved Auburn to a half a game out of ninth place in the SEC and secured the Tigers fourth straight SEC Tournament appearance. To be sure, it was a big week for Auburn Baseball. The Tigers finally looked like the team representative of the talent on the roster.

As big a week as it was … this, the final week may be even bigger. Although Auburn secured their spot in the conference tournament, the goal as it is every year, is to at a minimum – play in an NCAA Regional.

The Tigers are one of three SEC Teams that are most likely on the bubble for making a regional (the other two being Bama and Kentucky). They hurt those chances last night when they lost a home game to Jacksonville State.

Auburn has come from behind 20 times this season including last week’s barn burner at JSU. But this time it couldn’t find a way to make it happen, losing to the Gamecocks 6-1 and damaging their case for making the NCAA post season.

The previous week’s record improved the Tigers RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) from 56 to 28. Twenty eight is a strong RPI and that’s what’s needed for a bubble team to get serious consideration from the NCAA selection committee. The Jax State loss will certainly hurt that rating.

Auburn’s pitching staff  has performed well enough this year with a staff ERA of 3.37. While the offense had been in a slump, the bats really came alive last week, especially with clutch hitting. Of the 15 runs Auburn scored at Florida, 12 of them came with two outs. And the 31 wins for the season already equal what the team finished with in 2012. However,  what matters the most to the selection committee are wins and RPI.

Auburn plays their final series Thursday through Saturday against Arkansas. The Tigers have got to win at least two games to strengthen their position for the post season.

Last year Auburn missed the NCAA due to a low RPI. So this final series is critical both for seeding in the SEC Tournament and for keeping their hopes alive for their first Regional since 2010.

With three games left against the No.11 Razorbacks, time is running out for the Tigers, it’s now or never.

Go Tigers, Beat dem Hogs!

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“What Comes Next Sits Squarely on My Shoulders.”

By Posted on: May 14th, 2013 in Baseball, Basketball, Football, News, Other Sports 11 Comments »
jacobs-sideburns21

Auburn A.D. Jay Jacobs says he has a plan … a plan to improve the athletics department including how to turnaround the lack of winning in the big three major sports.

Speaking before the Auburn Chamber of Commerce today, Jacobs said that University President Jay Gogue has made it clear that he has high expectations for the athletic department. And he told the business  leaders, “I intend to meet them.”

After meeting with Dr. Gogue , Jacobs said, he is aware that, “What comes next sits squarely on my shoulders.” 

“We have much work to do, but I’m convinced that our best days are not behind us … I will continue to defend Auburn, and I will continue to push us to get better every day.” 

Without giving any details, he said he has a plan for improving the overall operations, enhancing the game day experience, improving facilities, and improving “how we interact and communicate with fans and alumni.”

Part of his plan is to act on future recommendations of the consulting firm ,JMI Sports, which was hired by the Universirty to complete a year long intensive evaluation of Auburn athletics.

He was vague about how he expects to turnaround the poor performance of Auburn’s major sports other than pointing out the enthusiasm surrounding the football program since the return of Gus Malzahn.

He said Tony Barbee must win in basketball but pointed out it took former coaches Sonny Smith and Cliff Ellis 5-7 years to make the NCAA Tournament.

To be fair, facilities have improved tremendously under his watch, more student athletes are achieving at a higher level, and there hasn’t been a major NCAA violation in over 20 years.

However, as important as all those things are, and they are very important, winning at a tradition rich place like Auburn has to improve and improve significantly.

Saying he knows that the football and basketball teams were a disappointment this year, he added, “I want to be clear that regardless of how well we are performing across our other goals, I know how important winning is to our fans.”

Sounds like this whole process has made Jacobs aware that it’s not just coaches who may be on the hot seat but the Athletic Director as well. I believe all Auburn people want to see things improve on the Plains but if that doesn’t happen … then it’s like Jay said today, “What comes next sits squarely on (his) shoulders.”

Posted in Baseball, Basketball, Football, News, Other Sports | 11 Comments »

To See Where You are Going, You Have to Know Where You Have Been

By Posted on: May 14th, 2013 in Featured Article, Football 8 Comments »
Heisman

This is the first installment of a regular Tuesday post for me. I want to thank the editors of TET for giving me the chance to hopefully take everyone back into the history of AU. Since I am pretty sure I am the oldest on the staff I have seen some of the things I will write about happen first hand, I just have to remember them. That gets harder with each passing year.

