Normally I watch the game two or three times again before I make a commentary so I am fairly confident that my opinion is loosely backed in some kind of fact. Tonight I'm not going to waste my time.  Unlike last week where I saw where it was possible that if  a play or two had been made or transpired differently the outcome MIGHT have been different, tonight there was NO doubt. It was evident from the kickoff that we didn't have it, The mood, fervor, the execution, it was like it was just another game.....not like we got our heiney handed to us by Arkansas 7 days earlier.  We were fortunate to be headed into the 2nd Qtr, still in the game (this time leading) for the 2nd game in a row, despite looking absolutely miserable, disjointed and out of sync. After another up and down quarter we found a way to score an offensive TD after somehow figuring out you don't run a 175 pound running back into the line on a 3rd and goal at the one.....instead of the 225 pound runing back. Wait I'm getting another headache......hold on.

In the 2nd half......well......blaaaarrrrrppppphhhhh......that  pretty much makes up what happened. We sucked. We didn't think, we didn't execute, we didn't do anything but give everyone an hour and a half preview of despair for the rest of the season. Last week, in my post game post, I said we'll find out what Gene Chizik and his team is made of  now that we got humbled by a supposedly inferior opponent. Turns out they apparently weren't made of much. Is that how you respond to a beat down? By getting manhandled by Kentucky???? Not LSU, Not UGA, Not Dear God in Heaven,  F"N ALABAMA....IT WAS KENTUCKY!!!! They controlled both lines of scrimmage, they ran pretty much at will and we couldn't move the chains against them other than for spurts at a time....that was against Kentucky. Now I know Kentucky isn't THAT bad, they are the only team to really give Bama a run for their money so far, but should they dominate us? I'm going to say no. So the question begs the answer......are we a bad team....and if so is it because of the coaching or the players?

As good as we were the first five games of the season, their were glimpses of ineptitude for stretches at a time, mainly when the offense sputtered and the defense was forced to spend a lot of time on the field. It was something I thought we were growing out of but instead of getting further away from it, it had burrowed deep inside, grown stronger and more prevalent and like a cancer now seemingly consumes us. Chris Todd went from being on the short list of college footballs best QBs to being a stumbling, bumbling mess. Gus Malzhan went from Junior evil genious to a schitzophrenic psycho running sandlot plays in th final minutes of an SEC game down by 7 points. Ted Roof went from....wow he's doing pretty good with what he's got....to being measured for a nice sturdy rail while someone checks their GPS for easiest route out of Auburn.

What the hell happenend?

This is VERY disconcerting. Gene really needed this game because the sledding REALLY gets tough now. Unless something miraculous happens next week, we get totally eviscerated by LSU. And for those of you without a thesaurus. that means we get our guts spread out on the football field. Right now we show no way of being able to compete. Arkansas and Kentucky have dominated our lines on both sides of the ball.  If we have 5 starters healthy on defense, I'd love to know who they are. We don't attempt to pressure the QB even when the situation absolutely demands it. And we can't stop the run....at all.  Offense???? Onterrio McCalebb is hurt. Fannin and Smith?? Not being used. Darvin Adams has been taken away by opposing defenses. There isn't another WR that can get open more than 5 yards down the field. And most importantly Brandon Cox's torn rotator cuff is back in his old #12. Chris Todd went away, I don't know where, but he's not in his body anymore. Its like the 1st five games never happened and we are playing Vanderbilt '08 again. Poor decisions, bad throws, and worst of all....no confidence....none. I n fact its all over the team, you can see it and worse ....smell it .... even through the TV .... indecision .... hesitation ..... panic ..... FEAR!!!! You know it as well as I do, you saw it, the only thing to do is confront it, face it and defeat it. There is no dishonor in losing...none. If the better team wins so be it. But we didn't own up to our faults and try and win with our strengths. We played scared, pulling out trick plays and refusing to smash Kentucky with our only real weapon....Ben Tate. Yes Kentucky would expect Ben Tate was going to get the ball but they also seemed to be shutting down every other option that we might use....so I that event , I say go with Tate.Simplistic, yes, but you and I both know that at the end of that game Chris Todd wouldn't have hit  an open target with Julio Jones and AJ Green running routes for him. All he was doing was making divots in the turf and giving Adolphs meat tenderizer a run for their money with all the ribs he was crushing by hanging his receivers out to dry on his throws. 

So we lost. What now? 6-6? It sure looks that way. I can't imagine us beating another SEC team at this point. So where do we go from here? Ride it out and hope for the best or throw some redshirts in the trash and see what the new blood brings to the table? Any other options? One thing I lnow for sure is that Gene Chizik needs to hold  staff meeting tomorrow morning and grab some folks by the throat and DEMAND performance. This is not going to be  friggin repeat performance of '08!!!  And by that I mean, no more procedure penalties, no more ilegal formations, ie, no more stupid mistakes. No more Chinese firedrill plays with the game in the balance, be it the 1st Qtr  or 4th!!!  No more sweeps after the opposing defense has shown it  can stop it after the 5th, 6 th ot 11th time. No more opposing RB's waltzing through the middle of the line for 9 yards a carry when the opposing QB isn't Snead or McElroy. No more contact free practices to save on injuries. We need to learn to shed a block and tackle somebody!!! It ain't  gonna happen with walk throughs!! We're injured. We're going to be injured and it isn't going to get any better after LSU puts another 5 or 6 guys on the shelf.  We might as well get used to it , get tough and make some tackles ......and hope to god we get some recruiting reinforcements next year.  

If Chris Todd is hurt and Gene and Gus are playing him, then they aren't any smarter than Tuberville and Franklin were, and they were responsible for the worst ,most agonizingly frustraiting Auburn  football I've ever seen. If they are going down that road...well.....thats just not a good thing. There is no reason for this. Nobody expected us to go 10-2 or 9-3 before the season started. The hope was that we could go 7-5 or maybe 8-4 if we got lucky. Probably not going to happen but its not over yet. Its time to make some serious decisions and get down to some serious gut checking. I don't  think Tuberville left the cupboard as bare as it appears.  He was able to patch together a respectable defense for most of the games last season and I think we know we have plenty of playmakers on offense if we have somebody to get the ball to them. So I think the coaches better get it together and do so quickly because there is more bad on the way. Winning was helping us with recruiting, what is losing miserably going to do to it.

Gene miserably failed his first gut check of the season, now he has LSU....on the road....at night.. 

God help him.

WarEagle and GodSpeed, its going to be a bumpy ride the rest of the way it looks like