my amateur take on auburn:
*with Lawson back, they get more pressure up front which makes their average secondary better. which in turn makes their overall defense more respectable.
*the plays have been really dumb down for JJ to make him more serviceable rather than a liability. Gus is applying his smoke and mirrors once again in order to generate scores and moving the chains. White might return from injury which is a beneficial to their passing game with Louis and Ray getting better. if White is sideline for the remainder of the season, expect Gus to go back to what he does best, read option sprinkled with gimmicks and trickery.
*with the emergence of Jovon Robinson, auburn now has 3 backs with speed and power. Robinson and Barber give them power, Kerryon Johnson gives them speed and a wildcat option that Gus loves to use. the offense now has a full compliment of weapons for Gus's disposal.
when they loss to Arkansas, many barners were ready to go 5-7 or maybe 6-6 for the season, but then they beat TAMU due to TAMU struggling with their offense and that pathetic defense the aggies continued to put on the field, it was a perfect storm for auburn to steal a win on the road. TAMU actually did move the ball well, but the costly turnovers in the RZ hurt them bad and resulted in a loss. Murray is just not a good QB at this time, he makes bad decisions, mostly throwing into double coverage.
the UGA game was considered by many barners a loss about a month ago when Chubb was healthy. now with UGA struggling ( losing 3 out of 4 before their win vs UK) barners are feeling confident again. how about' that??
so in essence, yes auburn is improving as a team with players back from injuries ( Lawson) as well as players emerging from the bench ( Jovon Robinson) but it was coupled with major injuries to TAMU and UGA for them to feel confident again..
I still think UGA with Sony Michel along with a decent passing attack and a better UGA defense than TAMU will give auburn all they can handle. should be a close game.
