We didn't even play Auburn from 1943-1968, 1982-1987, and 74-79(plus some scattered years here and there, like 1990-91) so it's not as bad as it looks.
McClendon only beat Alabama twice (Auburn only beat them four times during the same time frame)... however, McClendon was undefeated against Auburn, and Auburn was led by fellow Hall of Fame coach Shug Jordan that whole era. during the McClendon era, LSU was 137-59-7 (69.2%), which was the 2nd best win pct in the SEC during that time behind only Bama (Tennessee was #3, Georgia was #4, Auburn was #5 in win pct during that era)
History is interesting and provides some clues but these two teams are on different paths. History and spirit may keep the barners fairly for a quarter or two but in the end we will roll them. If we score quick a couple of times and our D stuffs them, they may fold like a cheap suit. I predict 42-6.
The barn holds 87,451, three home games last year they got +87K. Les at home is 46-6 (88.5%). LSU rolls. LSU put up 45 pts. last year and Les took his foot off the gas early.
so what to make of the 2012 Auburn Tigers? --they started off the season putting up a good fight (losing 19-26) against the currently-ranked #9/#10 Clemson Tigers in the Georgia Dome before a 50-50 crowd at the Georgia Dome - basically halfway between the two campuses --then they lose surrounded in a sea of clankering cowbells @Miss State, in a game where the Miss State QB, Tyler Russell played out of his mind (completing 69.0% of his passes for 3 TD and 0 INT and being named SEC Offensive Player of the Week)... while Auburn's QB Kiehl Frazier fell on his face, throwing 0 TD and 3 INTs... on top of Auburn's 3 INTs, they also turned the ball over twice on fumbles for a total of 5 turnovers (Miss St only turned it over once). to be fair to Auburn, the Miss State coaches and players admitted they knew Auburn's play calls... Mississippi State co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Geoff Collins said: "It makes our job as coaches so much easier when [senior linebacker] Cam Lawrence is signaling over his head every time they were calling a pass" ... and Lawrence himself said: "[Auburn QB Kiehl Frazier ] would call out the signals and I'd tell everybody what the play was and he'd get that confused look in his face," and Miss State DB Corey Broomfield said: "That's not a joke. We knew what they were doing, where the ball was going and who was getting it before the ball was snapped." When Chizik was asked about the problem, he said: "I'm not aware. We can rectify that problem," and Auburn closed its practices to everybody from then on --then in Game 3, Auburn struggles to beat UL-Monroe who is turning out to be the surprise team of the year. in that game, ULM QB Kolton Browning played out of his mind (completing 60.9% of his passes for 3 TD and 0 INT, even better than he did the week before vs Arkansas, a performance that saw the awards tumble in...he was named the Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week, the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback of the Week, the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week, etc). Auburn's QB Kiehl Frazier, on the other hand, only completed 55.6% of his passes and threw an INT... on top of Auburn's INT, they also turned the ball over once on a fumble for a total of 2 turnovers (ULM didn't turn the ball over once). so does Auburn have a shot at being like 2011 Georgia (who started out 0-2, losing to Boise and S Carolina, but then went 10-0 and was beating LSU 10-7 at the half in the SEC Championship Game?) or like 2010 Virginia Tech (who started out 0-2, losing to Boise and James Madison, but then went 11-0, beating Florida State in the ACC Championship Game)? on paper, Auburn is a much improved team from last year, returning 10 of 11 starters on defense (one of their safeties graduated, Neiko Thorpe, and he wasn't drafted), and returning all but 3 starters on offense (RB Michael Dyer was kicked off team, and both OTs graduated, LT A.J. Greene, who wasn't drafted, and RT Brandon Mosley, who taken in the 4th Round) compare that to last season, when Auburn was in complete rebuilding mode: only returning 3 starters on offense, and 3 starters on defense, and wasn't expected to be very good (they were defending national champions, and were only ranked #23 by the AP to start the season last year, and Athlon and Phil Steele didn't even put them in their preseason Top 25). yet, they had a respectable 8-5 season last year, only losing once at home (to Alabama), and four times on the road (to ACC champion Clemson, Arkansas, LSU and Georgia) in the College Football News 2012 Preview, they predict Auburn to go 9-3 this season, saying "Auburn will be better than it was last season and it will be more competitive against the bigger boys," and pointing out that Auburn has "talent and athleticism across the board," that Auburn's team is "talented, athletic and experienced" and no doubt about it, Auburn is going to be the most talented team we've seen so far, heck, for the last 3 recruiting classes, Auburn has recruited just as well as we have, per the Rival and Scout team rankings: LSU 2009 -- #2/#3 2010 -- #6/#7 2011 -- #6/#9 2012 -- #6/#18 Auburn 2009 -- #16/#19 2010 -- #4/#6 2011 -- #2/#7 2012 -- #8/#10 Washington 2009 -- #66/#68 2010 -- #11/#28 2011 -- #22/#23 2012 -- #22/#21 the problem is that Auburn is going to experience some growing pains this season with both a brand-new offense coordinator (Scot Loeffler, hired in January) and a brand-new defensive coordinator (Brian VanGorder, also hired in January). being hired in January has given the two new Auburn coordinators 9 months to prepare a game plan for LSU, and I imagine they've been spending a lot more time game-planning for LSU over the last 9 months than they have for Clemson, Miss St, and UL-Monroe...
