[Music] foreign Vernon Stewart here for the podcast talking Auburn football go ahead and subscribe to Vernon speak Sports Auburn down in the Deep South college football is King and on the plains of Auburn the Battle Cry is War Eagle um you know Spring football is definitely done at Auburn and now we move on to the next phase of where Auburn is headed going into the 2023 season a lot of the more optimistic fans would like to think that this is going to be a one-year turnaround kind of similar to the 2013 season and year two for Gene chizik in 2010 however with the trajectory of where college football is now that's just not likely um there are a lot of teams that did make some big turnarounds LSU for example I thought made a huge turnaround and you know made it to the SEC Championship um I think Brian Kelly did an excellent job down there in changing the discipline changing the trajectory of how they play football they're very disciplined I remember watching the Florida State game and I'm like man these guys are they look pretty good actually considering all the buffoonery that was going on recruiting wise with LSU going into the season but man those guys actually made a statement in Year One now here's the problem with the situation at Auburn Auburn hasn't really done a good job recruiting in the last two years you talk about the tumultuous situation with Brian harson and just really didn't put Hugh freeze in a position to where he could I mean from a probability standpoint make this complete turnaround now the main position that's in question obviously is the quarterback watching the spring game there's some obvious improvements on the offensive line but quarterback wide receiver that's going to be the most important situation for Auburn because you're going to have to push the ball vertically down the field you're absolutely not going to be able to depend on a dual threat quarterback because that's just not the move now linebackers are faster defensive lineman or effect like it's just not going to work you don't fool anybody doing this stuff and then you can't do the ridiculous hurry up offense because now there's you know there's a from a timing standpoint it airs a little bit more on the side of the defense to make things even to where you just can't do the ridiculous hurry up that teams were able to do back in the early 2000s so with that in mind TJ Finley took to media and said hey man I feel like this is a slap in the face you know Auburn coaches going out and recruiting other quarterbacks and I'm here and well we got to look at the results you look at TJ Finley and it now that his motion I'll say his most defining moment and I think a lot of you all would agree with me was the comeback from behind win Over Georgia state bo Nick's his gaming in that day was I mean it was abysmal I mean Auburn would not have won that game had both Knicks finish that game out um TJ Finley comes in Saves the Day many even thought that week that TJ Finley might have won the starting job but he didn't fast forward to 2022 I thought this would have been a a a huge moment for TJ Finley to prove himself as the solid starter for Auburn against Penn State you got Penn State coming to Auburn Auburn looking for some revenge in that game here's TJ Finley 11 of 19 152 yards one interception and was sacked four times he didn't give your team a chance Auburn lost that game by double digits San Jose State you 13 for 20 167 yards two interceptions Mercer Mercer the game against Mercer nine for 14. 112 yards one touchdown and two interceptions TJ Finley had one game where he had over 220 something that had over 200 yards and that was against Houston and he was still 51.4 percent so so I asked you TJ as much as I like you I like your words I like you know your approach to the game what do you expect the coach to do I mean you talk about a coach that's trying to compete on a high level in the SEC you can't do that with throwing two interceptions against Mercer you can't do that throwing it two interceptions against San Jose State so the biggest thing with TJ Finley has been the consistency factor and I think all of us can attest to that so now as we kind of shift gears and look at Auburn's season uh 2023 season if you look at it at first glance you're looking at maybe a five and seven six and six possibility just at first glance because you're looking at a I think a win against UMass I think a win against Cal um now the toss-up one of the toss-up games Texas A M I'm projecting a loss but that could be one of those toss-up games where Auburn may have a chance Georgia I think Georgia is just too talented LSU is starting to kind of roll a little bit their uh talented as well obviously two straight national championships LSU probably a loss there Ole Miss win Mississippi State win now here's the surprise game for me Vanderbilt which traditionally gives Auburn trouble I think that's going to be the game that pushes the envelope to where Auburn could either lose that game win that game and put themselves in a position where they can have an eight game season as well as Arkansas I think Arkansas is a team that Auburn traditionally plays well against especially when their coach well they usually have somewhat of an advantage over uh Arkansas and then you got New Mexico State obviously I think that's an obvious win and Alabama we we don't really know we know they're talented um we don't know their situation at quarterback and Auburn tends to play well against Alabama at home so I'm looking at best case scenario eight and four for Auburn worst case scenario six and six they still make a bowl game prayerfully not the Birmingham Bowl but year one for you freeze especially with the recruiting that he has going from a moment momentum standpoint I think that's great on his part what do you think about this video go ahead and like the video comment and subscribe and as always it's great to be an Auburn Tiger War Eagle [Music]