Some Quick Thoughts following the Auburn Spring Game

The Good:

The runningbacks were the obvious stars of the game with several huge runs and touchdowns. After last years indecisiveness it was refreshing to watch the backs hitting the holes and bursting through the line. Ben Tate set the tone for the day with his 40+ TD run on the 1st drive and Onterio McCalleb stole the show with his 70 yard touchdown run. If Auburn is planning on using Tate as their everydown back to pound it out and then throw in Lil' O (yeah I'm calling it now...that's my uncreative nickname) to melt people's faces off with his supersonic speed then 2009 could be a happy time for Auburn fans who heart the running game. It's hard to imagine potential runningback recruits not being excited by what they saw.

Also i'd like to think anyone who had their doubts about a run first spread offense might hold their tongue til the season actually gets started. Fannin also looked good running and catching the ball, I know we all wanna see him become Auburn's feature back, but if he's a more dangerous weapon at H Back then I'm ok with it. I just wanna see him making plays somewhere.

The other positive from the game was the performance of wideout Darvin Adams. Hopefully he can emerge as the playmaker the Tigers have been missing since Courtney Taylor left town.

The Bad:

I really hope the running game can be as dominant as it looked to day because the passing game looks just as disastrous as it was last year. Outside of Adams, the wideouts were the same useless collection of players that couldn't hold on to the ball or make plays. I'm assuming DeAngelo Benton & Emory Blake should have no trouble coming in and getting immediate playing time. I still think Billings and Hawthorne can be playmakers and I've got hope for Terrell Zachery and Piere-Louis and then of course Fannin is obviously one of the better receivers we have no matter what position he's playing...but everyone else, well wake me up when they are ready to show something...

...then again it's hard to know if we do have any playmakers at receiver when the QBs play like that. Neil Caudle had the far better stats and made much better throws and if you were gonna put me in charge of the decision to name a starter then it's a no brainer, go with Caudle...but I wasn't blown away. Kodi is starting to feel like a lost cause. It makes me sad, there was so much hope for this kid and I've been one of his biggest cheerleaders and during the homecoming & Georgia games last year I felt like Burns was really starting to put it together but when you go out and put up a performance like he did today (3-8 for 48 yards) against a secondary that was filled with backups and walk ons...well it's time to start abandoning the bandwagon. I know that the coaches aren't gonna name a QB until the fall, and I understand based on what we saw today, but I'm finding it increasingly unlikely that Kodi Burns is going to ever become the guy we wish he was.

The scary thing is that Auburn may soon find themselves in some serious trouble at QB if Burns decides he's had enough and transfers if he doesn't get to start because Barrett Trotter is done for the year with a torn ACL & Chris Todd is of course still a 1 armed man. Yeah that was a really fucking smart idea to let the defense hit the QBs in practice!?! So with Trotter done, Todd crippled, & possibly Burns bolting, Auburn could find itself with 2 true freshmen as the backups next season and that's assuming Tyrik Rollison qualifies and Clint Mosely doesn't decide to go play pro baseball if he's drafted high enough. But that's probably just the part of my brain that is obsessed with the worst case scenario talking...I hope.

in Burns defense the running game seemed to score quickly and easily with him at QB so he had less chances to throw the ball and his stats were largely hurt because of drops by receivers. still his passes looked ugly and his only long play was due mostly to Fannin's heads up catch after Kodi's pass was deflected.

The Ugly:

The defense might as well have stayed in bed, I mean I'm grateful for the chance to see how fast our runningbacks could all go...but that was ridiculous. I know injuries were affecting the DBs and the DLine but a lot of those runs were because the backs weren't even being tagged. That coulda been flag football and Lil' O's 70 yarder would've been on the board. I'm gonna assume the the defense will be it's normal lethal self by the time the season rolls around but as of right now I am a little worried.

All in all it was an entertaining game (sure beat the UGA & Bama snorfests) and I think Auburn fans have a few things to feel optimistic about for the 2009 Season. War Eagle!