FINAL: Auburn 31, Louisville 24

[Hoggard]

Strawman argument. You give any above average coach elite talent, he's probably going to get elite results. Urban went 12-0 at Utah. UTAH! Petrino ever go undefeated anywhere?

Nick Saban took over a DEAD program at LSU and within four years, won a SEC and national title.

I get that it's not that hard to win national titles at established blue bloods (Alabama, Ohio State, Florida), but what they did to get there is what makes them elite.

I just think you are allowing your judgement to be clouded by your personal dislike for Petrino. Utah is a pretty good program. And like I said Urban is a decent coach. But IMO he's not a GREAT coach. We just have different opinions and I'm fine with that. I eat, sleep and breathe college football. And I've never seen a coach do more with less than Petrino. I'll admit that I let style of play influence my opinion here somewhat as well bc I love Petrinos teams. I love the offense and I love the special teams play. I think you will see an undefeated Petrino team soon enough. I believe Louisville will be in the playoffs before too long. Maybe after he wins his first Naty you will see what a great coach he is.

Its kind of like an 18 year old recruit. Many of them have a narrow def of what they consider to be a great coach. Have you won a naty.. I think its more complicated than that. Take the coach at K-state. Bill Snyder. Imo he's a great coach. But I guess by your Naty standards he isn't. Frankly Petrino hasn't been anywhere long enough to win it all. Thats been his detractors biggest and most accurate criticism.

Don't get me wrong I hate his actions while at Arkansas. I hate that he was cheating on his wife and that he was embarrassing a University that I love. But he's still one of if not the BEST coach I've ever seen. Gus is just a flash in the pan.

[bigred223]

I just think you are allowing your judgement to be clouded by your personal dislike for Petrino. Utah is a pretty good program. And like I said Urban is a decent coach. But IMO he's not a GREAT coach. We just have different opinions and I'm fine with that. I eat, sleep and breathe college football. And I've never seen a coach do more with less than Petrino. I'll admit that I let style of play influence my opinion here somewhat as well bc I love Petrinos teams. I love the offense and I love the special teams play. I think you will see an undefeated Petrino team soon enough. I believe Louisville will be in the playoffs before too long. Maybe after he wins his first Naty you will see what a great coach he is.

Its kind of like an 18 year old recruit. Many of them have a narrow def of what they consider to be a great coach. Have you won a naty.. I think its more complicated than that. Take the coach at K-state. Bill Snyder. Imo he's a great coach. But I guess by your Naty standards he isn't. Frankly Petrino hasn't been anywhere long enough to win it all. Thats been his detractors biggest and most accurate criticism.

Don't get me wrong I hate his actions while at Arkansas. I hate that he was cheating on his wife and that he was embarrassing a University that I love. But he's still one of if not the BEST coach I've ever seen. Gus is just a flash in the pan.

Meyer is an elite coach. That's not really up for debate.

[Hoggard]

Meyer is an elite coach. That's not really up for debate.

I saw Petrino kick Urbans tail. I saw Urban paying off the ref's and he still barely beat a Petrino team with far less talent. So yes it is up for debate. I do NOT consider UM an elite coach. I think he's a whimp who goes where the talent is and when thats not enough pays off the refs to win.

[DeltaBoy]

Bobby going to be gunning for Tigger2.

[Albert Einswine]

I saw Petrino kick Urbans tail. I saw Urban paying off the ref's and he still barely beat a Petrino team with far less talent. So yes it is up for debate. I do NOT consider UM an elite coach. I think he's a whimp who goes where the talent is and when thats not enough pays off the refs to win.

Dude, that's a lot of man love for Bobby. I agree he's a great offensive coach, though.

Urban is elite. He took over what had been a pretty underachieving Utah program and went 22-2 with an undefeated season before he split for UF.

He took over an underachieving Florida program and won 2 NC's in a span of 4 years.

How you can contend that isn't elite I don't know. Especially considering he repeated at Ohio St. last year with the way they out manned Bama and Oregon in accomplishing it.

[Inhogswetrust]

I saw Petrino kick Urbans tail. I saw Urban paying off the ref's and he still barely beat a Petrino team with far less talent. So yes it is up for debate. I do NOT consider UM an elite coach. I think he's a whimp who goes where the talent is and when thats not enough pays off the refs to win.

