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All the talk prior to Thursday night's Auburn-South Carolina game centered on whether the Tigers could earn "style points" in its contest with the Gamecocks. In other words, would Auburn beat South Carolina bad enough to impress the pollsters? This is what college football has come to now.

Say what you want to about the NFL, but at least there, a win is a win. Is Auburn the second best team in the country? Right now, I honestly don't know. Then again, I'm not convinced Ohio State is the best team in the country. Did Auburn play with its A-Game Thursday? Not even close. But they still won.

With that said, we should taking nothing away from Auburn's 24-17 win in Columbia. This team went on the road against a 3-1 Steve Spurrier team at night. Any kind of win is impressive in that environment. Still, by Friday morning, all the talking heads on the radio and television were speculating over whether the Tigers seven point win was enough to stay ranked second in the country.

Please. You must be kidding me. A road win at night in the SEC should never drop a team in the polls. Say what you want to about ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit, but he echoed that point prior to the start of Thursday game. Talking to the Auburn Radio Network, Herbstreit said that most people around the country don't realize the difficulty of playing on the road in the SEC. He went on to say that playing even what is considered a middle-tier team like South Carolina is difficult. Herbstreit said that's what separates the SEC from other conferences. I couldn't agree more.

And neither can Tommy Tuberville. "If they think that wasn't a tough ball game to play, they need to come watch an SEC game,'' he said. "I saw the two teams in front of us (in the Harris Interactive poll) play close games last week, too.


How can you possibly drop Auburn in the polls and not drop Southern Cal after last week's game? They managed to beat an Arizona team that was pounded by LSU a few weeks earlier, 20-3 in Tucson. What's more impressive: A seven point Auburn win over South Carolina or a 17 point USC win over Arizona? That's a pretty easy answer. I'll take Steve Spurrier over Mike Stoops any time.

--The two teams combined for just eleven possessions and three punts tonight. The former is typical SEC, the latter isn't.

--Kirk Herbstreit took time out of the broadcast to apologize to South Carolina fans for wearing an orange tie. He said his wife chose the tie and had no idea what teams were playing tonight. Of course, he may just have to apologize to his wife for the sorta-flirty-and-intimate reference to sideline reporter Erin Andrews as "Poopsie".

--Auburn never relinquished possession of the football in the third quarter. The Tigers opened the second half with a touchdown drive lasting over eight minutes and followed that up with a successful onside kick and another scoring drive that extended into the fourth quarter.

--South Carolina countered by controlling the ball nearly the entire fourth quarter sans one brief Auburn possession.

--South Carolina quarterback Syvelle Newton ran for eight first downs. For the night, however, he ran for just 54 yards (2.8 yards/carry).

--Auburn tailback and Heisman Trophy candidate Kenny Irons ran for 117 yards (4.3 average) and two short touchdowns in his first game at South Carolina since leaving the Gamecocks.

--Third and Fourth down are Auburn's weakness, as South Carolina converted on 6 of 13 third downs and 3 of 4 fourth downs. For the night, the teams combined to go 6 of 7 on fourth down.

--The quarterbacks were sacked a combined seven times tonight.

--Auburn is now 5-0.

--Game LIVE Blog, the complete series:

First Quarter II Second Quarter II Third Quarter II Fourth Quarter

All the talk this week has been on the homecoming of Auburn's Kenny Irons and his scheduled return to Williams-Brice Stadium to face South Carolina. However, it's brother David who will get the real test Thursday. David Irons will have the task of covering the best wide receiver in the SEC in Sidney Rice.

With the quarterback situation becoming more clear in Columbia, Rice becomes more of a threat to the Tigers defense. How good is Rice? In only 15 starts, the sophomore has already caught 18 touchdown passes. Last week, he was named the SEC's Offensive Player of the Week after catching 9 passes for 161 yards and five touchdowns against Florida Atlantic.

The most impressive part of his performance is that he was pulled with 10 minutes left in the third quarter. It's easy to dismiss it and say it was Florida Atlantic, but anyway you cut it, that's pretty heady stuff.

Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier has settled on Syvelle Newton at quarterback. The results have been positive. Newton came in following the loss to Georgia and has added stability to the position. He replaced Blake Mitchell who was pulled for a number of reasons including an off the field incident at a local bar.

Newton moved over to the quarterback position after playing wide receiver. He even played tailback some last season and is a threat to run. He missed the last five games of 2005 after suffering a torn ACL in the Vanderbilt game.

