WEEK 9: Auburn Picks Up Its First SEC Win; Playoff Predictions

Auburn football is finally back in the win column after a 27-13 win over Mississippi State. That one felt good. Thorne had a solid day throwing the ball. Jarquez Hunter was incredible. We had receivers making plays. The first half was absolutely beautiful. If we play like that these next few weeks, we will go into the Iron Bowl 7-4 with a good chance to win.

Let's discuss a couple thoughts from yesterday's game...

-The first half was the best half of football that I've seen out of Auburn in years. Montgomery dialed up a balanced attack, and the players executed it to perfection. Thorne was almost at 200 yards by the half. The defense got stops when they needed to. We played with pace. It seemed like the quarterbacks were substituted with purpose. I genuinely enjoyed watching this game. The only thing that concerned me was the production in the second half. It was 24-3 at halftime, meaning the offense put up only three points after halftime. It looked like the offense stopped attacking once we got a big lead and played to avoid making a mistake. They finished with zero turnovers, so they accomplished that goal, but I really wanted to see them come out firing after the half and truly dominate this game. It sort of felt like we lost the momentum we created in the first half. I hope that I'm wrong. I hope we come out and hang 24 in the first half against Vanderbilt next weekend. I think we will if we play with pace and purpose like we did in the first half yesterday.

-Thorne had a great day yesterday. He threw for 230 yards and 3 touchdowns. I read that his adjusted completion percentage was the highest of any Auburn QB in an SEC game since Jarrett Stidham in 2017. Great performance. However, I'm still not sold on him. This situation reminds me a lot of Bo Nix and Gus Malzahn. Just as soon as you're ready to give up on them, they pull a great performance out of nowhere and everyone forgets the bad. Let me remind you that that is how we ended up having to buyout Gus for 20 million dollars. You can't just write off their mistakes because of one good performance. Again, I hope that I'm wrong. I hope he found his mojo and that he plays lights out for the rest of the year. I just don't think that will be the case. He has struggled mightily on the road this year, so we will see whether or not he's turned a corner next week against Vandy.

-I want to see more out of the defensive line. We finished with zero sacks again yesterday. Not only that, but State finished with 184 yards rushing with their starting running back on the sidelines. There were multiple instances where the backs had gaping holes to run through. I feel like we're not getting movement at the line of scrimmage on that side of the ball. Quarterbacks aren't feeling any pressure when they play Auburn. If we are going to win out, we are going to have to make QB's make decisions under pressure. We have to find a way to improve in this aspect of the game.

Auburn travels to Vanderbilt next Saturday, which should be another win. Don't sleep on this game though. Vanderbilt was competitive with Georgia at home just a few weeks ago. This is a must-win for Auburn, so we need to give them our best game and keep this momentum going.

My prediction for Auburn's season has been spot on so far. So, I'm putting my ball knowledge to the test and seeing if I can predict the College Football Playoff results as well.

I think Georgia wins out from here and is the #1 seed for the playoff. I've heard all year that Georgia isn't as good as they have been and that they aren't going to three-peat. I heard the same thing last year, and look how that turned out. This is what Georgia does. They aren't in the business of looking dominant and blowing teams out. They're in the business of winning. They had a dominant win on the road at Florida yesterday, and that game convinced me that they will return to the playoff as the #1 seed yet again.

Assuming that they don't get in trouble for the current investigation they're under, I think Michigan will end up being the #2 seed. I think they win out from here. They have Penn State and Ohio State remaining, and I think they win both of those. This Michigan offense is dominant. As long as they aren't fazed by the noise surrounding them, I don't see anyone beating them until the playoff.

Give me Florida State in the #3 spot. They struggled earlier in the season against Boston College and Clemson, but I think they've hit their stride since then. They have wins over LSU and Duke, and they should win out from here. Jordan Travis is a good, experienced quarterback. If he can limit his mistakes, Florida State will win out from here and finish at #3.

This is going to sound crazy, but I think Oregon will end up in the #4 spot when it's all said and done. I think they will win out from here and get a rematch with Washington in the Pac-12 championship. It is VERY difficult to beat a good team twice. Washington is good, but I don't think they're good enough to top Oregon for a second time.

As for the results, I think Georgia beats Oregon, Michigan beats Florida State, and it's Georgia vs Michigan in the championship. As of right now, I gotta give the edge to Georgia. We'll see how they look over these next couple of weeks and re-evaluate.