It’s once again time for the Least Accurate Sports Show on the ‘Net, Possumblog Sports Center!
Everyone’s favorite team, the beloved Auburn Tigers succumbed last Saturday to a pummeling beating of a smackdown, complete with a whupping on top of a thrashing, falling to the still-ugly-feral-hog Arkansans by a score of 28-10. You will notice that this is very close--at least inversely--to my predicted score of AU 31 -- UofA 12. I have decided there must be a glitch of some sort in my score predicting machinery, which we hope will be corrected soon.
IN THE MEAN TIME, the 11th ranked Plainsmen (5-1, 3-1 SEC) will once again be the hosts this week, inviting into Jordan-Hare Stadium a bunch of unattractive, antediluvian reptiles, who just happen to have taken over the #2 spot Auburn had held, and who just so happen to be undefeated in the SEC, and everywhere else, for that matter.
As usual, there’s more than just a meeting of the minds in this game, as the Auburn-Florida rivalry is Auburn's third-longest, with Saturday’s contest marking the 81st time the schools have knocked heads since the first game in 1912. The only teams that Auburn has played more than Florida are Georgia (109 games) and Georgia Tech (92).
Oddly enough, last week Auburn was actually favored to beat the pesky crocodilians, although the bookies and other shady persons now think Florida has the advantage. BUT HOW COULD THEY!? Just because they’ve got tremendous arm/leg power from a brace of quarterbacks and momentum and, let’s face it, Satanic powers that are best left unmentioned. Defensively, they’re as big and strong and fast as Auburn (although Auburn hid this from everyone in playing the Hogs) which could spell a tremendous amount of trouble for Auburn’s struggling offensive line.
One thing I did note as being crucial last week to victory was pass protection for Cox and keeping the Kenny Irons option alive--both of which proved to be the Tiger’s undoing. Coaching, coaching, coaching--no more freshman mistakes, no more holding (that is visible to the referees), no more missed snap counts, no more missed blocks, no more dropped balls. Mistakes of a simple and picayune nature have done more to harm the team so far than just about anything else.
Can Florida be beaten? Of course--but it will take them laying down and allowing it to happen. There are vanishingly few teams right now who could flat out whip them in a head’s-up game (and that includes the teams on either side of them in the polls), but as with anything else, a variety of factors can mess things up. One thing is weather--it’s going to be chilly, and you know how cold-blooded animals get when it’s cold outside. Second is the home-field advantage, which was useless against Arkansas, but could nonetheless still be a factor if things begin to fall apart for the Gators.
Which leads, inexorably, to the issue of school spirit, which in turn leads to those things known as cheerleaders. Auburn may be catching a break this week--although our own, rarely-updated cheerleading site has been a source of constant harping from certain quarters (and certain marsupials) the UFla website is even more sparse of spirit. I’ve always thought that if teams would spend just a fraction of the amount of time making websites with pretty girls in chenille sweaters and bobby socks and saddle oxfords that they spend to make websites for their pretty-boy head coaches, every team would be undefeated. Then again, maybe that’s just me.
NOW THEN, what you've all been waiting for, the FEARLESS PROGNOSTICATION!
This is made much more difficult by having to eat crow with all of that egg on my face from the immediate past effort, but I will once again bravely launch forth and say the final score will be...
AUBURN 14 -- FLORIDA 13
Now THAT'S a long shot!
Game time is at 6:45 p.m. Central, with teevee coverage on Evil, Sports Puddinhead Network and radio coverage on your Auburn Radio Network.
BUT WAIT, THAT'S NOT ALL!!
Yes, it's time to loudly trumpet our scholarly student athletes, with this week's version of the Possumblog Student Athlete of the Week!
This week we once again take a dip in the pool to fish out a 5'-5" sophomore by the name of Julianne McLane. The pre-nursing major is a native of Concord, California and graduate of Carondolet High. In addition to having a stunning smile, she is a middle distance freestyle and backstroke competitor on the NCAA National Championship swimming and diving team, and according to last season's media guide (.pdf) she says her best non-athletic talent is flower arranging, and the most famous person she has met is Dr. John York, co-owner of San Francisco 49ers. IN ADDITION, for continuing to hold at least a 3.0 GPA, she was honored at the Spring Tiger Torch banquet.
CONGRATULATIONS, Julianne, as the sixth PSAotW!!
Posted by Terry Oglesby at October 13, 2006 09:46 AM