I just finished my last exam for this semester and now I only have one semester left before I graduate. Next semester will be a busy one even though I don't have any tough classes, I will have this huge Senior Design project which will consume most of my time. Also, the job search will be going on throughout the semester and that will be interesting. Now I look forward to this break and bowl season.

Both my teams have been really hurt by injuries and here they are:

First I'll start with the Saints (bolded means starter):
RB Deuce McAllister (knee), RB Aaron Stecker (hamstring), DL Brian Young (foot), LB Troy Evans (ankle), LB Mark Simoneau (back), CB Mike McKenzie (knee), DL Hollis Thomas (triceps), WR Adrian Arrington (toe), CB Greg Fassitt (knee), DL Alvin McKinley (foot), WR Marques Colston (thumb), DL Antwan Lake (groin), LB Scott Fujita (knee), CB Randall Gay (illness), SS Roman Harper (hamstring), FS Josh Bullocks (heel), CB Aaron Glenn (ankle), LB Scott Shanle (hand), WR Terrance Copper (hamstring), WR David Patten (groin), TE Mark Campbell (hamstring), OT Jammal Brown (hip), TE Jeremy Shockey (hernia), C Jonathan Goodwin (hamstring), DL Sedrick Ellis (knee), FB Olaniyi Sobomehin (shoulder), FB Mike Karney (ankle),OT Jon Stinchcomb (back), SS Chris Reis (hamstring), FS Kevin Kaesviharn (back), OL Jahri Evans (ankle), OL Carl Nicks (illness), RB Reggie Bush (knee), CB Tracy Porter (wrist), DL Will Smith (abdomen), DL Charles Grant (triceps).

Now for Auburn (most of them start or have started a game):
noseguard Tez Doolittle (groin), defensive tackle Sen'Derrick Marks (ankle), defensive end Antonio Coleman (two bad ankles), linebacker Josh Bynes (deep thigh bruise), linebacker Craig Stevens (turf toe), linebacker Merrill Johnson (hamstring), cornerback Jerraud Powers (hamstring), cornerback Neiko Thorpe (ankle), defensive end Michael Goggans (ankle). Linebacker Tray Blackmon (wrist), WR Rod Smith (hip), QB Chris Todd (shoulder), RB Ben Tate (ankle), RB Brad Lester (neck), C Jason Bosley (shoulder).

I did some of the Auburn one from memory as they don't officially have an injury report I can read. It's been hard going this year and the injuries sure don't help.

Already looking forward to next year, well it just so happens that the schedule was released.

Sept. 5 LOUISIANA TECH

Sept. 12 MISSISSIPPI STATE

Sept. 19 WEST VIRGINIA

Sept. 26 BALL STATE

Oct. 3 at Tennessee

Oct. 10 at Arkansas

Oct. 17 KENTUCKY

Oct. 24 at LSU

Oct. 31 OLE MISS

Nov. 7 FURMAN [HC]

Nov. 14 at Georgia

Nov. 28 ALABAMA

As always it will be a tougher road schedule and it looks like they have to play 9 games before a bye week, that's going to be rough.

Yesterday was probably one of the worst games I've witnessed in person. Yes, I'm talking about Auburn football. The offense is terrible. Auburn has no QB and they still run the spread despite firing the OC who brought it in. I'm not confident Auburn will be bowl eligible now, they better get their act together in this bye week.

Here are some of my thoughts and analysis from the game last night.

Auburn receives the ball first and doesn't do much and punts it away. First snap for ULM, Antonio Coleman comes off the end and hits the QB right as he's about the throw it, causes a fumble and Michael Goggans picks it up and takes it 9 yards to the endzone. Talk about a way to start on defense, which I figured would be good as usual assuming the secondary holds up. Right before the first quarter ends Robert Dunn takes a punt 66 yards to the house, which ends a 12 year drought. After the first quater the new offense hasn't shown me anything. And one huge thing that really irritated me was they switched QB's every posession, how are they supposed to get into a rythem?

In the second quarter not much happened until the end, after Ben Tate scampered down the left side for a 49 yard run, a few plays later Wes Byrum kicks a FG for the first points for the offense.

The second half starts and ULM fumbles the opening kickoff, maybe the offense can score a TD. Three run plays later, Brad Lester punched it in. The backups start playing now. We get our first look at the freshman RB Eric Smith, and he had a good debut rushing for 66 yards on 9 carries.

The fourth quarter rolls along and pretty much all of the starters are done. On one drive Auburn ran the same play all the way down the field, it was funny to watch as we were calling it from the stands.

Final tally 34-0, ULM did miss a few FG's which helped preserve the shutout. Auburn had 321 rushing yards to 85 passing yards, that's not good balance. The throwing game was off the whole night and was frustrating to watch. Kodi Burns did leave the game in the 3rd quarter with a laceration on his leg that requred stitches, but he should be fine for next week. Hopefully the passing game will come around next week.

Today is the day I move into my new place. I will be leaving in a few hours to make that drive back down to Auburn one more time. Hopefully things will go well and hopefully I can get the internet back up and running smoothly.

Today was the day that I moved out of my apartment. We had been there 3 years, which was a good run, but things had come to an end. We accumulated quite a few things, mostly dirt. The move took quite a while, but it's over now. I'll be home for a few weeks before I head back down and move into a new place, which will hopefully go smoothly. In the meantime I'll be enjoying NCAA 09, the Saints training camp and preseason games, and reading about Auburn's practices.

Tomorrow is my last day in this research program and all we're doing is filling out an exit survey. It's been a good time, meet some new people and learned some new things. What I did was create a simulation environment for a bucket brigade order picking system. I used VBA in Excel, it wasn't too bad. Now I can focus my time on playing NCAA 09 and get ready to move out of this apartment soon and then get ready to move into a new place a few weeks after.

I won't be around much in the coming weeks. I'm starting a research program that will last 8 weeks. I have to move into a dorm, but I will be back at my place on the weekends. It's a slow time of the year anyways since there isn't much football going on.

Well there's not much to it, today I turn 22. After you turn 21, there isn't a whole lot to look forward to when it's your birthday, at least that's the case for me. I've got exams the next three days, and then I get a break until the 27th when my research starts up. In the mean time I'll enjoy GTAIV until NCAA 09 comes out.

Oh, and looks like I'll be level 40 soon, what fun.