Alabama is nation's best ... after 1 month

The calendar is about to flip to October, so what better time to assess what we have learned after the first month of the college football season and a few things we still don’t know.

What we have learned …

• Alabama is the best team in the nation, not Florida or Texas.


• Auburn is a very good home team.


• Nick Saban is worth all the millions the Crimson Tide has invested in him.


• Gene Chizik is a better head coach than anyone gave him credit for.


• Terry Bowden could become a hot name in coaching circles again after his 5-0 start at North Alabama.


• Gus Malzahn is truly an offensive genius.

• The motor of Auburn assistant head coach Trooper Taylor never stops running.

• Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy should be part of the Heisman Trophy conversation.


• Chris Todd definitely was the right choice to be Auburn’s quarterback, even before throwing nine touchdown passes in the past two games.


• Jacksonville State quarterback Ryan Perrilloux would be among the top five quarterbacks for the 2010 NFL draft if not for off-the-field issues.


• Alabama’s stable of running backs – Mark Ingram, Roy Upchurch, Trent Richardson and Terry Grant – is the best in the nation.


• Auburn’s dynamic duo of senior Ben Tate and freshman Onterio McCalebb is just a notch below the Tide’s foursome.


• Tide sophomore receiver Julio Jones is a man among boys.


• Auburn’s receiving corps with wide outs Darvin Adams, Mario Fannin and Terrell Zachery and tight ends Tommy Trott and Philip Lutzenkirchen is a pleasant surprise.


• Alabama’s defense is the best in the nation, just ask Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett.


• The loss of linebacker Dont’a Hightower to a season-ending knee injury is a major blow for the Tide.


• Auburn’s defense still needs plenty of work, despite forcing 12 turnovers in four games.


• Troy is again the class of the Sun Belt Conference.


• UAB continues to fade into oblivion.


• The non-FBS schools in the state are pretty good – Jacksonville State (2-2 with losses to Georgia Tech and Florida State), Samford (2-2), North Alabama (5-0), Alabama A&M (3-1), Alabama State (3-1), North Alabama (5-0), Tuskegee (4-1), Miles (3-2), West Alabama (3-2), Birmingham-Southern (2-1), Huntingdon (3-1) and South Alabama (2-0).

Five things we still don't know ...

• Will anybody left on the schedule (including Ole Miss, LSU and Auburn) challenge Alabama?


• Will Auburn prove a capable road team, beginning Saturday night at Tennessee?


• Can anyone slow down Auburn’s offense?


• Can anyone penetrate Alabama’s defense (even without Hightower)?


• Will Bowden lead UNA to a Division II national championship?

(Photo by Kevin C. Cox, Getty Images)

Chizik remains cool as expectations soar

I am beginning to warm up to this Gene Chizik guy.

Sure, I wondered what Auburn was doing when they hired him (and his 5-19 record at Iowa State) to replace Tommy Tuberville, but the way he has run the football program since taking over has been downright impressive.

Two decisions stand out. He brought in Gus Malzahn do be offensive coordinator and promised he wouldn’t interfere. Wise decision. After two games in Malzahn’s fast-paced spread attack that relies heavily on misdirection, the Tigers are averaging 572.5 yards total offense and 43.0 points.

Then, Chizik thwarted any quarterback controversy in fall camp by emphatically deciding Chris Todd would be the starter and Kodi Burns would move to wide receiver. But instead of letting Burns stew, he made him the “Wildcat” quarterback and last week Burns rewarded Chizik’s faithfulness by accounting for four touchdowns in Auburn’s 49-24 rout of Mississippi State in the Tigers’ Southeastern Conference opener.

But what I really like is Chizik’s even-handed temperament. Instead of getting caught up in the euphoria of Auburn’s rousing victories against a couple of lightweights – Louisiana Tech and Mississippi State – Chizik has remained calm, cool and collected. He simply pointed to the Tigers’ next game, which is Saturday night at home against West Virginia.

“We're not satisfied with the way we're playing, but satisfied being 2-0,”' Chizik said during the SEC coaches teleconference on Wednesday. “I think it's going to be a great measuring stick, by the end of the day, to see who we are.”

That was in line with what he said a day earlier when answering a question about fan’s expectations during Auburn’s weekly media conference.

