Auburn Tigers Football Mid-Season Report: Four Things We Know and Four Things We Don't

Coming into the 2010 season there were a lot of questions that surrounded this Auburn football team.

Last year’s team seemed to hit a wall at the mid-season point, which led to a 3-5 finish to the season. With the first half of the season over, let’s take a look at a few things that were learned in the first six weeks and some things that are still unanswered after the first six.

Four Things We Know

Cam Newton is The Real Deal.

Cam Newton came to Auburn as a highly recruited JUCO talent that had previous SEC experience. Late in the process his name started brewing around the message boards, and fans began to learn the saga of the former Florida Gator. He came to Auburn with a ton of questions, but answers were sure to come.

Could Newton bring a winning mentality and be the difference maker the Tigers needed to make it to the next level in 2010? Would Newton be able to add a new dimension to an already potent offense?

Well, ladies and gentlemen, the answers have come in an overwhelming fashion.

What we have learned so far is that yes, Cam Newton can be, and is a difference maker. He has made this Auburn offense better and more potent. As it stands, he has 1,138 yards passing and 12 TDs, as well as 672 on the ground and 9 TDs.

Difference maker is an understatement.

With the first six weeks being a trial period, Cam Newton has gone above and beyond expectations this year. There are some things that need work as they always will, but through the first half of the season Newton has been every bit as good as advertised.

This Team Can Finish.

The second glaring thing so far this season is that this Tiger team can finish ball games. The big issue in '09 was the inability to shut the door in games where Auburn had the lead.

So far so good this season.

Not only has Auburn been able to finish games so far, but they have been able to come from behind in a few as well. Watching the tenacity and team chemistry that seems to be there this year has really brought a change not only to the team but the fans as well.

Two or three years ago, watching an Auburn team get down early was a death sentence. Now it's all the more reason to sit down and grab some snacks because this team has an unbelievable grit that helps them finish games.

Is this team going to get itself into a situation that it cannot reverse? It is very possible. There are some big names left on the schedule. However, this team hasn’t let the games slip away yet at the mid-season point, proving this team can finish games.

The Schedule is Favorable.

Yes, this was glaringly obvious to start the season. Why mention it again then you ask? This remaining schedule is a lot more favorable than anyone would have believed early on.

If you would have said that Georgia would struggle to be bowl eligible this year you would have been laughed out of the town you were currently located in.

Before the season began, the schedule was something that made Auburn an early favorite for some to be a dark horse in the SEC. With some tough games early and all the big conference tests at home, it was feasible for Auburn to be a SEC West contender: but undefeated? That talk wasn’t so popular.

Looking at the remainder of the schedule, undefeated is being whispered, but that is still a huge task to accomplish. The good news is that this week Arkansas comes to town. Following Arkansas, its LSU at home. Those games are huge for the SEC West race, and they are both at home.

LSU, as of late, has been winning with some very unusual decisions and circumstances to say the least. That luck may not hold in Jordan Hare Stadium on the 23^rd.

Arkansas brings a huge passing attack to town, but is a team that has one loss under its belt. That loss came for a number of reasons, but pressure on the quarterback in this week’s contest will make the difference.

After those two big tests Auburn takes to the road to face a very unimpressive Ole Miss team, and then comes back home to face UT-Chattanooga and Georgia. Of course the season finishes at Alabama.

Looking forward, if Auburn continues to get better and keeps finishing ball games, there is a possibility of an undefeated season. It is still early and there is a ton of football left to play but this Auburn team is no doubt in the driver’s seat.

Auburn Is a SEC West Contender.

To begin the season Auburn was a dark horse candidate to win the West. It was not the popular pick but more of an “if everything goes horribly wrong and Alabama loses some games" pick.

Well, Alabama has lost its first game and Auburn is the highest ranked SEC program.

What does this mean for Auburn? As stated above, it means that Auburn is in the driver’s seat to the SEC West. If the Tigers continue to win, it won't matter what the rest of teams do. This is a position that the Tigers have not seen since 2006, when none other than Arkansas shattered the hopes and dreams of an undefeated Auburn team.

