Did Auburn find an identity during its bye week?

By Lee Roberts  |   Wednesday, October 22, 2008  |  Comments( 0 )

Auburn Tigers
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Thursday night, the Auburn Tigers travel to West Virginia for what many people thought would be one of the marquee matchups of the 2008 college football season. In light of the struggles at both schools, the game is considerably less hyped than anyone anticipated. Auburn’s problems boiled over with the firing of offensive coordinator Tony Franklin and the subsequent loss to Arkansas that week.

The bye week came at an ideal time for the Tigers. This Thursday, we find out if Auburn was able to find itself as a football team during its week off.

Historically, Auburn football has featured stifling defense and a power running game on offense. In the past, the Tigers hit the enemy in the mouth on offense and defense and saw if you could stand in and take the blows. Since 2003, Auburn is 28-10 in the SEC with one conference title and six straight wins over Alabama. That’s a pretty successful run, which raises the question probably every fan is asking: Why change?

The change to the spread at Auburn has been widely criticized, but hindsight is always 20/20. Now that Franklin is out, the question now becomes “Can we get back to what we had?”

Changing offensive philosophies at midseason is extremely difficult. Fortunately for Auburn, the change should be a return to what the majority of players are accustomed to from past seasons. Auburn will likely maintain elements of the spread in its offense, but you’ll see a healthy dose of the running game against West Virginia and the rest of the season.

If Auburn was able to effectively use its bye week, the schedule sets up for the Tigers to enjoy a successful season. If Auburn can pull out a win against the Mountaineers, two winnable games follow against Ole Miss and Tennessee-Martin. Win those three and the Tigers are 7-3 heading into the final two weeks – Georgia and a trip to Tuscaloosa.

So, for all the turmoil on The Plains this season, an eight-win campaign is still attainable. Sure, that’s not what the coaches, players or fans were hoping for in August, but given all that’s transpired it would be a pretty remarkable finish. There will certainly be people calling for Tuberville’s job after the season, but a seventh straight win in the Iron Bowl will do wonders for someone’s job security.
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About Lee Roberts

Born in Richmond, Va, I moved south to UNC-Chapel Hill for college and received a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. I currently live in Charlotte, NC and cover Auburn, LSU and the ...
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