SEC Championship Preview

[WarEagleFL 0]

Auburn announced that it would be a major SEC factor with a 10-9 win over LSU, but it turned into a national player with a stunningly dominant 34-10 pasting over Tennessee in early October. Now the two square off in a rematch that has been all but predestined for several weeks, but few are expecting much more than an Auburn coronation. Tennessee has other ideas.

Tennessee comes into the SEC Championship game after three lackluster performances losing to Notre Dame (which looks far uglier now than it did a few weeks ago) and struggling way too much with awful Vanderbilt and Kentucky teams. But as bad as things have looked, it might have simply been a case of Tennessee turning the intensity off knowing that it only had to show up and it would be playing for the title.

The Vols might have lost to Auburn, but they got the wins they absolutely had to have beating Florida on a James Wilhoit 50-yard field goal with six seconds to play and a shocking 19-14 win at Georgia to all but claim the East. It hasn't always been pretty, but this is a young team with a mega-watt bright future and a puncher's chance to ruin the Tigers' dream season.

For Auburn, it's not just about winning the SEC title, it's about winning in a blowout. With Oklahoma still number two in the BCS and with a potential layup against Colorado in the Big XII Championship, Auburn has to come up with its best game of the year to get the few extra votes needed to play in the Orange Bowl. But the possible national title disappointment aside, this has been a tremendous rebound season after last year's problems. The offense, which was the source of many preseason message board screaming sessions from Tiger fans, has been more efficient than anyone could've dreamed as QB Jason Campbell has had a Heisman-caliber season while future NFL stars Carnell Williams and Ronnie Brown have been as good as advertised.

Tennessee has been dismissed by the national media after the less-than-scintillating last few weeks, but this is still a 9-2 team with a tremendous running game and enough athletes to stay with Auburn. With all of the pressure on the Tigers to win handily, the Vols could pull off the shocker and win its first SEC championship since 1998.

Bowl implications: If Tennessee wins, it goes to the Sugar Bowl to likely face the winner of this weekend's Virginia Tech/Miami game. Auburn is likely Sugar Bowl bound with a win, but it'll play in the Orange if either USC loses to UCLA or Oklahoma loses to Colorado. It's still possible for the Tigers to play for the national title with a blowout win over the Vols and a lackluster performance by the Sooners. The loser will almost certainly play in the Cotton Bowl against, most likely, Texas.

Players to watch: Tennessee QB Rick Clausen already has an SEC Championship ring, but he got it while on the sidelines for LSU in the 2001 31-20 win over the Vols. Now he's the Tennessee starter filling in for injured freshmen Erik Ainge and Brent Schaeffer and has done a solid job completing 62% of his throws with four touchdown passes over the last three games. But he has also thrown five picks. That's not a good thing against the ball-hawking Auburn secondary currently ranking ninth in the nation against the pass.

The Tiger defensive stars are defensive backs Junior Rosegreen and Carlos Rogers. The NFL scouts are drooling all over Rogers with his all-around combination of cover skills leading the Tigers with six broken up passes. Rosegreen leads the team with five interceptions and has been a steady tackling rock with 49 stops.

Tennessee doesn't have a prayer if the running game isn't going. Cedric Houston was held to 55 yards in the first game against Auburn, but he has had a strong last four games rushing for 479 yards and four touchdowns. Gerald Riggs Jr. was a solid feature back during the middle part of the season, but he saw his carries diminish with Houston's reemergence. He has been a solid number two back rushing for 149 yards against Vanderbilt and 52 yards and the decisive touchdown against Kentucky.

Of course, the superstar 1-2 rushing punch in this game is on the Auburn sideline as Carnell Williams and Ronnie Brown can close out fantastic SEC careers with a ring. Williams hasn't quite been Mr. Heisman mainly due to a lack of work, but he has rushed for at least one touchdown in each of the last eight games. Brown has been a do-it-all back upping his already high NFL stock by showing off his receiving skills as he has been a perfect fit for the Tiger version of the West Coast attack. He caught six passes for 79 yards in the first meeting with the Vols.

Tennessee will win if... it can survive the first quarter. Auburn has outscored its opponents 109- 12 in the first frame while the Vols have only outscored their foes 86-73. They must play far better on defense than they have over the last two weeks with poor tackling and little pass rush. Granted, the fire wasn't there for the SEC lightweights, but the overall play needs to be turned up several notches to handle the balanced Tiger attack.

Auburn will win if... the Volunteer running game isn't working. Rick Clausen might be good and the Tennessee receivers have fantastic potential, but they're not going to be able to do much against the Auburn secondary. If Cedric Houston and Gerald Riggs Jr. aren't controlling the game, it'll be over.

What will happen: Tennessee is far more dangerous than anyone is giving it credit for. Auburn has had to deal with all of the BCS mess and is focusing more on how much it'll win by rather just getting the victory. Even so, Tennessee hasn't shown enough of a pass rush lately to suggest it can throw Jason Campbell's timing off, while the Vols attack doesn't have enough pop to get past the nasty Auburn D.

Line: Auburn -13 ... CFN Prediction: Auburn 28 ... Tennessee 14

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