Ten Burning Questions

1. I like Ted Roof. I think he has what it takes to get our defense at the level AU fans know and remember. However, this season will determine whether or not he is riding the hot seat in 2011. Obviously there are strides that need to be made here in 2010, and I am confident that he and the defensive squad will meet the chalenge.

2. Yes. Barring injury, Fannin will be in it to win it for the long haul. That said, he will be rotating with quite a group in Dyer and McCalebb.

3. Savage and McNeil will provide is with great veteran play and great veteran leadership. Will they be quite the same? No. But they will be our best option and I believe they will get the job done where it counts.

4. Auburn can and will improve on last year’s record. Will it be my mind blowing prediction of 11-1? Probably not unfortunately. But improvement should not only be expected it should be demanded by the Admin. and the fans alike.

5. Alabama certainly can repeat as SEC champions. Will they? That is too tricky of a prediction to make. Running the gauntlet of the SEC and reaching the championship game for a third season in a row seems impossible, but if any team could pull it off it would this Alabama team. I’ll take the wait and see approach on this one as Bama is fielding a very young defense. No matter how talented, youth will provide mistakes and opportunities for the opposing offenses. How much is yet to be determined.

6. In 2010 the Gators will play with a chip on their shoulder for sure. Will it be enough? I think so. Look for the Tebowless Gators to once again represent the East in the SEC championship game.

7. Les Miles will survive two more seasons max. The guy has obvious coaching flaws that only talent has been able to cover up. Add to it his hard headedness and you’ve got a lethal mix. His fuse is lit, but it is yet to be seen how long that fuse is.

8. Tennessee fans have no choice but to be tolerant. Their program is in shambles, but Dooley is constructing a strong foundation. The fans need to give him time and they will be happy with his future results.

9. Yes. All this Richt talk of him being gone is humerous at best, but more like lunacy. GA fans that are calling for his head need to wise up and realize how lucky they are. Coaches like Mark Richt are not a dime a dozen. Especially in the dangerous waters of the SEC.

10. No because Bobby Petrino hasn’t emerged in the past. Arkansas’s offense will be explosive this season, but they won’t sneak up on anyone and they don’t have the defense to play for a championship.

There you go. War Damn Eagle!

My guesses are usually not so accurate, but this is too much fun not to participate.
1. Coach Roof is without a doubt the man for the job. A no nonsense, gruff character that teaches attack first. He has the back up of arguably the best defensive coordinator Auburn has had in Coach Chizik.
2. Without a doubt Mario will rip through some SEC defense this year. As to the previous staff’s ability to evaluate, I have many questions about what they deem as good enough. I am still a Tubberville fan, just have many questions about their methods of evaluating players.
3.A true finger crosser for Auburn fans is the position of DB. We all want them to be back to top form, hopefully they will be.
4. The biggest question comes in at #4 on your list. Will they be better record wise? Many are saying yes, it’s a slippery slope if it’s worse than last season for sure, but this team is showing signs of togetherness, and that alone will win one or two games when the times get tough.
5. I think they have the coach to have a chance to repeat. The odds are against Bama, so I’ll make the safe bet and say not this time.
6. I hope someone challenges Florida this year. There is no reason for UGA or USCeast not to, but the question between the lines is, will they? Probably not. The Gators should be in Atlanta. The east will be closer this year competition wise, but Florida has too much talent to waste it.
7.Time to expose the “HAT”! LSU has some talent, Miles has been a great recruiter, and been a magician as a play caller. I wonder if LSU would be getting more respect had Alabama not been so dominate. Miles needs to produce a little better ball club this season, or the faithful be getting really restless in Baton Rouge.
8. The Volunteer fans are reeling. They don’t know what to expect from Dooley. I believe they have an excellent coach, whether they know it or not remains to be seen.
9. The Dawgs have had a tough time with Florida for decades now. The Gators have cost several Bulldog coaches their job in Athens. I agree that Richt needs to at least field a competitive squad that can play with Florida, or he won’t last much longer. Getting beat down every year isn’t anyone’s idea of competitive.
10. Petrino has had time to settle in at Arkansas, and he is without a doubt a great offensive mind. The big question with the ‘Backs is defense. The team that has Auburn’s number has melted at various times each season since Houston Nutt was there. With me it’s a 50/50 guess as to what will happen with them this season. They are putting their most experienced offense on the field since Petrino has been there, so he better get it right, or the Razorback faithful will start to ask for some heads.

good stuff guys…

said it before… i love how this year’s schedule works out.
UGA SC in wk2, bamaarky in wk4…we’ll know a ton about our team and the lean of both sides of the conference by week 5…when bama meets UF.

i like how this could work for Auburn should they be able to survive the sept. stretch. after these games, they’ll know who they’re going after and what they’re fighting for. i can see that working as a positive to fine tune their focus.
we’ll learn a bunch about our team in september.

see herbstriet’s prediction of an AU / UF SEC ’ship in 2010!?

…..After a long hard day of jury duty (with the 3 hour lunch and lots of reading…) I have some opinions.

1. I understand why Roof called what he called last year. That said, if we don’t blitz more with a dozen speedy ends and linebackers on the roster this year, well….he WON’T be the man for the job. Withholding judgment, for now.

2. Mario Fannin, featured at season’s end? I hope so. That shoulder brace thing makes me nervous. Let Mccalebb or Dyer get hurt, and we’re suddenly looking like a spread-passing airraid team.

3. Safety still worries me. Savage had the speed before he was hurt. In fact, they were going to start him at corner in 2008. Does he still have it? I hope so. McNeil was really just starting to look like he really knew what to do in the 2008 UGA game. Can he shake off the rust? Zack Etheridge never looked fast enough to cover the slot guy one on one. Heck, he gave up a 56 yard TD to the fullback to open the WVA game. He’s a great hitter and good run-support guy, but I’ve never been sold on his coverage skills.

