AUBURN | Georgia sent a message to Auburn Saturday and it was impossible to miss.
There’s a hierarchy in the SEC and the Tigers don't appear to be among the big boys this season. They’re among a really big group in the second tier that aspire to compete with the best of the best, but just don’t have the firepower right now to do so.
The SEC is about talent acquisition. The groundwork for Saturday’s humiliation of Auburn wasn’t laid during the Bulldogs’ practices last week, it was done over the past three offseasons, five-star by five-star, as UGA racked up three consecutive No. 1 recruiting classes.
Over the past three years, UGA has signed 16 five-stars and another 15 Rivals100 players. During that same period, AU has signed just one five-star, Bo Nix, and seven additional Rivals100 players. That gives UGA 23 more potential game-changers on its roster.
Game, set, match.
If Auburn wants to be more competitive against Georgia every year — Alabama and LSU too — there’s only one option, and that’s to recruit better.
Yes, Auburn can compete for championships. But it has to be those seasons when it returns a lot of experienced talent and usually when it plays Georgia and Alabama at home. Next season, could be one of those years.
But if the Tigers want to start reloading instead of rebuilding every three or four years, it’s going to need to consistently recruit at a higher level.
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All that said, it’s important to remember that Malzahn and his staff are recruiting pretty well by Auburn and most every other school’s standards, and do a good job of developing and coaching their players over time.
Malzahn said several times after the UGA loss that this team will improve. I believe him. It’s just that this program is in a daggum tough position right now.
I can’t recall a period of time that Auburn’s three biggest rivals — and I know LSU hasn’t always been one of those three — were all this good over an extended period.
Remember how inconsistent Alabama was over Tommy Tuberville’s 10 seasons. They had three losing seasons plus 7-6 and 7-5 finishes. LSU went through an 11-year stretch between 1989-99 when they had eight losing seasons. That's hard to believe with the talent in that state.
Georgia was wildly inconsistent under Ray Goff and Jim Donnan including five seasons without a winning record, and consistently very good under Mark Richt. But Richt only won two SEC Championships in 15 seasons despite averaging 9.6 wins per year.
No Auburn coach has had to play a schedule as routinely tough as Malzahn, and I doubt there are many coaches out there that could do better in his situation. I’m sure there’s a lot that would do much worse.
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In regards to this particular season, it's important to point out that in the first two weeks of SEC play, Mississippi State went on the road and knocked off No. 6 LSU, went from unranked to No. 16 and then lost at home to Arkansas, which snapped its 20-game conference losing streak.
It's going to be one of those seasons in the SEC, and Auburn can still play a big part in all the craziness. I don't like AU's chances of making it to Atlanta but I do like its chances of playing in a lot of close and exciting games. And I absolutely believe the Tigers have enough good players on both sides of the ball to win more than their share of games.
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Today’s musical journey takes us back 38 years to the breakout hit of a Hall of Fame musician known for his heartland rock. On Oct. 2, 1982, John Mellencamp’s Jack and Diane started its four-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart. Born in 1951 in Seymour, Indiana, Mellencamp has produced nine other top 10 hits including Hurts So Good, Crumblin’ Down and Pink Houses. He’s produced 23 albums with the first coming in 1976 and the latest in 2017. He’s a founding member of Farm Aid, which has raised nearly $60 million over the past 35 years with an annual concert. He’s won a Grammy for Hurts So Good, and been inducted into both the Rock and Roll and Songwriter’s Hall of Fame. Mellencamp has also starred in and directed movies, and produced a number of paintings.
Jack and Diane is Mellencamp’s most successful single and was chosen by the Recording Industry Association of America as one of the top songs of the 20th century. He based the song on the Tennessee Williams’ film Sweet Bird of Youth. He had originally planned to remove the clapping in the final mix until he realized it made the song better. In 2014, he revealed that the song was originally about an interracial couple but the record company convinced him to change it.