here's a stat to keep an eye on: Auburn is 9-7 since losing Cam Newton (8-5 last season, 1-2 this season)... in the 7 losses, Auburn threw 3 TDs and 11 INTs, while in the 9 wins their quarterbacks threw 18 TD and 7 INTs so what kind of Auburn QB play is going to show up against LSU? so far, QBs that have faced LSU this season have thrown 4 TD and 6 INT (NT: 2 TD, 1 INT...Wash: 0 TD, 1 INT...Idaho: 2 TD, 4 INT) as for Auburn, their QB this year is #10 Kiehl Frazier (6-2, 226)... does he have the potential to have a great game? out of high school, he was USA Today's National Offensive Player of the Year, a Parade All-American, an Under Armour All-American and he led his high school to 3 straight State Championships, throwing for 2,975 yards and 42 touchdowns his senior year. as a recruit: --ESPN #2 QB, 4-star, #47 on the ESPN100 --Scout #4 QB, 5-star, #49 on the Scout100 --Rivals #5 dual-threat QB, 4-star, #89 on the Rivals100 --247 #4 dual-threat QB, 4-star, #101 on the 247 Top150 --had offers to LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Nebraska, West Virginia, Oklahoma State, Florida, Arkansas, Auburn, Mississippi St., Clemson, TCU, Miami, Kansas State, Colorado, Illinois, Northwestern, Texas Tech, UCLA, etc but... he has yet to have a great game... last year he didn't throw the ball, and so far this season, he's only completed 50.7% of his passes and thrown 2 TDs to 5 INTs. as a runner, he's only averaging 0.8 yards per rush this season, but last season he was #3 on the Auburn team with 327 yards rushing and 3 TDs (4.30 yards per rush) it's worth noting that Auburn might go with their back-up QB, Clint Moseley, who played in 10 games last year, completing 61.1% of his passes and throwing 5 TDs to 3 INT also, keep in mind that Auburn's new offensive coordinator is considered one of the best in the business at developing QBs at Michigan, he developed Tom Brady, Brian Griese, Chad Henne, Drew Henson, and John Navarre... all of whom got drafted. and at Florida, he developed Tebow of those, Pro Bowl QB Brian Griese (who played 11 years in the NFL, throwing for 19,440 yards), had this to say about him: "Scot Loeffler is unquestionably one of the best teachers of quarterback play in football at any level. His ability to teach the fundamentals of the quarterback position no matter what style of offense make him unique in college football. I don't know many coaches that could coach Tom Brady and maximize his potential and then turn around and coach Tim Tebow and do the same. As a result of being involved in a number of different offensive styles I think Scot will bring a diverse and effective approach to the Auburn football team." also, for the Jordan Jefferson haters, they will be pleased to see that Auburn QB Kiehl Frazier bears a resemblance to JJ: here's a clip of his last TD pass, a Hail Mary in Auburn's last game:
if Auburn's passing game falters, it won't be for lack of talented targets: #43 -- TE Philip Lutzenkirchen (senior), one of the best TEs in the country and the best TE in Auburn history. his career stats so far: --51 catches - needs 12 more to be the #1 TE in Auburn history --558 yards -- needs 271 more to be the #1 TE in Auburn history --14 TDs - #1 for a TE in Auburn history, needs 1 more to be Top 5 in Auburn history for a receiver of any type --has 3 career game-winning TD catches (vs Alabama 2010, and vs South Carolina in both 2010 and 2011) #80 -- WR Emory Blake (senior), one of the best WRs in Auburn history. his career stats so far: --85 catches - needs 36 more to be Top 5 in Auburn history --1,371 yards - needs 627 more to be Top 5 in Auburn history --14 TDs - needs 1 more to be Top 5 in Auburn history --five 100-yard receiving games - already Top 5 in Auburn history #1 -- WR Trovon Reed --Scout #7 WR, 5-star, #37 on the Scout100 --Rivals #4 ATH, 4-star, #46 on the Rivals100 --ESPN #6 ATH, 4-star, #39 on the ESPN100 --Army All-American --offers to