Auburn's Borges Faces Familiar Foe Saturday Night

Auburn's schedule has been scrutinized by every college football prognosticator in the land. They all point to LSU, Florida and Georgia as the key games in the Tigers run toward a national championship. A game that continues to be overlooked is the one Saturday night at Pat Dye Field.

Don't expect Washington State to come into town and lay down for the Tigers. These guys play Pac-10 football and will be every bit as good as Georgia Tech was on opening night a year ago. Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville has spent all week preaching that to his players.

Auburn comes into the game a 15 1/2 point favorite. Don't expect the point spread to be easy to cover. Auburn offensive coordinator Al Borges is familiar with the Cougars after spending seven years in the PAC-10. "They're a tough opponent, a lot tougher than a lot of people think," Borges said.

He should know. While coaching out west, Borges worked along side Cougars head man Bill Doba. In fact, Doba was defensive coordinator at UCLA at the same time Borges served as offensive coordinator. Does that give either man an advantage? Probably not. What it does give them is a working knowledge of each others systems.

Despite only winning four games a year ago, Washington State does bring back its quarterback, Alex Brink who threw for nearly 3,000 yards and 24 touchdowns last year. Auburn's secondary will be tested often and early by two preseason All-Pac 10 selections, Jason Hill and Michael Bumpus.

Before everyone starts looking ahead to LSU don't forget we've got two very dangerous games coming up in the next couple of weeks. I have faith the coaches will have the players ready.