LITTLE ROCK — Now what, Auburn?
The Tigers have taken over the coveted but precarious top spot in the BCS standings going into today’s game at Mississippi. Occupants of college football’s penthouse, No. 1 either in the polls or the BCS, have stumbled three weeks running.
Auburn (8-0, 5-0) is hardly resigned to the fate of Alabama, Ohio State and Oklahoma.
“If we do our job, we can cut that statistic out,” quarterback Cam Newton said. “Our coaches do an excellent job of preparing us for our games, so we won’t have the coaches to blame. It’s going to be up to us as players to be able to come in and know their weakness and know what they’re good at and be able to attack them in every single direction.”
The Tigers are trying to keep it about football, not national title positioning or the considerable Heisman Trophy hoopla swirling aroundNewton. The Rebels (3-4, 1-3), meanwhile, can play the spoiler’s role possibly on both counts after dropping two consecutive games.
They are modest sevenpoint underdogs despite coming off back-to-back road losses to No. 6 Alabama and No. 19 Arkansas to start the SEC West’s version of murderer’s row. Ole Miss Coach Houston Nutt has thrived in this role during his career, upsetting five teams ranked in the top 5 (in 14 tries) - all when Nutt’s team was unranked. That includes a 50-48 triple-overtime win over No. 1 LSU in 2007.
The Rebels finally get to take on one of those Top 25 West teams at home.
“They know who they areplaying,” Nutt said of the Rebels. “Their name is going to be across ESPN and every station, so they know that. But I’m more concerned about us. I’m more concerned about us eliminating mistakes, taking care of the ball, everybody knowing who to block. Let’s be better fundamental tacklers. Let’s play a full 60-minute game and get our kicking game right.
“There’s more concentration on that,” Nutt said, “because no matter who you play in this league, you’d better be ready.”
The Tigers haven’t put any SEC team away before the fourth quarter. They’ve eked out three-point victories in each of their first two conference road games, at Mississippi State and Kentucky.
Oklahoma debuted atop the BCS rankings, a week after Ohio State’s cameo leading the Top 25. Before that, defending national champion Alabama’s run ended with a loss at South Carolina.
With a No. 1 BCS ranking for the first time, it’s Auburn’s turn to become the target. There’s no more hiding for a team that has ridden Newton on a surprising surge up the rankings.
“Everybody reads it, everybody sees it and everybody hears it,” Tigers Coach Gene Chizik said. “We fully expect to get everybody’s best shot.”
Chizik’s players insist they’re not getting caught up in rankings.
But as Chizik pointed out, there’s no escaping it.
If staying focused and levelheaded is Auburn’s biggest challenge, stopping Newton has to be tops for the Rebels. They rank last in the SEC in scoring defense and 101st nationally. Auburn brings the league’s most potent offense and hottest quarterback, who just torched LSU and the league’s top defense for 217 yards rushing and already has more this season than any SEC quarterback in history.
“He’s a triple threat all theway around because of handing off, running, throwing,” Nutt said. “To me, he has brought the offense alive because you have that type of weapon back there and leader and all the other intangibles.
“He’s just been awesome.”
The Rebels counter with their own dual-threat quarterback, Jeremiah Masoli, and a dose of the option. He’s one of only four quarterbacks nationally averaging at least 180 yards passing and 50 rushing.
“He’s a guy that’s fun to watch,” Newton said. “Just what he can do, it’s a scare for defenders and for me just looking out on the field.”
Sports, Pages 27 on 10/30/2010