NOTE: This is the 13th in a series of previews on West Virginia and Marshall football opponents.
Date with West Virginia: Thursday, Oct. 23, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Site: Mountaineer Field (60,000, FieldTurf), Morgantown
Coach: Tommy Tuberville (9th year, 80-33; 13th year overall, 105-53)
Checking them out
Both offensively and defensively, the Tigers are full of question marks. But the questions aren't about whether or not the Tigers will be any good on either side of the ball, but how good. That's what happens when both coordinators change. The talent is certainly in place.
Let's take the offense first. Auburn was pretty awful much of the time in 2007, barely finishing among the Top 100 teams in the country in total offense and scoring. There seems to be talent enough to turn the Tigers into an overpowering rushing team with one of the country's best offensive lines and a deep stable of running backs, but new coordinator Tony Franklin (from Troy) brings a spread attack and has to figure out which way to go with it.
The first challenge is deciding on a new quarterback. Kodi Burns is the better runner and was a star in a win over Clemson in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, but junior college transfer Chris Todd is a big guy with a strong arm who might be a lot of fun to watch throwing the ball around all over the place. There's always the chance the two could split the job, working behind a line that includes 6-foot-8, 300-pound Lee Ziemba and 6-2, 307-pound Tyronne Green. Among Brad Lester, Ben Tate and Tristan Davis the running back corps has a little bit of everything from power to speed.
As for the defense, well, coordinator Will Muschamp moved on to Texas and that's a huge loss for the Tigers. His replacement, though, is no second-stringer, at least as far as West Virginia is concerned. Paul Rhoads was the coordinator who helped shut down WVU's offense when Pitt won 13-9 in Morgantown last December and he has even more talent to work with now. Defensive linemen Sen'Derrick Marks and Antonio Coleman could help the Tigers produce more of a pass rush than last year and that was really the only shortcoming in an Auburn defense that allowed less than 300 yards of total offense per game.
All-conference candidates
Offense: OG Tyronne Green, OT Lee Ziemba
Defense: DL Sen'Derrick Marks, LB Tray Blackmon, DE Antonio Coleman, CB Jerraud Powers
Special teams: K Wes Byrum, P Ryan Shoemaker
Notes
Auburn's schedule couldn't get much better, at least as far as playing and SEC schedule is concerned. LSU, Tennessee, Georgia and Arkansas all play at Auburn and the most difficult road games would appear to be at West Virginia (a non-conference game) and Alabama (a team the Tigers have dominated recently). ... Todd, the transfer quarterback, spent two years at Texas Tech before going to junior college. He committed to Troy after finishing junior college and followed Franklin to Auburn.
NOTE: This is the 13th in a series of previews on West Virginia and Marshall football opponents.
Date with West Virginia: Thursday, Oct. 23, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Site: Mountaineer Field (60,000, FieldTurf), Morgantown
Coach: Tommy Tuberville (9th year, 80-33; 13th year overall, 105-53)
Checking them out
Both offensively and defensively, the Tigers are full of question marks. But the questions aren't about whether or not the Tigers will be any good on either side of the ball, but how good. That's what happens when both coordinators change. The talent is certainly in place.
Let's take the offense first. Auburn was pretty awful much of the time in 2007, barely finishing among the Top 100 teams in the country in total offense and scoring. There seems to be talent enough to turn the Tigers into an overpowering rushing team with one of the country's best offensive lines and a deep stable of running backs, but new coordinator Tony Franklin (from Troy) brings a spread attack and has to figure out which way to go with it.
The first challenge is deciding on a new quarterback. Kodi Burns is the better runner and was a star in a win over Clemson in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, but junior college transfer Chris Todd is a big guy with a strong arm who might be a lot of fun to watch throwing the ball around all over the place. There's always the chance the two could split the job, working behind a line that includes 6-foot-8, 300-pound Lee Ziemba and 6-2, 307-pound Tyronne Green. Among Brad Lester, Ben Tate and Tristan Davis the running back corps has a little bit of everything from power to speed.
As for the defense, well, coordinator Will Muschamp moved on to Texas and that's a huge loss for the Tigers. His replacement, though, is no second-stringer, at least as far as West Virginia is concerned. Paul Rhoads was the coordinator who helped shut down WVU's offense when Pitt won 13-9 in Morgantown last December and he has even more talent to work with now. Defensive linemen Sen'Derrick Marks and Antonio Coleman could help the Tigers produce more of a pass rush than last year and that was really the only shortcoming in an Auburn defense that allowed less than 300 yards of total offense per game.
All-conference candidates
Offense: OG Tyronne Green, OT Lee Ziemba
Defense: DL Sen'Derrick Marks, LB Tray Blackmon, DE Antonio Coleman, CB Jerraud Powers
Special teams: K Wes Byrum, P Ryan Shoemaker
Notes
Auburn's schedule couldn't get much better, at least as far as playing and SEC schedule is concerned. LSU, Tennessee, Georgia and Arkansas all play at Auburn and the most difficult road games would appear to be at West Virginia (a non-conference game) and Alabama (a team the Tigers have dominated recently). ... Todd, the transfer quarterback, spent two years at Texas Tech before going to junior college. He committed to Troy after finishing junior college and followed Franklin to Auburn.
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