This was my view a few weeks ago as I sat in the Auburn baseball stadium thinking about my days at Auburn and just enjoying the view. You can always spot several students studying in the baseball stadium and it is a great place to gather your thoughts. By the way, I suggest that you check out the new "Under Armour" sideline shirts at the J&M Bookstore. I picked up a blue one for game days. All of the Auburn coaches except Gus Malzahn was wearing the shirt in the orange at the Arkansas game last night.
I started to go to this game, but Auburn always seems to lose to Arkansas when I do attend so I decided to stay home and watch this game on the HDTV at home. I did not hear anyone say that Auburn would blow out Arkansas. The guys on the Saturday morning show in Birmingham stated that the game could be close and that Auburn would win. Of course, the Arkansas players did not begin the day well by going to the Auburn 50 yard line prior to the game and confronting the Auburn players who were in their customary prayer circle. This is sacred ground for the Auburn players and I am sure that this event only added extra motivation for the Auburn players to win this football game.
The Auburn offense could not have played better. Auburn rushed for a record 543 yards which is an SEC record for rushing in a regular season SEC game. My game ball goes to Kamryn Pettway for his rushing performance of 192 yards and two touchdowns.
At the start of this season, we were all wondering who would be running the football at Auburn after the departure of Jovan Robinson. It does seem that Auburn now has 4 running backs with Kamryn Pettway leading the pack. The offensive line changes with Austin Golson at center and Darius James at left tackle have really helped the running game and pass protection. Sean White only had to throw the ball 11 times and finished the night with 77 yards passing which did include a 45 yard touchdown strike to multi talented Stanton Truitt. I think that Gus has finally decided on a QB.
Auburn's defense was suffocating and only allowed 25 rushing yards and 187 passing yards with no touchdowns and 1 interception. The Auburn defensive line harassed the Arkansas QB, Austin Allen all night long and recorded 4 sacks. I was surprised that Austin Allen remained in the game for Arkansas after the game was out of reach. It was obvious that he was hobbled and unable to throw the football effectively. The Auburn linebackers played well and had 20 tackles. Jeremy Sprinkle, the Arkansas star tight end only had 1 catch for 16 yards. His brother Daniel is a sophomore on Auburn's baseball team.
Daniel Carlson did not kick any field goals last night, but was 8 for 8 on extra points and continued to kick the ball deep on kickoffs. We will be seeing Daniel on Sunday afternoons kicking field goals in the NFL. He is the best kicker that I have seen play at Auburn.
Auburn will now face Ole Miss next Saturday evening at 6:15 p.m. and I now wonder how many of the SEC talking heads will now pick Auburn to win that game. At the start of the season, no one expected Auburn to compete against Ole Miss. Ole Miss did lose one of their top defensive players last night in the game with LSU and Leonard Fournette had 284 rushing yards against the Ole Miss defense. I am now anxious to see how this Auburn rushing attack performs against the Ole Miss defense. I expect the Auburn defensive line to pressure Chad Kelly which will hopefully result a few turnovers and a win for Auburn.
This Auburn Football team appears to be on a mission and I do expect some more surprises this season.
War Eagle!
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