Auburn Losing Streak: Day 37

Who's laughing now, dicks?

I actually felt better about this loss than about any previous, save Lsu, a close one to a team that has since lost a lot of its shine. The thing is, this season is over. It's been over since, at the latest, the Arkansas game. We've got to think in terms of the future.

The running game was almost entirely absent for the Ole Miss game, but the pieces are there. A capable offensive coordinator (i.e. not Steve Ensminger) can fashion a pretty good running game with Tate and Smith. Besides, as Texas Tech showed, a good passing game can open up a lot of things in running the ball. And I think Burns (despite some very poor decisions that led to two of his three interceptions) had a pretty good overall game. He's not good enough to win games by himself, which is what the coaches asked him to do last Saturday, but he played well enough that, had the running game been making sounds anywhere close to clicking, Auburn could have won handily. 27-43 and 319 yards, if you cut out the interceptions, will win some football games.

As for receiver play, man, I don't know. I thought Chris Slaughter had a pretty good game, and I guess it's not surprising Rod Smith got hurt. I still feel like what was expressed in this letter from after the Arkansas game:

Dear wide receivers,

Why are you so slow? Why do you drop passes? Do you understand the offense now? Are you running the correct routes? Does Greg Knox pour sand into your mouths when you are sleeping and make you wear ankle weights during games? Also, why are you so slow?

Since almost every starter on defense has been seriously injured at some point in the season, and since Auburn only has nine seniors total on the two-deep chart, there has been a lot of positive playing time for young talented players. I'm especially looking at defensive backs, where Auburn has lost both starters (one for the season before it even started) and at least for practice both back-ups at cornerback at some point this season. Thorpe and Hood are going to be excellent backs, and they've had plenty of practice. Barring, well, another season of injuries like this, the defense in 2009 should be both talented and deep. I'm a little worried about linebackers, but I can't recall Auburn having a serious problem at linebacker since Tuberville has been down there.

Will Tuberville bring in a capable offensive coordinator, and will he let him choose his own position coaches and assistants? In my mind, that's the big question. If the young receivers are as good as the recruiting scouts said they are, the talent is (mostly) there for a solid offense that throws the ball aggressively, runs straight at defenses and knocks their faces in. The question is, who can run that kind of offense? I think there's really only one logical solution, so long as Tubby keeps a firm hand on recruiting: