(EDITED BY AUTHOR: 10/2/2003 - 6:26 p.m.)AUBURN v. Tennessee
Turn another page of the Big Chief Tablet as a third of the regular season is now gone. At this juncture, it remains difficult to draw conclusions about the Tigers. Certainly, the last two games have offered some relief, even applying the standard discount points for weak competition. Still, the Southern Cal and Georgia Tech losses continue to temper unbridled optimism in all but the most zealous sunshine pumpers.
The mood here at IJR Rants, Schemes & Ploys, LLC ("IJR RS&P") is cautiously optimistic. We still see quite a bit of talent on this Auburn squad. We have seen it coached well in the past and better in recent weeks. The "self scouting" and the hiring of an offensive consultant during the bye week demonstrates to us a commitment to repair what is broken and a departure from the historical stubbornness that this staff has displayed regarding its strategy. The offensive plan for the previous two games has put the Auburn quarterback in a position to succeed and conspicuous yardage and points have followed. These are good signs. Now, we must make it work against a good team.
Down from the Mountain
That good team is none other than the Tennessee Volunteers. The Vols have been an elite SEC team for much of the last twenty years after suffering unusual doldrums in the mid/late 1970s and early 1980s. From 1956 through 1991 (the final year before conference expansion), the Tigers and the Volunteers were regular rivals. Almost always, the game was the conference opener for both teams (for a time, it was the season opener), and the winner usually went on to a good season, the loser a disappointing one. The Tigers lead the overall series 22-21-3.
Since 1956, Tennessee has won outright or shared eight conference titles. In that same time period Auburn has won or shared five. The two teams have played each other in each of those SEC title seasons, and only once has the loser gone on to win or share the crown. In 1989, Auburn lost to Tennessee, but ultimately shared the title with the Vols and Bama. History tells us that this game is vital to both schools if conference championship aspirations are to become reality.
Rocky Top Meets Rocky Start
The Vols are undefeated and ranked seventh in the country. The Tigers are undefeated in games in which they have scored touchdowns and are ranked sixth by periodicals that have not updated their research in five weeks. Unfortunately, most of the nation is aware of Auburn's opening belly flop. What happens when the undefeated meets the twice pounded. Well, the unranked team is a one point favorite, at least by the oddsmakers we checked today. Crazy game, this college football.
Not surprisingly, the IJR RS&P staff believes Auburn will win, and 24-20 sounds about right. This should be quite a battle, though. Phil Fulmer's teams are typically tough, disciplined, and talented. Coach Fulmer does not receive enough credit for the job he has done at Tennessee, in our view. The Vols have their usual big, physical, and strong offensive line to pave the way for good running backs in Cedric Houston and Jabari Davis. Casey Clausen is a veteran quaterback who has performed well in tough games. Tennessee's defense is good, though it does not appear to be up to the standards of their latest championship teams. The Vols have had a good kicking game for most of the SEC's history, and this season is no exception. Winning the battle of field position will require Auburn to force some turnovers. Otherwise, it may be a long field for Campbell and the Tigers.
The Tiger defense should be good enough to keep Auburn in the game, absent any disastrous turnovers. On offense, we have seen glimmers of what really works for Jason Campbell and company. We have noticed more passing on traditional running downs, and some running plays that have kept defenses off balance in recent weeks. The Auburn offensive line must play its finest game this season and overcome the injury to Marcus McNeill, which is yet another thing to worry about in a season of offensive fretting. Auburn can move the ball on the ground against the Volunteers but will have to be patient and committed to the strength of its offense.
We have managed to come this far without any jokes about incest oral hygeine, Fulmer's physique, nasal accents, or tutors. Can a Tennessee preview be complete without such things? The gentle reader will have to decide. If you are unhappy with the unadorned game take, let's get some other opinions, shall we?
Guest Picks
Although Junior and Lulu are Vol fans to the core, they like Auburn this week. Why? It's simple: location, location, location. "When we go to Auburn, we always stop at the Krystal and the Super Wal-Mart on the road into campus," explains Lulu. "We got a bad feelin' about the game this year, but when your spirit's a saggin', you go twelve baggin', I always say."
Glenn Harlan Reynolds is a professor of law at the University of Tennessee and the blogmeister extraordinaire of http://www.instapundit.com fame. Glenn is a graduate of Tennessee and Yale Law School. This combination puts him in the elite who know that UT's official fight song is not "Rocky Top," but "Down the Field" (Here's to Old Tennessee) and that "Down the Field" is a blatant copy of Yale's "Fighting for Eli." Glenn is also a musician of considerable talent. Given that ability, he might even admit that "Down the Field" is a rather lame imitation of "Fighting for Eli." Why else would the University of Tennessee adopt a mediocre bluegrass about killin' federal revenuers (written by natives of Georgia and Wisconsin to boot!) as its "unofficial" fight song. Of course, we didn't ask Glenn these questions, so we are indulging in blatant speculation (our favorite kind). We also think, if asked, that he would pick Tennessee to win. We expect no less of someone who teaches Outer Space Law.
We asked Roy Adams, a/k/a "Tennstud" to offer his pick, but he was too busy plotting the destruction of the Alabama football program. His hot tub is also broken. Instead, he sent a personal representative (who attends all of his depositions), Mr. Daniels. Daniels says: "Auburn is a comrade in arms in the fight to rid the sacred arena of college football from the evil that is the Tide. It is unfortunate that the overtime rules have been instituted, because it is a shame that one of the allies must lose." He picks Tennessee by a shot glass.
Our final guest prognosticator, Rush Limbaugh, has more time these days for sports gigs than he anticipated. He likes Auburn: "IJR, this Clausen kid is overrated. The Vols have been successful because of their defense and coaching. The media, however, want a pasty white quarterback with an extremely bad haircut to be successful. There simply is a social agenda in Clausen's favor. If Clausen isn't praised as the best road quarterback in SEC history, the media receive hateful emails from trailer parks that not even Chris Fowler would dare ridicule. No news organization has time for that sort of nonsense. You would have to be on heavy doses of narcotics to put up with that #badword#."
Next: Porcine Ploys, the Arky Experience
War Damn Eagle!
IJR and Crew
Note to the hyper-serious, egg shell psyche inhabitants of the internet: much of the foregoing was written in jest, nearly all of it, in fact. Except for the part about Auburn winning. We meant that.
