Tennessee-Auburn: First Half

Auburn! Tennessee! Gametime!

If the last three games have been any indication, expect lots of Tennessee penalties, missed tackles and underthrown passes. Auburn’s offense hasn’t exactly been firing on all cylinders either lately, with only two offensive touchdowns in their last two games.

This could be an ugly one. Maybe not 3-2 ugly, but I doubt that both teams will hit 20 points.

15:00 – Kickoff! Tennessee receives a short kick and gets out a few yards to the 25 yard line. No penalties or fumbles so far. Not a bad start.

14:48 – Wow, Arian Foster up the middle for a three yard gain on first down. I think we’ll see a lot of that today.

14:00 – Auburn only rushes four and still gets pressure on third and long, forcing a Tennessee three-and-out. The punt is shanked and Auburn gets the ball on their own 45.

12:30 – On third down, an Auburn receiver runs backwards after a short catch and looked to be stopped short of the first down, but they give it to him anyway. First down, Auburn.

11:30 – Holy crap! Florida is losing to Ole Miss! 31-24 with three minutes to go.

11:15 – Nice tackle! A failed halfback pass results in about a ten yard loss, and The Auburn player’s helmet get knocked back another ten yards. Auburn has to punt and it rolls all the way to the Tennessee four yard line. Luckily it had already touched an Auburn player and Tennessee takes over near the 20.

9:40 – Florida update! Florida has just scored, but the extra point is blocked. The Gators still trail 31-30.

8:40 – Bad pass on third down, and Tennessee will have to punt again. Crompton looks to be limping a little. At least they managed to get one first down on this drive. Auburn takes over on their own 30.

7:40 – Third and one coming up.

7:25 – Sigh. After about three missed tackles, Brandon Tate reels off a 15 yard gain.

5:35 – What kind of defense is that? Auburn completes a nice 15 yard pass amidst mass confusion in the UT secondary. Maybe there are getting distracted by all the arm-flapping coming from the Auburn sidelines. They must have about five different people sending in signals.

4:15 – Another Auburn first down, on a third down conversion. They’ve marched down to the Tennessee 17 yard-line.

4:00 – Final score: Ole Miss pulled it off! What does this say about Tennessee? They lose to UCLA and Florida, and those teams turn around and lose to even scrappier teams.

2:52 – Touchdown Auburn! Robert Dunn hauls in a 20 yard TD pass in the middle of the end zone, and the touted safety Eric Berry didn’t give him much resistance. Auburn leads 7-0.

2:45 – Not a bad return by Dennis Rogan. The Vols take over at the 30.

1:15 – Crompton completes his first pass of the day!! First down! Montario Hardesty follows it up with a great 15 yard run, with a nice cut and spin move.

0:00 – End of the first quarter. Tennessee ends with an incompletion as a result of a miscommunication between Crompton and receiver Denarius Moore. Of course, that was preceded by a false start. This game has been pretty boring so far…

15:00 – The second quarter starts up, and Tennessee has gotten down to the Auburn 30. Unfortunately the drive stalls and Tennessee is forced to kick a field goal. This will be about a 48 yard field goal.

14:08 – He nails it! Tennessee cuts the Auburn lead to 7-3.

12:20 – Despite the best efforts of Tim Hawthorne, Auburn is forced to punt, and Tennessee takes over at the 20. Hawthorne nearly brought in a one-handed catch on third and ten, but can’t quite reel it in.

11:15 – The G-Gun formation comes into play! Gerald Jones takes the direct snap and reels off a 22 yard run, making a couple of Auburn players miss along the way.

10:00 – A dangerous Crompton pass, and Tennessee avoids disaster. Tennessee is driving, though, and is down to the Auburn 18. Third and three coming up.

9:00 – Geez. Another bad route/miscommunication/bad throw, and it’s fourth down. 35 yard field goal attempt by Daniel Lincoln and it’s good! Auburn 7, Tennessee 6. Eventually Tennessee is going to need some touchdowns.

7:30 – Auburn stalls at midfield and will be forced to punt. It rolls all the way down to the 5 yard line and UT will take over. I wouldn’t expect much out of any drive that starts inside the ten, especially with the typically conservative UT offense.

7:00 - @%#$#%^!!!!! Arian Foster fumbles the handoff and Auburn recovers the ball in the end zone. Unbelievable. Auburn leads 14-6. It’s hard to imagine anything easier than a handoff, but somehow they screwed it up. The announcers are blaming Crompton…

5:45 – Tennessee looks dead out there. Three and out, which ends with a batted Crompton pass. Auburn takes the punt and starts from their own 35.

5:00 – Auburn’s backup QB is tearing up Tennessee. Kodi Burns is un-tackleable. At least for the guys in orange… Two defensive linemen miss sack opportunities, and somehow Burns completes a pass for a first down. This follows a 15 yard Burns QB scramble.

2:50 – Third and four inside Tennessee’s 20. The pass is dropped and Auburn will go for the field goal. 35 yard attempt…and no good!! Tennessee is still within striking distance.

1:05 – Three and out for the Vols. Crompton gets nailed on third down after a designed QB draw. Auburn will have time to add to their lead, since the punt probably won’t go over 35 yards.

0:52 – Chad Cunningham’s punt is almost blocked, but he gets it away and Auburn takes over at their 20. Auburn looks content to run out the clock.

Halftime! Tennessee is still in it, but it’s hard to see them pulling out a victory unless they can get the passing game going, or generate a turnover or two.