Auburn's Future is Bright

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http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/15764037/auburns-future-is-bright-but-its-also-pretty-good-in-the-present

A lot of people are surprised that Auburn -- given its significant personnel losses from the 2011 BCS national championship team -- is 5-2 and ranked No. 20 going into Saturday's visit to No. 1 LSU. Gene Chizik is not among them.

"If you asked our players, they would tell you that we expected to be 7-0 at this point," Chizik said when we talked by phone Tuesday. "Now we've got a long way to go before we're a good football team, but our guys figure that if we play well and do the things we're supposed to, we should win every time we play. And that includes Saturday's game."

Auburn's only losses have been to No. 8 Clemson (38-24) and No. 9 Arkansas (38-14). The Tigers led at Clemson 21-7 on the road until a rash of Auburn mistakes and big plays by Clemson decided the game. Auburn trailed Arkansas by only a touchdown 21-14 at halftime but could not keep up the pace against Ryan Wilson (19 consecutive completions) and the high-flying Arkansas passing attack. Auburn had three turnovers.

"We were in position to win both of those games, but we made mistakes and you can't win on the road when you make mistakes," Chizik said.

But the fact that Auburn has won its other five games tells us the Tigers have come a long way since Sept. 3. On that day Auburn trailed Utah State by 10 with only 2:07 left but got a touchdown, an onside kick and another touchdown with only 30 left for a miracle 42-38 win.

The Auburn defense allowed Utah State to stay on the field for 84 plays, gave up 448 total yards, and still won.

"We are a young team and we played like a young team that day," Chizik said. "But we found a way to win."

After the Utah State game, the narrative for the rest of Auburn's season seemed to be set. It was: So what did you expect? You just can't lose 23 seniors, an offensive line that had 162 combined career starts, a Heisman Trophy winner (Cam Newton), and a Lombardi Award winner (defensive tackle Nick Fairley) and think you're going to be competitive in any conference, particularly the SEC.

"We knew we had a lot of holes to fill, and we knew we were going to be young," Chizik said. "But we also knew we had some talented people who had been waiting for their chance. We weren't great. We weren't close to great. But those kids had seen what great looks like. And that helps when things get tough."

Things got very tough the following week against Mississippi State at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The Bulldogs held the ball for an incredible 97 plays and rolled up 531 yards. When your defense is on the field for 97 plays, you are not supposed to win. You're not even supposed to be close.

But Auburn's first SEC game of the season came down to one play, and Auburn made it. Mississippi State quarterback Chris Relf was stopped on the 1-foot line by a life-changing tackle from Ryan Smith as time ran out. Auburn won 41-34.

"Our guys believed that no matter how many plays were in the game we were going to make one more play than the other team and that we were going to win," Chizik said. "And that's exactly what happened."

The Clemson game slipped away, but then came a trip to No. 10 South Carolina, the SEC East favorites with Marcus Lattimore, Alshon Jeffery and a talented, nasty defense. Lattimore was supposed to wear down an Auburn defense that was having trouble against the run. But Auburn took a 16-13 lead with only 1:38 remaining, and the defense rose up and stopped South Carolina at the Tigers 29-yard line as time ran out. Lattimore was held to 66 yards on 17 carries.

"We kind of willed ourselves to win that one," Chizik said.

Last Saturday night at home against Florida, Auburn found yet another way to win. The Tigers used three quarterbacks trying to generate some offense. They didn't get much (278 yards). Still, they turned two muffed punts and another Florida turnover into 10 points. The defense held the Gators under 200 yards of total offense and won 17-6.

Auburn is doing all this with a very young football team. How young? Auburn lists 33 players on its defensive depth chart. Twenty-three are freshmen, redshirt freshmen or sophomores.

"We're starting to grow up a little," said defensive coordinator Ted Roof. "We're starting to get some confidence."

Auburn will need more than a little confidence Saturday in Baton Rouge. It's going to give Clint Moseley his first career start at quarterback because Barrett Trotter, who started the first seven games, is struggling and talented freshman Kiehl Frazier is not ready to make his first career start in a place like Death Valley. LSU is a team that wears you down and then beats you up. Nobody -- not Oregon, not West Virginia, not Florida, not Tennessee -- has been able to hang with the nation's No. 1 team for four quarters. They are simply too strong and too physical. And quite honestly, LSU is a little bit scary.

"We understand the challenge. We know this is a great football team we're about to play," Chizik said. "But this group of players believes in each other."

Chizik knew when he took the Auburn job in 2009 that the 2011 season would catch him thin on experience. But he and his staff have recruited well. With Frazier and other talented freshmen available, the future looks bright. But Auburn isn't thinking about the future.

"We're not looking down the road at what we have a chance to become," Chizik said. "We are looking at the next game and trying to figure out how this group of players can win that game. Then we'll go on to the next game."

That's probably a pretty good approach to the rest of this season. After LSU, the Tigers still have to go to Georgia on Nov. 12. On Nov. 26, they host No. 2 Alabama, which may be No. 1 by the time that game is played. A year ago, Auburn rallied from a 24-0 deficit to beat Alabama 28-27 on the way to the national championship. The Crimson Tide will be more than a little eager to repay the favor.

In short, how the 2011 season will ultimately be defined for the defending national champions starts Saturday in Baton Rouge.