Bleacher Report - Articles by Drew Emerson

Think Auburn's Spread Eagle Isn't Working? Here's Why You're Wrong

Drew Emerson — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 03:16:06 -0400

Last year on this exact same day, Auburn football was looking at a down year. The team had lost two games out of their first three. Tommy Tuberville was starting a young offensive line, a senior quarterback who was known for inconsistency, and facing a grueling SEC schedule.

Moreover, in their first three matches on the field, Auburn averaged merely 301 total yards of offense a game. While they had a commanding defense, their lackluster performances on offense led to a terrible 9-4 season and a win in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Wait, 9-4?

The Auburn football team had a season total yards average of 335 yards a game, won their bowl against a pesky Clemson defense, and finished the season ranked in the top 15. Wow, that is not a terrible year. Stanford, Notre Dame, South Carolina, and Boise State wished to God at the end of last season that they had finished that well.

I agree with the majority: Auburn is not a national championship caliber team. But those of you who are showing disdain for the new offense, who may be calling for Tony Franklin to be fired, or wishing the team was doing better, you need to look at the numbers.

Auburn has averaged—and I am looking at the stats right in front of me when I write this—367 total yards of offense in their first three games. This is 66 more yards a game than last year at this point. And if you did not notice, they also won these games.

If that is not doing better, explain to me what is.

Has Tommy Tuberville's squad shown a tremendous turnaround from the ground and pound that performed so "miserably" (read "more than adequately") last year?

No, Franklin's offense is not clicking, and the players are confused. The offensive line is guilty of many false starts, and they have committed several holding penalties because they were recruited as blocking linemen, not pass rush blockers.

On the other hand, this group of talented athletes is coming into a new identity that will take time. Remember, this offense has been around for four total games. Franklin is trying to find a method to the madness.

This is why the team has false starts, holding penalties, and so many fumbles. This team must learn how to perform this system against the rigor of SEC defenses.

I am not calling for Auburn to take down LSU, sweep the rest of the season, and then knock off USC for the championship, all while getting Tommy Tuberville nominated as McCain's new vice president.

What I do want the naysayers to know is that this offense is better than last year, even averaging 2.5 fumbles lost a game.

Give this young team a break. Give Tony Franklin a chance to do his job. Give Tommy Tuberville the benefit of the doubt that he is in fact a good coach.

Remember, should this season end up another 9-4 year or worse, Auburn still goes to a decent bowl game. Remember that they have a dynamic new system to adapt, and that this team is not afraid to change its image if it means winning those crucial three or four more games to get to the national championship.

Tell me what you think...Drew(WDE)

Furr Fled: Why Auburn Safety Deron Furr Quit

Drew Emerson — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 03:50:26 -0400

After missing a couple of days of practice, it has now become apparent that four-star recruit Deron Furr has left Auburn for good.

On Saturday, August 2, Furr was the target of a brawl amongst the Auburn defensive backs. Apparently he was dragging a little, and the group tried to impose some self-made justice.

By the end, much of the first and second string DBs were on top of Furr. It is not known at this time whether there was an actual fistfight between Furr and any of the other players, but it has been confirmed that the altercation left Furr on hands and knees unable to stand without assistance by the trainers.

Furr, a quarterback from Carver High in Georgia, was recruited as an athlete for his size and quickness. After practicing at quarterback in a fourth string role, he was given an opportunity to start on the defensive side of the ball.

My own conclusion is that he may be guilty of a youthful mistake. It was hot outside, and he started a little self-pitying—which senior players do not take kindly to.

Senior leaders are expected to be tough on their younger counterparts. This is because those younger players should look up to and respect the athletes that have proven themselves on the field of play already.

If he has officially left the team, I hope this may act as motivation for the rest of the team to show how tough these young men truly need to be to cut it in SEC football. I wish him well wherever he ends up, but I hate to see that such a good athlete could not make it at Auburn.

Tell me what you think...Drew(WDE)

Dan Gable, Ben Askren, and Wrestling: A Committment to Being Unknown

Drew Emerson — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 06:39:37 -0400

Dan Gable.

If the mention of that name does not immediately bring thoughts of "The Best," "Top 10 Athlete of all Time," and "Iowa Hawkeyes" to your mind, then you need to do some research.

For those of you who are not befuddled by the name, this article is for you.

Wrestling is the oldest sport in the history of the world. While those who argue that foot races are the oldest sport have a legitimate argument, they would be wrong. Babies push each other around while crawling long before they ever learn to walk.

Wrestling is also the hardest sport to train for. While training for the Olympics, Dan Gable hung pull-up bars from the door frames inside his house. If he passed the door frame, he did 10 pull-ups. Imagine if he forgot his keys after leaving the house.

I have always compared wrestling to the hardest football practice during summer two-a-days, while trapped in a 105ºF room, and wearing a sweat suit. Dan Gable once stated that, "Once you've wrestled, everything else in life is easy."

Many well-known people achieved success in the sport of wrestling, but never received notoriety for it.

Abraham Lincoln, the most wiry president, was a champion wrestler in his town.

A former great actor, turned lunatic, was once a high school wrestler before getting injured and deciding to start acting in school plays. His name was Tom Cruise.

These are just a couple of examples of people you know, that you do not know as wrestlers.

Now comes another—Ben Askren.

Ben Askren is a young man who has qualified for the Olympic Team. He was a two-time Wisconsin state champion. He chose Missouri University to attend college (not known for a stellar program), where he won two national titles.

