BCS Breakdown for the National Championship
Auburn Tigers vs. Florida State Seminoles
BCS National Championship Bound Auburn Tigers vs. Florida State Seminoles Introduction:
Auburn's "It is a New Day" slogan originating from Coach Malzahn's first season is now an understatement. Coming off a nine-game winning streak, the Auburn Tigers head out west to the storied Rose Bowl to take on the only undefeated team that is left, the 13-0 Florida State Seminoles on January 6, 2014.
No one has challenged Florida State for close to 60 minutes all season. FSU's offensive players haven't started a single possession this season knowing that if they didn't score, they wouldn't win. With Jamis Winston most likely winning the Heisman Trophy, the pressure will be on FSU and their young stud QB. Also, what is more amazing is the fact that FSU's defensive players haven't started a one drive this season knowing that if they didn't get a stop, they'd lose.
Now that the season and conference championship games are over, the final strength of schedule rankings are out. The Auburn Tigers are #1 with the Seminoles ranking #38 in the country. This is why FSU didn't trail for a single second in the second half all season. This will come back and haunt them. They haven't trailed at any point in a game since the second quarter against Boston College on Sept. 28. The ESPN stats they have shown everywhere is that FSU has gone over 571 minutes of football without trailing. Not a great accomplishment when the competition doesn't even rank in the Top 30!
All this simply and clearly shows Florida State has yet to see an opponent that is close to Auburn's speed and diversity on offense. Will 29 days be enough - only if FSU can emulate the same speed and precision that Auburn creates on Saturday's.
Auburn's 12-1 record and how they got there is much more impressive than Florida States 13-0 record. Auburn went 4-1 against teams in the top 25 of the final BCS final rankings while FSU went 2-0. The Tiger's biggest wins came against the top two defenses in the SEC - #3 Alabama and #7 Missouri over a span of just eight days. Florida State' biggest victories were against an overrated No. 12 Clemson and an undersized No. 24 Duke.
Auburn was the only team to beat Missouri at full strength and in regulation. The Tigers did it with ease in the Georgia Dome 59-42 with Missouri's first touchdown being a gift from a blind back judge (incomplete pass). Auburn was the only team to beat Alabama by simply running right at them to tie it up 28-28 and close to 300 yards rushing. There are no "miracles" or "lucky" about Auburn beating Alabama 27-7 over the last two quarters and two minutes.
Jimbo Fisher is 44-10 in his first year as head coach of FSU and is undefeated at 3-0 in bowl games. He has done a great job in both recruiting and coaching with records speaking for themselves. With this said, his Nole's are about to face their most challenging test to date in trying to tame the Auburn offense. Come in over-confident and Fisher's defense will be frustrated like so many of Auburn's opponents this year. Frustration clearly leads to breakdowns, chances, and guessing - all formulas for disaster.
Fisher understands Auburn football. He spent six years at Auburn as an assistant in the 90's. Fisher also knows the SEC and how powerful the conference is. Everyone seems to associate Alabama has the kingpin of the SEC but Auburn is the only team sitting with three SEC titles in the last 10 years. Tuberville (2004), Chizik (2010), and now Malzahn have won the SEC outright.
The press and other outsiders tend to focus on the negatives when they look at the Tigers - just review all the picks against Auburn in the last two games against Alabama and Missouri where over 95% of the picks going against the Tigers. The same is about to happen between now and Jan. 6, 2014 when the two best teams tee it up.
Over the coming days, Auburn has plenty of time to hear all the reasons why Florida State is going to win this game. All the more reason to bank on Auburn not just challenging Florida State but beating them. This is a team of destiny and might just go down as the most memorable in college football history. War Eagle.
