The Auburn Tigers earned their first win of the season in Week Three, narrowly edging the Louisiana Monroe Warhawks in overtime, with Tigers’ kicker Cody Parkey connecting on a 35-yard field goal in the first period of extra time. This was the same that ULM team that got the best of the Arkansas Razorbacks on the road in Little Rock, so a win against the Warhawks should not be taken lightly for head coach Gene Chizik and his young Auburn team. While quarterback Kiehl Frazier did not put up tremendous numbers, he was more efficient passing against ULM than he has been, and his 33-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter provided a spark to the passing game. The running game was essential in helping the Tigers avoid the upset, as Auburn piled up 255 yards on the ground. Onterio McCalebb was terrific, needing just 11 carries to rack up 128 yards and a touchdown, while Tre Mason was a workhorse for the offense, with 22 carries for 90 yards and a score. The success of the ground game helped take pressure off embattled QB Frazier, as the sophomore has taken longer than expected to master the offense. The Tigers will need their running backs to generate yards and help control the clock, especially against the better teams in the conference.

Auburn will look to take all the positive momentum from this game and use it for Week Four’s crucial matchup with defending SEC-champion LSU. The LSU Tigers come off a methodical 63-14 victory over Idaho, and Auburn will need to be at the top of its game in order to take down the No. 2 team in the nation. Chizik’s defense will need to perform much better against LSU than it did in the second half against the Warhawks, when the Tigers surrendered a 14 point lead in the final seven minutes of the game. LSU’s ground game has been devastating this year, and Auburn needs to be able to slow down Kenny Hilliard, Alfred Blue and the rest of the Bayou Bengals’ stable of runners. If Auburn’s run defense holds up well, pass rushing terror Corey Lemonier could make LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger uncomfortable in the pocket. Defeating LSU will be a big challenge for Auburn, but earning their first win of the 2012 season should give them some much needed momentum in their upset bid.

The biggest question mark of the offseason for the Auburn Tigers was at the quarterback position, and head coach Gene Chizik appointed sophomore quarterback Kiehl Frazier the starter over junior Clint Moseley. Unfortunately for Auburn fans, Frazier struggled out of the gates against Clemson in the season opener, completing less than 50 percent of his passes for 194 yards against the Tigers’ athletic defensive front. However, he did establish good connections with receiver Emory Blake and tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen, and will look to build off that performance in a crucial test against Mississippi St. in Week Two.

One of the top quarterback recruits in the country in 2011, Frazier has all the talent in the world to succeed. At 6-foot-2 and 226 pounds, Frazier has great size, and he is also incredibly athletic for the position. As a high school senior in Arkansas, he rushed for 1,164 yards with 22 touchdowns and passed for an additional 2,975 yards and 42 touchdowns, earning USA Today National Player of the Year honors in the process. So talent will not be the issue for the sophomore. He was not quite ready for the job a season ago, coming in almost exclusively to run the ball. He did chip in 327 yards on the ground, but he only attempted 12 passes on the season and is still unproven in that facet of the game. The year experience he now has under his belt should help him immensely as he hopes to direct a more potent Tigers attack. One challenge he continues to face is adapting to a new offense under coordinator Scott Loeffler, who was hired to replace the now-departed Guz Malzahn. Loeffler does have a good track record with quarterbacks in the past, working with Florida QB Tim Tebow in 2009, and may look to utilize Frazier’s running ability more as the season goes on. Fans with Auburn Tigers tickets should see a much improved Frazier the next time he takes the field at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

The Auburn Tigers are coming off a season in which they were defending BCS National Champions.  These were very high expectations for a team that was just one season removed from losing Heisman winning quarterback Cam Newton to the NFL; not to mention that they are pinned against the best competition in the entire country in the SEC’s West division.  The SEC West has featured 4 of the last 5 National Champions and considering Auburn had an overall record of 8-5, their 4-4 conference record displays the SEC’s true depth.  Here are just a few of the players we are very excited to see step on to the field for Auburn this fall.

