Even Cal SUPER FANS are picking Auburn to win on Saturday | Auburn Tigers Podcast

even the biggest supporters of cow are picking the Auburn [Music] Tigers you are locked on Auburn your daily podcast on the Auburn Tigers part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day yes welcome on into locked on Auburn your daily Auburn Tigers podcast I'm your host Zach blackerby and thank you so much for making lock on Auburn your first listen every single day we are joined blessed by the presence of Spencer mlin host of lockon college football also known as the locked on cow guy on Auburn Twitter that's me Spencer you love cow more than anyone this is true you picked Cal to beat Auburn last year and boy were you wrong yes even you even you think Auburn takes care of business against Cal handily on Saturday yes I mean what a wildly off- based prediction I had last year in what was a four point slugfest in a true Pack 12 after dark Rip but I I do think Auburn wins this football game I think Cal is fine this year I thought they were fine and serviceable last year I think Auburn improved in the off season considerably specifically with a wide receiving core and that was on display in week one as Auburn f fans pretty well know and I think Cal is about the same so if you give me a matchup that was close last year weird but but close and a competitive football game and you go down to Jordan ha stadium and you give me a better Auburn offense and a cal team that is fine I think they're okay I think but I don't have a lot of confidence in that yeah I go with the Auburn Tigers in this football game yeah this is a I mean it took every thing for Auburn to win the game but they did everything to lose the game a year ago I mean they fumbled like I think it was Payton's first run of the game and then jarquez Hunter when the game was done they need to ice it jarquez fumbled it I mean it took a lot of fluky things for that game to be close and Auburn still won it all of the variables pointed towards Cal it was uh it was Hugh F's first road game during the freeze era at Auburn the game was being kicked off at 9:00 Central time with what Auburn's used to there was just kind of a lot of weird now all the variables I think Point towards Auburn this Saturday with Cal traveling here with with it being at Jordan hair stadium and then obviously with uh with this really exciting Freshman Class really hitting the ground running at Auburn um to me I think everything points towards the Tigers here yeah it'll be a much more considerable test than Alabama A&M there there's no question my mind about that but do I think this is the best team that Auburn is going to play in the next several weeks no it certainly is not now if are they better than Arkansas o that's an interesting question I don't think I've seen enough from Arkansas this year I lean towards yes they're a better team than Arkansas at the very least they're going to have a better record than Arkansas this year but does that make them a better team not necessarily a lot of teams are going to have a better record than Florida but Florida will actually be a better overall football team so well that's just the the reason I asked that Spencer is a big question Auburn fans are asking it's like okay if Auburn whoops Cal which pretty much everybody thinks it's going to be a two-score game is that enough for Auburn to get ranked and my gut says no no and they say okay how many teams do they have to be is it after Arkansas it's like probably like if you're four and0 and you look good in those four wins and I also think the media wants Oklahoma coming to Jord here Stadium to be a rank first ranked team whatever but I'm with you I think Cal is better than Arkansas so like if the argument is well we gota wait for them to beat somebody like Arkansas it's like why couldn't they be ranked after beating Cal well yeah I I don't think Cal has got enough preseason hype nor should they to Warrant a ranking after just a couple of weeks for Auburn if they do win this football game I don't think Arkansas has that either if you get to 4-0 okay I can see it so obviously 5-0 with a win over Oklahoma that's that's not even a question of course Auburn should be ranked at that point in time but I think I think going going into this game it's one that Auburn should win I don't know that it's going to generate a ton of Buzz unless C kind of hangs around and look the the Hallmark of the Justin Willcox era for for cow has been play up to your level of competition and play down to your level of competition here is a great stat for you Mr blackerby are you ready for this one Cal has twice in the Justin Willcox era been the sole victory that a power four team racks up over the course of a year in 2022 they were the only team to lose to the Colorado Buffalo and in 2021 they were the only team to lose to the Arizona Wildcats those were 1 and 11 teams their one win was against C that's the playing down and this has been a steady theme you saw this last week with C they played UC Davis and guess what they were losing late in the second quarter they didn't take the lead until a pooch kick was taken to the house and I don't know if that was uh by accident or not but it's certainly weird game weird weird game and Cal looked much better in the second half if you get that second half California Golden Bears team it'll be a greater challenge for Auburn but if you