This Week: How to Avoid a Tubervillesque Collapse against Ole Miss

There were two things you could set your watch by for a Tommy Tuberville team: They would over achieve and beat a team they weren’t supposed to, and they would tank it up at least once a year and lose to a team that no one saw coming. The times and the personnel have changed, but as we approach a potential trap game vs. Ole Miss, I thought it would be beneficial to explore potential ways that Auburn can avoid a letdown. To accomplish this, I will examine three bad loses by the Auburn football team. These loses are 2006 UGA, 2006 Arkansas, and the 2007 suckfest against USF. I know this is difficult, but we must examine the past to avoid repeating it in Oxford. Here are the common threads I have found.

1. No Turnovers: This can’t be stressed enough. Against UGA in 2006, Brandon Cox threw 3 first half interceptions including one that was returned for a touchdown. The Bulldogs were able to score 17 of their 24 first half points off turnovers and it put this game out of reach before the band made it on the field for halftime. In a similar fashion, Auburn lost 3 fumbles in 2007 against USF (2 of which were Mario! Oh how times have changed, right?). The main difference was our defense was able to hold them to field goal attempts (they missed all three). So while the turnovers never hurt us directly on the scoreboard, it ended several long drives and put the pressure on our defense (which was a whole lot better in 2007 than it is now). Interestingly enough, Auburn did not commit a single turnover in our 2006 flop against Arkansas, but great sins were created elsewhere on the field.

2. Limit the Superstar: Darren McFadden rushed 28 times for 148 yards and a TD in 2006. He single-handedly switched the field position and kept the Auburn defense on its heels. The stellar running game opened up the play action pass, and Mitch Mustain hit Marcus Monk for a 50 yard TD pass before halftime. Obviously, the superstar for Ole Miss is Jeremiah Masoli. I guess it’s too much to ask for our defense to stop him entirely, but if they can just contain him and prevent him from turning busted plays into 20 yard gains then we should be ok.

3. Avoid the Slow Start: Our offense was atrocious against UGA in 2006. In addition to the 3 interceptions, the offense had three 3 and outs and didn’t have a drive go longer than 6 plays in the first half. In the 2006 Arkansas game, 5 of our 9 drives ended in a punt. It’s simple: when the offense stalls, bad things happen. This year is no different. Our offense stalled in the first half against Clemson and it was only by the sheer will of Newton that the Tigers were saved.

4. Watch for Crazy plays: When teams are desperate to win, they start digging in the back of the playbook. Arkansas converted this bad boy in 2007:

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/939567/arkansas_vs_auburn_2006_fish_trick_play/

It got them down to the 5 yard line and they would end up scoring to widen the gap. I’m sure Houston Nutt has a whole binder of crazy plays that he will no doubt unleash on us. We have been burned by trick plays before (Just ask Josh Bynes against LSU). It only takes one to swing the momentum.

5. Put it away before the 4^th: When you let an inferior team hang around until the fourth quarter, they start to get this crazy idea that they just might win. Even though USF missed 4 field goals in the 2007 game, Auburn never could put them away. They end up making the critical field goal to send it to OT and they would score the touchdown for the win. I don’t see us being able to readily accomplish this one. Every one of Auburn’s games this season has come down to the fourth quarter and I expect this one to be the same.

Out of this entire list, I would say that if Auburn can just limit the turnovers then we will be ok. When the offense has the ball, 80% of the time they are moving it down the field on a sustained drive. We will most likely not be able to stop Masoli and we probably won’t be able to put this game out of reach before the fourth quarter, but if we can win the turnover battle, I think we might be one step closer to exhuming the Tuberville Demons of the past.