SI: Auburn Hoping To Live Up To Fans' Hopes

[AUChizad]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/football/ncaa/wires/08/11/2060.ap.fbc.auburn.preview.0961/

Auburn hoping to live up to fans' hopes

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -Auburn coach Gene Chizik liked what he heard from fans during the offseason.

Now the question is, will fans like what they see when the Tigers take the field during his second season.

The first season was up and down and mostly deemed a success - partly due to uncertain expectations - with an Outback Bowl win, eight victories and a near-miss against rival Alabama.

Perception has changed somewhat.

The roster is a little deeper thanks to a top five recruiting class and several defensive backs returning from injuries. Maybe that helps explain the enthusiasm that has greeted Chizik in recent months from a fan base hungry to see signs of closing the gap with the national champion Crimson Tide.

"It's the same passion and energy and excitement at every place,'' Chizik said. "That's really cool for me, because that was one of the things I wanted to do, is really pull the Auburn family back together.

"I feel it and I sense it when I go talk to people. It's really a neat thing.''

The Tigers stirred hope by racking up a school-record 5,613 yards last season, and raised concerns by yielding more yards than any other Auburn defense (4,863). The final two games were a nutshell version: Auburn gave up 621 yards to Northwestern in the Outback Bowl - and won.

The Tigers held Alabama to 291 yards - and lost 26-21 on a late touchdown drive.

The offense potentially has more firepower, even with the graduation of tailback Ben Tate. The defense gets a boost with safeties Zac Etheridge, Aairon Savage and Mike McNeil back from serious injuries; Savage and McNeil missed all of last season.

And linebackers Josh Bynes and Craig Stevens might get some relief from newcomers after playing virtually every snap last season.

Some of the optimism stems from new quarterback Cameron Newton, who has been praised by teammates and coaches for both his athleticism and leadership since arriving in January.

His running ability seems to make the 6-foot-6, 247-pound junior college transfer potentially a better fit for Gus Malzahn's hurry-up offense than last year's starter Chris Todd. The one-time Florida backup beat out several contenders in the spring.

Now, the hard part.

"As I've told him, as I've told everybody else, he's got to get on the field now and deliver,'' Chizik said. "That's the last piece of the puzzle and the most critical part.

"He can do whatever he wants in practice. He's got to take that to the game field and deliver.''

He'll have a veteran offensive line and a more experienced receiving corps to help him out. Left tackle Lee Ziemba put a pro career on hold and returned for his senior season to head a line that includes four senior starters.

Darvin Adams was one of the Southeastern Conference's most productive, if unheralded, receivers last season. He and Terrell Zachery need some help from a group of young, unproven players that might include freshman Trovon Reed.

"Every receiver brings something different to the table,'' Newton said. "There's no doubt that we have talent on this team. I think it's going to be up to me, also with Coach Malzahn, to get those guys the ball and let them do something special.''

Mario Fannin settles back in at running back after playing in a hybrid role last season and finishing as the No. 2 receiver. Running backs coach Curtis Luper has already predicted Fannin, like Tate, will gain 1,000 yards.

Onterio McCalebb had a fast start last season and gained 606 yards, but highly touted freshman Michael Dyer figures to claim some of the carries.

Defensively, the top five tacklers are back, led by Bynes, Stevens and cornerback Neiko Thorpe.

Former starters Etheridge, Savage and McNeil could give the secondary a huge boost, especially in experience.

The Tigers must replace end Antonio Coleman and tackle Jake Ricks on the line. Nick Fairley and Zach Clayton both have started in the middle, and tackle Jeffrey Whitaker was a top recruit.

Auburn has plenty of bad habits to break from 2009, from struggling to pull out close games to costly penalties.

The Tigers got off to a fast start to climb into the rankings, then struggled before the Alabama game.

"We've got to finish,'' Bynes said. "That's what our coaches are preaching. Last year we started 5-0 and we finished 3-5, and that's not going to get us anywhere. We lost key games and we've got to finish on top now instead of finishing on the bottom of those.''

[barkndog]

I heard it said the other day that Auburn may be this year's Ole Miss.  If you think about last year, Ole Miss had a hyped quarterback and writers and fans expected them to do well.  They were let down when the quarterback didn't perform up to expectations and they lost games they shouldn't have.  (Personally, I feel that's going to be the norm with a Nutt coached team, but back to the discussion...). 

Some of the optimism stems from new quarterback Cameron Newton, who has been praised by teammates and coaches for both his athleticism and leadership since arriving in January.

His running ability seems to make the 6-foot-6, 247-pound junior college transfer potentially a better fit for Gus Malzahn's hurry-up offense than last year's starter Chris Todd. The one-time Florida backup beat out several contenders in the spring.

Now, the hard part.

"As I've told him, as I've told everybody else, he's got to get on the field now and deliver,'' Chizik said. "That's the last piece of the puzzle and the most critical part.

"He can do whatever he wants in practice. He's got to take that to the game field and deliver.''

We're not as hyped as Ole Miss was last year, but there are some sports analysts/writers thinking that we are going to kick ass.  (11-0 before the bama game?  really?).  And I've heard too many fans expecting us to win at least 10 games.  So, if we lost, say 4 games - would we really have underperformed?  Or is it just unrealistic expectations?

[Snaggletiger]

As I've said before, until the D (Worst in AU history) proves they can step it up and the team as a whole cuts down on the 427 penalties a game they averaged last year, I'm thinking 3-4 losses.  Look at this team realistically and you'll see that there's a lot of "could be's" but at the same time, there's a lot of shit that has to be fixed before 10 wins are possible. 