get that first half team Auburn steamrolls so with uh we had Alex donno of locked on acc which still feels weird you go to the ACC conference host to talk about Cal but that's that's the world we live in that's the world we live in he said a similar thing about Will so playing down and then playing up to the competition you mentioned two extreme examples of him playing down to the competition losing to really bad teams am I missing something where's the playing up to the competition where where is that example they went into Oxford in 2018 and ended up beating Old Miss they beat a Washington 2018 yeah 2018 cares what happened in 2018 because I'm telling you that in the entire time that will Cox has been the head coach for Cal it's the same no I was in college I'm just kidding see but that's a fair statement to make I see here's you have to think about it for here's the funny thing first of all I had to think about it yes secondly when you said you were in high school in 2018 a bunch of people watching on YouTube definitely thought to themselves he absolutely was in high school in 2018 good point yeah good point so that's that's one example 2019 I think they played a Washington team that was better than them and they ended up preo man I just don't think matters I just don't think matters at this point but I mean you look at what Cal's done in the last few years and I know you championed them last off season but like I I think at this point like I don't think there's anything exciting about Cal and we're about to talk about specific matchups and where Cal could possibly beat Auburn at but I I just look at this team and and we looked at him last year too like the only reason that game was close because Auburn fumbled over and over and over again and they hadn't found their identity yet and it was jar Quest Hunter was he still hurt or not like we couldn't really tell I just I don't see any recent examples of them playing up to their competition yeah and the reason I bring up the older examples is because it's the same head coach this has been a a trademark of of those teams you can go back to 2021 they were one and five they went into auson Stadium 10th or top five ranked Oregon team actually and they took him down Oregon needed a goal line stand to win the football game you look at last year they're going up against a USC team that has an explosive offense and has far more composite Talent up and down their roster no question and they lose the game I think 50 to 49 W was the final score that's a great example so so they they go up and down all the time they can get up and push Auburn to the very Brink I just don't think they've got enough to do it on the road the quarterback battle Mendoza versus Thorne where's that mismatch go we discussed in just a moment right here on lockon Albert Today's Show is brought to you by America's number one sports book that is FanDuel Spencer can you imagine wagering anywhere other than FanDuel no are there even other sports books Zack as far as I'm concerned no none that matter they're none that matter none that matter I'm not gonna spend any time looking at them Auburn minus 133 a half I think they cover what say you I do not think they cover I I think this can be a back door I think a back door I've got I've got Auburn winning that that number I think was a little bit lower I think it was in the 11 and A2 range moved up to 13 and2 I think that's a slight overreaction to cow playing a poor first half against UC Davis so I I lean towards a uh and I will predict later in today's show an Auburn or a cal cover in an Auburn Victory so we got something a little different for you at FanDuel now through September 22nd all FanDuel customers can $5 and get a three- week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV inane all you needs a Google account and a current form of payment you can cancel anytime so visit fcom sure they're both great they're both great shout out to FanDuel visit fel.com download America's number one sports book Today's Show is also brought to you by Alumni Hall Spencer can you imagine buying Auburn stuff anywhere else no no I I I cannot because if I were get any Auburn stuff it'd probably come from you and you're only buying it at Alumni Hall that's true that's true there's a lot of 2010 National Championship stuff in there thank you for that I love doing these shows just to hear that reference every time yep no question about it Spencer loves the Oregon Ducks and so therefore he does not like Michael Dyer and Cam Newton I can't imagine what that feels like Alumni Hall has jerseys they've got 2010 championship gear whatever it might be they you're so mad you're so mad at me right now uh anything they got stuff for your walls stuff for your tailgate stuff for your man cave check it all out Alumni Hall three physical locations in Auburn opal like in Huntsville and also at alumni hall.com thank you so much for making lockon Auburn your first listen every single day for your second listen check out lockon college football that's where Spencer mlin is every single day the quarterback matchup between Payton Thorne and Mendoza Not Gon to lie don't know his first name what is his Fernando Fernando that's incredible Fernando sounds like he should be a pirate underrated name in in college football Fernando Mendoza got a nice flow nice flow yep yep yep I like Thorne in this matchup largely because of one