This week not only tips the iceberg in the SEC West title hunt but it leads to the final turn of the season. It should be interesting to say the least, to watch how the coming events unfold. But, one thing that is for sure is that Auburn is in the heat of the race most said they wouldn’t be in to start the season.

Auburn is in the driver’s seat to finish this season strong and make it to Atlanta.

4 Things We Don’t Know

Will Mike Dyer Breakout?

The first question that has yet to be answered is where has the tailback production been? Ben Tate left a larger void than most expected when he graduated last year because the combined effort of Dyer and McCalebb barely beat out Newton’s individual rushing numbers. Now I am a fan of running backs by committee, but the position has to get more production.

Mike Dyer was a guy that was suspected to be an impact guy, but as was expected by most, he has yet to show out this season. Dyer's best games are no doubt coming, but the hope is that he has a huge showing this week against his hometown team.

If Auburn wants to make it down the stretch and continue to own its destiny, it must find a running game that is not carried on the back of Newton. Dyer can no doubt help, and with the running ability of Newton and the option read, Dyer may find more carries coming his way down the stretch as defenses key more and more on stopping Newton.

Will Cam Join the 2k/1k Club?

Will Newton make it into history by finishing the season in the 2,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing club? Good question. At this point, all signs point to yes. As has been stated previously though, there is a lot of football left to play.

Newton has put up some ridiculous production so far this season and has shown what a multi-talented quarterback can do for a team. Making it to the lauded 2k/1k club however, is still a large task. It is in reach, but every game it seems to be getting a little more difficult.

Anyone can watch film and see that Newton produces but why he produces is the bigger story. Watching games, it is easy to see that defenses cannot stop him, but if you look a little deeper the true story unfolds.

The defense must honor his run so much that he can hold the ball for an extended period of time to read the ends. When Newton makes this read, it draws and commits the defense one way or the other, giving him the option to hand off or run. This has led to success despite the defenses keying his movement.

Watching how future defenses battle his reads and try and stop the game flow should be interesting and should go a long way in determining if Newton can hit the 2k/1k mark this season.

Can the Auburn Defense Last?

This Auburn defense has improved its depth this year. So far this season, the defense has held just enough of the opposing teams off the scoreboard to win. Will the bend-a ton-and-just-not-break-defense keep Auburn undefeated and in the SEC West title hunt? That is a loaded hard-to-answer question.

This defense has been anything but locked down against the pass so far. Against the run they have been a nasty, but the two need to combine.

Auburn needs to keep the tough nose running defense alive, but also figure out a way to stop giving up so many yards in the secondary.

One of the reasons that this secondary seems to give up a lot of yards is the large cushion that is given every game. Entering this Saturday, that is likely to remain the plan from start to finish. The one piece that seems to be missing this season is a shutdown corner.

The yards that have been earned on Auburn to this point have not been on the big play types, but the easy dump offs in front of the defense. Now even though the cushion and giving up the dump passes is by design, one would think that the missed tackles are not.

Even though missed tackles are better than they were last year, stopping big plays isn’t the only thing this defense needs to worry about. Keeping the ball in front of you is sound defense, but that philosophy relies on the thought that the defender will make the tackle immediately.

Can Auburn Win the Wild West?

Earlier, we visited the idea that Auburn is a contender in the West, but does that mean they can actually win the whole thing? That is something that is left to be determined by the second half of the season, and may be determined in the next two weeks.

The Arkansas game and the LSU game loom in the coming weeks as games that can inflate expectations even further or deflate them immediately. Auburn has to win both of these games to have a chance.

If Auburn can finish these next two, it means that the Auburn defense is good enough to stop any offense in college football. It also means they can beat the voodoo magic that is coming out of southern Louisiana these days. After those games, the answer as to whether Auburn can win the SEC West should be obvious.