Suicide Watch, Week 9

ah Thursday Night football. where ranked teams go to die. where dreams are shattered. where the Big East gets to pretend it's bigtime football.

what once looked like it would be a matchup of top 10 teams contending for a national title is now a matchup of two of the most disappointing teams in the 2008 College Football season just trying to salvage what's left of their seasons and get a quality win over another BCS conference opponent. West Virginia has been sabotaged by their One and Done head coach. Auburn has been wrecked by a failing offense and coaching staff turmoil. both schools are solidly off the national radar and only West Virginia has any legit shot at winning their conference. in reality this game probably means more for Auburn than it does for West Virginia (where as at the beginning of this season this game was HUGE for West Virginia in their hopes of making it to the BCS title game). either way both teams need a win and need to get their seasons turned around.

what once was a lethal offense lead by the ultimate spread QB, Pat White has turned into a comedy of errors in Morgantown. White has spent much of this season being pounded by the opposition and missing games. Auburn's defense (although banged up and nor nearly as ravenous as they were in week 1) is still the best one White and West Virginia is likely to face this season. Paul Rhodes, Auburn's defensive coordinator, famously ended West Virginia's national title chances when he was coaching Pitt's defense last season. it seems likely that he will employee much of the same game plan this year with a speedier Auburn team to neutralize White's running ability and take away WV's running game altogether.

as far as what Auburn can do on offense against the Mountaineer's D...who fucking knows? all we do know is that Kodi Burns will be Auburn's starting QB, if he finishes the game or gets yanked for Neal Caudle or freshman Barrett Trotter remains to be seen. will Auburn come out and run the ball like they did against Vanderbilt in the 1st quarter of that nightmare? i'd like to believe they will. are they gonna come out and run their halfassed spread-nothing offense that results in multiple 3 and outs, turnovers, and basically THE SADNESS in my heart...god, i hope not. i wanna believe in this Auburn team and i wanna believe that during the bye week they've figured out some things that work and will show up in Morgantown tomorrow night and NOT embarrass themselves on national TV....but hope is for fools, and i'm only a fool for the ladies.

potential for tragedy: 10, until Auburn beats someone then their chances of winning any games remain in doubt for me. there is no hope until hope returns.

method of suicide: remember that scene in Scanners where the dudes head blows up? well watching Auburn football this season may very well cause this to happen to you.