Ari's 6 Must Win Games

by ArieGold on Sep 1, 2009 8:47 PM CDT Comment 17 comments

Hello All!

With the season upon us, I thought it fitting to post the 6 games that Auburn must win to build a solid foundation for the future...

Let's face it. Auburn isn't going to win 8, 9, or even 10 games. Six is a real possibility for this season, and I have compiled my list of the 6 games Auburn must win to consider this year a success.

La Tech- Yeah, I said it. You may say they aren't anywhere near is good as Auburn. But, based on the offensive woes of the last 3 years, it is crucial that Auburn open up the season with a win....they may not be very good, but we aren't either.

Miss St-In the world of recruiting this games is a must win. Hugh Mullen is no coach to scoff at, He will have the Bulldogs playing good football. If Auburn wishes to concede Mississippi totally to the Rebels and Bulldogs-we can go ahead and lose this game. If not, beating Mississippi State will aid Auburn in confidence, and Chizik in further coaching endeavors.

Tennessee- Chizik (like Mullen and Kiffin) is a new coach in this league. Getting the better of the other 2 new guys is very very important in judging this season as a success and building a program for the future. Plus, who wants to be beaten by that dumbass and his croanies.

Ball State-This is a must win out of conference game. Could be a "Trap' if Auburn isn't playing well early.

Kentucky- A very winnable conference game. We all know how poorly we played in conference last year, and it is important to(at least) win the "Winnable" games.

Furman-We'll win this one. Not worried, barring a disaster we should win this one early in the first quarter.

Bowl Game-Wherever it is, and whomever it is against, Auburn must win this game.

Well, there you have it. The 6 games that I believe we must win. Does this mean I don't think we can win any other games? No, but winning these games will help our coaches lay a solid foundation for the future, and that is more important to me than anything else at this point.

I love Auburn, and I am ready for this season. Let's not boo our team, and be poor sports. Let's respect the "Process" and buy-in to what our coaches are selling!!

War Eagle Everyone!!!!

-Ari

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hey dummie.

Last I checked, DAN Mullen is the coach over in Starkville.

I still think we can win 8 this year. I still give us La Tech, Miss State, Ball State, West Va, Arkansas, Furman and Kentucky. I think we can beat Georgia, we can play with Ole Miss but I am not sure if we can play with a healthy and rolling LSU or Alabama team.

by Mattco on Sep 1, 2009 9:29 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Didn't LSU beat us by a hair last year?

We stand a good chance at beating LSU in fact a VERY GOOD CHANCE.

I’ll say the same with Bama too. Look at what Tulane FREAKING TULANE did to them last year because of Andre Smith’s absence. Well he ain’t playing this year either and with a new QB as well, we can take them. Maybe not DOMINATE them, but we can beat them.

We weren’t as bad as the final record showed last year. We were competitive in six of our seven losses and that was simply because of what we went through on offense. We won’t be having those same problems this year.

by AUrebel82 on Sep 1, 2009 9:36 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I reserve final judgement

until I see our Tigers in action.

Your comments on LSU and Bama:
LSU was in full meltdown mode last year too. They will not be as bad as they were last year and will be playing good ball with their great talent.

I am not sold that Alabama was great last year. They took care of business against Clemson, but Clemson played terrible. They took care of business against Georgia, who were solid but a let down. They lost to the only two teams they played last year that was playing good ball. Saban will have them playing solid again this year, but he is due to lose one or two, that is just his thing.

by Mattco on Sep 1, 2009 9:52 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

But werent we in a meltdown mode too?

by AUrebel82 on Sep 1, 2009 10:05 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

hence "too"

"Jay Jacobs can't go to the bathroom without Bobby Lowder's permission" - Paul Finebaum

by GumptownTiger on Sep 2, 2009 1:28 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'll be happy if this is right.

by Sparkey on Sep 2, 2009 1:49 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Oh!!!

My bad! Did I give an impromptu shout-out to former Patriots quarterback Hugh Mullen? My bad. I typed really fast. Aside from that, if you won’t to watch the game at my house you’d better show some respect homeslice….

Kidding….I never said that all we could win is 6. I just said that we need these 6 games!

by ArieGold on Sep 2, 2009 7:01 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Here we go...

This is more like it. Arie is right on I think.

by Sparkey on Sep 2, 2009 9:48 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

But werent we in a meltdown mode too?

by AUrebel82 on Sep 1, 2009 10:05 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Process?

Please tell me you didn’t copy that psuedo-religious Sabanistic mantra chanted by Gumps and that it was a typo.