Now, let’s get on with it. Since we have three Heisman statues sitting at AU, I decided that I would start with one of Auburns former coaches, John Heisman. AU is the only school at which he coached that can say they have the trophy bearing his name.

Heisman coached at Auburn from 1895 to 1899 (I know what you are thinking, NO I was not around then), with a record of 12-4-2 and coached the Tigers to their first home win against Georgia Tech. He had a law degree from Pennsylvania and after leaving AU, coached at Clemson (where he took the AU colors and mascot) and Georgia Tech among others. His overall coaching record was 185-68-18…. pretty darn good.

Other later AU coaches were regarded as innovators and gamblers, ie. Gus and Tommy, but Heisman was the first of the forward thinking coaches. In his first AU game he called a “hidden ball trick” which was later banned. The AU quarterback, Reynolds Tichenor, hid the ball underneath his shirt and while the opponent, Vanderbilt, tried to bust up the play he bent over away from the action to tie his shoe. He was totally ignored and waltzed into the end zone for an easy touchdown.

In those days there was no such thing as a dedicated coaching job. They also taught classes and Heisman was an oratory professor. That talent served him well, because he was always getting into it with officials. Rules and officiating were pretty poor then and seemed to be a “make it up as you go along thing. “

During his last year at AU, officials called a game because of darkness, even though the sun had not set. AU was leading Georgia at the time 11-6 but the officials ruled the game a 0-0 tie. Heisman was infuriated and appealed the decision to the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association. The decision was overruled and the 11-6 win was reinstated.

Heisman was also the pioneer of the forward pass. When scouting a game he watched a desperate punter fling the ball over the line to a teammate who ran for a touchdown.  He wrote, “violent scrums based around bruising running plays were “killing the game as well as the players” He said the forward pass would, “Scatter the mob”

His gift of gab also gave birth to some quotes that were locker room jewels. On tackling…”Thrust your projections into their cavities, grasping them about the knees and depriving them of their means of propulsion. They must come to earth, locomotion being denied.” Seems that would work pretty well today. 

On maintaining possession…”A football is a prolate spheroid, an elongated sphere in which the outer leather casing is drawn up tightly over a somewhat smaller rubber tubing. Better to have died as a small boy than to have fumbled this football.” Pretty much sums it up, doesn’t it.

On the job of a head coach…”A coach should be masterful and commanding, even dictatorial. He has no time to say ‘please’ or ‘mister’. At times he must be severe, arbitrary, and a little short of a czar.” Can you think of a few coaches that description fits?

I intend to close each of my posts with, “Stop me if you’ve heard this one” Classic Auburn-Alabama jokes, some of which will be funny, some not, and I hope to elicit several chuckles, LOL’s, and a bunch of groans.

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The Report Is In – Gogue Expects Jay Jacobs to Make Necessary Improvements

By Posted on: May 13th, 2013 in Baseball, Basketball, Football, News, Other Sports 8 Comments »

gogue2- jay GogueThe much awaited report of the committee on Auburn Athletics has given their report to University President Jay Gogue.

Dr Gogue had charged the committee to take a look at five criteria for evaluating the athletic department: (1) academic and support services for student-athletes, (2) financial management, (3)customer service, (4) competition, including winning, sportsmanship and compliance, and (5) management structure.

In an open letter to the Auburn Family, Dr Gogue voiced support for Jacobs and the Athletic department while at the same time saying he expects “improvement in the overall operations,” and the upgrading of, “how we interact and communicate with fans and alumni, and enhance the game-day experience, on and off the field.”

There has been increased interest this year in the President’s evaluation of Jacobs and the Athletic Department due to the most dismal two years of Auburn sports in recent memory.

While new Auburn Women’s Basketball Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy took her team to the WNIT and the Equestrian team won another National Championship , the major sports have not had a good year. In addition, since Auburn won the BCS Championship two years ago, the big three major sports have struggled.

The basketball team has been terrible, football  had it’s worst season in 60 years and the baseball team has not made an NCAA Baseball Tournament since winning the West in 2010. Barring Pawlowski’s Tigers winning the SEC Tournament (an extreme longshot), Auburn will finish the year without winning a conference or division championship for the first time in 20 years.

