Auburn thoughts

Craig James and Jesse Palmer annoy me, and I don't think I'm alone.

(A quick aside: Sideline reporter Jenn Brown has been disappointingly bad. Looks like she's in way over her head. But I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt ... for now.)

It goes beyond the incessant references to "SEC speed," or "this SEC defense," or Palmer's bad ties, or James' awful cackling.

Often, you wonder how much homework these guys have actually done.

Last night alone, we heard: James refer to Dan Mullen as "Dan Mullens" multiple times; Palmer say that Auburn's opening-week opponent was Memphis; Palmer completely butcher Mississippi State's fumble into the end zone; and a few other general examples of cluelessness.

It stinks when people are not good at their jobs on such a high-profile platform. And it really stinks when those people are football people -- people who played the game and are in position to provide deep insights on what's unfolding, to teach their viewers something about the game.

Earlier this week, Matt Millen made an absolute fool of himself as part of an ESPN panel that was discussing and debating the college football issues of the day.

It was the day after Navy gave away the game against Maryland, and the question was whether Navy's coach made the right call by going for the touchdown from the 1-yard line instead of going for an overtime-forcing field goal.

Millen said they should've forced overtime because they hadn't been able to run all day. It was blatantly obvious that Millen not only didn't bother to watch the game, but didn't even bother to check the stats. He saw the final score (17-14) and assumed the Middies struggled running the ball.

Navy had 412 yards rushing, averaged 5.7 yards per carry and possessed the ball for almost 40 minutes. The Middies gashed the Terps left and right, but that fact went right over Millen's head.

Anyway -- and good gosh, this has to be a record for most roundabout way to reach a blog topic -- I did think James said it perfectly last night when he referred to Auburn's offensive smorgasbord as "eye candy."

All those formations. All those shifts. All those guards pulling one way, and the play going a different way.

All those bells and whistles are designed to hypnotize and paralyze linebackers, and it just so happens Clemson has some issues at linebacker.

Auburn certainly didn't look unbeatable last night. If not for a few self-inflicted wounds by Mississippi State -- turnovers, dropped passes -- the home team might've walked out of there with a win.

And Cam Newton, for all the poise he showed, not to mention some of his bullish, fullback-type runs for important yardage, also looked like a freshman in some cases. Stared down his receiver on a first-quarter interception in the end zone. And a second-half screen pass almost ended in a Pick-6.

But the "eye candy," as James called it, is something that has to be scary for Clemson. How many times over the Tigers' last five games, dating to Virginia's 21-point first half in Death Valley last November, have we heard coaches talk about the defense being undisciplined with its eyes?

It'd be one thing if this were, say, Miami and Newton were running the show. The Hurricanes' offense is so much more conventional that Clemson could scheme up a way to force Newton to throw downfield, something he doesn't seem adept at doing just yet against a fast, athletic secondary.

But it's just a different deal with Auburn and second-year offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn. Facing all that eye candy, with all that inexperience at linebacker, can leave a taste that's much more sour than sweet.

Speaking of linebacker, Brandon Maye is out for this week. Getting him back, and back at full strength, for Auburn is a big, big deal.

And here's another big deal: Clemson's offensive line needs to be good eight days from now. Auburn's linebackers and defensive backs are suspect, in my mind, but the defensive line looks quite stout.

Gotta run to set up the pass...

This Birmingham columnist says Auburn's defense looks like an Auburn defense at last.

Now would be a good time for some of you who call yourselves Auburn fans to grab a pen and a piece of paper and compose a letter to Ted Roof. If you can't find a pen, the crayons you normally use should suffice.

It should read something like this ...

To: Coach Roof.

Never mind. Sorry. Always knew you could do it. You da man.

From: Name withheld by request.

BTW: Really, really surprised at Auburn's decision to end the first half at Mississippi State's 40 without taking a shot. With Newton's big arm, why not heave one into the end zone and see what happens? Strange.

Mark Schlabach of ESPN digs up more on the A.J. Green story.

Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green sold his Independence Bowl jersey to a former North Carolina football player who is also at the center of an NCAA investigation into alleged rules violations in the Tar Heels program.

Chris Hawkins, a former North Carolina defensive back, befriended Green through the receiver's Facebook page. According to the source, Hawkins identified himself as a financial adviser and memorabilia collector in Facebook messages to Green, who eventually agreed to sell his jersey to Hawkins for $1,000.

The NCAA, which handed Green a four-game suspension on Wednesday, ruled Hawkins qualifies as an agent.

Gene Sapakoff of The Post and Courier says Green and others should file a class-action lawsuit.

Green, on behalf of thousands of college football and basketball players past and present, should file a class action suit against College Sports, Inc., seeking a rightful percentage of profits generated from the sale of jerseys with certain numbers on the front and back.

Both Jeff Schultz and Tony Barnhart pick Georgia to win a close one in Columbia on Saturday.

I tend to agree. As good as the Gamecocks looked last week, they look smallish up the middle at D-tackle and LB. That opens the door for Georgia's power running game, which opens the door for play-action, which opens the door for yet another grind-it-out SEC road victory for Mark Richt.

Tough game to call, though.

Caulton Tudor says the ACC is running out of chances in big BCS games, and I think he's being a tad harsh.

With tomorrow's Miami-Ohio State clash looming, Linda Robertson of The Miami Herald looks back at the interference call that "changed the course of history."

Ticket sales for the ACC title game are going strong.

Advance ticket sales for December's ACC championship football game in Charlotte are easily outstripping sales for the game during the five years it was held in Florida, a league associate commissioner said Thursday.

The ACC's Michael Kelly said more than 40,000 tickets have already been sold for the Dec. 4 game at Bank of America Stadium. Although Kelly said exact numbers aren't available, he said tickets sales in Jacksonville (2005-'07) and Tampa ('08-'09) never exceeded more than 30,000 by the start of football season.

"We're further along than we've ever been," said Kelly, who was in Charlotte for meetings with Bank of America Stadium officials. He also attended a ticket sales meeting Thursday that featured a pep talk from college football television analyst Bob Griese.

Prediction: This game will never go back to Florida.



LW