“Here's how I feel about our fans here at Auburn," Chizik said. "Number one, we've got the greatest fans in the world, and they do their job as good as it gets. And I want them to be excited about the future. It's going to be very bright … We're not ready to buy stock in Auburn football yet. It's just not where we're at. We're just so far from that ... we have not arrived.”

A victory over West Virginia wouldn’t mean the Tigers have arrived, but it might land Auburn a spot in the Top 25.

In the only previous meeting between the two schools, the Mountaineers whipped the Tigers 34-17 last year in Morgantown. I expect Auburn to get a measure of revenge with a hard-earned 31-24 victory.

While Chizik was trying to temper expectations, Alabama coach Nick Saban was busy answering questions about the health of his players, notably sophomore wide receiver Julio Jones (bruised kneecap) and senior running back Roy Upchurch (high ankle sprain). During his weekly radio on Thursday, Saban listed them as questionable, but sounded as if they wouldn’t play Saturday when the fourth-ranked Crimson Tide hosts North Texas.

"They haven't been able to practice enough probably to prepare," Saban said. "I don't think either guy is out of the realm of being able to play and will be back very soon after this game if they can't play in this game."

The Tide won’t need either against the not-so Mean Green. The only question is which newcomer will shine. Last week, it was freshman running back Trent Richardson, who rushed 15 times for 118 yards and two second-half touchdowns in the Tide’s 40-14 victory against Florida International.

So, Jones and Upchurch can just rest up and get ready for Alabama’s SEC opener next week against Arkansas. They should have plenty of company on the sidelines from other frontline players by halftime as the Tide rolls to an easy 45-10 victory, allowing Saban to give fans a chance to get excited about some of the talented reserves they have been waiting to see in action.

(Photo by Cliff Williams/Opelika-Auburn News)

In Gus, Auburn trusts

It’s still early and the competition is nowhere close to being among the elite of college football, but still the Auburn Tigers’ offense has been crazy good in their first two games.

How good? Well, Auburn has surpassed 500 yards of total offense in back-to-back games for the first time since 1970.

The Tigers’ 589 yards in their 49-24 blowout of Mississippi State Saturday night eclipsed the 556 they chalked up in their season-opening 37-13 rout of Louisiana Tech.

"It was pretty amazing," said Auburn “Wildcat” quarterback Kodi Burns after the Tigers’ runaway victory against Mississippi State. "It was fun."

Fun for Burns because he accounted for four touchdowns, three rushing and one passing.

Fun because Auburn is averaging 572.5 yards total offense and 43.0 points.

Fun because Gene Chizik had the good sense to hire Gus Malzahn as the Tigers’ offensive coordinator for his inaugural season as Auburn’s head coach.

In Gus, they trust.

“It’s very innovative, and it’s fun to watch,” Chizik said of the warp-speed spread attack Malzahn brought to Auburn from Tulsa. “From a defensive background, it’s problematic in a lot of ways.”

No kidding. You don’t know what the creative Malzahn might draw up on the board – reverses, options, slants, screens, draws and other stuff you wouldn’t believe anybody would try. Every possession is treated like a two-minute drill in Malzahn’s hurry up, no huddle system with an array of formations designed for deception.

The Tigers aren’t pass-happy in Malzahn’s spread offense. Against Mississippi State, the Tigers ran for 390 yards. Ben Tate, despite sitting out the first quarter because of -- um -- a coach’s decision, ran for a career-high 157 yards and a touchdown and Onterio McCalebb added 114 yards and a score. It marked the first time in Auburn history two players rushed for more than 100 yards in consecutive games.

Chizik isn’t surprised. "You hear so much about the passing, but what caught my eye is how (Malzahn) brings a physical edge to everything he does," Chizik said. "This is a rushing offense. It comes at you directly -- whether it's a run or a pass. That's who we are."

Malzahn expected Auburn to run the ball effectively. “We knew that our front five, we knew that they were a solid offensive line, and we knew we had some backs who could be change of pace,” Malzahn said. “And so far they’ve really bought in to what we’re doing.”

Plus, Malzahn keeps some tricks up his sleeves just so things don’t get dull. “Yeah, we try to tell our guys, that’s part of our offense,” Malzahn said of the trickery. “Not a lot of people think of trick plays and all that, but we work on them every day. That’s part of what we do, and our guys are starting to get a little used to that.”

Auburn fans no doubt are already getting used to the Tigers running up big numbers in Malzahn’s system.

Talk about fun.