UT-Martin wore orange uniforms similar to the no contact jerseys Auburn quarterbacks wear during practices. Auburn players have spent their entire college careers associating orange jerseys as something not to hit, as something to protect at all costs. Their minds have been conditioned to avoid orange jerseys. Is it possible that the orange uniforms psychologically hindered the defenses' ability to tackle at times?



I'm really reaching with that argument. Moving on...

I was surprised at how full the stadium was considering how the season is going and the competition. Once again, it was a great day for football watching. This was my first game to watch from Jordan Hare's upper deck - not too bad. The view good, and you can pick up any details you missed on the jumbotron. I am afraid of heights though, and I kept on wondering if it's possible for a Bon Jovi song to produce a resonance frequency capable of causing the upper decks to collapse. Tristan Davis' kickoff return for a touchdown brought my mind back to reality.

Tristan Davis is fast. I'm glad that the coaching staff is trying everything they can to have him on the field. It's weird seeing him line up as a fullback since he started his Auburn career as a safety. If Auburn is doing everything they can to get him on the field, why didn't they use him in the defensive secondary? Is the ability to be a good safety something that's lost if not continuously practiced? He's the fastest player so they make him the lead blocker? Oh well, I'm just happy to see formations with include fullbacks. It reminds me of the formations Auburn would run back in my college days.

Speaking of formations including fullbacks. Tuberville kept referring to “this system” and “the spread” during Sunday's Auburn Review show. Is that what this offense is or will become? I'm confused.

Robert Dunn made a really stupid mistake by dropping the punt in the end zone. However, he's probably caught more flack for it than necessary. Auburn was playing UT Martin, it's ok to alter your risk assessment methods based on your competition. He was probably wanting another shot at a punt return for a touchdown and figured UT Martin was his best shot at it. He would not make the same mistake against Georgia or Alabama.

Kodi Burns has the chance to be an excellent quarterback in the future. His decision making abilities have improved through the season. He's also showcased his passing and running abilities this season – even though he hasn't been able to show both in the same game yet. Considering that he doesn't have a quarterback coach at the moment, he's doing very well.

Auburn's pass offense is actually slightly better than Alabama's, statistically speaking. This is really ironic considering Auburn didn't fire Al Borges because he didn't win enough games - he was fired because his offenses weren't flashy enough. Be careful what you wish for.

Neal Caudle saw some action at the end of the game. At one point, he avoided a near sack and threw the ball away successfully. The crowd went crazy with cheers and applause. That play summed up the 2008 Auburn football season thus far pretty well. A second string quarterback avoided the sack against a Division II school late in the fourth quarter – and the Auburn faithful become ecstatic. It was pretty cool seeing us find the positive where we could.

The best part of Saturday's win is that I'm almost certain that Tuberville will be Auburn's head coach next season. Losing to a Division II school would be the only way I could envision Tuberville being fired. It would cost $6 million dollars to fire Tuberville and from what I hear, some trustees would have to put up some personal money to make this happen. The most likely man to do this, Bobby Lowder, probably doesn't have the time to worry about Tuberville these days. His company's stock has lost 90% of it's value from two years ago.

Heck, if Tuberville shorted Colonial's stock after his attempted firing in 2003 out of spite, Tuberville may might be rich enough to buy ownership of every trustee's company and then fire every trustee. NOBODY pulls off mutiny like Tuberville does.

So the final question of the week is this; Did Tuberville ask to borrow UT-Martin's orange uniforms for the Georgia game next week? There's still the chance that he might try to pull off the 'reverse gimmick gimmick' I predicted in the off season?

War Eagle!

E-mail Mark at mark@theauburner.com

An Auburn win at the Iron Bowl will be a day that will forever live in hilarity. Buy your tickets to history from TicketCity.