Auburn @ So. Carolina

[DKW 86 7,424]

SCORING OFFENSE G TD XP 2XP DXP FG Saf Pts Avg

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1. LSU................. 4 19 19 0 0 3 0 142 35.5

2. Florida............. 4 18 13 0 0 0 1 123 30.8

3. Auburn.............. 4 14 14 0 0 7 0 119 29.8

Tennessee........... 4 15 15 0 0 4 1 119 29.8

8. South Carolina...... 4 10 9 0 0 6 0 87 21.8

SCORING DEFENSE G TD XP 2XP DXP FG Saf Pts Avg

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1. LSU................. 4 2 2 0 0 2 0 20 5.0

2. Auburn.............. 4 3 3 0 0 1 0 24 6.0

3. Georgia............. 4 2 2 0 0 3 1 25 6.2

4. Florida............. 4 4 4 0 0 2 0 34 8.5

5. South Carolina...... 4 4 3 0 0 5 1 44 11.0

PASS OFFENSE G Att Cmp Int Pct. Yds Avg TD Yds/G

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6. South Carolina...... 4 114 69 2 60.5 901 7.9 6 225.2

7. Auburn.............. 4 85 54 2 63.5 731 8.6 3 182.8

PASS DEFENSE G Att Cmp Int Pct. Yds Avg TD Yds/G

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1. LSU................. 4 105 46 8 43.8 409 3.9 0 102.2

2. South Carolina...... 4 81 31 6 38.3 443 5.5 2 110.8

3. Georgia............. 4 108 61 2 56.5 580 5.4 1 145.0

4. Auburn.............. 4 119 61 2 51.3 612 5.1 3 153.0

RUSHING OFFENSE G Att Yds Avg TD Yds/G

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1. Arkansas............ 4 135 751 5.6 5 187.8

2. Auburn.............. 4 154 737 4.8 11 184.2

3. Florida............. 4 144 703 4.9 6 175.8

4. LSU................. 4 129 615 4.8 10 153.8

5. Alabama............. 4 171 596 3.5 4 149.0

6. Ole Miss............ 4 143 543 3.8 4 135.8

7. Vanderbilt.......... 4 123 541 4.4 4 135.2

8. Georgia............. 4 131 534 4.1 7 133.5

9. South Carolina...... 4 120 481 4.0 4 120.2

RUSHING DEFENSE G Rushes Yards Avg. TD Yds/G

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1. Florida............. 4 94 168 1.8 1 42.0

2. Auburn.............. 4 123 332 2.7 0 83.0

LSU................. 4 129 332 2.6 2 83.0

4. Georgia............. 4 132 344 2.6 1 86.0

11.South Carolina...... 4 168 705 4.2 2 176.2

RED ZONE OFFENSE G RedZone Percent TDs R/P FG-AT Fumb/Int/Downs/Other

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1. Tennessee........... 4 10-11 90.9 8 4/4 2-2 0/ 0/ 1/ 0

2. LSU................. 4 14-16 87.5 12 8/4 2-2 0/ 0/ 0/ 2

3. Auburn.............. 4 13-15 86.7 10 8/2 3-5 0/ 0/ 0/ 0

9. South Carolina...... 4 10-14 71.4 6 3/3 4-6 1/ 0/ 1/ 0

10.Alabama............. 4 14-21 66.7 6 4/2 8-12 2/ 0/ 0/ 1

11.Ole Miss............ 4 4-7 57.1 3 3/0 1-2 0/ 1/ 1/ 0

Mississippi St...... 4 4-7 57.1 4 4/0 0-1 1/ 0/ 1/ 0

RED ZONE DEFENSE G RedZone Percent TDs R/P FG-AT Fumb/Int/Downs/Other

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1. LSU................. 4 3-8 37.5 2 2/0 1-3 0/ 3/ 0/ 0

