Watch For Bears!

 
Watch For Bears!

    In week 2 of college football, the Auburn Tigers take on the California Golden Bears. Last season, this matchup was a bit of a defensive slugfest with Auburn gaining the advantage late in the 4th quarter and ultimately coming away with a 14-10 victory in Berkeley. 
    
    This season, the Auburn offense returns starting quarterback Payton Thorne who threw for 1,755 yards and 16 touchdowns last season, and running back Jarquez Hunter who ran for 909 yards last season and averaged 5.7 yards per carry. New for this season, Auburn has brought in a group of freshman wide receivers known as the "Freeze Four" made up of Cam Coleman, Perry Thompson, Bryce Cain, and Malcolm Simmons. Together, this group combined for 268 receiving yards and four touchdowns in Auburn's 73-3 season opening win against Alabama A&M. 

    In the win last week, Payton Thorne threw for 322 yards and went 13/21 passing in a game in which he, Hank Brown, and Holden Geriner combined for 451 passing yards. In the ground game, Auburn ran for 177 yards with Jarquez Hunter getting a majority of the production with 53 yards himself. The Auburn defense, led by returning starter Eugene Asante, held Alabama A&M to 204 passing yards and just 36 rushing yards. Though it was against an FCS opponent, the Auburn faithful are excited to see such offensive efficiency and defensive power out of their team in game 1. After all, the 70 point victory is the largest margin of victory inside Jordan-Hare since 2003 when Auburn defeated ULM 73-7. 

    This year, the Cal Golden Bears offense features a new starting quarterback in Fernando Mendoza since last year's starter, Sam Jackson, finds himself on Auburn's receiver depth chart. In their 31-13 win over UC-Davis in week 1, Mendoza threw for 179 yards and went 15/22 passing. The Cal offense returns star running back Jadyn Ott who carried the ball 245 times last year for a total of 1,305 yards. In last week's game, Ott ran the ball 14 times for 49 yards. In their win last week, the Golden Bears defense held UC-Davis to 221 passing yards and 83 rushing yards. 

    I have a few questions about this week's matchup. One, can these freshman receivers for Auburn get the same kind of separation against an ACC opponent that they had against Alabama A&M? Guys like Cam Coleman can be a matchup nightmare with the size and speed that he possesses. Can this offensive line hold up against a stout Cal defensive line the same way they held up in week 1? Giving Payton a comfortable pocket to throw from will be huge this season. Finally, can this defense shut down an offense featuring a high-level running back like Jadyn Ott? Stopping the run will be crucial in conference play. These questions will surely be answered in this week's game, which airs at 2:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2. The ESPN analytics gives Auburn an 81% chance of winning this week's game.

    Now, let's look at college football in other parts of the country.

Unnecessary Roughness

    In week 1, we saw the Kalen DeBoer era get kicked off at Alabama with a 63-0 shutout win over the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. I believe this win is exactly what Alabama fans wanted to see, a blowout win to prove that even though there is a new leader at the helm, the Alabama dominance remains the same. In interesting fashion, Western Kentucky starting quarterback TJ Finley stated before the game that this year's team wasn't one that, "you're just gonna roll over..." and that the team is, "a whole new ball club." No, TJ, the only club that is new is the one Alabama beat y'all with on Saturday. Alabama faces the South Florida Bulls on Saturday 6 p.m. on ESPN, a game that I expect them to win big. While the Hilltoppers look to bounce back against Eastern Kentucky at 6 p.m. on Saturday. A game that will feature more fans in the stands, than what will be watching on T.V. 

Roughing the Passer

    On Monday night, we watched D.J. Uiagalelei and the Florida State Seminoles get wrecked on their own turf by Boston College by a score of 28-13. In this game, D.J. Uia- I'm not spelling it again, only completed 50% of his passes for 272 yards. That yardage seems like a decent amount until you realize it took him 21 completions to reach that, just like it took 3 different schools to realize a new system isn't the answer for this guy. His name has more syllables than he has touchdown passes in his career. Mike Norvell might want to consider a backup, if he has one. Blow, blow Seminole wind, you might never blow again.

Key Matchups

    The biggest game this Saturday has to be #3 Texas vs. #10 Michigan in Ann Arbor. ESPN analytics gives Texas a 73% chance of winning this matchup which I believe is outrageous. Give me the Wolverines at home.

    SEC play gets started this week with a matchup between South Carolina and Kentucky in the bluegrass state. ESPN gives Kentucky a 70% chance of a victory, which I have to agree with. Give me the Wildcats. 

    In the Duke's Mayo Classic, we have the Tennessee Volunteers facing the NC State Wolfpack. I agree with the analytics showing Tennessee winning this game. Give me Josh Heupel to get mayo dumped. 

Words from the Author

    Thank you so much for reading this week's edition of AUthentic Insights. I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and WAR EAGLE!


         



 

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