Things to watch for Saturday… Auburn Edition

1.) Monte vs Malzahn; both legends in the realm of football. One a high school coaching legend, who just 5 years ago was not even involved in college football, but now is one of the most influential offensive minds of our time. The other a coaching legend who has been around a high level of football since Malzahn was a kid, who five years ago was in the NFL, and arguably the most influential defense coordinator of our time. Watch for Auburn to run Malzahn’s hurry up offense, utilizing Malzahn’s wildcat running scheme, but also a nice passing game as well. Can Monte plan a defensive scheme for this attack? With the injury to Reveiz, the onfield general of the Vols, watch to see how we adjust. This could be a huge issue for the Vols, since they will have to react quickly to a fast-paced; hurry-up offense.

2.) Qb play on both sides of the ball; this is as clear cut a difference as you can find in Saturday’s game. Auburn’s Chris Todd has stellar statistics, 62 completions on 106 attempts, for 1012 yards, with 11 touchdowns and 1 interception, a 171.05 quarterback rating. All of this looks like award winning statistics coming into week five of the season, but you need to look at the competition Auburn has played to date. Nothing jumps out, other than the fact that they have not played anyone difficult, aside from a lack-luster West Virginia team. We will see how Todd handles the fierest secondary in all of the SEC. Tennessee’s Jonathan Crompton has had a poor showing to say the least; 62 completions on 107 attempts, for 641 yards, with 7 touchdowns and 8 interceptions, a 114.9 quarterback rating. This is a make or break game for the Tennessee hopefuls, with Crompton. Most have lost hope in their Qb, but maybe a strong performance against Auburn this week can turn their opinions around.

3.) Ability of UT to keep Auburn’s offense off the field; a gameplan that Lane Kiffin used against Florida well, can he carry it to Auburn? Auburn averages 79.5 offensive plays per game, Kiffin would like to keep this under 50. If Auburn’s offense is sidelined under 50 plays, I think UT comes away with a win. Anything more than 50, and UT will have a hard time winning.

4.) Special teams play by the Vols; with a weak showing against Ohio last week, Kiffin came out and worked on special teams to begin the week. UT needs to control field position, and giving up big kick returns and punt returns will be a punch to the nose of our D. Since it is October, and UT starts the meat of their SEC schedule, this is when tightening up everything needs to be done. If the Vols keep having small mental mistakes on kick offs and punt’s, it will eat away at them slowly over the period of the game.

5.) The crowd at Neyland; It has been reported that the student’s at Tennessee have returned nearly 3,000 tickets. The Vols need a rocking Neyland stadium to come out victorious. The 12th man is going to be huge, this is Auburn’s first road game of the year. Getting in their heads will be a huge factor for the Volunteers, and a big part will fall into the hands of the hopefully 100,000 screaming fans. It is rumored that a large number of Auburn’s fans have purchased tickets, lets hope for the Volunteers that a replay of the Alabama game of 2008 isn’t in store for this weekend. With that said, its even more vital for the Volunteer faithful to get to Neyland and sing Rocky Top at the tops of their lungs.