It's once again time to fire up the Possumblog Sports Center and discuss tomorrow's big SEC contest between the ferocious Tigers of Auburn University (3-1 overall, 1-0 SEC) and the Pretty Little Chickens of South Carolina (2-2 overall, 0-2 SEC)!
As you recall, last week Auburn tangled with the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky, and just as the our Football Pickin' Chicken, Nancy Pelosi, predicted, the boys from Kentuck managed to rack up an impressive 14 points against the Plainsmen, and the Orange and Blue countered with a lackluster 37 points in response. Nancy Pelosi had predicted a 48 point score for the Tigers, but I believe even she could not have foreseen starting QB Brandon Cox being laid low with a stomach virus only hours before kickoff. The fact that the API boys were able to march on and score well even with untested backup field general Blake Field is a credit to them, but it's obvious that had this substitution occurred against a less-favorable opponent--such as, oh, let's say, the LSUs, Georgias, or Alabamas of the conference--the results probably would have been much less good.
As it was, though, Field got some good field experience, and the team got to work out some kinks. The Tigers have continued to slowly improve over the past weeks, with continued flashes of gameplay that were MUCH more in evidence last year. The kicking game still needs some work, but the bones are there for the rest of the team to indicate a good run for the rest of the year.
AS FOR THEIR OPPONENTS this week--the other USC sits at the bottom of the SEC East below the perennial powerhouses of Florida, Georgia, and Vanderbilt, and are feared mostly for the fact that Steve Spurrier is their coach. As Coach says, "it's a rebuilding year." Despite his reputation, Spurrier has proven that without a strong team full of thug-life miscreants, it's difficult for him to work his coaching magic as he did at Florida. Or at Washington ::snicker:: Sorry. That was unprofessional of me. ::chortle::
BUT, here's the deal--he IS a good coach, and even the worst team in the SEC is still pretty danged tough to work over. (Mississippi State not withstanding.) Spurrier is going to have to start winning, and nothing could be sweeter than to whup up on the Tigers on their home turf. Look for the Birds to come out hard on defense early with lots of pressure on Brandon Cox--the secondary is going to have to fend for itself against a talented Auburn receiver corps, but if they can get the passing game shut down at the source, they have a chance of pulling off that much-needed win.
HOWEVER, being all impartial and objective and stuff like that, Auburn is simply a better team--I mean, what is more fearsome--this and this, or this?
See what I mean?
I will say this for the Gamecocks--at least in the most important category, that of of cheerleading, they DO have individual photos of their roster, which, even if it does include guys, is something Auburn has yet to do. Still, if you measure by the quality and quantity of game day candids, it's hard to fault the Tigers. Even if the pictures do include too many guys.
ANYWAY, on to the most exciting part of the show--the weekly prognostications! Football Pickin' Chicken Nancy Pelosi is still with us this week, since Auburn did win last week, and she did predict the opponent's score with remarkable certainty, even if she was off by 11 points on our score, and since Chet the E-Mail Boy made a point of not dumping turnips on her.
Given these circumstances, I believe it still behooves us to allow her one more week of grace without being turned into fricasee. HOWEVER, being that Football Pickin' Chicken Nancy Pelosi is a chicken just like the mascot of the opposing team, some have called foul, or fowl, and say that Football Pickin' Chicken Nancy Pelosi cannot be trusted to be fair and impartial as she picks this week's game, and might try to tip the balance toward the Gamecocks.
Rest assured, kind readers, Football Pickin' Chicken Nancy Pelosi is only interested in the truth and would be hurt by all of this sniping were she actually a sentient being with more than a dropperful of brains.
So, here we go--as we did last week, we have placed Football Pickin' Chicken Nancy Pelosi in a large Maytag washing machine box with a numeric keypad to use to peck out her prediction--let's see, it's coming in now...
AUBURN 34
SOUTH CAROLINA 17
We thank you all for tuning in to this week's Possumblog Sports Center! The Auburn-South Carolina game will be telecast on ESPN 2, with kickoff at Jordan-Hare Stadium on the lush campus of Auburn University scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
Posted by Terry Oglesby at September 30, 2005 10:01 AM