Living on a Prayer

It was midway through the 4th quarter on Saturday night. The Auburn University Marching Band struck up that world-famous 1986 single from Bon Jovi’s “Slippery When Wet” album. Most of the 15,000 students sitting in the southeast corner of the endzone weren’t even born when the quarter-century old song began. Yet that song, which has topped the Hot 100 pop list for more than a decade was sung loud and strong by the student section, and it caused me to stop and reflect.

“Whooah, we’re half way there…..whooah, living on a prayer”…….

Then it dawned on me….we ARE almost halfway there. We are entering week # 5 of the college football season. WEEK # 5!! Half the season is almost done! Can you believe it?!?

Maybe that’s why some of us love college football so much. Maybe it’s because, unlike the NFL, we only get a taste. Just enough to make us want more. And then the regular season is over. Just when we get started good, we're halfway there!

No pre-season. No 14-15 game season. No multi-game post season playoff (and no, don’t get started on the debate….that’s not the purpose of this blog. Maybe another one one day).

“Whooah, we’re half way there….”

And the song also made me ponder the season we are in the midst of. Let’s touch some key "halfway there" topics:

#1. The Georgia Bulldogs. Who would have thought that they would be 0-3 in the SEC at this point? Driving home yesterday, one station on Sirius Radio was predicting that because of the loss to Miss. State, followed by another late-night jail-cell phone call to Coach Richt, that his days were indeed numbered. They predicted that a loss out on Rocky Mountain High this weekend would send Richt down an avalanche in Colorado.

#2. Arkansas might have a great quarterback in Ryan Mallet, but they haven’t learned how to win. When you have the reigning national champions down 20-7, you don’t just try to hang on. If you do, you’re going to get a double dose of run over…which is what happened. What happens now to Petrino’s hawgs?

#3. The Gators are starting to come around. After figuring out how to take a snap (the Boiling Springs Pee-Wee league could have taught the mighty Gators something in this regard back a few weeks ago), they seem to be getting stronger and stronger. This week’s showdown with Bama might spell trouble for the pachyderms, because Florida is better than Arkansas.

#4. South Carolina’s defense isn’t as good as everyone thought. Is this because the teams they played prior to Auburn (Southern Miss., Georgia and Furman) weren’t very good offensive teams?

#5. Mississippi State would probably be 4-0 at this point had Cam Newton gone to the spotted bulldogs instead of Auburn. Instead, Miss. State is just a noisy gonging bell.

#6. Tennessee is worse than we thought. When a Vol celebration breaks out like it’s 1986 because UAB is defeated in overtime, something is BAD wrong. Does anybody fear the Vols anymore?

#7. Kentucky, with all it’s improvement, is still a basketball school. They will not contend for the SEC East.

#8. Vanderbilt may have gotten their signature win for the season against Ole Miss, but this year Ole Miss is the Old Maid of the conference.

#9. Speaking of Old Mrs., the Nutt-house seemed to put it together this past week against Fresno State. But that says nothing. The Rebels (or did they change their mascot to the Reb-less) are to the West what Georgia is trying to become in the East…..Irrelevant! Who would have thought on both accounts?

#10. Alabama’s running game may be better than it was last year, but their defense is not. They are a very good football team, but championships are won and lost on defense. I just don’t see a repeat.

#11. LSU continues to be schizophrenic and will be as long as a madman is at the helm. They have glimpses of greatness….glimpses of worse than mediocrity……great play calling…..poor play calling…..and the team just doesn’t seem to be in sync. In most cases, Less is More, but at LSU, Les is less. A loss to Bama, which will probably happen, to Auburn, which seems more than a 50% chance now, and to Arkanses, which I also think will happen, turns the heat up on Les….even More.

#12. Where would Auburn be without Cam Newton? I’m sure glad I don’t have to know. He is a one man wrecking machine. Having said that, Auburn has won 2 games late, coming from behind, and shown a resilience that I didn’t expect. This is the stuff that CAN separate a good team from a great team. Auburn is NOT a great team………yet. But they have a chance. They, like the Gators, seems to be getting better each week. Auburn is a little beaten up, and with La. Monroe this week, they should get a little rest before resuming conference play.

A few non-sec comments: NC State is a very good football team, Stanford is a team I wouldn’t want on my schedule this year, Michigan might just upset Ohio State this year, Arizona may be the pac-10 spoiler, and I guess a longhorn never met a Bruin it could hook. You think Muschamp slept well Saturday night after his defense was shredded?

Well….that’s it for the “almost” midpoint. We’re halfway there, and some teams are just living on a prayer.

“We’ve got to hold on, ready or not…..you live for the fight when it’s all that you got….whooah, living on a prayer…..”