Auburn Tigers Football 2014 Recruiting Class
|
AU Recruit Name |
Pos |
Ht |
Wt |
Hometown (Last School) |
|
CB |
6-0 |
170 |
St. Mary's, Ga. (Camden County) |
|
|
S |
6-2 |
200 |
Sharpsburg, Ga. (East Coweta) |
|
|
WR |
6-3 |
200 |
Lawrenceville, Ga. (Peachtree Ridge) |
|
|
OL |
6-2 |
300 |
Mendenhall, MS (Copiah-Lincoln CC) |
|
|
LB |
6-0 |
225 |
Mobile, Ala. (Vigor) |
|
|
DE |
6-6 |
230 |
Jacksonville, Fla. (First Coast) |
|
|
DT |
6-4 |
280 |
Keysville, Ga. (Georgia Military College) |
|
|
DT |
6-3 |
290 |
Greenville, S.C. (Georgia Military College) |
|
|
TE |
6-5 |
240 |
Cumming, Ga. (Lambert) |
|
|
HB |
6-4 |
215 |
Opelika, Ala. (Opelika) |
|
|
S |
6-3 |
225 |
Prattville, Ala. (Mississippi Gulf Coast CC) |
|
|
RB |
6-0 |
220 |
Prattville, Ala. (Prattville) |
|
|
FS |
6-0 |
180 |
Opelika, Ala. (Opelika) |
|
|
CB |
6-0 |
180 |
Duluth, Ga. (St. Pius X) |
|
|
DT |
6-3 |
300 |
Carrollton, Ga. (Carrollton) |
|
|
OL |
6-6 |
295 |
Olathe, Kan. (Olathe South) *Bench presses 515, squat 770 |
|
|
RB |
5-11 |
202 |
Anniston, Ala. (Oxford) |
|
|
DE |
6-5 |
230 |
Prichard, Ala. (Vigor) |
|
|
WR |
5-10 |
185 |
Monroe, Ga. (Monroe Area) |
|
|
QB |
6-2 |
200 |
Boca Raton, Fla. (University Nova South) |
|
|
DE |
6-4 |
250 |
McDonough, Ga. (Eagles Landing Academy) |
|
|
LB |
6-2 |
217 |
Mobile, Ala. (St. Paul's Episcopal) |
|
|
WR |
6-3 |
205 |
LaPlace, La. (JUCO - Mississippi Gulf Coast CC)
|
Auburn Tiger Football News:
Auburn Source Staff, February 5, 2014
Auburn Source Staff, January 4, 2014
National Championship Game
Jan. 6, 2014
Auburn Tiger Football 2015 Recruits
National Rank: 8, SEC Rank: 5, Avg Rating 0.9026
Auburn Source Staff, March 16, 2015
Coach Malzahn and staff wrapped up the 2015 recruiting class with a number eight national ranking but fifth in the SEC. The Auburn coaching staff did a great job in filling the many holes it had to fill. Carlton Davis, for example, is a tall and fast defensive back that should be able to compete against some of the most talented receivers in the SEC. They are also excited about Mr. Alabama, Kerryon Johnson - a running back that should be able to come in immediately and contribute. Only time will tell if this class contributes at the level the coaches expect. War Eagle!
Byron Cowart, Seffner, FL, SDE, 6-4, 250, Natl ranking: 3, Position Rank 1, State 2, Enrolled 6/6/2015
Jovon Robinson, Milledgeville, GA, RB, 5-11, 225, Natl 1, Pos 1, St 1, Enrolled 1/14/2015
Kerryon Johnson, Madison, AL, ATH, 6-0, 200, Natl 43, Pos 2, St 2, Enrolled 6/6/2015
Prince Tega Wanogho Jr., Elmore, AL, SDE, 6-8, 250, Natl 110, Pos 8, St 4, Enrolled 6/12/2015
Jeffery Holland, Jacksonville, FL, OLB, 6-2, 230, Natl 116, Pos 8, St 18, Enrolled 6/6/2015
Darius Slayton, Norcross, GA, WR, 6-1, 182, Natl 141, Pos 15, St 16, Enrolled 6/6/2015
Jordan Colbert, Griffin, GA, S, 6-2, 205, Natl 168, Pos 9, St 18, Enrolled 6/6/2015
Darrell Williams, Birmingham, AL, OLB, 6-3, 226, Natl 176, Pos 12, St 7, Enrolled 6/6/2015
