Auburn-LSU thoughts

September 18, 2008

By Jon Johnson

I’m pumped up about this one. I believe it ought to be one of those knock down, drag out, SEC battles between these two western division foes we’ve grown so accustomed to.
I’ve gone back and forth all week on a prediction. I really believe Auburn has a good chance to win, but something just tells me to go with LSU. That’s the way I went with my Fearless Forecasters choice, but it was far from a confident pick.
Obviously Auburn has a great, great defense. It’s the offense that’s still so much of a mystery going into the fourth game.
I do believe Kodi Burns will get a chance in the game this Saturday night. Here’s believing they need his speed at quarterback in the spread, something Chris Todd doesn’t give them. Todd obviously knows the offense extremely well, and has done OK passing. But for him to keep the starting job, he’s going to have to look a lot sharper getting the ball down field.
If the offense can come around, and I believe it can, Auburn can certainly win this one.
The place should be rocking.
I’m looking forward to it.

AP Poll Week 3

By Jon Johnson

I’m a little late posting these, but if you’re interested and didn’t see Monday’s print edition, here’s my Top 25 rankings submitted to the associated press on Sunday morning. It seemed a lot tougher for me than the first two weeks.
1) Southern Cal
2) Georgia
3) Oklahoma
4) Florida
5) Missouri
6) LSU
7) Texas
8) Wisconsin
9) Auburn
10) Alabama
11) Texas Tech
12) South Florida
13) BYU
14) East Carolina
15) Penn State
16) Oregon
17) Utah
18) Wake Forest
19) Kansas
20) Ohio State
21) Florida State
22) Fresno State
23) West Virginia
24) Illinois
25) Kentucky

AP rankings No. 2

September 07, 2008

By Jon Johnson

My second regular season AP Top 25 rankings were sent in during the wee hours of Sunday morning after returning from a trip to Tuscaloosa for coverage of the Alabama-Tulane game.
I kept Alabama at No. 13, and Auburn at No. 9. Both weren’t very impressive on Saturday, thus my reasoning for ranking both in the same position that they began the day.
When the AP poll was revealed Sunday afternoon, Bama had moved into the No. 11 slot. Auburn remains at No. 9.
Here’s my rankings as sent to the AP:

1) Southern Cal
2) Georgia
3) Oklahoma
4) Florida
5) Missouri
6) Ohio State
7) LSU
8) Texas
9) Auburn
10) Wisconsin
11) Kansas
12) Texas Tech
13) Alabama
14) East Carolina
15) Arizona State
16) Oregon
17) BYU
18) Penn State
19) South Florida
20) Wake Forest
21) Fresno State
22) Utah
23) California
24) Illinois
25) Florida State

AP Top 25 regular season poll No. 1

September 05, 2008

By Jon Johnson

So I sent in my first AP regular season Top 25 rankings of the season, shortly after the Tennessee-UCLA game on Monday night. The votes were due on Tuesday by 11 a.m., but I went ahead and sent an hour or so after the Vols lost in overtime.
The preseason poll was difficult to put together. Basically I just looked over how teams finished last year, how many starters they had returning and researched the best I could. The first regular season poll was a bit easier, but it was hard to know how high to move a team - such as Alabama - after an impressive win. Alabama was No. 24 in the preseason poll, which is exactly where I ranked the Tide. After the win over Clemson, I jumped them 10 spots to No. 14. When the final tally of all the voters was released, Alabama came in at No. 13 - quite a first week jump, but well-deserved.
I kept Georgia at No. 1, but moved Southern Cal up to No. 2 ahead of Ohio State. As it worked out, Southern Cal jumped two spots into No. 1, ahead of Georgia. I can’t argue with that.
I don’t look for a whole lot of movement this week. Just not a lot of big games on the schedule My vote for this week will be due on Sunday morning by 11. I’ll likely send it in when I arrive home from coverage of the Alabama-Tulane game in the wee hours of the morning.
Below is my rankings sent in on Tuesday.

AP Top 25 votes from Jon Johnson, Dothan Eagle
1) Georgia
2) Southern Cal
3) Ohio State
4) Oklahoma
5) Florida
6) Missouri
7) LSU
8) West Virginia
9) Auburn
10) Texas
11) Texas Tech
12) Wisconsin
13) Kansas
14) Alabama
15) Arizona State
16) BYU
17) South Florida
18) Oregon
19) Penn State
20) Wake Forest
21) UCLA
22) Fresno State
23) California
24) Illinois
25) Tennessee

Pybus does well in first game

August 31, 2008

By Jon Johnson

It was great to see Spencer Pybus, the former Northview standout, being honored as the Special Teams Player of the Week for Auburn following his performance in the opener against Louisiana-Monroe.
Early last week, there was speculation Pybus would be redshirted during his freshman season.
However, Pybus was on the field Saturday night on the special teams, and obviously did extremely well.
Pybus recovered a fumble on the kickoff to begin the second half, and also recorded a tackle on special teams during the game.
During his senior year in high school, Pybus didn’t get a whole lot of attention from college recruiters despite playing very well at linebacker.
Auburn has given him a chance, and Pybus certainly looks like he will be a good fit for the Tigers.
Good job, Spencer.