5 things i think i know at the halfway point of Auburn's season.

despite the fact Auburn just got blowed out (as Emmitt Smith would say...oh how i miss thee and your unique take on the spoken word) i think most of us are feeling positive vibes at this point in the year...especially when we were full of FEAR, LOATHING, DREAD, ANGER, CONFUSION in the offseason. even after the great staff that the Chiz was able to put together i think noone would've pegged Auburn as a 5-1 team at the mid-season point. with wins over 3 bowl teams from last year (La Tech, Ball State...okay i know it's not the same Ball State team from last year, and West Virginia) and a hard earned road win against another SEC team trying to rebuild their program, and they even made up for the worst offensive performance i have ever seen by crushing Mississippi State. so all in all things are great...other than the fact Arkansas is still scoring points on us.

so what do we know about our team right now?

1. SCORING POINTS IZ AWESOME!!!!

who ever would've imagined an Auburn team that would've ranked so highly nationally in so many different offensive categories? it's a miracle. it's fucking SCIENCE!!! pay Gustav whatever the hell he wants. the Tigers need to hang on to him as long as they can. (seriously i have nightmares about him leaving Auburn for Texas.)

2. we have a QB....finally.

despite Chris Todd playing like shit against the Hawgs last weekend, he's been a wonderful surprise for Auburn. the one armed zombie who chucked wobbly no zip having quails into the opposing secondaries from last year has been replaced by an accurate, aware in the pocket, sniper who still has only thrown 1 interception all year vs. 12 touchdowns and has only been sacked 5 times in 6 games...most of those coming against Arkansas. granted his play vs the Razorbacks left a little something to be desired...but his effort in leading Auburn on a 2nd half comeback win vs. West Virginia cancels that out for me. you'd have to rank him right now as either the 3rd or 4th best QB in the league behind Ryan Mallett and Tim Tebow...with Greg McElroy also in the discussion. who would've ever thought we'd be saying that?

3. Ben Tate rulz!

he would be a Heisman candidate if he played for Florida, Alabama, LSU, etc... dude is leading the SEC in rushing (6th nationally!) and is on track to go for 1,400+ yards. he's played himself from a 5th or 6th round sleeper into a possible 2nd round draft pick. i think it's safe to say we will all miss him next year.

4. Darvin Adams and Terrell Zachery can catch. awesome.

5. our defense is made of suck....but not TOTAL EPIC SUCK. gettin' gashed by Arkansas is gonna sting for a while. giving up buckets of yards vs. West Virginia was a red flag. letting Tennessee get back into the game was enough to make me vomit. but they've also been able to come up with big plays when they had to. Daren Bates has been a wonderful little surprise and Walter McFadden is a badass. our linebackers on the other hand are mostly just a suggestion...with the exception of Jonathan Bynes who i think is the most underrated defender on the team. also Eltoro Freeman = Tray Blackmon...just sayin'. the thing most surprising to me is how little we've heard from the unit that still has a lot of talent...aka the defensive line. they haven't been the playmakers and sack artists that we've seen in the past and Antonio Coleman is unfortunately starting to look like a guy who probably shoulda gone pro last year because there's no way his stock isn't falling like a stone every week. that being said, i'd rather have this unit than whatever the fuck they've got going on here in Athens.

a quick little trivia fact: the SEC's leader in touchdowns as of now is Jonathan Fucking Crompton thanks to the Georgia Bulldogs and their awesome defense.

5. Tuberville leaving was a good thing.

the year 2004...blah fucking blah. at this point i'm giving all that credit to Al Borges. Tuberville is the reason the talent has dropped off nearly every year since the Tigers went undefeated. recruiting has been a whole lotta swings and misses over the past 5 seasons and that's the main issue our defense is in the current trouble it finds itself in. i will always appreciate what CTT did for Auburn in restoring it's place on the national scene and all the big wins he gave us, but i'd been secretly (and not so secretly to certain people) wishing that he would take another job and leave Auburn for a Miami or Texas A&M (pretty just anyone of equal or hire stature not in the SEC). maybe i'll regret saying this, but i don't miss Tubby one single bit. i just really really hope he never ends up coaching another SEC school again. cuz revenge is a sonofabitch!