The Weekend that Was... Without Auburn

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Thoughts on College Football Week 7

Auburn didn’t play this weekend, and I was glad. Six straight weeks of the kind of football that we’re used to getting from Gus Malzahn is heartburn-inducing, and sometimes you just need a little room to breathe. Clean the basement. Mow the lawn one last time. Play with the kids.

There are plenty of activities that one can partake in during an open date, but there’s one that provided more entertainment and fulfillment than most other endeavors.

Watching Georgia lose like that.

Let’s be real on the Bulldogs for a bit. Per a note from our own AU Nerd yesterday, Georgia’s talent is atop the charts.

Friendly reminder

No team in America has as many 5*s on their roster right now than UGA

— AUNerd (@AUSportsNerd) October 12, 2019

Somehow, Kirby Smart has taken the most talent in the country and turned it into an extremely watered-down version of 2009 Alabama. Does he not realize that Jake Fromm is an incredibly efficient quarterback? Does he not realize that he’s got probably the best offensive line in the country, as well as some of the best tailbacks and receivers around? Does he not realize that his defense is full of budding superstars?

Georgia’s living off of a very flimsy facade, and has been for some time. Somehow, they’ve gotten credit for almost beating Alabama when there are, you know, like, actual teams that have beaten Alabama. They couldn’t possibly want to be the Tide any more than they do right now, but Kirby’s opening up the yearbook and looking at the wrong version. You realize that Nick Saban understood how his previous scheme was getting outdated, don’t you? He adapted, and even though I hate Alabama football more than anything in the world, at least they’ve earned pretty much everything they’ve gotten. Saban turned the best talent in the country into a group that produces points, while Kirby took similar talent and turned it into whatever that was that we saw on the field yesterday.

The starts of Richt & Smart at Georgia continue to amaze:

RICHT
2001: 8-4
2002: 13-1 (SEC #1)
2003: 11-3 (SEC #2)
2004: 5-1

SMART
2016: 8-5
2017: 13-2 (SEC #1)
2018: 11-3 (SEC #2)
2019: 5-1

— David Paschall (@DavidSPaschall) October 13, 2019

Why’d you get rid of that Richt guy again? You’re coming up on two full generations of Georgia fans that have seen the odd conference title and nothing more, but they continue to get the pub of a team that’s actually done something.

And whether or not it’s true, the possibility of Kirby Smart not letting Hot Rod take that 60-yarder because the Kick Six was in the back of his mind is bellisimo.

But hey! That’s not all that happened yesterday.

LSU beat Florida 42-28 and looked pretty legit doing it. However, Florida didn’t play terribly, which kind of makes it the best case scenario for Auburn. We lost on the road to a bonafide good football team, but they turned around and proved that they could actually hang in there and the early season success wasn’t a fluke. That means that our loss wasn’t the fluke good game that they played. They just had to go into an even wilder environment than we saw last weekend.

Florida’s good, and we had a chance to win in the final minutes before the hammer went down. I can handle that.

However, we’re going to have an interesting time in Baton Rouge in two weeks. We’re aware of LSU’s new offense, but some of the numbers from last night are outrageous.

511 yards... on 48 plays. They ran a perfect 50-50 mix of run and pass, and averaged 9.1 yards per carry. Joe Burrow was a pedestrian 21-24 for 293 yards and 3 scores. He went more than two quarters without an incompletion.

I don’t want to sound like I’m viewing this through orange and blue glasses, but LSU’s offense is fantastic. So is our defense, Strength on strength. Their defense, however, is substandard. Florida posted 457 yards last night, and did damage with Emory Jones playing a ton of snaps. It’s not like the 14-point margin was a blowout either, LSU iced the game with a late score and it was close throughout. What I’m saying is, this isn’t the Bayou Bengal defense of a decade ago. We may have a shootout on our hands in Death Valley in two weeks if the offense can gain a little rhythm in Fayetteville and find a reliable top tailback to replace Boobee.

Speaking of Fayetteville...

Y’all watching anything cool on TV? Anything else going on?

— Arkansas FRIGHT (@ArkansasFight) October 13, 2019

If we don’t slaughter the Hogs and scatter their charred barbecued bodies among the Ozarks on Saturday, it’s a problem. Gus has never had trouble with Arkansas, and this year shouldn’t be any different. Even last year’s tepid offensive team put up 34, and covered. This year’s group should be able to replicate what we saw against Mississippi State. Arkansas is just bad, that’s it. They lost to Kentucky yesterday and word on the street is that the apathy is high in Pigtown. 6-1 should be an easy goal for this coming week. It’s a self-development type of thing, and we’ll need to see some improvement in certain areas.

Elsewhere, Ole Miss shouldn’t provide too much trouble the first weekend of November. They were largely ineffective until a late surge against Missouri, but we’ll have them going into the second bye of the year, so there shouldn’t be any looking ahead to Georgia.

Our first win of the year looks great right now as Oregon keeps destroying people on a revenge tour after losing to us. They rocked Coloardo 45-3 on Friday night, and they’ll get Washington this weekend. There’s a very real chance that Auburn has a win over a conference champion again, but this one could be a really good football team.

Alright, that’s all for now. Drew Mac has Boom! Roasted in the morning, and you’ll get a magical podcast on the wonder of the bye week on Tuesday. War Eagle!

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