Well as a prognosticator I certainly wish I could separate my faith in the Cougs from reality. But what fun would that be.
Moving on, Auburn had a very fast and athletic team. The recruiting classes, since they won the national championship in 2010, have certainly paid off in 2013.
WSU did show some signs of improvement. The Offensive line only gave up two sacks in 62 passing attempts while they were able to run for 120 yards and create rushing opportunities on critical red zone and 4th down situations.
The defense quickly learned that fast running backs need better pursuit angles if you expect to keep them contained. Auburn’s line did a good job opening holes but the Cougar defense stopped many drives after just a few first downs. Tackling looked a little sloppy in the second half but all in all the defense played a tough game on the road in Alabama with 86 degree heat with 85% humidity. Rotations worked well which is a good sign that the defense is growing in depth.
The ugly part of the game was the complete lack of consistant officiating. Not only were recievers being pushed off their routes with the ball in the air. (Pass Interference) but the Auburn defenders were holding and simply mugging players at the line of scrimmage which will not be allowed by PAC12 officials. The critical uncontrolled ball on a third down catch as the Auburn receiver was falling out of bounds was another clear example of officials wearing blinders.
I think the Cougars are on the verge of putting a game together and upsetting someone in the PAC12 this year. How fast they continue to gain confidence will determine just how many times this event can happen in 2013.