2. Auburn.............. 4 2-5 40.0 2 0/2 0-2 0/ 0/ 0/ 1

3. South Carolina...... 4 4-8 50.0 2 2/0 2-2 1/ 1/ 2/ 0

Florida............. 4 4-8 50.0 3 1/2 1-1 0/ 0/ 4/ 0

Georgia............. 4 4-8 50.0 2 1/1 2-4 1/ 0/ 1/ 0

10.Alabama............. 4 6-7 85.7 5 2/3 1-1 1/ 0/ 0/ 0

11.Tennessee........... 4 9-9 100.0 7 6/1 2-2 0/ 0/ 0/ 0

Mississippi St...... 4 12-12 100.0 8 4/4 4-4 0/ 0/ 0/ 0

A word on SOS, I consider the SOS of schedule to be a little stronger toward Auburn. Wofford seems to be a very strong rushing team this year and many Tiger fans may want to overlook them. The chief matchups so far for both teams is for SC and for Auburn. Both of those teams are Top Ten ranked and I will give the nod to for strength due to their being higher ranked than until thier loss to us. Also have to cede slightly higher ranking to AU because we won our top matchup.

From the stats above I think you can see that Auburn and S. Carolina are fairly equal in terms of D. Tyrone Nix has turned the corner for SC. The Cocks fans on the board should know that during two previous DC searches many of the Auburn fans and maybe even CTT were very high on Nix. He has even interviewed for our DC job before getting the job with CSS. With the opponents of SC being basically non-pass oriented teams, I think Auburn OC Al Borges may be thinking he can throw on SC more than they would like to see. SC has a statistically excellent Pass D. Borges may be concluding just as your humble scribe has that the rating may be more from the level of competition they have seen than some would like to admit. It may also be a function of the fair to middling Rush D. If your opponents are suceeding running the ball, they may just not be throwing as much and slanting your stats.

Special Teams. These two are perhaps the two best special teams teams in the SEC. Auburn leads perhaps only by a little due to Matt Clark's kick off performance this year. Auburn leads the SEC in kickoff coverage.

The separation between these two teams comes on Rushing O. Auburn is currently rated #2 in the conference and SC is #9. This comes after play against the & Ds that are almost in a tie with Rush D. This is the only real differential between the two teams. While the talk of the week has been on CAB efforts to throw the ball, I think we will eventually see Auburn go smashmouth against a DL that is giving up some good yardage.

Keys to the game:

For SC:

For the D: Stop the Run-Do not let Kenny Irons got too hot too early. Stay in Man coverage and hope that the young Auburn WRs do not get hot. If CAB wants to try and open it up, let him and hope they fail against the strength of the SC D.

For the O: Knock out some First downs and win the Field position game. Keep it close, and run some trick plays to keep it the Auburn D from being too aggressive. Execution is THE game breaker for SC. Hang close with Auburn and limit mistakes.

Keys to the game:

For Auburn:

For the D: Limit the time in the pocket. Take the passing game away from SC. Keep Rice from becoming THE reason you lose. WATCH for any formation that has any of combination of two passers on the field at the same time. Trick plays were the only TD for SC against MSU. Look all night for the trick play. Also keep the roll out by Newton covered. Keep him contained between the ends.

For the O: Throw early, often, and deep. SC almost has to play run stop in this game. See if we cant get a great Man Coverage mis-match and exploit it. Back the SC D off the line and run the ball. WR Screens, Bubble Screens and Bunch formations should slow the SC rush down a bit. Expect to run a Reverse or two as well. Anything to keep the SC D playing at home. Keep Cox from taking the sacks and staying third and long. Score first, get a lead, and shut the SC fans down early!

Conclusion: Face it football fans, if Auburn is known for anything, we are known as RBU. Two First Round RB drafts into the NFL in 2004 and another first rounder in the backfield now. The emphasis this year has been tough, aggressive, smashmouth, run oriented O. I think you will see that tonight as well. Typical throw the ball to open up the run. I think Auburn is still deeper and bigger on the OL and will win the game there. Look for a priority to not get Cox sacked and also to throw to the RBs. If things get bogged down on the line look for Carl Stewart and/or McLaughlin to set AU up in an old fashioned Power I and play AU football.

Prediction: AU 24-SC 13, AU scores first and then runs the clock while CAB puts on an aerial show to break-in the receivers. Look for the bunch formation that CAB loves to run. Also keep an eye out for a small coaching duel with trick plays. CSS vs CTT for Top Riverboat Gambler.