what we saw in week one are we overreacting to that I don't know I think what we have this matchup is a very different Payton Thorne from a year ago but also pton laen has more guys to throw to than Mendoza does and I think when it's all said and done I think Auburn's passing game will be far superior than cows on Saturday I think he's got more higher end guys to throw to but I even with a couple of injuries I like this cow receiving court now I'll talk about in a moment what they put on on the tape week one against UC Davis but Maven Anderson Isaiah Hunter and Mikey Matthews the Utah transfer that's a really solid Trio if you put them up against other receiving cores in the ACC they're not going to be at the very very top but they are certainly not going to be bottom dwellers either these guys are capable Playmakers and provide a a much more legitimate test than Alabama A&M did for this Auburn secondary and what I wonder about in this game Zach is who is Fernando Mendoza looking at if anybody maybe he's just reading the defense which is what some offensive coordinators would probably prefer but who's he looking at on Third and six who who's who's the guy that that emerges because you had a couple of injuries into in this wide receiver room that causes a wrinkle and you need a true number one guy to emerge last year it was Jeremiah Hunter he's up at Washington now playing for for Jed fish and the Huskies and you you kind of have a void and you have a couple of guys who are capable who are talented Maven Anderson's more experienced naiah Hunter former fourstar recruit he's a red shirt freshman both guys were were prevalent in the Cal receiving game in week one I expect them to be again in week two but does one of those guys have the ability to get to 100 yards can you have a double digit reception game from a red shirt freshman week two at Auburn that's a question I look for in this passing game yeah the the Alabama A&M performance was so explosive but like there wasn't a whole lot of getting different like getting guys involved consistently it's like everybody got a little bit it's like everybody got their touchdown it's like okay you're done playing exaggerating a little bit but not really so to me like I want to see what cam Coleman looked like for an entire game I want to see what Perry Thompson looked like for an entire game I want to see what Keandre Lambert Smith looks like for an entire game and I think over the course of 60 minutes which they didn't play 60 Minutes against Alabama Anam did you know Auburn and v in 10-minute quarters did you know that I I did not know that I'm learning something new every day you're welcome you're welcome lock on Auburn for you uh but I I do want to see like what that looks like on this because I do think it's going to stress a defense at least on paper we got to see it actually happen in action but I do think the physical the physical aspect of having to cover guys like cam Coleman for four quarters like I'm looking forward to see what that looks like yeah and the UC Davis offense had success in the first half they were completing some passes they were running the football pretty well there there were a lot of M tackles on on this Cal defense and that was certainly a concern those issues got rectified in the second half they picked off miles Hastings the UC Davis quarterback a couple times pton Thorne is certainly better than the guys starting for The aies Who admittedly are a good FCS program but they are not on the same level of what Auburn is going to put on the field this week but you give up 13 points in the first half to UC Davis and you're thinking what is happening here the offense is sluggish the defense isn't then the defense makes some adjustments and they pitch a shut out in the second half and that's much more what we've become accustom to seeing with Justin Willcox at at the helm for for this cow defense and I I think they are capable of being better than they were last year I I just don't know quite yet if you know they're going to address some of the problems they had last season that haven't historically been the case I think we have to you know wait and see what happens kind of in the early portion of this Auburn game to get a feel of how much better that Cal defense could actually be but I want to go back to this quarterback matchup for for a moment here Z because Mendoza is a really interesting guy for those Auburn fans who don't know he was on the roster last year when these two teams played in Berkeley he did not play because he was the third string quarterback and by the end of the year Cal had so much quarterback turmoil yeah that he ended up taking the starting job from now Auburn wide receiver Sam Jackson and the former ncy State transfer Ben Finley and he was good enough and he was certainly better and more consistent than those two guys did not wow me in the first game this passing attack as a whole Mike BL the offensive coordinator he's new in there because Jake badal have to go be the offensive coordinator at at Baylor with with Dave Randa and I think that was a pretty significant loss because one of the reasons I liked Cal last year was that they brought in a new OC spol was really good blush is running the same sort of system is a lot of RPO it is it is a lot of RPO there's not a lot of traditional dropback passing in this game there was not a lot of explosive passing in this