The alumni and fans have been waiting to see if Dr Gogue takes any action. In his public response to the committee’s report he said:

“There’s much to celebrate about Auburn Athletics, but there’s also room for substantial improvement. I look forward to Jay providing the leadership needed to make the necessary improvements.”

Everyone agrees there is plenty of “room for substantial improvement” and Gogue says that, Jacobs will “talk more about what’s in store.”  He is scheduled to speak to the Auburn Chamber of Commerce Tuesday morning. Wonder if we will hear what he plans to do to make those “necessary improvements”

Readers can view Dr Gogue’s open letter after the jump:

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Posted in Baseball, Basketball, Football, News, Other Sports | 8 Comments »

Auburn’s 15 Greatest Players Over the Past 45 Years

By Posted on: May 13th, 2013 in Football 15 Comments »
cam newton

Who are the greatest to ever wear the orange-and-blue? Today, we are going to take a shot at picking the 15 greatest Auburn football players since 1968. That’s 45 years of Auburn football. While the top picks are easy, things get much harder toward the bottom.

As with anything, this is a subjective selection. I’d love to hear your thoughts and tell me where you disagree. I’ll list them in order, from top to bottom. Here goes…

1. Bo Jackson – Perhaps the greatest running back of all times, this is a relatively easy choice. I’m sure some of our younger readers will push for Cam Newton, but if you watched Bo play with your own eyes, you know he’s clearly the top of the class.

2. Cam Newton – While we only had him for a year, it was the greatest season in Auburn history. We can only dream about how things might have been if Auburn had him at least three seasons. While Bo may take the top prize, Cam undoubtedly had the greatest single season of any Auburn player ever.

3. Pat Sullivan – In becoming Auburn’s first Heisman winner, Sullivan was a two-time All-American in 1970 and 1971. Former Alabama coach Bear Bryant said of Sullivan, “He does more things to beat you than any quarterback I’ve ever seen.”

4. Terry Beasley – Unquestionably, the greatest wide receiver in Auburn history, many still view him as the greatest receiver in SEC history. A two-time All-American, Beasley led the SEC in scoring in 1970 with 72 points.

5. Tracy Rocker – He became the first SEC player in history to win both the Lombardi Award and the Outland Trophy. Behind Rocker, Auburn’s defense was ranked first nationally in 1988.

6. Carnell Williams – Despite sharing time in the backfield with fellow back Ronnie Brown, Williams ranks second in yards among Auburn running backs. He helped lead Auburn to a perfect record and an SEC Championship in 2004.

7. James Brooks – With little talent around him in the late 1970’s, Brooks was one of the most exciting backs in the country. He remains Auburn’s third all-time leading rusher with 3,523 yards. He seemed to always save his best performances for Georgia.

8. Nick Fairley – Many will call him a one-hit wonder, but Fairley’s defensive performance in 2010 may be the most dominant in SEC history. Playing on a somewhat average defensive squad, Fairley was a difference maker every week. Like Cam, without him, Auburn doesn’t have its second national championship.

9. Lionel James – You won’t find his name on any All-American teams, but it’s hard to put into words what he meant to the Auburn program during the early years of the Pat Dye era. He was the team leader during Auburn’s march to the 1983 SEC Championship.

10. Brent Fullwood – He was arguably the second best running back in the country in 1985, and that’s while he was backing up Bo Jackson during his Heisman campaign. Fullwood’s breakout season came a year later when he led the nation with 8.3 yards a carry. He was a consensus All-American and finished sixth in the Heisman balloting in 1986.

11. Carlos Rogers – A consensus All-American in 2004, Rogers became the first Auburn player to win the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the nation’s top defensive back. He helped Auburn lead the country in scoring defense on the way to a perfect season.

12. Marcus McNeil – He’s arguably the greatest offensive lineman in Auburn history. He was a two-time consensus All-American and one of three finalists for the Outland Trophy. As a senior he won the Jacobs Trophy as the top blocker in the SEC.

13. Greg Carr – The defensive leader on the 1983 SEC Championship team, Carr was the SEC’s most honored athlete during his senior year in 1984. He led Auburn in tackles for three consecutive seasons and was a consensus All-American during his senior campaign.

