Starting off a season with a win is always a good thing. Starting off your first season as a coaching staff with a win is even better.
This first game put the new staff in a strange position however; call it a "football limbo."
Auburn won by 24 points, but it was against Louisiana Tech.
La. Tech is a veteran team that played excellent football in the first half, but just couldn't keep up with the Tigers' offense in the second half.
The ratings computers and the people who didn't get to watch the game will only see the score and the opponent.
On the other hand, if Auburn had lost, all the talk would've been about how La. Tech is a veteran team out to make a name for themselves in the Western Athletic Conference and possibly crash the BCS.
The blame for a loss would have been put on the new offensive scheme and the new staff and fans would be preparing for another dismal season.
This week brings Mississippi State University to The Plains.
I fear that Auburn will be in the same position this week as it was last week.
Mississippi State beat Jackson State University handily Saturday, but JSU is in the Football Championship Subconference (formerly DI-AA).
The Bulldogs were the only team to be picked to finish lower than Auburn in SEC West projections.
Again, if Auburn wins, it's because we were playing Mississippi State.
If Auburn loses, it's because the Bulldogs have something to prove with its new coaching staff, and Auburn has not fully bought in to the new schemes.
On the bright side, Auburn had an offensive explosion on Saturday night.
Freshman running back Onterio McCalebb made quite the debut, joining Bo Jackson as the only other freshman to rush for over 100 yards in the first game of a season.
Senior running back Ben Tate added 118 yards on the ground as well.
I loved that junior H-back Mario Fannin was the team's leading receiver. He has the ability to turn a game around or make a big play every time he touches the ball. He makes all of the short catches over the middle and opens the field up for the long passes, like senior quarterback Chris Todd's record setting 93-yard pass to junior wide receiver Terrell Zachery.
The offensive line played a stellar game. They gave up zero sacks and only two runs were stopped for negative yards.
Todd played great too. He completed 17 passes on 26 attempts for two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Auburn's defense was stifling, as was expected.
The Tigers gave up less than 100 yards on the ground and less than 200 in the air.
The first half, however, was plagued by personal fouls caused by sloppy and undisciplined play.
Three such penalties in the same drive led to a Louisiana Tech touchdown.
Coach Gene Chizik was pleased with the aggression of the defense, even with a few penalties here and there.
Wes Byrum's 49-yard field goal at the end of the first half was the high point of his 3-3 night and ended the sloppy first half on a good note, giving Auburn the lead going into the half.
The coaching staff earned their paychecks at halftime.
The game was completely different from the first half to the second.
Auburn took the good of the first half and compounded on it while looking at the bad and making the correct adjustments.
The team was more crisp and quickly got over the opening game jitters in the second half.
I would have liked to have seen a touchdown pass from Todd to junior wide receiver Kodi Burns.
That would have been a great gesture of sportsmanship between the two, showing everyone they are here to win games and not positions.
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