AUBURN | Auburn is 2-2 this season, which is exactly where this team belongs right now.
The Tigers are not a great team. They’re not a bad team. They’re an average team whose success is dependent on the finest of margins when they’re playing against most of the other teams in the SEC.
Kentucky, Arkansas and South Carolina are similar teams. Auburn beat the Wildcats thanks to a 3-0 advantage in turnovers, beat the Razorbacks by blocking a punt for a touchdown and catching a break on a tight call at the end and lost to the Gamecocks by throwing three interceptions that were converted into touchdowns.
In many ways it’s as simple as that and it will be the same for at least four of AU’s final six opponents: Ole Miss, LSU, Mississippi State and Tennessee. AU could lose or win any of those games. Texas A&M is probably a little step up but I could see AU beating the Aggies at home. I think we all know what’s going to happen at Alabama. Gus Malzahn has never beaten one of AU’s top three rivals on the road and it’s not happening this year.
Why is Auburn not better in year eight under Malzahn? There’s not a simple answer, but I think there are some major issues including offensive tackle recruiting, edge pass rusher recruiting and for now, a step back at the defensive tackle position.
Georgia exposed AU’s deficiencies on the line of scrimmage and while AU can improve over the course of this season, those issues will be impossible to overcome against an elite opponent like UGA or UA.
AU’s poor recruitment of high school offensive tackles has been well documented. Malzahn and his staff have managed to overcome it by adding transfers and JUCO players or moving players from defense, but that piecemeal approach didn’t work this season.
I look at Buck linebacker as a position AU has sort of been in a bit of a slump recruiting, but the addition of Al Pogue should help turn that around. Not having really good edge guys or tackles to go up against each other in practice really hurts this team when they go up against the elite players on other teams.
Rodney Garner has been excellent in evaluating, recruiting and developing defensive linemen during a career that has spanned three decades. This year, it just hasn’t worked out so far. Injuries and lack of production from two JUCO transfers, who have been banged up too, have contributed to the issues, but there’s also several talented youngsters that have the look of future stars such as Colby Wooden and Zykeivous Walker.
How can AU turn this roster into a championship contender in 2021? Well, they’re probably going to need to pursue another grad transfer at tackle and hope one of the returning guys develop. Better high school evaluation and recruiting are needed for the long term. The Buck position could be solved by the 2021 class and/or Romello Height returning from injury or perhaps the development of Derick Hall — not ready to write that kid off. I foresee defensive tackle as a position that will solve itself over time.
You fix those three issues, you return some very talented and experienced skill players on offense, a talented and experienced group of linebackers and defensive backs on the other side of the ball, and you have the makings of a pretty darn good team.
That’s the optimistic outlook. I’ll table the other possibilities, for now.
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One of the most surprising developments from the first week of basketball practice is the improvement Bruce Pearl’s seen out of Jamal Johnson. I didn’t view Johnson as a prominent part of this upcoming season because he averaged 1.8 points and 9.5 minutes during conference play last year, and he was behind some younger players in the rotation.
But credit Johnson for taking advantage of the downtime and working on the areas he needed to improve the most: his defense and overall athleticism. The one thing Johnson can already do really well is shoot 3-pointers. He had the best percentage on the team last season and with more confidence and more minutes, I think he’ll improve on his .386 shooting.
Auburn was really missing a consistent 3-point shooter last season, even off the bench. Having a player like Johnson who can shoot from very long range and also give the team at least 15-20 minutes of solid defense and playmaking would be a big addition to the 2020-21 Tigers.
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Today’s musical journey takes us back 70 years and the birth of a rock and roll legend. Born on Oct. 20, 1950 in Gainesville, Fla., Thomas Earl Petty went on to become one of the best-selling musical artists of all time, creating a number of hits across four decades and being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. As a kid, Petty was inspired by two musical legends, visiting the set of an Elvis Presley film in 1961 and watching the debut appearance of the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. One of his guitar teachers in Gainesville was Don Felder, who later joined the Eagles.
Petty dropped out of high school at the age of 17 to play in a band. After some starts and stops, he joined up with the Heartbreakers and they released their self-titled album in 1976, which included the hits American Girl and Breakdown. More hits followed in the 70’s including Don’t Do Me Like That and Refugee. The 80’s included a duet with Stevie Nicks, Stop Draggin My Heart Around, and several other hits such as Don’t Come Around Here No More and I Won’t Back Down. He also joined George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne in the Traveling Wilburys. More hits would come in the 90’s including Learning to Fly and Mary Jane’s Last Dance. Petty, who sold over 60 million albums in his lifetime, passed away in 2017 from an accidental overdose of painkillers he was taking for emphysema, knee problems and a fractured hip.
American Girl was recorded in Hollywood, Fla., on July 4, 1976. Petty said he wrote it living in an apartment in Encino, Calif., being inspired by the cars on the highway sounding like the ocean. It made it up to just No. 40 on the UK singles chart and No. 109 in the U.S. at the time, but has become a regular on classic rock stations and been featured in a number of films or shows including Fast Times at Ridgemont High, The Silence of the Lambs, The Sopranos and The Handmaid’s Tale.