14. Ronnie Brown – Despite playing mostly second fiddle to Carnell Williams, Brown played a huge role in Auburn’s run to an undefeated season in 2004. He finished his Auburn career with 2,707 yards, ranking him seventh on the Tigers All-time rushing list.

15. Jason Campbell – He led Auburn to one of its most magical seasons ever in 2004, quarterbacking the Tigers to an SEC title and Sugar Bowl victory over Virginia Tech.

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order): Takeo Spikes; Tommie Agee, Aundray Bruce; Joe Cribbs; Ed King; Ben Tamburello; Dameyune Craig; Bob Harris; Donnie Humphrey; Kurt Crain; Stacy Searels; David Rocker; Frank Sanders; Wayne Gandy; Karlos Dansby; Ben Grubbs; James Joseph.

Posted in Football | 15 Comments »

Jordan Ebert Named SEC Freshman of the Week

By Posted on: May 13th, 2013 in Baseball Comment »

7_832589- Jordan EbertThe SEC office has announced that Jordan Ebert is the Freshman of the Week for his play in the Tigers’  4-1 play last week.

Jordan is batting .302, with six doubles, a triple and three home runs. He has drivien in 18 runs and scored 27 for the season. The second baseman led the Tigers for the week with a .579 batting average. He was 11-for-19 with two doubles, a home run (.842 slugging percentage), four RBI and five runs scored.

He also walked three times for a .636 on base percentage. Defensively he had a perfect fielding percentage on 33 chances (15 putouts, 18 assists) and helped turn five of Auburn’s six defensive double plays. Jordan is the first Freshman of the Week for Auburn since Dillon Ortman won  the award in April of 2011.

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Friday from the Eagle’s Nest

By Posted on: May 10th, 2013 in Baseball, Featured Article, Football, News 19 Comments »

Ventura Stoops - Conspiracy Theory 2

When Keeping it Real Goes Wrong – Bob Stoops is not a believer in the SEC’s elite status despite every logical indication that he’s wrong. In the article, he goes on to say that the SEC’s perceived quality is nothing more than “propaganda.” By default, Stoops does have a point. The media is a little trigger happy when it comes to building someone or something up (as well as tearing it down), but the SEC’s running number of consecutive national championships and bowl record from recent history prove that he’s wrong. He’s very wrong. Bottom line Bob, start winning championships and you’ll get noticed. Until then, stick to coaching and let the media make fools of themselves in the headlines. They are better at it than you are.

Dan Mullen is Embracing Higher Expectations – He says that 8 wins is his baseline and that he is in Starkville to win championships. Once again this offseason I have read that Mullen must be on the cusp of excellence and that he has this great machine built that is Mississippi State and its going to destroy everything in its path. I’m not buying it. His most celebrated SEC West win is over arguable the worst Auburn team of the modern era and overall he boasts no double-digit win seasons. I’m sure he’s a nice guy, but the hype is confusing to me. Last season saw the Bulldogs inexplicably rise to #15 in the BCS (that’s 15th out of everyone in the nation) after having beaten 3 Sun Belt teams, 1 SWAC team, and the 3 worst teams in the SEC last year (Auburn, Kentucky, and Tennessee). The man could seemingly fall into a sewer and come out wearing a gold watch. He did lead the Bulldogs to one more SEC victory against Arkansas (who was led by John L. Smith). And when he isn’t embracing challenges and living on the edge, Dan Mullen is also signing ultrasounds. Seriously, what direction is your life going if a head football coach is signing photos of your ultrasound? This seems like a bit from MTV’s ‘16 and Pregnant’, but not out of place at all in the state of Mississippi.

Nick Saban - Dwarf House

Stop everything! Nick Saban is selling his home in the North Georgia mountains – It has been widely speculated that a lack of trees in which he could bake cookies is what led Saban to put the property up for sale. 