As much as I hate to I'll disagree......He was at Utah and won a lot of games. He won at Bowling Green. Elite coaches work their way up most of the time to get to where they have a better chance of getting top talent easier like at Florida and OSU. He paid his dues and not to refs.

[MikePiazza]

As much as I hate to I'll disagree......He was at Utah and won a lot of games. He won at Bowling Green. Elite coaches work their way up most of the time to get to where they have a better chance of getting top talent easier like at Florida and OSU. He paid his dues and not to refs.

This was my point.

Hoggard, I don't dislike Petrino. When he was going 21-5 here I was stoked. Unfortunately he put his ego before the program and Hog fans never got to see what a long-term Petrino program looks like.

BUT, if we are just going by the facts:

Petrino was 0-2 against Urban and 0-4 against Saban while at Arkansas. You can say Urban paid off the refs, but when you're the defending national champion and No. 1 team, you're going to get the calls in your favor most likely.

Had Saban beat in 2010, abandoned the run game in the second half and got beat. That's the difference between elite and really good.

[Hoggard]

This was my point.

Hoggard, I don't dislike Petrino. When he was going 21-5 here I was stoked. Unfortunately he put his ego before the program and Hog fans never got to see what a long-term Petrino program looks like.

BUT, if we are just going by the facts:

Petrino was 0-2 against Urban and 0-4 against Saban while at Arkansas. You can say Urban paid off the refs, but when you're the defending national champion and No. 1 team, you're going to get the calls in your favor most likely.

Had Saban beat in 2010, abandoned the run game in the second half and got beat. That's the difference between elite and really good.

I wouldn't say Petrino was 0-2 against Urban. He clearly won that game against Florida and the officials intervened. I think Urban is an elite recruiter. Like we saw with KJ Hill. Arkansas and Bama are fighting over the kid and Urban swopes in and snatches him up. I'd give you Urban as an elite recruiter but thats as far as I'm willing to go. I think if you give Petrino equal talent he'd beat Urban ten out of ten times in a head to head. And yes I admit I love Petrino's teams and his offense. I don't love the way he did my Hogs.

[Hoggard]

I'm going to add this then I'm done with this bc we are discussing opinions here. When you look at what HDN did with the players he inherited from Ford you might be inclined to think that this HDN guy was a GREAT coach. But when you take away the talent you see that there's nothing creative or innovative or brilliant about his coaching ability.

I would put Les Miles in that same category. I don't know the exact numbers but I heard on espn that Ohio St actually had as much as twice the total number of NFL players as Alabama did last year. So how does an ELITE coach who obviously has superior talent lose to Virginia Tech ?

I don't think he's an elite coach. He's an elite recruiter and there's nothing at all about his system thats innovative or creative. I'm sure he's good at teaching the fundamentals of the game to the superior group of players he has but then again so was HDN. And thats just my opinion.

Also I don't think ELITE coaches run from competition or cheat to beat inferior teams.

[jbcarol]

Auburn vs. Louisville TV, key matchups, players to watch

Where: Georgia Dome, Atlanta
TV: CBS
Line: Auburn by 10 1/2

This game will determine...

How much Auburn has improved during the course the offseason and whether the Tigers have a promising shot at the College Football Playoffs. There are plenty of new faces on both sides of the ball, but the defense remains the biggest question mark. Has new coordinator Will Muschamp had enough time to revamp a defense that ranked toward the bottom of the SEC last season?

Injuries

Auburn — CB T.J. Davis out (knee), DL Prince Tega Wanogho Jr. out (leg), DL Jauntavius Johnson doubtful (knee), OL Jordan Diamond questionable, RB Kerryon Johnson probable (ankle)

Louisville — DT Johnny Richardson out (knee), WR Alphonso Carter doubtful (hamstring), TE Keith Trowbridge probable (foot)

[hoglady]

Looking forward to this game - hope Petrino figures out a way to kick the crap out of Malzahn and Auburn.

[jbcarol]

Tony Barnhart ‏@MrCFB 48m48 minutes ago

Will Muchamp's Auburn defense vs. Bobby Petrino's Louisville offense. What's the over/under on points allowed by Tigers?

[jbcarol]

Matthew Stevens ‏@matthewcstevens 18m18 minutes ago

The view from office today. Welcome to the 2015 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at the Georgia Dome.



Matthew Stevens ‏@matthewcstevens 4h4 hours ago

BLOG (w/video): @MGMAdvertiser Gameday preview: No. 6 Auburn vs. Louisville - http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/sports/college/football/game-day/2015/09/04/gameday-preview-auburn-vs-louisville/71734182/ ...

