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dbwau95

By dbwau95
in AU Football Forum

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Guest Tigrinum Major

Guest Tigrinum Major

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By the way, he is wrong about Aromashadu touching the ball out of bounds and admitted it in an email in another thread.

Instant Analysis

Auburn 31 ... Georgia 30

By Matthew Zemek

In assessing the wildest of the three marquee SEC games on a sensational Saturday in the South, there’s a need to distinguish fact from speculation, known quantities from uncertain issues.

So with that having been said, let’s start with some assertions that are beyond the realm of the debatable and controversial: Kenny Irons set the tone for Auburn, and Brandon Cox made the most of his running back’s success by going over the top to hit home-run balls in the passing game. The combination of a ruthlessly overpowering runner and an emergent clutch passer has made this Auburn offense look a lot like last year’s group, with offensive coordinator Al Borges again pushing all the right buttons for Tommy Tuberville. One couldn’t have been so sure about this matter in October, but you can say so with certainty now: Auburn is a destination spot for offensive skill position talent across America.

Another safe statement to make is that even in defeat, D.J. Shockley not only showed no indications of being rusty or limited, but devastated Auburn’s defense. Shockley’s knee not only failed to limit his level of play; Shockley actually made a ton of big gainers with his legs, not his feet. The senior rebounded from an injury to display all of the athleticism that has made him an eternally potent weapon in Mark Richt’s arsenal. Saturday, Shockley played his very best game as a Bulldog, hands down.

An observer of this just-completed game would also stand on solid ground in saying that Leonard Pope is the hardest skill position player to defend in the SEC. The huge, hulking tight end flashed speed, agility and a great vertical leap--everything but the kitchen sink--to dominate and decimate Auburn’s corps of linebackers. His target size enabled Shockley to find a comfort zone while also opening things up for UGA’s other backs and receivers; the Pope will make more of a living than Benedict XVI on Sundays, and since Sunday Mass is a big deal in the Vatican, that’s saying a lot.

Aside of those three realities, however, a lot is still unclear and hard to fathom when one tries to make sense of this night Between the Hedges, less than an hour after the game’s end.

For one thing, it’s baffling how two highly-ranked teams--in mid-November--could produce such an enormous amount of penalties, turnovers and poorly used timeouts. Georgia could have used an extra timeout at the very end, when Auburn wisely chose to kill clock and kick a field goal instead of scoring a touchdown too early. Auburn could have used a timeout earlier, though, as Tuberville would have at least had the option of punting on 4th and 10 with two minutes left if he had two timeouts, not one, at his disposal. The thrilling quality of the game and the brilliance of several offensive performers should not totally overshadow the fact that both teams played sloppy and rough-edged ball.

A second question that’s hard to wrestle with concerns the way each team is feeling after an amazing emotional roller coaster--not just within the confines of this dizzying back-and-forth affair, but in terms of the whole day. Georgia watched Steve Spurrier provide welcome help earlier in the day, enabling this loss to not eliminate the Dawgs from SEC East contention. In fact, the Florida setback earlier in the day means UGA must simply beat Kentucky next week to punch a ticket to Atlanta. But just how good can Georgia feel after losing a second conference game in a contest that stamped the SEC West as the superior division in the league?

And as for Auburn, the Tigers--despite winning a huge game in thrilling fashion--had to absorb the pain not only of seeing their SEC West title hopes take a huge hit earlier in the day, but at the hands of an Alabama team that couldn’t help them out by beating LSU. It’s a testament to both teams’ toughness that they played so hard even though they both had reasons to step off the gas pedal (UGA for positive reasons, Auburn for not-so-positive reasons). But in the wake of this game, Auburn’s knowledge of missed opportunities against LSU (and of missed LSU field goals against Bama that were made in Baton Rouge, compared with Auburn field goals that didn’t split the uprights in Cajun country) will irritate and linger in the Auburn camp.

But now, to the most controversial aspect of this game: the crazy 4th and 10 play featuring Devin Aromashodu’s fumble.

What ESPN cameras didn’t focus on, and what Ron Franklin and Bob Davie didn’t remark on, was that Aromashodu batted the ball with at least one (if not both) of his hands after the fumble. When Aromashodu did touch the ball, there was a chance--the few camera angles provided were inconclusive (given that one needs more looks to be sure; come Sunday morning, one can definitively know more about this play)--that this touching occurred while Aromashodu’s foot was touching either the pylon or the sideline of the field in the end zone. Had Aromashodu touched the ball while out of bounds in the end zone portion of the sideline, the ball would have gone to Georgia as a touchback. Again, one can’t be sure if this actually did happen, but there was a chance it happened, and that’s something that has to be noted in an immediate review of this amazing game’s emotion-jerking events.

But aside of that and other uncertain issues, you can be sure of one thing: Auburn has fully found its successor to Jason Campbell, enabling Brandon Cox to be an ultra-confident quarterback heading into a remotely important game next Saturday… a game against Alabama.

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rexbo Founding Father

rexbo 104

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I think he's just trying to defend CFN's pick of UGA. He never said "Way to go Auburn. You won that hard fought game."

Give it up, CFN. Auburn won!!!!

WAR DAMN EAGLE!!!

198161[/snapback]

When I emailed him about the fumle, he did say in his reply we should beat 'Bama. This was in the other Topic, but I will copy here too...

From: "Matthew Zemek" <mzemek@hotmail.com>

To: "Rex"

Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2005 12:26 PM

Subject: RE: Instant Analysis - AU vs Georgia

> Yes, upon looking more at the play, you and I agree: he didn't touch the

> ball while out of bounds.

>

> The SEC is so even, it's amazing. I'd like to see Cox get one more look at

> LSU's defense, but unfortunately, you only get one shot per season.

>

> I think Auburn is the CLEAR favorite to win the West next year, given they

> get LSU at home and should beat them. Kenny Irons is astonishing, but since

> Cox now seems able to hit the deep ball with consistency, Auburn's offense

> is now great again.

>

> Best of luck in the Iron Bowl. You should prevail, though "should" is a

> cheap word in sports. Go out and do it!

>

> Matt Zemek

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