AUBURN | Seeing Gus Malzahn standing on the field in his short sleeve button down, orange and blue striped tie and block A hat was as glorious a tribute to Pat Dye as I could have dreamed up.
It was a classic Dye look and Malzahn pulled it off flawlessly, even with the mask. I applaud everyone at Auburn that had a hand in it.
Malzahn is not Dye, but of the four permanent coaches Auburn’s had since Dye’s retirement, Malzahn embodies him the most. Their personalities are different but just like Dye, Malzahn’s love of Auburn and his players, wanting to develop them into quality young men, is 100 percent real.
The Auburn spirit flows in Malzahn just as it did in Dye.
I also applaud Auburn for the design of the tribute sticker/field logo. The PD surrounded by SIXTY MINUTES is pitch perfect in its simplicity. Everyone associated with Auburn knows exactly what sixty minutes means, and really, nothing else needs to be said.
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Moving on to Saturday’s game, I thought it went about how I expected. It was far from a perfect performance by Auburn but it was certainly plenty good enough. Bo Nix and Seth Williams are two of the best at their respective positions and deserve more appreciation on a national scale. I think that’s coming, by the way.
The entire wide receiving corps impressed and even though the tight ends caught one pass plus a two-point conversion, I remain confident that will be a bigger part of the attack as the season moves forward and Nix becomes more comfortable in the new offense.
The offensive line is definitely a work in progress, but I didn’t see anyone out there that looked out-manned or without the potential to be a good player. I’ve said it before and I’m more convinced now, this offensive line is going the get better over the next five weeks and end up being a pretty productive group over the second half of the season. Can they play good enough for Auburn to pull off an upset at Georgia this Saturday? They’ll certainly take some knocks against a really good defense, but I think so.
Auburn’s defense gave up too many rushing yards and too many third down conversions, but it got better as the game moved on and I was impressed with several of the new starters, especially Roger McCreary and Jaylin Simpson at cornerback. I feel so much better about the secondary now than I did a month ago, and McCreary and Simpson both look like future NFL players to me.
Another standout in my eyes was DaQuan Newkirk, who had two tackles-for-loss and a sack against a very good offensive line. I think he has that playmaking ability that AU really needs upfront after the departures of Derrick Brown and Marlon Davidson.
The Tigers are still missing that edge pass rush. Maybe Derick Hall can bring it. I didn’t see enough of him before his ejection, but the Buck position as a whole wasn’t very productive against the Wildcats. It is important to remember, however, that UK left tackle Landon Young is a very good SEC player and a probable 2021 NFL Draft pick.
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The most surprising thing I saw Saturday (well, heard would be more accurate) was the crowd inside Jordan-Hare Stadium. The way they were spread out made it appear bigger than the listed attendance of 17,490. I also commend the fans, mostly students, for creating a very good atmosphere considering the circumstances. That stadium was much louder than I thought possible with less than 20,000 people in the stands.
Fantastic job by all involved.
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In today’s musical journey, we step back 28 years to the death of a talented singer and songwriter that many aren’t familiar with today. Paul Jabara, a Brooklyn native of Lebanese decent, passed away from lymphoma related to AIDS on Sept. 29, 1992 at the age of 44. In his shortened life, Jabara was in three of the biggest stage musicals of the 20th century, appeared in 16 films, won a Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe, wrote a No. 1 song and sang a duet with Donna Summer.
Jabara began his career as a teenage model and in commercials. In the late 1960’s, he was an original cast member of the Broadway musicals Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar. He then filled in on The Rocky Horror Show after Tim Curry left to film the movie in England. As a songwriter, he composed Last Dance for 1978’s Thank God It’s Friday, which was performed by Donna Summer and won a Grammy for Best R&B Song, and both an Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Original Song. He also co-wrote Barbara Streisand’s top 3 hit The Main Event and co-wrote the Weather Girls hit It’s Raining Men with Paul Shaffer, who is best known for being David Letterman’s music director and sidekick for more than 30 years.
Jabara sang several duets with Summer on his five studio albums and his film credits include Midnight Cowboy, The Day of the Locust and Legal Eagles. He was also an activist and shortly before his death helped create the idea of wearing a red ribbon in support of AIDS awareness.
