Chizik, AU crash back to earth after 5-0 start

AUBURN — Maybe the fiasco in Fayetteville last weekend wasn't an aberration.

For all the thoughts about Auburn being much better than expected in the first year under coach Gene Chizik, the Tigers wake up today 5-2 and staring at a 7-5 or 6-6 season, just as most professional and amateur prognosticators predicted in the preseason.

But if last weekend's loss to Arkansas was a wake-up call that things were not going to be as easy or smooth as they seemed during an impressive run through Louisiana Tech, Mississippi State, West Virginia, Ball State and Tennessee to start 5-0, then Saturday night's 21-14 home loss to Kentucky was a reminder that Auburn really hasn't progressed beyond a middle-of-the-road team in the SEC.

That's a harsh reality, especially considering how well the Tigers were following their script to victory for most of Saturday.

Until an unlikely final seven minutes, Auburn appeared ready to join No. 1 Florida and No. 2 Alabama as the only SEC teams with at least six wins this season. Without the late collapse, the Tigers would have joined Florida, Alabama and No. 10 LSU as the only teams that still control their own destiny in pursuit of a spot in the SEC championship game.

But the Tigers fell victim to some unexpected quarterback play — both their own and the Wildcats'. Three quarterbacks scored rushing touchdowns for Kentucky. One of three (junior Will Fidler) had never scored a touchdown before. Another (true freshman Morgan Newton) had never even played in a college game before. And the third (sensational sophomore Randall Cobb) wouldn't have gotten his first start of the year at quarterback if not for the injury to regular starter Mike Hartline last weekend.

But Auburn played well enough defensively to win. Despite facing one of the league's best backs — Derrick Locke, who finished with 126 yards on 19 carries — the Tigers limited Kentucky to 21 points and 357 total yards. That's not great, but it's good enough to win....