LSU, Bama, Oregon, Texas, Oklahoma, Florida State, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas, Auburn, Cal, etc #4 -- WR Quan Bray --ESPN #5 ATH, 4-star, #40 on the ESPN100 --Rivals #5 all-purpose back, 4-star, #109 on the Rivals150 --Scout #18 RB, 4-star, #154 on the Scout200 --Under Armour All-American --offers to Bama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Auburn, Tennessee, Stanford, West Virginia, Clemson, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Oklahoma State, etc #5 -- WR Ricardo Louis --ESPN #5 WR, 4-star, #21 on the ESPN100 --Rivals #27 WR, 4-star, #183 on the Rivals200 --Scout #29 WR, 4-star, #180 on the Scout200 --Under Armour All-American --offers to LSU, Bama, Oregon, Florida State, Ohio State, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Auburn, Miami, North Carolina, etc also keep an eye on Auburn's speedy scat-back, #23 -- RB Onterio McCalebb (senior), catching passes out of the backfield, he is already Top 5 in Auburn history for a RB with 50 career receptions (for 507 yards)
as for Auburn's OL, College Football News wrote this in their 2012 Preview: "The (Auburn) offense starts with an emerging line full of terrific underclassmen...The line will be one of the best in the SEC in the near future with nine underclassmen among the projected two-deep depth chart, but it’s an experienced unit. ... This is a great looking line to rely on for a while. ... it shouldn’t be a liability and the upside is enormous" indeed, Auburn has basically assembled a Dream Team offensive line... OT #73 Greg Robinson (6-5, 311), 2nd year at Auburn Rivals #2 OG, 4-star, #90 on the Rivals100 Scout #7 OG, 4-star, #133 on the Scout100 offers to LSU, Bama, Southern Cal, Oklahoma, Florida State, Michigan, Nebraska, Auburn, Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas A&M, etc OG #71 John Sullen (6-5, 313), Senior --currently rated the #10 OG in the country by NFL Draft Scout C #50 Reese Dismukes (6-3, 293), Sophomore -2011 Freshman All-American, Freshman All-SEC -ESPN #1 C, 4-star, #56 on the ESPN100 -Rivals #1 C, 4-star, #79 on the Rivals100 -Scout #5 C, 4-star, #218 on the Scout250 -offers to Bama, Florida State, Auburn, Stanford, Georgia Tech OG #62 Chad Slade (6-5, 301), 3rd year at Auburn -currently rated the #11 OG in the country by NFL Draft Scout OT #56 Avery Young (6-6, 295) , freshman Scout #5 OT, 5-star, #27 on the Scout100 ESPN #8 OT, 4-star, #61 on the ESPN100 Rivals #9 OT, 4-star, #74 on the Rivals100 offers to Bama, Oklahoma, Oregon, Florida State, Michigan, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Auburn, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Miami, etc Reserves: 2nd-string OT #72 Shon Coleman (6-6, 302), 2nd year at Auburn Rivals #3 OT, 5-star, #22 on the Rivals100 Scout #7 OT, 4-star, #72 on the Scout100 offers to LSU, Bama, Auburn, Tennessee, Arkansas, Miami, Oklahoma State, etc 2nd-string OT #51 Patrick Miller (6-7, 298), freshman Rivals 4-star, #225 on the Rivals250 Scout 4-star, #237 on the Scout250 ESPN 4-star offers from LSU, Bama, Florida State, South Carolina, Florida, Miami, Notre Dame, Tennessee, etc back up OG #75 Christian Westerman (6-4, 298) 2nd year at Auburn -Scout #1 OG, 5-star, #17 on the Scout100 -ESPN #2 OT, 5-star, #6 on the ESPN100 -Rivals #3 OT, 4-star, #27 on the Rivals100 -offers to LSU, Bama, Texas, Southern Cal, Oklahoma, Oregon, Florida State, Georgia, Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Auburn, Arkansas, Stanford, Washington, Arizona, Oregon State, Arizona State, Cal, UCLA, Miami, North Carolina, etc back up OG #63 Alex Kozan (6-4, 294), freshman Rivals #12 OG, 4-star ESPN 4-star offers to LSU, Oklahoma, Oregon, Ohio State, South Carolina, Michigan, Arkansas, Auburn, Kansas State, Iowa, Oklahoma State, Arizona, Washington, Arizona State, North Carolina, Illinois, Kansas, Colorado
Pretty funny stuff from the Auburn board. Even our resident AU fans never even showed up this week, wtf?
