Hurricane Watching

It is halftime of the Tennessee vs. UCLA football game, and I can’t stop switching channels between the ballgame and the Weather Channel. Not that I am a Hurricane Tracker with one of those blue gridded maps whereby one can chart the path of any given tropical storm or hurricane. Nor is it because I know anyone directly in the path of Gustav. (Now Hanna, on the other hand, could be heading directly toward two of my children who live in Charleston, South Carolina, but that is later this week). Rather, I think my interest is peaked because of what happened to New Orleans because of Katrina, and yes, the human interest stories always seem to touch me. But I am also very interested to see if we learned anything from Katrina, and if New Orleans and the gulf coast is better prepared this time around.

Hurricanes are powerful and unpredictable. We have seen that over and over again. Not only do communities along the coast have to prepare for the power that a hurricane can bring, they also have to prepare for the unpredictable…where exactly the eye will hit….how high the storm surge will be….if evacuating, what to take and what to leave. Dealing with the power and unpredictability.

This past Saturday, the Auburn faithful were supposed to see the unveiling of the spread offense and it’s power and unpredictability. Louisana Monroe, or ULM as they prefer to be called, was to be the victim of this turbo charged, fast paced wonder-offense. An offense that could you hit you all over the field in many different ways, much like the swirling winds of a hurricane.

Now I don’t know about you, but what I saw was anything but unpredictable. In fact, it looked like more of the same that I saw last year. Oh, don’t get me wrong….rushing for over 300 yards is quite a feat. But I am convinced that we could have rushed for over 300 yards against ULM were we in the power-I, the Borges West Coast, or the spread. But our quarterbacks….both of them….often looked confused, less than poised, and certainly not “spreading the ball around the field” with the passing game.

This week is Southern Mississippi. The challenge will be tougher than this past week. And following that, the full force of hurricane S.E.C. will be bearing down on us. The defense seems to be ready. But the offense….I’m just not sure.

War Eagle!
WJLaneSR