Please…

by War Eagle Atlanta on Sep 2, 2009 5:18 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Now

he owes saban $3.50 (pronounced tree fiddy)

"Jay Jacobs can't go to the bathroom without Bobby Lowder's permission" - Paul Finebaum

by GumptownTiger on Sep 2, 2009 5:22 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Tribute...

or royalty….

by War Eagle Atlanta on Sep 2, 2009 11:51 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I just don't get it.

Why does everybody think Auburn “isn’t any good” anymore? Geez, we have one bad season that wasn’t even the players’ fault, and all of a sudden, “experts” are picking us to lose to La. Tech and even fans are saying that 6-6 and 7-5 would be a good year? This is a joke! As I recall, the same players that are on this team now are the same players that made up the team last year that all the “experts” picked to either win the West or come in second. The only players gone are Marks, Blackmon and Powers (I don’t know if I would really count Blackmon since he stayed on the sideline all the time).Now, all of a sudden, because we went 5-7 last year because of coaching egos and a terrible offensive system, we’re one of the worst teams in the league? It’s ridiculous. Right now, we are better than Miss. St., Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Arkansas, South Carolina and maybe LSU and Georgia. I say that with confidence, based on the players we have. Now that we have a system that every coach is on the same page about, an offensive philosophy that everybody agrees one and the team chemistry is great (based on reports I’ve read), this should be a successful year. It’s day and night compared to last year. Now obviously, QB play and depth are the two main concerns, and I assume those are the two reasons people don’t expect us to do much this year. Those are legitimate concerns. But IF we can stay healthy and Todd manages this offense, Auburn will pleasantly surprise a lot of people this year and compete for the West title. Whether or not you agree with that is your choice. We will beat La. Tech by at least 21 points on Saturday. Mark it down.

by mspirate on Sep 4, 2009 2:16 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

South Carolina looked like the Keystone Kops last night. Can anybody kick a football?

If they don’t get it together we will certainly have to better than they are.

I agree we’re better than Miss St, Kentucky, Tennessee. Questionable about Arkansas and Georgia. LSU, I dunno. They might be pretty good this year.

I would say Ole Miss and Arkansas are the two unknowns. For us to beat Ole Miss is going to require a lot from our extremely thin linebacking corps. That’s what has me worried against a passing attack.

Same can be said against Arkansas against a running attack. If we go to 2 LBs, that is too limiting. One or even two guys from the secondary (which is young and inexperienced) would need to have the football smarts to know when to stunt up.

I wonder if Chizik wants to take the ball first because he’s afraid of giving up too much ground on defense.

I am more worried about our defense this year than our offense, for the first time ever.

by KungFuPanda9 on Sep 4, 2009 7:51 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree. South Carolina is garbage! They beat N.C. State 7-3! N.C. STATE! That might be one of the worst games I watch all season. USC will go 6-6 this year, give or take, and Spurrier will hang it up after this year. He just hasn’t been able to recruit the same kind of athlet at USC that he was able to at Florida. And I’m sorry, but if Stephen Garcia is the best they’ve got at QB, it will get ugly for them. I know I can’t really talk, seeing how our QB situation isn’t great either, but Spurrier hasn’t been able to get QB since he’s been at USC.

As for Chizik and taking the ball first, I think it’s a no brainer. Every year, we know what we have with our defense, but our offense has been one of the biggest concerns for this team for two years now. We need to get our offense out there as soon as possible and see what we’ve got with it.

by mspirate on Sep 4, 2009 11:37 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Is it just me...

or do the defenses seem to be doing really well early on while the offenses seem to be struggling mightily? If this is the case, it will be a defensive guy’s wet dream of a season and offensive gurus may have nightmares about this season for many years to come.

I haven’t seen a really overpowering offense. Hell, only the Saint Thomas Aquinas Raiders have looked that good offensively. Almost forgot, that was actually a high school game.

I’m not so sure NC State is all that bad. I’m not saying they’re good this year, but it looked that is a feisty bunch who won’t just roll over for you to beat their brains out. True, they did have an awful pass defense in 2008, but the defense did return 7 starters. Add that on with a bunch of wily veterans on offense most notably Quarterback Russell Wilson who is at least very accurate and he has decent speed as well. I’m not saying the Wolf Pack is some juggernaut or something, but I do think they’re a tough team that might give some teams trouble this year. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Gamecocks surprise a lot of people. My biggest issue with South Carolina is the fact that they have really heralded athletes-at least in high school they were starting with Steven Garcia yet it’s not translating on the field. I’m not sure if Spurrier has lost his fire or what.
With him gone, I wonder if South Carolina will become a hot bed for Auburn recruits after this year. It would be a good place to start bringing in the talent. I think football in both South and North Carolina is under rated. It’s too bad Leon Hart never really had the great years we thought he would.

by Sparkey on Sep 4, 2009 12:43 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs