Auburn should be No.1 in the BCS right now. After dominating Georgia, 49-31, with another very impressive performance in the second half, AU should have moved ahead of Oregon which barely got by a decent Cal team at Cal, 15-13. Cam Newton is clearly the best player in college football–I know I’m telling you something you already know. After his 151 yard rushing day with two touchdowns, and maybe more impressively, his 12-for-15 for 149 yard passing day with two touchdowns to Phillip Lutzenkirchen, which were beautiful passes, he’s just beyond words. These off field problems may not go away, but it looks to me like Auburn and maybe Cam are innocent in this incident. Cecil Newton looks to be the one who could be in trouble. The FBI is conducting interviews today so this may get interesting.
That aside, I sure am enjoying watching Cam and his offensive teammates play football. Cam has now run for 1,297 yards and completed 135-198 passes with 21 tds and six ints and 2,038 yards. Those are pretty staggering numbers. His efficiency rating is 183.58. He’s so dominant this Heisman race shouldn’t even be close. Hopefully, Auburn and Cam can get through this scandal without violations against Cam or Auburn. Hopefully neither party did anything wrong. I have a feeling Auburn is totally innocent in this. We’ll see about Cam.  There are some great playmakers around Cam as well who I have documented in earlier blogs. Lutzenkirchen reminds me of Colin Peak of last year at Alabama. Just a winner. The line is playing phenomenal and McCalebb is capable of breaking it any time. Dyer is just a hard-nosed runner who keeps getting better. He’s not at Marcus Lattimore’s level yet, but he’s pretty darn good. The receivers are excellent. I love T-Zac. That end around to him seems to work every time. Emory Blake and Darvin Adams dropped a pass apiece Saturday which is unusual for them. Like this group a lot though. Cam will get them the ball that’s for sure.

Defense played well at the end. This defense gives up a lot at times. Secondary still a little shaky, but Fairley is a beast. Linebackers pretty good and the dbs are athletic. It’s pretty hard to stop A.J. Green. He does that to a lot of people. I think the defense is good enough and the offense wins games.

AU gets two weeks off before Tide. I’m ready for this Cam deal to be over with so we can concentrate on football. Again, there may be something there, but hopeful that Auburn and Cam are not involved.

‘Bama looked good on Saturday. Saw the Mark Ingram of old on that 78-yard touchdown reception off a swing pass from Greg McElroy. Marquis Maze had a great game with that beautiful punt return being called back. Still caught a 45-yard td pass from McElroy. Caught five passes for 89 yards. Julio had a 56-yard run for a td, too. That was good to see. I’ve said all along this is a team of great players, just have to come together. Looks like they could have against State. McElroy 12-18-227 and two tds. Tide ran for 196. Need to get Trent back in. May hold him out against Georgia State, too, so he can be ready for AU.

Defense had some impressive numbers. Robert Lester had two more interceptions and now has seven on the season and is tied for the lead nationally with two others, Jayron Hosley of Virginia Tech and Mana Silva of Hawaii. He’s just a ball hawk. Also just a sophomore. Some good tackling numbers. C.J. Mosley was all over the field with 12 tackles. He’s a freshman. Mark Barron had 11, Demarcus Milliner had eight along with Courtney Upshaw and Dont’a Hightower. This defense may be coming together at the right time. This has been a young defense all along and that has been the difference in this year and last year. The offensive line’s been a little suspect too, but the team seemed to come together on Saturday. That could be a good sign going forward.

Now it’s Georgia State Thursday Night at 6:30 on ESPNU. Just need to play well and get ready for the Friday week.

My favorite part of the game Saturday was S’s “teaching moment” with A.J. McCarron. I interviewed McCarron in high school when he was at St. Paul’s in Mobile and he’s a bit of a prima donna. Saban’s going to get him straightened out before he takes over  the reins next year. S is not going to put up with mistakes and showboating. That’s one of the things I like that about him. He’s a tough one and a perfectionist no doubt.

Wow, will the Iron Bowl be fun. ‘Bama will try to ruin AU’s perfect season and AU will be trying to continue their run towards a national championship. What Alabama did last year was amazing, winning 14 straight. That’s hard to do. Auburn’s got a shot. We’ll see if they can keep it up. You never know in this game. Will have a full preview next Tuesday for the big game.

I was in Chicago over the weekend to see the Bears-Vikings game. The Bears have five guys on their team from Vandy, so it was a blast. The fans at Soldier Field were wild. They just trashed Favre and his teammates for 60 minutes. I really can’t repeat on the blog what was said, but it was kind of hilarious. Bears played great. People have called them a pretender all year and still aren’t buying into them, but if their offensive line can play how they did Sunday against Vikings and Cutler can play well and not throw costly interceptions, this team could be special. The defense is championship caliber. They are so opportunistic. Three interceptions against Favre. There were 62,00o people at Soldier Field. They redid it a couple of years ago and it’s an awesome atmosphere with very cool architecture, kept that old look of the columns in front with a modern looking sharp look in the stadium The fans are a lot of fun though some of them are a little scary. When the Bears scored there were high fives all over our row. The wind was blowing 20-30 so it was pretty cold in the stadium. My wife’s not big on the cold, but she hung in there pretty well. All in all, it was an awesome experience. Chicago is a fun city and NFL games are classic. Bears have very challenging schedule remaining, so it’ll be a challenge. Play at Miami Thursday which will be difficult. Then come home to play Michael Vick and the Eagles. Vick is playing on another level right now. He’s been like Cam in the pros. Just dominating.

Watched the Northwestern-Iowa game on Saturday before Auburn. Dan Persa, the Northwestern qb, was incredible. Single-handedly beat Iowa which was favored by a touchdown or maybe even more. He threw the game winning pass with just over a minute left and then ruptured his Achilles. That was a tough break, but it was an amazing performance by Persa. That guy is special. He’s a junior and he’ll be back.

What else can you say about Marcus Lattimore. He schooled Florida for over 200 yards (don’t have stats right in front of me) and showed he’s the best back in the country. Just an awesome player. That was big for SC to get the SEC East title. Very impressive performance. Should be a fun game with Auburn. Will mean even more if AU can beat ‘Bama. What is the deal with Florida’s offense? They’re clueless.

This weekend looks pretty solid. Here’s the SEC schedule and a couple of key national games. Ohio State goes to Iowa. Iowa will try their best to knock off the hated Buckeyes. Not a big believer in the Buckeyes on the big stage. Think Iowa can get it done though they’ll have to get over the Northwestern loss from last Saturday. That’s on ABC at 2:30. Also, Virginia Tech travels to Miami to take on the U at  2:30 on ESPN. ACC championship implications and a possible spot in the Orange Bowl on the line.

Here’s the SEC schedule for this week:

Georgia State @ Alabama 6:30 p.m., ESPNU

Troy @ South Carolina 11:21 a.m., SEC Network

Appalachian State @ Florida 11:30 a.m., PPV

Ole Miss @ LSU 2:30 p.m., CBS

Arkansas @ Miss. State 6 p.m., ESPN

Tennessee @ Vandy 6:30 p.m. CSS

Friday, Nov. 26

Auburn @ Alabama 1:30 p.m., CBS

(Robert Lester is having an amazing season.)