In other news, South Carolina tailback Cory Boyd is questionable for the Auburn game after suffering a high ankle sprain and missing last week's game. Auburn and South Carolina kickoff at 6:45 p.m. CST from Columbia and the game will be carried by ESPN.

Auburn running back Kenny Iron's public divorce with South Carolina has again become front and center news this week. The Tigers take on South Carolina Thursday night, where Irons will return to Williams-Brice Stadium wearing orange and blue. Irons led the SEC in rushing last season after sitting out the 2004 campaign as required by the NCAA, while transferring to Auburn from Carolina.

The reasons for Irons move to the Plains is well documented. He was the Gamecocks leading returning rusher heading into his sophomore season. Irons had run with the first team through Spring and preseason practices. The night before the season opener, Irons was told by then head coach Lou Holtz that he would not be starting. Instead, the Gamecocks went with freshman Parade All-American Demetris Summers.

What Irons didn't know at the time was that Holtz had promised Summers the starting job if he signed with South Carolina. Summers was one of the top running backs in the country coming out of high school and Irons quickly found out why he signed with the Gamecocks. The remainder of Irons sophomore season was forgettable. Holtz further humiliated Irons by making him play in a JV game that season.

It's easy to see why Holtz's tenure at South Carolina, especially at the end, was a disaster.

Current Gamecocks head coach Steve Spurrier came to Irons defense this week saying he understood why Irons transferred to Auburn. "If all the stories are true, I can understand why he left, to tell you the truth," Spurrier said. "He's a fine running back, a good player and from everything I hear, he's a wonderful person, also."

Irons has moved past those dark days and is now widely considered the top runner in the SEC. He'll be nursing a sprained ankle coming into Thursday night's contest. My guess is, he won't feel a thing.

Link: Football Saturday In The South

It's that time of year, it's ole ball coach week. That right, grab your visor, put a smirk on your face and get ready to play the South Carolina Gamecocks. Love him or hate him, playing Steve Spurrier is always an experience. And this year should be no different. Auburn travels to Columbia, South Carolina on Thursday to take on the 3-1 Gamecocks. Kickoff is set for 6:30 CST and will be televised by ESPN. Announcing the game will be Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Erin Andrews (Yes!).

While winning three of their first four, South Carolina has struggled at times and hasn't gelled into the kind of team Spurrier was hoping for at the beginning of the season. Like Auburn, Carolina had a tune up game this past week with Florida Atlantic, winning 45-6.

Thursday's game will be a test for Auburn's young receiving corp. South Carolina leads the SEC in passing defense and ranks third nationally. Look for senior receiver Courtney Taylor to get the call often Thursday night. Wide out Prechae Rodriguez is expected to play this week after serving a one game suspension for academic reasons.

Surprisingly, it's South Carolina and not Auburn who leads the nation in net punting with a 43.1 yard average. However, Auburn's Kody Bliss leads the SEC in punting average at 48.5 yards per punt. Establishing field position early will be key.

One of the headlines of the week will be the return of Kenny Irons to William Brice Stadium. Irons, who played under former coach Lou Holtz, will be looking to leave a lasting impression on his former team. That shouldn't be difficult. South Carolina currently ranks 11th in the SEC in rushing defense and 111th nationally.

Despite not playing Saturday, Irons continues to lead the SEC in rushing with an average of 107.3 yards per game, and his 322 yards rushing is 30 more than he had after four games last season.

Its hard to believe, but in Tommy Tuberville's 11 seasons as a coach in the SEC, this is his first game at William Brice Stadium. Auburn's last appearance in South Carolina was in 1997 when it defeated the Gamecocks 23-6 with Terry Bowden as coach. Auburn is 5-1-1 all-time against Carolina. This marks the Tigers first Thursday night game for Auburn since 2002 when it defeated Mississippi State.

While the Tigers win over Buffalo was less than impressive, Auburn's defense continues to shine. Auburn has surrendered just three points in two SEC games. The last time Auburn kept consecutive SEC opponents out of the end zone was in 1989, and the last time Auburn allowed just three total points to consecutive SEC opponents was in 1988.

The Tigers have given up only 24 points this season.The last time Auburn allowed 24 or fewer points through the first four games of the season was in 1974. Obviously, Auburn's defense is very good and should match up extremely well against the South Carolina offense.

Auburn has adjusted its practice schedule and will not be taking its traditional Monday off. Following this week's game, the Tigers have nine days off to prepare for its next opponent, Arkansas. The Razorbacks have this week off.