4. Can we improve on last year’s 8-5 record? Yes. Can’t get starting corners hurt, or running backs, or o-line guys.

5. Can Alabama repeat? Possibly. Auburn, LSU and Arky would all have to underachieve, though. Bama should score a lot of points this year, if Saban doesn’t put the muzzle on McElwain’s offense. Many teams knuckle under when Bama starts raining points.

6. It’s hard to measure the coaching drama aspect of Florida. If they win anyway, the media pundits will ooh and ahh about “overcoming obstacles.” If the Gators lose a few, the distraction will be blamed. Honestly, I think the biggest things that may bring Florida down from the 13-win plateau is a ton of coaching AND player turnover, not just Tebow. Florida lost a LOT over the offseason. Green recruits, no matter how many stars won’t bail them out instantly.

7. Les is on the hot seat, but he isn’t. From what I gather, his biggest problem with LSU fans was the Ole Miss end-of-game snafu. Miles gambles, and believes in his team. Many coaches do. When the gambles work, you beat teams. When they don’t, you look stupid. I don’t see Miles growing a set of Tuberville ears and suddenly becoming conservative. Those dice rolls and the success thereof will determine Miles’ future.

8. Honestly, I don’t think Auburn was ever in as bad shape as Tennessee is now. It will be interesting to see HOW UT fans handle things. I enjoy visiting that part of the country, and I’d like to think many of the natives are practical, and will ride this out without too much whining.

9. As weird as it sounds, I see Richt’s position as even more shaky than Miles’. I think he’s taking a huge gamble with the new defensive scheme, especially with a freshman QB starting on offense. If you’ve watched the Cowboys over the past couple of years, especially the D-line where Granthan coached, it’s been a very Jekyll and Hyde deal. We’ve enjoyed watching Auburn alum Jay Ratliff blossom there, and enjoyed the sack-antics of Demarcus Ware. On the other hand, the Cowboys can show up on any given Sunday and be absolutely rancid on defense. Hit and miss isn’t going to cut it in the SEC. If neither the D nor the freshmen QBs work out, Richt’s in a lotta trouble.

10. I’d take Petrino over any OC in the league, even Malzhan from a purely on-field strategy viewpoint. Can he oversee a division-winning SEC team? That’s yet to be determined. This is a good year for him to make a run.

Let’s hope for the best. Did anyone see where Kirk Herbstreit picked Auburn to win the SEC West? Now I’m optimistic, but that may be a reach. Hope he’s right.

I am withholding my opinion on him as of yet. On the rest of it, I agree with you guys. I do think Auburn will be 8-4 and then 9-4 after the bowl game. Fannin is the real deal. If he scores two to three touchdowns a game, and fumbles it once, I’m good with that. Obviously, I hope that’s not the case and he has the touchdowns with five fumbles this year period. I’d be happy with that I think. Auburn is better, but despite the home games the schedule is also harder. I think folks are underestimating the returning seniors in the secondary. I think they’ll be good personally. The secondary is a position that needs experience. I think it is the most under rated position of experience in the game. Auburn will have that this season, I can only look to that as a strength. From practice, Newton is still the real deal but the season will really tell the tale I think. I am hoping he’s a beast, but if he’s not, all he has to do is manage. The Tigers have athletes all over the field on offense and some much needed depth on defense. No more excuses Roof. Special Teams is the biggest difference maker I think. If Auburn is good on special teams, you could see special things this year.

I can only agree about Alabama receiving way too much attention and I’m still scratching my head on that one as this just isn’t something Saban would agree to doing (All Access). In addition, I don’t care what anybody says, ’Bama’s defense is way too young and way too inexperienced to win a game by themselves this year. The D and special teams bailed Alabama out of several games last year and you can bet that won’t be the case this year. Alabama could potentially lose four games, even with the offensive star-power that they have.

As far as Mark Richt is concerned, I do believe this is his year to beat Florida, but if not, he may never have the opportunity to do so. However, to the UGA fans who are calling for his head, they should come to the realization that Richt is not a bad coach, by no means, and if they think they’ve got it bad now, perhaps they should hire a guy by the name of Mike Shula and maybe then they’ll realize Richt wasn’t so bad after all.

Call me crazy, but I’m honestly expecting Tennessee to surprise quite a few people this year. For starters, everyone and their brother are counting Tennessee out. No one is factoring them into any sort of relevant equation going into 2010 and people are immediately dismissing them when their name is brought up. Sure, people have every right to laugh at UT, but because of that, I really think they’re going to surprise us all this year. Of course, I’m not talking an undefeated season, but I don’t think their season will turn out to be as bad as everyone is predicting.

I don’t believe Les Miles will lose his job this year, BUT if he manages to lose to Alabama, and either Arkansas or Ole Miss (or both), then what little support he has going for him will be completely diminished. I’m dismissing AU simply because I think you guys will be one of the top teams in the West this year and he’ll receive a pass for that. But I think next year will be the do or die year for Miles and if he doesn’t deliver, you can officially bank on his termination at LSU.

To make this short and sweet, I think Florida will be a 2 loss team. Who the two losses will be? I have no clue, but it’s just a gut feeling.

And lastly, I do expect AU to be a top contender in the West. And if they don’t ultimately win it, they’ll definitely have a say so in who does. I just don’t see any team shutting down Malzahn’s offense in year two and I expect it to be a beast. Whether the defense improves or not, I think the offense will have more than enough fire power to bail the defense out of any sort of obstacle they encounter.