Lobos After A Low Blow

Lobos After A Low Blow

    Well folks, week 3 of college football is upon us and this week the Auburn Tigers take on the New Mexico Lobos, a first-time matchup as the two teams have never played each other before. This is homecoming week for the Tigers and fans are asked to wear navy.

    This season, the Lobos have a familiar face at quarterback with sophomore Devon Dampier returning for his second year with the program. Last season, Dampier posted a 62.5% completion percentage and 525 passing yards. Dampier also showed himself to be a bit of a dual threat last season with 328 rushing yards on 59 attempts. In their loss to Arizona last week, Dampier went 24/42 passing with 260 yards, and also ran the ball 15 times for 130 yards. At running back, the Lobos feature Iowa State transfer Eli Sanders who ran the ball 102 times for 477 yards last season for the cyclones. In the game last week, Sanders received the majority of the carries with 16, but only mustered 29 yards. On the defensive side of the ball, the Lobos have cornerback, Noah Avinger who has already recorded 20 tackles this season, with 10 of those being solo. However the defense as a whole gave up 627 total yards of offense against Arizona and 567 yards of total offense in their week one matchup against Montana State. 

    In their game against Cal last week, Auburn had an abysmal performance, especially from quarterback Payton Thorne. His performance specifically is something we will get into in just a moment. Auburn only put up 286 yards of total offense, and if that isn't bad enough, they decided to turn the ball over 5 times. You cannot possibly expect to turn the ball over 5 times and still come out on top against any decent opponent. This performance is especially disappointing after the Tigers put up 73 points and over 600 yards of offense in week 1. In the game against Cal, the offense seemed to click pretty well on the first drive with Payton Thorne making a beautiful throw to Cam Coleman and eventually making the touchdown throw to Lambert-Smith to cap the drive. After this, however the offense sputtered for the rest of the game and never got back on its feet, only finding the end zone one more time in the fourth quarter with a QB keeper from Payton Thorne. I believe the defense made adjustments and played well enough to give us the win. They only gave up 332 yards of total offense and held Cal to less than 100 yards rushing. No matter how well the defense performs, though, an offense like the one Auburn fielded Saturday will not win many games. 

    Freeze Warning Over?

    With such a bad performance in week 2, there are many of the Auburn faithful calling for a change at the coaching position. This is a theme that I have seen all too often over the last few years on the Plains. When a coach isn't immediately successful, fans want to run him out of town and get somebody new, but I believe that the key to success in college football is continuity. If you take a look at all of the top programs in the country, what do they all have in common? They all feature a head coach that has been with the program for at least 3-4 years. If you need an example, look at what Nick Saban did at Alabama. In his first year, the Crimson Tide went 7-6 and didn't even appear in a bowl game, but we all know what the future would behold for the program. I still believe in Hugh Freeze and think he will have much success with the Auburn Tigers. Just look at what he has done on the recruiting trail so far. Auburn stands a good chance at having the #1 overall recruiting class in 2025. Keep your chins up, Auburn family, I believe we have our guy.

Roughing the Passer

    When I started this blog, I never intended to write this section about one of Auburn's quarterbacks, but this week I have no choice. In the game against Cal, Payton Thorne went 14/27 passing for only 165 yards. If that wasn't bad enough, he decided to complete passes to the other team 4 times. This number would've been 6 times if it wasn't for video review and a pass interference call that was questionable. One thing I noticed as a viewer was that after each interception, Payton looked to the sideline with a dumbfounded look on his face as if he is looking for someone to put the blame on for his own terrible decisions. Payton if you are looking for an answer, let me grab a mirror real quick. You would think someone with as much football experience as Payton Thorne has would not have this problem. Payton is a Thorne in the offense's side that only Hank Brown can remove. 

Key Matchups

    This week #4 Alabama heads to Madison to take on the Wisconsin Badgers. Preseason, I predicted Wisconsin to win this matchup, but after what I have seen from both the Badgers and the Crimson Tide, I agree with the ESPN Analytics and predict Alabama to win this game.

    The #1 Georgia Bulldogs get their first SEC test of the season, but I don't think this will be much of a test at all. I have the Bulldogs demolishing the Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington this weekend. 

    I do predict one upset this weekend in Columbia, South Carolina as the LSU Tigers come to town. I think the Gamecocks found their identity in Lexington last weekend after blowing out the Wildcats and I think they carry that momentum into an upset win this weekend.

Words from the Author

    As always, thank you for reading this week's installment of AUthentic Insights. I appreciate you taking the time out of your day and would love for you to tell a friend about my blog. God Bless and War Eagle!
    


 

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