After starting the season 5-0, a lot of was expected of Auburn when they went to Mississippi State. After losing 38-23, it was obvious that something was missing from Gus Malzahn's team....a good defense. And for the rest of the season, the defense rotted, basically mailing it in against Georgia and Alabama. Of course, Ohio State will thank Auburn for exposing the Crimson Tide's weak secondary (they did the same thing a few weeks later), but this team was a real disappointment, culminating in a 34-31 loss to coach-less Wisconsin. THE OFF-SEASON Auburn made the biggest splash of the off-season Read more [...]

If we hear that Tennessee is back one more time, we will scream. Seriously. Could they be great this year? We will see. LAST YEAR There was an awful lot of hype that the Vols would beat Florida (when, let's face it, you couldn't have had a better opportunity) and cause Missouri a hell of a lot of problems. They failed both tests. They abused Alabama offensive co-ordinator (and their turncoat former coach) Lane Kiffin, and failed there too. Yes, we know they won four out of their last five including spanking Iowa in their bowl game...but look at the opposition. The only ranked team the Vols Read more [...]

  You know you've built a dynasty when every year, people are talking about the Alabama Crimson Tide and mentioning the words "National Title". In fact, it's a disappointment when they DON'T get to the final game. And when they were outplayed by Ohio State in the College Football Play-Off semi-final and didn't get there, it was a disappointment, despite winning the SEC Title.  LAST SEASON As mentioned, Alabama lost the College Football Play-Off game to 'The' Ohio State University. They didn't just lose, they were wildly outschemed and outplayed, with the secondary bullied throughout Read more [...]

Nick Saban, the Alabama head coach, isn't blaming players for their lack of preparedness going into the 2014 College Football Play-Off semi-final loss to Ohio State. He's not blaming himself. Or his coaching staff. Nope. He's blaming the NFL. "I just felt like, in our experience last year, our team chemistry from the SEC Championship game to the playoff game was affected by something," he said. "I think that to have a December 15th deadline from when a junior can submit for a draft grade and then you get that assessment back sometime right before or right after Christmas, and then you have Read more [...]

Nick Saban, the head coach of Alabama, has said that Jonathan Taylor will not be reinstated in Tuscaloosa despite the defensive tackle's girlfriend recanting her accusation of domestic violence on Saturday night. "That decision has already been made. He won't be back with us," Saban said in an interview with ESPN.com. The University added that Taylor won't be to continue studies as a student in Tuscaloosa either. "Jonathan Taylor is no longer a student at The University of Alabama and is not eligible for readmission." Taylor arrived on Alabama's campus as an early enrolee to the team after Read more [...]

  Nick Saban is stuck between a rock and a hard place in the Jonathan Taylor situation, and both sides don't look attractive to the Alabama head coach. It emerged on Monday that Taylor's girlfriend had recanted her story about being domestically abused, and she was arrested. Prosecutors are still convinced that something went on, and questions about that night vary. There's also been some really interesting comments from domestic abuse lawyers on Reddit about story recantation that you MUST look at, if you get the chance. Anyway, this has led people to wondering: "Well, if he's Read more [...]

Nick Saban has apologized to the press for the way the Jonathan Taylor situation has worked out, but not for actually bringing the player to the school in the first place. "I'm not sorry for giving him an opportunity. I'm sorry for the way things worked out," Saban said at a press conference. "I'm not apologizing for the opportunity that we gave him. I wanted to try to help the guy make it work. It didn't work. So we're sorry that it didn't work and we're sorry there was an incident and we're sorry for the people that were involved in the incident. But we're not apologizing for what we did and Read more [...]

Nick Saban likes to tell people that he loves to give out second chances. He was passionate in the pre-SEC Championship Game press conference about letting DJ Pettway back after booting him for getting arrested for robbery. He said at the press conference: "There's always a lot of criticism out there when somebody does something wrong, everybody wants to know how you're going to punish the guy. There's not enough for 19 and 20-year-old kids, people out there saying, 'Why don't you give them another chance?" He added: "Where do you want them to be? Guy makes a mistake. Where do you want them Read more [...]

Roquan Smith has committed to being a Georgia Bulldog. The Macon, GA linebacker had said that he was going to be going to UCLA at National Signing Day, but after the Pac-12 team's defensive coordinator, Jeff Ulbrich, had lied to him about taking the Atlanta Falcons DC's job, he decided to revisit his options. He re-opened his commitments, looking at Georgia, UCLA, Michigan and Texas A&M, but eventually opted to play in the SEC. "As you could imagine it's been tough lately," he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a statement. "But I am relieved to say that I am officially committed Read more [...]

Star Georgia running back Todd Gurley has been suspended an extra two games by the NCAA - meaning that he'll be back for the Auburn game at Sanford Stadium on November 15th. Georgia already suspended Gurley for two games - the road wins against Arkansas and Missouri - after finding out he had taken money for signing autographs. It was thought to be around the $400 mark, but the further investigation found that it was far more than that. The NCAA said that Gurley was suspended for "accepting more than $3,000 in cash from multiple individuals for autographed memorabilia and other items over Read more [...]