Phillip Marshall on the game this weekend.
-It’s Iron Bowl week, but is it as special as it once was? It doesn’t feel like it. To me, the aura around rivalries such as this one is another casualty of the College Football Playoff era. Lots of people are OK with that. I am not among them.
--Can Auburn hold Alabama below 30 points on Saturday? I don’t believe it can. Can Auburn score 30 points against Alabama on Saturday? I don’t believe it can. The Tigers will have to do at least one of those things to have a chance at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday, and both are very tall orders.
--Did Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn take over the offense in Saturday’s 53-0 win over Liberty? All indications are that he did, calling every play. What does that mean for offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey? I don’t know anyone who expects Lindsey to return to Auburn next season.
--Speaking of Auburn’s offense, how good was it really Saturday? It was OK, not much more than that. Going two of 12 on third downs against a defense that was massively overmatched has to be a concern. The defense, against a pretty good offense, played about as well as a defense can play.
--Based on past history, I won’t be surprised if Auburn’s offense gets off to a fast start against Alabama. Maintaining it will be the challenge, maybe an insurmountable one.
--It was a big day for former Auburn kickers Sunday in the NFL. Daniel Carlson kicked game-winner as time expired for the Raiders and Cody Parkey bounced back from a rough game last week to kick three field goals for the Bears.
--I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a worse-looking one-loss team than Ohio State.
--You have to hand it to first-year coaches Chip Kelly at UCLA and Scott Frost at Nebraska. Their teams were awful the first half of the season, awful enough they won’t be bowl eligible. But both have turned it around in the second half of the season.
--Is the SEC overrated this season? Is LSU really the No. 7 team in the country? Is Florida really No. 13? Is Kentucky really No. 17 a week after being blasted 24-7 by Tennessee?
--We’re going to see some unusual conference championship games. Northwestern, which lost all its nonconference games, including one to Akron, will be in the Big Ten Championship Game. Utah, with three losses will be in the Pac-12 Championship Game.
--I had to laugh watching games on ESPN last Saturday. In the Texas A&M-UAB game, the narrative was all about how Jimbo Fisher’s offense was better for quarterbacks because it is pro-style and supposedly prepares them for the NFL. You look at the best young quarterbacks in the NFL, and most of them came from spread offenses in college.
--Two games I see having upset potential this weekend: Georgia Tech at Georgia and LSU at Texas A&M.
Quote of the day: “Never regret. If it's good, it's wonderful. If it's bad, it's experience.”--Victoria Holt
