It’s rivalry week in college football, and what a great game to kick it off with the undefeated Auburn Tigers coming into Tuscaloosa to take on the Crimson Tide of Alabama. If you didn’t already know, these two teams play each other near the end of the regular season every year, and are two of the biggest rivals in college football going all the way back to 1893. Alabama leads the series 40-33-1, and have won the previous two meetings. There will be more than just bragging rights on the line in this one however. Auburn is currently on the road to the National Championship, but has to get past Bama to have a better shot of getting there. This is the Tide’s title game to them, and Saban will have his players prepared to play their hearts out.
For Auburn this season, all eyes have been on quarterback Cam Newton, both on and off the field. Newton surprised everyone as he put up huge numbers to start the season. Then there were the recruiting allegations. Cam’s father supposedly used money from Mississippi State’s booster club to pay for Cam to attend Auburn. Newton hasn’t made any comments related to this, however, and still continues to perform at his best each and every game. He is currently the outright favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, so hopefully the allegations won’t affect the votes. While all of the drama off the field has been happening, Auburn has continued to play great football, taking down some of the best teams in the SEC, including Arkansas, LSU, and Georgia. The Tigers are ranked 3rd in the country in rushing yards (307.9 a game), most contributed to by Newton. Even if you do stop Newton on the ground, he can still beat you with his arm as well. I think the key for Auburn in this game is to limit the big plays for Alabama. They can’t let Alabama take the momentum early in the game, especially in Bryant-Denney Stadium.
High expectations were on the shoulders of Alabama coming into the season, having won the National Championship last season, and knowing Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram will be back for the Tide. Those high expectations were crushed midway through the season as Alabama was defeated by the Gamecocks of South Carolina, and then three weeks later, suffered another loss to then #10 ranked LSU. Losing both SEC West games also put Alabama out of SEC Championship contention also. So the upcoming game against the Auburn will be their biggest game of the year, even bigger than a bowl game. Running back Mark Ingram has been relatively quiet throughout the year, but has still had big games. Greg McElroy has really stepped up his game this year to become more of an elite college quarterback. McElroy couldn’t have done it, however, without his big play receivers Julio Jones and Marquis Maze to his left and right. I look for the Alabama passing offense to have a big day against the Auburn D, who has allowed opposing quarterbacks to have good numbers when facing them. For Alabama to win this game, they need to keep Auburn’s offense one dimensional. Newton is going to get his big numbers, but they can’t let role players have large gains. In the Georgia-Auburn game, Onterio McCalebb rushed for 3 touchdowns. That can’t happen in this one. You can’t just focus on shutting down Cam Newton, and Nick Saban knows that.
*No Prediction in this one
Written by coreybronco1, Friday November 26 2010
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