Askren has achieved a level of ability alien to such a young wrestler. But I am sure you are just now hearing about it.

As a moderate-level high school wrestler, I grew up knowing that no matter how good I was, the best I had to look forward to was winning a lot of matches, getting my name flashed across the news one time for winning a gold medal at the Olympics, and then fading away.

I hope I can sway a few of you to look for Askren and the United States team as they compete. Keep in mind some of the things you have read hear, and remember that the men you are watching work harder, longer, and go through more hardships than any other athletes—and they receive less recognition.

Tell me what you think.

Why They Hate the SEC: The First Reason

Drew Emerson — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 05:13:39 -0400

I have always said that I would not get into the argument about whether or not the SEC is better than the other conferences. I do this for the same reason I would not argue against the existence of Newton, apples, and gravity. Gravity existed and was a force to be reckoned with long before it was given a title.

However, I would like to educate my fellow SEC fans so that they might truly understand why "they"—those who place their faith in the other conferences, like tuberculosis sufferers would in magic cures back in the 1800s—hate everything about us.

The first reason why they hate us is that we refer to our teams, and the teams' students, their student fans, their non-student fans, and their never-graduated-high-school fans, as "we."

It is a common misconception in the other conferences that in order to be a true part of "we," you must, in fact, have done something to become a member of the group you intend to include yourself in.

This misconception has led those other conferences' fans to think that our fans are a large group of tobacco-chewing, beer-drinking rednecks who never actually attended the schools we are cheering for. Therefore, we should not count ourselves as members.

Those who would say that would largely be correct. We probably should not consider ourselves members of "we," but we do anyway, and it is common practice amongst the fans of the SEC.

As fine ladies and gentlemen of the South, we know that you do not have to have gone to the school you are a fan of. In fact, it is not even required that you have ever seen the campus/team in person.

The only thing required to be a member of "we" in the South is to pledge your undying allegiance to whichever school you place your spirit with.

For this reason, the other conferences' fans reject us, despise our attitudes, and will never understand that it only takes a little bit of love to be a fan in the SEC. It's also good if you chew tobacco, drink beer, and you happen to be a redneck.

Assuming this article gets some good responses, I will continue through the five reasons "why they hate us" early next week...

Tell me what you think...Drew (WDE)

The Honor of the NFL: A Response to '...A Brit's' Perspective

Drew Emerson — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 05:07:46 -0400

As mentioned in "...A Brits" article, it is customary for NFL teams to run the clock out when they have secured a win over their opponnent. The article goes on to mention that these men get paid for their effort— the better the stats, the more money each individual receives—so they should play hard the whole game, giving the same effort in order to perform to those standards.

If you take each individuals contract and apply them all successfully to the same game then you would reach the following situation: two, 200-yard passers with two touchdowns, two 100-yard rushers with one touchdown, four 100-yard receivers with one touchdown a piece, 10 defensive linemen with sacks, six linebackers with sacks and each with an interception, and at least two corner backs with an interception.

Now, that sounds like a heck of a game to watch, but the truth is, it doesn't really happen.

Teams have good games and bad ones.

When one team has a tremendous amount of success in a single game, I appreciate them taking a step back and letting the clocks run out.

The reason I feel this way is that they are all stars, and it shows camaraderie between the teams.

Yes, I understand that opposing teams don't have to be friends, but remember they also belong to a greater association.

The NFL receives millions of viewers a week, and not all of them are adults who have chosen their character path— some of them are youth, and these days our youth need to watch anything that character building they can.

Since I strongly dislike “Bellacheat” and the Pats, I'll also add that maybe if they had taken some guys out in their wonderful season and talked about the future, they would have been more prepared for a slightly above average New York Giants team.

Tell me what you think...Drew(WDE)

Auburn Tigers Could Use a Change in Strategy

Drew Emerson — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 03:00:28 -0400

In recent history, the Auburn Tigers have been known for a few key things that make or break their season. First, they have two running backs sharing the load. Second, fast defenses that keep the game close. Third, they use spectacular play against the best teams in the country.

As a devoted fan, I have enjoyed the running back tandems that have shared the responsibility of removing the spotlight from less than stellar quarterbacks.

I think Tommy Tuberville's devotion to speed, agility, and intelligence on the defensive side of the ball is the most consistent way to keep Auburn in the tough games. These qualities allow Auburn to keep the best teams in the country contained long enough to strike at the end of the game for the last minute field goal (Florida last year holy...).

I think these qualities have reached their highest possible affect, and its time to match them with two new qualities: a good quarterback and a spread offense.

First, I think Chris Todd should be the quarterback this season. He has played in the Franklin spread system since he was sixteen. He's also older and more mature.

On the other hand, if Todd struggles, it shows confidence in your young backup to put him in if necessary. I think this would actually give Burns more confidence because it would show that his coaches trust him enough to throw him in when either Todd loses his touch, or you need another runner on the field in tight situations.

Having said that, if you match an experienced leader with Brad Lester for the short gains and a Mario Fannin for the slot, then you have a crew that is guaranteed to get four or five yards on short runs and quick dump offs. This opens the holes for longer runs later in the game, and deeper passes for the wideouts when the defensive secondary moves up to press the middle and the flats.

I'm hoping this strategy works for Auburn because it leaves all of their historical strengths and fixes their weaknesses.

Tell me what you think...Drew (WDE)