College football is back, folks.
Thursday night's games weren't bad, but the main course comes Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CST on ABC. After more than an offseason's worth of hype, Auburn and Washington are finally set to do battle in Atlanta.
And as a publication that can't thank its readers enough, The Plainsman wanted to hear from you. Here are my answers to your Week 1 Plainsman Mailbag questions. The link to submit for next week will go up Sunday.
From @IAMBARNINGHARD on Twitter:
“Do you think we see the Cox Cat this year? If so, why shouldn’t I throw my TV out the window?”
To the first part, no. But in fall camp practices, we definitely saw it. When asked about the formation in pressers, Gus Malzahn has been almost sly with his responses, saying things like “we may not even run the Wildcat this season,” with a smile on his face.
Since you asked, I’ll opine: Malzahn would be out of his visor-shaded mind to put Chandler Cox in a Wildcat formation. Auburn fans haven’t forgotten about the disastrous spin-and-throw from Cox in the 2016 Iron Bowl, but Malzahn is implying he has. If the Cox Cat returns, with the embarrassment of athletic weapons in the offense who could tout the pigskin instead, I wouldn’t pass judgment if I found your flatscreen demolished on the sidewalk Sunday morning.
Luckily for Auburn fans, Chip Lindsey and company have been experimenting with other options. We learned in the preseason that No. 2 running back JaTarvious Whitlow, backup quarterback Malik Willis and 6-foot-4 true freshman Harold Joiner shared the Wildcat package with the H-back Cox in fall camp.
If I had to guess, if Auburn is to use the Wildcat in Atlanta, it will utilize either Willis or Whitlow to allow for a run-pass threat (Whitlow played quarterback in high school). We’ve got another Wildcat question below, so I’ll use that to dive into how Whitlow could thrive in that role.
From @GannonPadgett on Twitter:
“Which game this year will Auburn fans have the most amount of hope dashed?”
There could be a lot of answers for this one, but the game that shouldn’t be viewed as dream-crushing if lost is Washington. The Huskies are a no-joke playoff contender that can absolute go toe-to-toe with a top-tier SEC opponent. Auburn could play really well tomorrow and still go home 0-1.
In terms of unexpected heartbreakers, my pick would be the home showdown with Texas A&M on Nov. 3. Coming off a bye week with a far more talented group and a dominant homefield advantage, this looks like an easy win for Auburn to chalk up on paper. But this series has gone to the road team in every matchup since the Aggies’ induction into the SEC in 2012, and they’ve mostly been in unexpected fashion.
All that being said, I personally don’t see Auburn losing that one, but if it does, the SEC Championship hopes dashed could create a similar fallout as the 2014 season, when the Tigers dropped a heartbreaker to the Aggies as one of four losses in the last five games of the year.
Like I’ve said all offseason, Auburn has 11-win talent but a buzzsaw schedule. If I were to project Auburn’s schedule, I’d say 10-2 with the first loss coming to either Washington or Mississippi State and the latter against Alabama. I think the Tigers are built to go into the Athens and upset Georgia this year. And if we’re going off that prediction, the Alabama loss would be fairly heartbreaking for both Iron Bowl and SEC West reasons.
From @K8MEngland on Twitter:
“Does it have to be football or can it be baseball? I’d really like to know what ‘criminal littering’ is.”
As you're likely referring to Auburn baseball sophomore Edouard Julien's arrest last Friday, here's the deal: Per sources, Julien's arrest came when the Canadian threw a beer bottle(s) on the ground while intoxicated — the latter we know from AL.com's report.
In Alabama, criminal littering is defined as:
1. Knowingly depositing in any manner litter on any public or private property or in any public or private waters, having no permission to do so.
2. Negligently deposits in any manner glass or other dangerously pointed or edged objects on or adjacent to water to which the public has lawful access for bathing, swimming, or fishing, or on or upon a public highway, or within the right-of-way thereof.
3. Discharges sewage, oil products, or litter from a watercraft vessel of more than 25 feet in length into a river, inland lake, or stream within the state or within three miles of the shoreline of the state.
4. a. Drops or permits to be dropped or thrown upon any highway any destructive or injurious material and does not immediately remove the same or cause it to be removed; or
b. Removes a wrecked or damaged vehicle from a highway and does not remove glass or other injurious substance dropped upon the highway from such vehicle.
In a big college town like Auburn, especially on the first Friday of the semester, you’d likely find 30-plus kids around campus and downtown who could easily receive the same charges. But for a student-athlete like Julien, the spotlight is that much wider.
This is the second mishap in the offseason for Auburn baseball. In the summer, sophomore Steven Williams was apparently caught up in a Twitter firestorm. His account has since been deleted. Butch Thompson and the team have yet to comment on either of the incidents.
From @Tater_WDE on Twitter:
“Auburn has used the wildcat formation a lot over the past few years without a ‘dual threat’ qb. Who fills that role this year or will we see a lot less of it?”
As touched on in the first question, Auburn would be crazy to use Cox when it has Whitlow, Willis and Joiner at its disposal. Whitlow would be my choice to see the field first, possibly even tomorrow in Atlanta. He’s a high school quarterback who’s playing his third position in as many years after playing wide receiver while redshirting last season. He’s got an average size for a feature back at 6 feet and 216 pounds, but his wicked athleticism and headstrong playstyle suit him well for a Wildcat carry up the middle. His high school quarterbacking abilities could make for some useful trick plays.
It’s interesting you mention a dual-threat quarterback. In the past few weeks of practice, Washington head coach Chris Petersen has noted that UW is treating Jarrett Stidham like a dual-threat passer in camp, even using Georgia transfer Jacob Eason as the proxy for Stidham on the scout team. I believe Stidham’s confidence in the offense is at an all-time high after a full offseason of work as a Tiger. His dual-threat success we saw against UGA and Alabama in Jordan-Hare could now be part of his primary game, assuming Malzahn and Lindsey are OK with that.
But back to the Wildcat. Auburn has great talent to use out of basic offensive sets this season, so I don’t see Malzahn relying on the Wildcat. But Kerryon Johnson saw heightened success in the red zone when using the Wildcat during his time at Auburn, including a pair of touchdown passes (vs. Oklahoma, 2016 Sugar Bowl; vs. Alabama, 2017).
Whitlow resembles Johnson with his patience and smarts as a runner, and I believe he’ll be the guy in that package if Auburn chooses to use it. Willis is obviously a dual-threat, while Joiner was apparently “running guys over” from the Wildcat in one of Auburn’s fall scrimmages, according to wide receivers coach Kodi Burns.
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Nathan King, senior in journalism with a minor in business, is The Plainsman's sports editor.