I personally think they will correct the penalty situation.  The influx of talent and return of some injured players should help the D.  Certainly can't hurt it.  I'm really trying to temper my expectations because normally, I have a tendency to analyze every Auburn team before the season and finally arrive at the same conclusion....Bring on the Dallas Cowboys.  No way they match up with us.

[GH2001]

I heard it said the other day that Auburn may be this year's Ole Miss.  If you think about last year, Ole Miss had a hyped quarterback and writers and fans expected them to do well.  They were let down when the quarterback didn't perform up to expectations and they lost games they shouldn't have.  (Personally, I feel that's going to be the norm with a Nutt coached team, but back to the discussion...). 

We're not as hyped as Ole Miss was last year, but there are some sports analysts/writers thinking that we are going to kick ass.  (11-0 before the bama game?  really?).  And I've heard too many fans expecting us to win at least 10 games.  So, if we lost, say 4 games - would we really have underperformed?  Or is it just unrealistic expectations?

Cowherd seems to think the opposite. Vegas only has us pegged to win 8 games. He was telling gamblers to go to vegas and take that one before it changed to 9 or 10. I happen to agree with him somewhat. Ole Miss was ALL in the media and was preseason top 10 and even top 5 in some polls. We are not.

[djsimp]

Exactly the reason why I am enjoying the lower end of the top 25. I do expect a couple steps forward this year, so 10 wins is not out of the question. Like said, the D needs step up.

[Snaggletiger]

I was just listening to Scott Van Pelt interviewing some "Expert" about surprise teams in different conferences.  SVP seemed to be high on AU but this guy wasn't sold on them because he said Newton will probably be real inconsistent without any real SEC playing experience.  I'm just the opposite.  I think if Cam can toss it around even half as good as Todd, this offense is going to be scarey good.  It's the D I'm worried about.  Fix that and this team will be scarey good.

[ssgaufan]

I'm pissed about this upcoming season.  Remember back a couple of years ago, and this was suppose to be our year.  Veteran O line, SR QB, favorable schedule.  Now all that shit has been thrown out the window, and we are hoping that this years QB is better than last years version that showed up to the stadium on a short bus.  We are also putting a lot of expectations on true freshman to make our defense better.  I just hope to reach eight wins again.

[Godfather]

I'm pissed about this upcoming season.  Remember back a couple of years ago, and this was suppose to be our year.  Veteran O line, SR QB, favorable schedule.  Now all that shit has been thrown out the window, and we are hoping that this years QB is better than last years version that showed up to the stadium on a short bus.  We are also putting a lot of expectations on true freshman to make our defense better.  I just hope to reach eight wins again.

CCTAU hates you

[Snaggletiger]

I'm pissed about this upcoming season.  Remember back a couple of years ago, and this was suppose to be our year.  Veteran O line, SR QB, favorable schedule.  Now all that shit has been thrown out the window, and we are hoping that this years QB is better than last years version that showed up to the stadium on a short bus.  We are also putting a lot of expectations on true freshman to make our defense better.  I just hope to reach eight wins again.

Honestly, it could go either way.  There were several games last year AU could have won with a bounce or two their way (Or not having 6 penalties on the most crucial drive) UK, UGA and Bama.  Could have just as easily lost to N'Western.  There were really only 2 games all year where AU was just throttled from the start and that was Arky and LSU. 

After 08', I wasn't expecting much from this offense.  The hangover from that year was a bitch and I thought we had years to go before we got back to being competitive in the league.  Malzahn's system just gave me the warm and fuzzies again and now he has more talent and more depth at his disposal. For me, like was said above, step up the D and eliminate so many penalties and yes, this team can do 10 or more wins.  Keep up the same pace as last year and 6-7 wins could be staring us in the face. 

[djsimp]

I was just listening to Scott Van Pelt interviewing some "Expert" about surprise teams in different conferences.  SVP seemed to be high on AU but this guy wasn't sold on them because he said Newton will probably be real inconsistent without any real SEC playing experience.  I'm just the opposite.  I think if Cam can toss it around even half as good as Todd, this offense is going to be scarey good.  It's the D I'm worried about.  Fix that and this team will be scarey good.

What he said.

[Godfather]

Honestly, it could go either way.  There were several games last year AU could have won with a bounce or two their way (Or not having 6 penalties on the most crucial drive) UK, UGA and Bama.  Could have just as easily lost to N'Western.  There were really only 2 games all year where AU was just throttled from the start and that was Arky and LSU. 

After 08', I wasn't expecting much from this offense.  The hangover from that year was a bitch and I thought we had years to go before we got back to being competitive in the league.  Malzahn's system just gave me the warm and fuzzies again and now he has more talent and more depth at his disposal. For me, like was said above, step up the D and eliminate so many penalties and yes, this team can do 10 or more wins.  Keep up the same pace as last year and 6-7 wins could be staring us in the face.

I've sentenced boys younger than you to the gas chamber. Didn't want to do it. I felt I owed it to them.

[ssgaufan]

CCTAU hates you

Don't hate me because my avatar's sexy.

[Snaggletiger]

I've sentenced boys younger than you to the gas chamber. Didn't want to do it. I felt I owed it to them.

It's easy to grin when your ship comes in
And you've got the stock market beat
But the man worthwhile is the man who can smile
When his shorts are too tight in the seat.

[Saniflush]

It's easy to grin when your ship comes in
And you've got the stock market beat
But the man worthwhile is the man who can smile
When his shorts are too tight in the seat.

Bless this ship, and all who sail on her.  I christen thee, the Flying Wasp.......

[Godfather]

Bless this ship, and all who sail on her.  I christen thee, the Flying Wasp.......

Go ahead pookie

[AuburnChopper 3.0]

You'll get nothing and like it, Spalding.