Published Nov 22, 2021
BMatt’s Monday musings
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Bryan Matthews  •  AuburnSports
Senior Editor
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@BMattAU

AUBURN | I agree with Bryan Harsin’s premise. You have to be aggressive on the road, take your shots.

But you’ve also got to do that within the framework of the game and of the season.

Auburn wasn’t playing No. 1 Georgia or No. 2 Alabama Saturday night in Williams-Brice Stadium. It was playing a five-loss South Carolina team that was a touchdown underdog at home.

After a sterling first quarter, the Tigers played more like they were the underdogs for the next three.

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Going for it on 4th and 1 at your own 35-yard line with a 14-7 lead in the second quarter seems like a desperate move. Then you dial up a fake pitch and 25-yard pass with Tank Bigsby watching from the sidelines.

The same Bigsby that didn’t touch the ball on your final offensive possession of the game.

Bigsby averaged 8.2 yards on his 23 touches. In his first start of the season, T.J. Finley attempted 32 passes and averaged a measly 5.8 yards per attempt.

Had the roles been reversed, had Bigsby had 32 touches and Finley 23 pass attempts, Auburn’s chances of leaving Columbia, S.C., with a win and a lot more confidence heading into Saturday’s Iron Bowl would have been greatly enhanced.

Now, Auburn will face a very good, but not great, Tide team on a three-game losing streak. This Alabama team is certainly beatable, especially at Jordan-Hare Stadium, but I haven’t seen anything from the Tigers to make me think they can repeat the magical performances from 2017 and 19.

We’re 11 games into the season and this offense still doesn’t have an identity. Part of that is a unit lacking in talent in key areas such as offensive line and wide receiver, but that can’t account for scoring 73 points in the first half of the last four games and just 12 in the second.

It’s great to scheme-up some good plays to get your offense going early but when you don’t have an answer once the defense adjusts, what do you do?

Well, you go back to your base, your foundation, your identity. That should be Bigsby. That should have been Bigsby and the running game starting game one in September and continuing week by week.

But it hasn’t been and that lack of understanding showed again Saturday night at South Carolina when the best player on offense touched the ball three times in the fourth quarter.

Three times.

Three times and gained 24 yards. Auburn ran nine other plays in the fourth that accounted for 32 yards.

Bigsby is the answer, but it’s taken too long to understand the question.

***

In today’s musical journey, we go back 29 years to the birth of the first daughter of a country music artist that would go on to quickly surpass her father in career earnings. Destiny Hope Cyrus was born on Nov. 23, 1992 in Franklin, Tenn., to Billy Ray, an actor and country music artist, and Tish Cyrus. Her birth name came from her parent’s belief that she was destined for greatness. She quickly earned the nickname Smiley because she smiled a lot as an infant, which was shortened to Miley. She legally changed her name to Miley Ray Cyrus in 2008, honoring her grandfather, politician Ronald Ray Cyrus. Her godmother is Dolly Parton. Her family moved to Toronto, Canada when she was 8 years old while her father worked on the T.V. show, Doc. It was there, while attending a 2001 Mirvish production of Mamma Mia! that Miley decided she wanted to be an actress. She began taking lessons and the family moved to Los Angeles where she appeared in Tim Burton’s Big Fish as Young Ruthie. Her big break came in 2005 when she was cast as the lead in Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana.

Miley was 11 years old when she first auditioned for Hannah Montana, one of more than 1,000 applicants. She was initially rejected because the producers thought she was too young but continuously sent in new audition tapes and six months into the process, was selected to play the role with 20 episodes ordered and Billy Ray cast as her father in the show. The premise of the show was a teenager living a double life as famous pop singer, Hannah Montana, who adopted the moniker so she could live a normal life anonymously. The series premiered in March of 2006 to the largest audience of a Disney Channel program and quickly ranked as one of the top series on basic cable. It lasted for four seasons and 98 episodes from 2006-11. In the first year, Cyrus toured with the Cheetah Girls and Disney released a soundtrack from the show, which were both successful. She released a second album in 2007 and went on the Best of Both Worlds Tour, which was such a success, it spawned a concert film.

Miley starred with John Travolta in Bolt in 2008, singing a duet with him, and had two huge hits in 2009 with Climb and Party in the U.S.A., a song produced by Dr. Luke and originally written by Jessie J. At age 16, Miley became the youngest artist in history to have four No. 1 albums on Billboard 200. She’s gone on to release seven solo albums and star in more than a dozen films including 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Her only No. 1 to date was 2013’s Wrecking Ball. Party in the U.S.A. peaked at No. 2 as did 2013’s We Can’t Stop. In 2017, Malibu was a top 10 hit. Her net worth is valued around $160 million while her father’s is $20 million. Billy Ray has eight top 10 singles on the country charts including 1992’s Achy Breaky Heart. He hit the top of the Billboard 100 in 2018 with his collaboration with Lil Nas X on Old Town Road.

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