Chic-Fil-A Bowl--What a Win!!!

Well, it looked pretty scary at the very start of the game--the same apparently pathetic defense and the same anemic offense that plagued us all year.

Scratch that defensive comment--our only problem this game was that we just weren't covering the receivers worth a darn ALL GAME, and still not getting to the QB (except the time it REALLY counted, setting up the block-punt safety). And of course that set up all the third-and-long/third-and-long/third-and-long conversions that we let slip by again and again and again. However, the difference in this game versus the rest of the season was that we kept some very good plays by UVA from becoming ungodly game-breakers by the one key to any defense--TACKLES!!! I remember many plays where there was only one fellow (mostly I think No. 11, the fellow named defensive player of the game) between the UVA ball carrier and the end zone on a particular side of the field, and that fellow dropped the ball carrier cold. Even though the pass (usually a pass) may have gained gained twenty-thirty yards, that's as far as they got on the play.

I agree with Quan Bray, who commented that for the offense, this was a breakout game and well presages the future at Auburn. This game could be like the game against Northwestern--setting up a much more successful next year. I was pleased with Tre and Kyle's ball carrying--and I loved Trotter's swagger getting up after his 15 yard scramble (actually, a 100-yard scramble if you count his side-to-side backfield rush avoidance) for the first down.

I just read that Moseley was hurt on the second drive--I thought he just got yanked for a quick change-up with Trotter, since he didn't seem like he was getting anything done (I know, two series isn't a lot to judge, but I honestly felt, with my uninformed opinion, Moseley just wasn't going to get it going that night),

The best part of the game for me, as usual, didn't have to do with the action on the field, but the people I was with. I got to take my beautiful bride to her first every college bowl game, and as a bonus, I got to meet one of our great administrators here at TET, Paul. It was just a five-minute meeting before the game started, but I think it is so important to be able to shake hands with the people you write with and to on these boards. Let's not become an isolated in the electronic age with ANY of our friends and loved ones--GET OUT THERE AND SEE PEOPLE IN MEAT-SPACE!!!

I think that this game takes us to the next level from where we finished this year. What a Win!!!

Michael Val

(who realizes that this "analysis" pales when compared to our official moderators' breakdowns, but wanted to give his armchair-fan impressions anyhow)

P.S. Where is the Facebook connect button for posting--I don't see it anymore. MVH