NCAA puts a stop to hashtags on the field because for God’s sake, why is everyone having so much damned fun? I don’t even know anyone was looking into this. Is this why the Miami case got bundled? Were there too many resources dedicated to finding the most trivial rule proposal of all time that it prevented the NCAA from conducting proper investigations elsewhere? Probably not. Someone in the NCAA main office probably saw something on TV or in a magazine and decided that the youth of America was corrupting everyone amateur college athletics isn’t about having fun – it’s about old men getting paid for those amateur athletes doing their thing on primetime television without any “techno mumbo jumbo” on the field while they do. #NCAAislame #stepdownEmmert 

Auburn Baseball and The Fat Lady Continue Love Affair – Auburn stormed back against Jacksonville St. earlier this week by scoring 12 runs in the eighth inning. Is Gus moonlighting as the hitting coach while he awaits the arrival of football season? 

College Football Playoff - So Boring

The College Football Playoff logo has been chosen and it is equally as flashy as its name suggests. I feel like we’re all getting pranked and none of this is real. I don’t understand why the title and imagery of the new college football postseason has to be so straightforward and cold. They’ve taken the most exciting thing in all of sports and made every fan skeptical of its value right off the bat. How do you screw that up? When you consider how much money will be made, you start to wonder if they put any effort to the branding of it all or if they simply used all of their scheduled meetings to arrange for their Scrooge McDuck pools full of money to be installed. 

Posted in Baseball, Featured Article, Football, News | 19 Comments »

Red Wolf Redux!

By Posted on: May 9th, 2013 in Football 8 Comments »
David Oku

David Oku could have been running for the Tigers.

     War Eagle, everybody! It’s time now for another Auburn opponent preview. Week two brings Arkansas State to Auburn, a team coached last season by Gus Malzhan. There’s little doubt that the defending Sun Belt Champions will be itching to show their former coach a thing or two! However, new up and coming head coach Brian Harsin will have quite a few holes to fill, as the Red Wolves return just 12 starters from last season.

     Prior to traveling to Auburn, Arkansas State tunes up next fall with Arkansas Pine-Bluff at home. After playing at Auburn, it’s a short week for the wolves as they have a Thursday night home game against Troy. Then Arkanas State plays at Memphis, at Missouri, Idaho, Louisiana-Lafayette, at South Alabama, at Louisiana-Monroe, Texas State, Georgia State, and at Bowling Green.

     On offense, the Red Wolves return 7 starters, but they’ll be playing in their third new offense in three years. New coach Bryan Harsin was the offensive coordinator at Boise State from 2006-2010, as well as co-offensive coordinator with the Texas Longhorns since then. Harsin favors a multiple, pro-style offense with a thick playbook. Typically, he’s looking for matchup vulnerabilities, and will use an array of formations and unbalanced lines to get them. It’s a steep learning curve for the players, though, as we witnessed at Florida last season, struggling to perform for Boise camp guru Brent Pease.

     The Red Wolves were an offensive juggernaut last season, rolling up 466 yards per game, including 206 on the ground. It’s hard to see if any of that will translate to the new offense. 1000-yard rusher David Oku returns for his senior season, but record-setting quarterback Ryan Aplin graduated. Four offensive line starters do return, as well as top receivers J. D. McKissic and Carlos McCants. Our first look at Harsin’s influence on the offense was in last year’s GoDaddy Bowl in Mobile. Kent State held the Red Wolves to just 285 yards in that one, and 17 points. Their previous 7 games they had been averaging 41 points per game. This doesn’t bode well for the Red Wolf offense’s second game of the season against Ellis Johnson’s defense.

     Defensively, the Red Wolves return only five starters, and that’s on a unit that gave up 24.4 points per game. One main cog of the defense that does return is senior tackle Ryan Carrethers, who was in on 68 stops last season and was an all-Sun Belt performer. Junior linebacker Qushaun Lee returns after posting 100 tackles in 2012. Two corners with starting experience return as well. A familiar name coaches the Arkansas State defense, John Thompson, who’s had plenty of SEC experience.

     The 2012 Red Wolves were decent on special teams and pretty good covering kicks, but struggled punting the football. In 2013, they’ll have to break in a new punter, possibly redshirt freshman Max Coffin. He’s the only guy actually listed as a punter on the current roster. Senior kicker Brian Davis returns, after a 17 for 21 year kicking field goals. Sophomore kick-off specialist Luke Ferguson also is back. The Red Wolves worked on returns this spring, after a lackluster return game in 2012.

Unit Matchups, after the jump!

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