(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
About 1:30 Saturday afternoon, Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs slipped into the relative privacy of a stall in the restroom of the pressbox at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville and punched numbers into his cell phone. When the call connected, Jacobs barked orders in an urgent whisper:
"Tell the sculptor to hold off on that statue of me and Gene Chizik. What? I don't care if he's 90% done with it, tell him to put a hold on it, we're not putting it out in front of the stadium just yet."
For the past two-and-a-half hours, Jacobs watched as the Arkansas Razorbacks served a healthy dose of 44-23 humility to the Auburn football program.
Some Auburn fans who booed Jacobs after he hired 5-19 Chizik to coach the Tiger football program had changed their tune after a 5-0 start to 2009. Lost in the rush to celebrate the resurgence and issue calls for the college football world to apologize for thinking Chizik didn’t have the credentials to handle the task was the fact that Auburn’s first five games were, if not cupcakes, at least in the pastry family.
Arkansas served notice that while the rush to judge Chizik’s 5-19 record might have been premature, so, too was the urge to wave the 5-0 start as a definitive case for proving the skeptics wrong.
It wasn't just that Auburn suffered its first loss under new head coach Chizik, it was the way in which the Hogs administered the reality check.
When you're playing on the road in the SEC, there is a checklist to follow, otherwise you're going to get embarrassed.
1) Don't turn the ball over
Fail. Auburn did. The Tigers fumbled four times, losing three. All four were devastating. Arkansas scored 17 points following Auburn turnovers.
In the second quarter, after Arkansas had gone up 13-0, Mario Fannin fumbled the kickoff at the Tiger 35. Three plays later, the deficit was 20.
In the third, trailing 27-3, Auburn's opening possession churned deep into Arkansas territory. Running back Ben Tate dropped a handoff at the Arkansas goal line when he would have scored easily. The Razorbacks recovered, hit a 38-yard pass on third down and went on to up the advantage to 34-3.
After Auburn clawed back into the game, reeling off 20 -7 run to close to 41-23, Tiger quarterback Chris Todd fumbled the snap on 4th-and-inches. He recovered the ball, but failed to convert the first down. Arkansas didn't score, but the Razorbacks were able to bleed two minutes off the clock.
On the following possession, Todd was sacked and coughed up the ball at the Tiger 10-yard line. Arkansas punched a field goal through to push the final score to 44-23.
2) Don't give up big plays on special teams
Fail. Auburn did.
Fannin fumbled the kickoff, leading to one Arkansas score.
After Auburn had gained momentum and closed the deficit to a manageable 34-23, the Tigers surrendered a 70-yard kickoff return. Eight plays later, it was 41-23.
3) Sustain drives on offense
Fail. Auburn didn't.
The Tigers were a miserable 4-of-14 on third downs. Auburn only had three drives that consisted of more than five plays. Five of Auburn's 14 possessions ended in three plays or less.
4) Keep the opposing offense off the field
Fail. Auburn didn't.
Arkansas put together a 12-play drive, a 10-play march, and two eight-play series. The Hogs went three and out just three times.
5) Don't commit penalties
Fail. Auburn did.
The Tigers were flagged eight times for 56 yards, nearly every step-off coming at the worst possible time. Arkansas got six first downs by way of penalty.
Four of Arkansas' six touchdown drives were extended by penalty. All four featured at least one pass interference call, some of which were phantom but flagged nonetheless.
Everything that could go wrong for the Tigers did go wrong. The team was uninspired, unemotional, and ill-prepared. That's coaching.
Those of you baking dishes of crow and demanding apologies from those who had the audacity to criticize the once 5-0 Tiger head coach Chizik? Better wrap that crow up tightly in tinfoil and put it in the freezer. Doesn't look like you'll be getting to serve it for a while. Better dig out your reality recipes instead.
Auburn's defense is simply abysmal. Depth is a consideration, but not enough to justify what the Razorbacks exposed on Saturday. You can't blame depth when the first string is getting abused on the opening series of the game.
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