Friday Knee-jerk: Whatever

Oh, I should be so, so angry. This is the final year of Brad Lester and Tyronne Green and Robert Dunn and almost certainly Sen'Derrick Marks and a ton of other Tigers who defeated Alabama three times (minimum), took us to 11-2 in 2006, etc., and who I would love to buy a beer. Four of five of our offensive linemen returned, all of our receivers, all but a handful of defenders. The schedule handed us LSU and Georgia at home and replaced Florida with a crippled shadow of Tennessee. And if ever Auburn needed a strong season to turn the--excuse me while I vomit on my keyboard--Tide, this was it. In short: this was supposed to be Auburn's year.

Instead, the odds are now overwhelmingly in favor of Auburn's year ending at 5-7, without a bowl bid, and with fans squabbling angrily amongst themselves about what Auburn ought to do with it. As an Auburn fan, we are living the worst-case scenario, and I should be breaking things as I type this instead of typing.

But now, last night, you know, whatever. The rage is gone. It was there after the Vandy game, when it became obvious the season--as in, the season this team should have had--was over. I tried to keep it away from the blog because EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS TEAM SUCKS UP TO AND INCLUDING THE UNIFORM COLORS AND HELMET MANUFACTURERS rants aren't any fun to read and don't do much for the cause of rational fan enlightenment. But yeah, that night? Pissed. Swearing. Suggesting Chris Todd's throwing arm be amputated since it's obviously of no use to him or any member of society any more. Looking up gypsy curses for use against Tony Franklin and the future generations of Tony Franklin's family. Drinking, heavily. The whole routine.

This West Virginia game, though ... I mean, if you were stunned, shocked, or heartbroken by Auburn giving up a double-digit lead, going backwards offensively in the second half, and eventually losing to a halfway decent team, I'd like to know where you've been for the first seven games of this season. This is what this Auburn team does, this is their raison d'etre, their modus operandi, their fundamental identity: they score early, build a lead, then watch it dissolve and if they're playing an offense quarterbacked by someone more competent than Wesley Carroll or Jonathan Crompton, see it disappear completely.

Sure, I let myself believe otherwise when Byrum recovered that onsides kick and Auburn was one more good drive away from a three-score lead. But I wasn't surprised when that belief trickled away as the half came to a close, either. You could see this game in the microcosm of one play early in the second quarter, when WVU had just taken over and had first down on their own 27. White faked the zone handoff going right, then came back to run the option with Devine going left. Defending on that side were defensive end Gabe McKenzie and weakside linebacker Merrill Johnson, both seniors (albeit in one case a senior who's played tight end for three years). White made a slight tilt upfield, and both McKenzie and Johnson stepped forward towards the quarterback. Simple pitch to Devine, and the easiest 36 yards he'll ever pick up. Remember: this is after a bye week's worth of preparation with a defensive coordinator who's spent the last several years devising strategies to beat WVU plays exactly like this one.

That's how things were going to go in this game, just as that's how things have gone all season. There are reasons to think McKenzie and Johnson could make that play, just as there were reasons to think this would be Auburn's year. For whatever reason--players, coaches, the cruel and unyielding fates--it didn't happen, hasn't happened, isn't going to happen. If this was Playstation NCAA Football, I'd simulate us ahead to the Iron Bowl, see what happened there out of sheer, blinding hope and faith, and then get to recruiting.

As is, I'll keep watching, keep cheering, keep expecting the worst. But get angry? Nope. The rage is all used up, at least until the annual Iron Bowl blood boil. It hurts to say it, but this Auburn team just isn't worth it any more.

Random observations

--Usually I follow a specific script for Knee-jerks, but for some reason, Friday or whatever, I don't wanna. You get bullets.

--The one truly disheartening thing about this game was the final shattering of any illusions about this being a Classic-Heroic-Vintage-Game-Winning Auburn defense. Blameless, they most certainly were not. West Virginia has fantastic athletes and the scheme they inherited from Rodriguez has baffled many an opposing defense, but 7.7 yards a freaking carry is an out-and-out joke. No one on the Maountaineers' sorry excuse for a schedule-to-date had been worse stopping that run game, a I-AA team and Marshall included. Abysmal.

--Wes Byrum, I know 44 yards isn't exactly a gimme for any college kicker. But when you've already missed four field goals less than 40 yards this season, screwed the pooch on an extra point in a one-point loss, and play for a team that needs every single point it can possibly scrape together, you get no sympathy. Hit your damn field goals, please.

--For the second straight game, Auburn's special teams and defense handed the offense a whole series of short fields--Auburn started drives on WVU's 27, 31, and 38, and once on their own 44--and finished the game with all of 17 points. The Tigers averaged 3.9 yards a play--an improvement on their last three games, but still well short of where they were against Mississippi St. and LSU. After the opening drive, Auburn collected all of 179 yards. Were they better, as expected? Yeah. Are they anywhere near "good" yet? Not even close.

--At least our quarterback play was acceptable, since I'm not sure you could ask a whole lot more from Burns than he gave. He hit several sharp third-down throws, was properly productive on the ground, and didn't turn the ball over. (The one pick on his stat line came on the game's final Hail Mary play.) The lack of throws down the field hurt his final YPA and he was off on a handful of throws, but between the buttoned-down game plan and the exceedingly motley crew of receivers he's working with, I'm not sure how much blame he ought to get for that. That he should have begun the season as the starter only became more obvious, not that I think it would change where Auburn's sitting right now, record-wise.

--So why did the offense struggle so badly? Primarily, because these are the final collective numbers for Auburn's running back firm of Lester, Tate, Fannin, and Smith: 29 carries, 74 yards, 2.55 average-per-carry. Tate, in particular, was a sinkhole: five carries, five yards. He's a solid back, but I just don't see why he's taking carries away from Lester or Fannin. I just don't.

--Has anyone ever seen a punter down his own punt? Ever?

--The tackling problems: due to discouragement? Season-long fatigue? Poor coaching? Just bad form on the part of the players? All or none of the above? It baffles me that something as fundamental as "wrapping up" could be a strength early in the season and a glaring, throbbing weakness just four or five games later.

--Auburn has held the lead at halftime in every game they've played this season and has led by double-digits at one point in all four of their losses. They are 4-4. Is there any other logical explanation for this other than that opposing coaching staffs are making better in-game adjustments and/or that Auburn gets fatigued in second halves? I would love to hear one.

--Four more games, Auburn fans. We'll get through this together, you and I.