game from the Cal from the Cal quarterback so interest see that out 15 of 22 which is fine from an efficiency standpoint mhm 158 yards yeah 100 that that that's that's what they were and that's what it looked like now a lot of checkdowns ye yes there there were there were good amount of checkdowns is more about the lack of a desire to go down the field I think he was only about one of two passing the ball 20 yards or more down the field well four of those were to Jay not and all of those were check Downs or like passes like right around the line of scrimmage but I'm saying passes that traveled more than 20 yards down the field I'm pretty sure KY only attempted two oh interes in the in the entire game so this is an RPO heavy offense and and they just did not demonstrate now maybe we have seen teams do this before maybe they're saving something for this Auburn game because they know this is a greater challenge than what UC Davis presents maybe they feel like they can push the ball down the field but they didn't want to showcase all those sorts of Concepts against the aies because they want to do it this week against the Tigers but if you're not able to be explosive I I just don't see Cal having the horses particularly with how the offensive line played last week to go string together consistently 8 10 12 Play drives you need a couple of Chunk plays and one of the reasons I'll give Cal th this aspect of it that there weren't a lot of passing yards available in that game to Fernando Mendoza number one they weren't taking a lot of downfield shots but number two their defense created a couple of turnovers and gave them some short Fields so so the numbers probably aren't quite as bad as it sounds like in there where you hear you know guy go for under 160 yard passing but I I think that's a fascinating element of this game if I'm Auburn I bring safeties down in the Box I say you prove to me nah Hunter and M Anderson that you can go over the top and that Fernando Mendoza can deliver those sorts of passes if they showcase it okay you make adjustments but you force them to push it down the field yeah and I do think that's what Auburn is going to do against Cal I think the fascinating question we've been talking about it all week here unlocked on Auburn is what does Cal do to stop Auburn and we discuss that in just a moment right here unlock Don Auburn Spencer can you imagine hiring anybody not through Linkedin jobs no that would be such a fool hearty and dumb decision Zach give me give me a few adjectives of somebody that you might find applying for job capable prolific detail oriented grinder give me somebody that you would find posting your job somewhere else describe that employee inaptly qualified not up to par sure the wrong hire wow W LinkedIn it's not just a job board LinkedIn helps you find professionals you can't find anywhere else and it's as simple as that post your job for free at linkedin.com lockon College that's linkedin.com lockon College to Post your job for free terms and conditions apply Spencer mlin host of locked on college football also known as the locked on Cal guy if you're Cal and you're trying to stop Auburn this is an Auburn team that just erupted through the year they hardly used jar West Hunter Demari and Jeremiah Cobb their three talented running backs they they hardly used them at all against Alabama A&M if you're Cal do you still say yes the running game sces me more than pton Thorn or do you do you treat them kind of like a balanced offense I I think you have to force pton Thorne to Showcase that that passing attack I agree is capable of doing more than just putting up points on Alabama A&M I I think that's where you have to come at this if you're Justin Willcox and the Cal defensive coaching staff now if that if that happens you might have problems right depending on how you play in the line in the line of scrimmage on that side of the ball because for for Cal last week I felt like their defensive line did a good job against UC Davis like I I know it was just UC Davis but you talk about the Auburn passing attack and how good it was you say okay what did Cal do well that was something they did well UC Davis did not run the football effectively last week in in Berkeley if you can have any sort of success keeping the ground game in check I think that's where you want to be and they have to leave it up to the defensive back so we're certainly a confident Bunch uh after uh pulling off three interceptions I think one was by a linebacker but they had three interceptions in week one so they they did a good job forcing turnovers the way that they needed to to help the offense give him better field position pull away win the football game but if I'm Cal I look at this and say hey if if Payton Thorne is really that in sync with Cam Coleman and the wide receivers and Keandre Lambert Smith who I'm a big fan of then then go then go for it but you have to make him prove that first just in the same vein that Auburn should say hey Fernando Doza can you push the ball down the field can can you complete something that's not an RPO if so we'll back off and we'll make adjustments from there but if you can't complete a downfield pass we might play a lot of single high safety or bring some cover zero pressure where are you with Jade not in his role in this left the game with third quarter with an ankle ankles you never really know I assume he's