[NuttinItUp]

Gonna be a good game, I think.

[jbcarol]

 Brandon Marcello ‏@bmarcello 9m9 minutes ago

I'd say this crowd is 70-30 Auburn fans. Fans cheer as both teams head to their locker rooms. Kickoff in 23 minutes.

[jbcarol]

Kicked off in Atlanta.  UofL ball at their 25.

[jbcarol]

Brandon Marcello ‏@bmarcello 7m7 minutes ago

Well, that's a hell of a start for Will Muschamp's defense. Interception, Tray Matthews.

[jbcarol]

Jeremy Johnson
‏@JJJ_AllDay

BOOOOMMMMMM

[jbcarol]

UL 0  AU 7  12:00 1st

[jbcarol]

John Zenor ‏@jzenor 1m1 minute ago

Bobby Petrino looking unhappy at the Georgia Dome. Is this Throwback Thursday?

[jbcarol]

Dirty Cards are in the red zone.

[jbcarol]

L'ul 1st and goal near the six

[jbcarol]

Louisville misses a FG attempt to end the drive.

[jbcarol]

Brandon Marcello ‏@bmarcello 1m1 minute ago

That might have been the best defensive possession of the Gus Malzahn era.

[jbcarol]

Auburn is now inside the UofL 35

[jbcarol]

Big 3rd and 2 call for AU inside the 30:

Flag

[jbcarol]

Holding on Kozan

[jbcarol]

Re: Harvey-Clemons:

His grandfather was a bail bondsman and used Josh for "muscle".

Richt visited him at church and the local jail.  Both the same night.

[jbcarol]

Picked off by Josh Harvey-Clemons, the "goat" in the "Prayer in Jordan-Hare"

[jbcarol]

Brandon Marcello ‏@bmarcello 5m5 minutes ago

Awful pass by Jeremy Johnson results in a pick. Not sure what he saw there.

[jbcarol]

UofL 3rd and .01 mile

[jbcarol]

Brandon Marcello ‏@bmarcello 2m2 minutes ago

Jeremy Johnson. Intercepted. Again. On yet another pass he really should not have thrown. Triple coverage. Bad.

[jbcarol]

Brandon Marcello ‏@bmarcello 2m2 minutes ago

Two of Jeremy Johnson's three incomplete passes are interceptions.

[jbcarol]

Cards with a bad hand off and Auburn takes it 80+ yards to the house.

[jbcarol]

UofL 0  AU 14  6:54 2nd

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/SBNationGIF/status/640254346446311429

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/SBNationGIF/status/640263108829679616

[jbcarol]

Carlson's 56-yard FG is good inside :40 in the half.

Would have been good from 57.

[jbcarol]

Brandon Marcello ‏@bmarcello 30s30 seconds ago

Making Daniel Carlson's 56-yard FG more impressive was the rush in which they had to snap it.

[jbcarol]

UofL 0  AU 17  :34  2nd

[jbcarol]

Brandon Marcello ‏@bmarcello 2m2 minutes ago

Louisville tries a 61-yard field goal. Auburn has experience with that, but doesn't put anyone back in the end zone to field it. Weird.


Short

[jbcarol]

ESPN Stats & Info ‏@ESPNStatsInfo 6m6 minutes ago

.@FootballAU leads Louisville 17-0 at half.

Tigers shut out their opponent in the 1st half for the 1st time in 29 games since Nov. 2012.

[jbcarol]

SportsCenter ‏@SportsCenter 20m20 minutes ago

Auburn's 82-yard fumble return for a TD is the longest for the Tigers since 1969. (via @FootballAU)

[jbcarol]

Brandon Marcello ‏@bmarcello 5m5 minutes ago

Jeremy Johnson hits Ricardo Louis for a touchdown. Nice roll out to avoid pressure, Louis blows past the defender.

[GoHogs1091]

So far, Muschamp is schooling Robert Petrino.

Petrino just can't outscheme the defensive Coaches who know how to have their Defense cover the middle of the field.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/SBNationGIF/status/640279124158713856

[HawgLife4Eva]

Auburn looks really good.

[HawgLife4Eva]

Bad interception.

[jbcarol]

TD Lamar Jackson

[jbcarol]

UofL 10  AU 24  1:21 3rd