Ryan Davis, Saint Petersburg, FL, WR, 5-10.5 172, Natl 188, Pos 24, St 26, Enrolled 6/6/2015
Richard McBryde, Troy, AL, OLB, 6-2, 210, Natl 192, Pos 13, St 8, Enrolled 6/6/2015
Tyler Carr, Gadsden, AL, OG, 6-5, 311, Natl 222, Pos 10, St 9, Enrolled 1/14/2015
Jason Smith, Perkinston, MS, ATH, 6-1, 180, Natl 10, Pos 1, St 5, Enrolled 1/14/2015
Marquel Harrell, Fairburn, GA, OG, 6-3,295, Natl 230, Pos 13, St 23, Enrolled 6/6/2015
Kaleb Kim, Hoschton, GA, OC, 6-3, 280, Natl 271, Pos 5, St 27, Enrolled, 6/6/2015
Montavious Atkinson, Fairburn, GA, ILB, 6-1, 200, Natl 273, Pos 10, St 28, Enrolled 6/6/2015
Tim Irvin, Miami, FL, ATH, 5-8.5, 194, Natl 285, Pos 18, St 38, Enrolled 1/22/2015
Javarius Davis, Jacksonville, FL, RB, 5-9.5, 173, Natl 290 Pos 23 St 40, Enrolled 6/6/2015
Carlton Davis, Miami, FL, CB, 6-2, 184 Natl 340 Pos 33 St 50, Enrolled 6/6/2015
Chandler Cox, Apopka, FL, FB, 6-0.5, 222, Natl 333 Pos 2 St 48, Enrolled 1/14/2015
Bailey Sharp, Marietta, GA, OT, 6-5, 280, Natl 335, Pos 35, St 34, Enrolled 1/14/2015
Tyler Queen, Kennesaw, GA, PRO, 6-2, 229 Natl 384 Pos 15 St 38, Enrolled 1/14/2015
Jauntavius Johnson, Lincoln, AL, DT, 6-2.25, 330, Natl 496 Pos 31 St 19, Enrolled 6/6/2015
Maurice Swain, Perkinston, MS, DT, 6-4, 295, Natl 53 Pos 10 St 20, Enrolled 1/14/2015
Jalen Harris, Montgomery, AL, TE, 6-5, 244, Natl 613, Pos 20, St 23, Enrolled 6/6/2015
Mike Horton, Atlanta, GA, OT, 6-4, 310, Natl 737, Pos 80, St 77, Enrolled, 6/6/2015
Jeremiah Dinson, Hialeah, FL, CB, 6-0, 180, Natl NA,Pos 105, St 168, Enrolled 6/6/2015
Ian Shannon, Marietta, GA, P, 6-4, 190, Natl NA, Pos 4, St 156, Enrolled 6/6/2015
Robert Muschamp, Rome, GA, OLB, 6-2, 225, Natl NA, Pos 98, St 158, Enrolled 7/14/2015
Auburn Football National Recruiting Rankings since 2013
Auburn Source Staff, March 14, 2018
The Auburn Tiger football team has been pretty consistent in recruiting since Coach Gus Malzahn has taken the head coaching position. 2018 has been the only year that the Tigers have not made the top 10 in the national recruiting ranks. Auburn Nation has been pleased overall with a deep coverage in recruiting that has consistently covered the team needs year in and year out for the most part.
The new sheriff, the Georgia Bulldogs, along with the decade long dominance from Alabama banking 5-star recruits every year, Auburn has competed but certainly not at the levels seen in Tuscaloosa and now in Athens.
Year National rank SEC rank Composite score Fresh EOY Team Rank Senior EOY Team Rank
2013 No. 10 No. 6 267.46 # 2, 12-2 record #24, 8-5 record
2014 No. 6 No. 4 277.12 #22, 8-5 record #10, 10-4 record
2015 No. 8 No. 5 278.31 NR, 7-6 record
2016 No. 9 No. 5 275.14 #24, 8-5 record
2017 No. 9 No. 4 255.92 #10, 10-4 record
2018 No. 12 No. 3 264.18
National Championship Game
Jan. 10, 2010
AU Football Full Games:
Auburn vs Alabama Iron Bowl
Nov. 30, 2013, 34-28
Auburn vs Alabama Iron Bowl
Nov. 26, 2010, 28-27
2010 - present
2010 - present