West Virginia vs. Auburn Football 2009
Mountaineers Take on Tigers in Tough Non-Conference Matchup
WVU defeated Auburn 34-17 in Morgantown last season, but these teams have changed a lot since that match up. The key change for West Virginia is that Pat White is not longer quarterback, while almost everything is different for Auburn.
Auburn now has Gene Chizik at head coach instead of Tommy Tuberville, and they also have Chris Todd at quarterback. Kodi Burns played quarterback in last year’s game in Morgantown.
Auburn’s changes seem to be working for the team as they have won the last two contests easily. Former AU offensive coordinator Tony Franklin was fired soon after his team’s loss to WVU, but new offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn has the offense playing great for now.
The Tigers defeated Louisiana Tech 37-13 in their season opener, and then continued the success with a 49-24 victory over Mississippi State last week.
The Auburn offense looks much improved from last season, and they played balanced in the first two contests. Todd has already throw for 441 yards in the two games, and the running has been great with Ben Tate rushing for 274 yards and Onterio McCalabb running for 262.
Auburn’s defense is always a strong group, but West Virginia will be the first strong offensive unit that they will face this season. The Mountaineers will surely test their defense this Saturday.
West Virginia may have lost Pat White at quarterback, but Jarrett Brown is a great passer and knows the Mountaineer’s offense well after backing up White the past three years.
East Carolina defeated the Mountaineers a year ago, and held White to no touchdowns. WVU got their revenge this past weekend by beating ECU, as Brown was able to pass for 334 yards and four touchdowns.
This gives Brown a total of 577 yards this season with four passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown. Brown will have a tough time having this same kind of success when he faces an SEC defense.
West Virginia Hurting Defensively
The main concern for West Virginia is how its defense will play. They stepped up late in last week’s game by holding East Carolina to no points in their last seven possessions, but Auburn has a much stronger offense than the Pirates.
Auburn ranks second in the nation in rushing offense (345.5) and fourth in total offense (572.5). This will definitely be a tough test for the Mountaineer defense.
The Mountaineers allowed the Liberty Flames of the Big South conference to score 20 points on them, and now they have to worry about injuries to key players.
Two of WVU’s best defenders, Scooter Berry and Reed Williams, were injured in the East Carolina game and it would hurt the Mountaineers a lot if they are out for this game.
Mountaineers Should Defeat Tigers
West Virginia has played strong offensively in their past few games and are also 4-0 against SEC teams in the past three years.
This streak started with WVU’s 2005 Sugar Bowl win over the Georgia Bulldogs, who were SEC champions that year. The Mountaineers then beat Mississippi State in the 2006 and 2007 seasons, and then beat Auburn last year.
Pat White was quarterback for all of those games, but it seems that the Mountaineers step up and play better when they face opponents from the SEC.
This game should have a lot of offense, and it may come down to who gets the last possession since both teams are so strong offensively.
If Williams and Berry are out then WVU will likely give up a bunch of points to the Tigers. However, if they are in the game then the Mountaineers should be able to pull out the win.
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