Auburn has a very deep recruiting class this year with 5 of their recruits being graded by ESPN as 83 or above.  Leading the 2013 class is Carl Lawson, a 6 foot 2, 251 pound defensive end who is currently 5^th in the ESPN top 150.  Lawson is the second highest rated player at his position and should prove to be a vital asset for future Auburn teams.  Following him will be Dee Liner and Tashawn Bower who are both defensive lineman.  Liner is a hefty Defensive tackle that should see many double teams when he has reached his full size and potential.  Bower is a defensive end, however is far quicker and a little smaller than Lawson which should provide versatility for Auburn’s defensive front.

The next recruit is an inside linebacker named Trey Johnson who is being talked about very positively in most Auburn circles.  At 6 foot 1, 215 pounds he may be bounced out to an outside linebacker or possibly even a defensive back position due to his athleticism.  Rounding out the top 5 recruits will be the top offensive recruit for Auburn, Earnest Robinson.  Robinson has great size at 6 foot 2 and shouldn’t get pushed around with his very solid weight of 200 pounds.  He is known for having phenomenal hands and turned down scholarship offers from fellow SEC West teams such as Alabama, LSU and Arkansas.  With the young talent Auburn has compiled they should be a serious contender in the SEC West in the very near future.

This year’s success could depend on the play of starting quarterback Barrett Trotter.  Trotter split time last year, though he was the primary starter and showed much more production during his time under the helm.  In the 2012 season he totaled 1,184 yards and 11 touch downs.  No one is expecting him to be Cam Newton, but if he can control the flow of the game his numbers should significantly increase with running back Michael Dyer no longer attending the University.

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3. Takeo Spikes 1995-1997, Linebacker

One of the most effortless tacklers college football has ever seen, Takeo Spikes begins are best of list at the #3 spot.  Spikes played 3 seasons for the Tigers and was drafted #13 overall in the 1997 NFL Draft by the Bengals.  He has also played with the Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles San Francisco 49ers and currently the San Diego Chargers and is a 2 time Pro-Bowl and All-Pro selection in the NFL.  After playing alongside fellow Auburn great running back Stephen Davis for the past two seasons, Spikes had an outstanding final season at Auburn, leading their ferocious defense with 136 tackles which is the 9^th most for a single season at Auburn.  Arguably the best line backer to ever wear an Auburn uniform Takeo Spikes comes in as the third greatest Auburn Tiger football player in the school’s storied legacy.

2. Bo Jackson 1982-1985, Running Back

Undoubtedly the greatest running back to ever wear a Tiger uniform, Bo Jackson has made quite possibly the largest impact on the sports world that any other Auburn alum could claim.  A two-time All American and the schools second ever Heisman Trophy winner, Jackson has one of the most decorated careers ever in College Football.  The pinnacle of his career came in 1985 as he ran for a school record 1.786 yards; winning the Heisman trophy and the Walter Camp Award in that season and finishing his Auburn career with 4,303 rushing yards, once again being the highest total in school history which led to his #34 jersey number being retired.  Jackson is unique in that he went on to play 2 sports professionally, both football and baseball playing for the Los Angeles Raiders of the NFL and playing for the Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox and California Angels of the MLB.  Bo Jackson is undeniably one of the greatest athletes of all time.

1. Cam Newton, 2010 Quarterback

After a Sophomore year that had Cam Newton backing up a guy you may or may not be familiar with at the University of Florida, Tim Tebow, and a successful junior year at Blinn College in Texas Cam Newton found himself at the University of Auburn with just one year of eligibility left to prove to NFL scouts how good he really is.  And Cam did just that, throwing for over 2,500 yards for 30 touchdowns and running for a remarkable 1,473 yards and 20 touchdowns.  Cam proved to be the perfect combination of running and throwing quarterback confirming this by leading the Tigers to a BCS National Championship victory over the Oregon Ducks 22-19.  Cam was drafted by the Carolina Panthers last year and continued his excellence shattering almost every rookie quarterback record previously set.  Cam went onto the win the Heisman trophy and a National Championship in 2010 making him the greatest Auburn Tiger ever.

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