going to play but do you think he's going to be 100% I mean it's impossible for us to fully know but how big of an impact is that on this game well he's listed as probable and and if you go to the offensive numbers for Cal last year it's a sizable impact yeah he as he went C's offense went last year and and it's not just the production that he gives you in both the rushing and the passing game because he is dynamic at both he led the Pack 12 in in rushing last season and he is also an excellent pass catcher but it's the threat that he poses and what that does to a defense if jayen not you know carries the ball three times on the first four plays and totals 25 yards on the ground averaging you know eight yards or so per carry then suddenly he's going to yeah suddenly he's going to attract a lot of attention and that plays into opening up holes in the RPO or in the play action passing game for Mike BL and Fernando Mendoza the OC and quarterback for the Bears respectively so I I think that if he's at 100% or near it he's going he's going to play but if he's if he gets knocked out of the game that's a sizable sizable loss to me cuz you know they put in Byron Cardwell last week cardwell's capable he's nowhere near the playmaker that Jay KN is yeah yeah Jay not 14 carries just 49 yards did score two touchdowns but that's not a Jay notot stat line that we used to see it's not and and and that comes down to the offensive line which was one of the reasons that Cal really it's been a struggle for them each of the last couple of years and it was not an impressive showing to to started the season last week against UC Davis yeah yeah I I want to ask you to zoom out just for a second here that that sort of zooming out yeah no get get closer to your microphone please the the um you know this time a year ago the narrative was by so many people that do National shows like you hey Auburn better watch out for Cal and some people like yourself pick Cal know we almost right fast forward to this year though you're so close so CL fast forward to this year the narrative is Auburn's going to take care of business against Cal and most people are saying like yeah that 13 and a half point line like Auburn's going to cover that's what most people are saying I mean the the difference that a year makes I mean how much does that speak to what Hugh FES has done on the planes in the last 365 days it's the entire reason in addition to Auburn being at home instead of on the road this year game time a little bit more normal that that's the second Factor but the first factor is C's off season was a little underwhelming Auburn was not overwhelmingly incredible but it certainly made them a better football team on paper and we saw that play out on the field last Saturday against Alabama A&M so my confidence in Auburn winning this football game comes back to the moves that the Tigers made getting cam Coleman and having an offensive line that is largely similar correct me if I'm wrong to a season ago and having the expectation of hey we're going to be able to to run the football here so I I like what Auburn has done I I think making the change in offenseive coordinator is a good one and I think coordinator changes can do a lot I I have planted my flag on entire predictions solely based on certain coordinators coming for example USC I was on our locked on SEC Squad and I was the only one whose hands stayed down when the question was asked everyone's picking LSU right and I said no I'm picking USC to win why did USC win because they made the one change that they needed to which is a defensive coordinator Auburn's off offense last year was not good enough I like that they made a change there I think the Personnel is capable is pton Thorne a world beater at quarterback no but is HE capable yes he like he does have to be no he he does not have to be so I think Auburn has the better roster on paper I like the coaching change moves that they made they're at home it's why I feel really confident Auburn in this game Spencer mlin how could people check out everything you've got going on you can go to YouTube or you can go to wherever you're listening to this podcast right now if you're on audio side and listen to lockdown college football where I keep you up to date with the biggest stories every day in the greatest sport on planet Earth sometimes even more than just every day sometimes more than once per day if you want all the college football content I'm over there I also host lockon ducks talking all things Oregon and Zach I feel like most people in the audience here already know what my Twitter handle is it was different last year we've made a we've made a change there just like Auburn with the offensive coordinator role it's at s McGloin CFB you can find me over there and I'm sure Auburn fans will do so but maybe not in such large droves droves because I think they're going to win yeah yeah tweet at him and let him know that um Michael Dyer was not down he's down and uh Seth Williams did score that touchdown okay that I'm not going to dispute that was just a moment that made me slam my hand into a couch but like you know that that one just happened I get it it did happen it did happen for sure Spencer mclin thank you so much for your time as always go check out lockon college football right now this second please like the video please subscribe we'll see you next time this has been lockon Albert