No. 21 Tigers, Bulldogs feature potent offenses

NCAA Football Betting Lines

09/08/2010 -

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) -In one of the ugliest games in recent college football history, Auburn and Mississippi State punted, fumbled and stumbled their way to a 3-2 finish in 2008 that made both schools cringe.

Auburn won - on the scoreboard.

But really, there were no winners after a game that barely had more first downs (20) than punts (18). It was obvious both teams had serious issues.

Two years later, much has changed. Both programs have new coaches: Gene Chizik replaced Tommy Tuberville at Auburn while Dan Mullen took over for Sylvester Croom at Mississippi State.

Auburn left tackle Lee Ziemba, who was a sophomore during that 2008 game, joked that the final score looked more like soccer result from this summer's World Cup.

``It was a different time and place,'' Ziemba said. ``It's obviously not likely to happen again this week.''

Now 21st-ranked Auburn (1-0) and Mississippi State (1-0) have revamped offenses going into Thursday's Southeastern Conference opener for both schools at Scott Field.

The Tigers easily handled Arkansas State 52-26 in last week while the Bulldogs smashed Memphis 49-7.

Auburn's offense is led by quarterback Cameron Newton, a junior college transfer who was sensational during his first game. He accounted for 357 yards of total offense and five touchdowns against Arkansas State, living up to the hype that made him one of the most sought after recruits in the country.

But he's not the only player the Bulldogs will worry about.

Freshman Michael Dyer rushed for 95 yards and a touchdown against Arkansas State. Running backs Onterio McCalebb and Mario Fannin, along with receivers Darvin Adams and Terrell Zachery, were all important parts of the offense last season.

``A lot of people pick them as the sleeper pick to win the SEC West and you can see why,'' Mullen said. ``They're a talented team. When you have that type of experience it can go a long way. They have an explosive offense.''

But Mississippi State will counter with some talent of its own. The Bulldogs will play two quarterbacks - junior Chris Relf and freshman Tyler Russell - who were both very good in the season opener.

Relf is just as dangerous running as he is throwing, while Russell is more of a true pocket passer. Russell threw for 256 yards and tied a school record with four touchdown passes against Memphis.

The Bulldogs have plenty of playmakers around the quarterbacks as well. Receivers Chad Bumphis and Brandon Heavens each scored two touchdowns in the opener. They used four running backs - Vick Ballard, Robert Elliott, LaDarius Perkins and Adrian Marcus - extensively during the romp over Memphis.

Chizik said Mississippi State's confidence and execution is much better than a year ago, and Mullen's spread scheme will pose problems if his team isn't disciplined.

``It's not your conventional two-back, I-back conventional run-play stuff,'' Chizik said. ``It gives you a lot of problems. If you're not in the right spots or you have one guy out of position with their run game, it's going to give you some fits.''

Such offensive innovation was rare for both programs two seasons ago. But Ziemba said the Southeastern Conference has changed since then, and the wide open offense is necessary to compete.

``The past couple of years in the SEC, you've seen higher scoring games than you usually see,'' Ziemba said. ``The infrastructure has changed a little bit. People have gone into more spread-type offenses.''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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FOOTBALL TRASH TALK

NFL Football Trash Talk

Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).

Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.

Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).

Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.

Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.

The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.

What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.

Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.

But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.

In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.