Who Are We???

[AUBigCat 17]

I've read a ton of comments and opinions about what went wrong in Starkville and there are some great points being made. But my bottom like analysis is that we don't know who we are yet. All of the talking heads think we are a strong running team but we haven't really shown that to this point. My guesstimation is that this staff got a bit offended that the 2013 Tigers were considered to be ONLY a running team. They wanted the 2014 Tigers to be more balanced and we are. But we aren't great at either the run or pass.

2013 LSU is not equal to 2014 MSU because last year in that loss, we discovered our identity. But it still took a few more games before it was perfected. I wish that Gus would use this bye week to rededicate this team to the run. Maybe not 75/25 or whatever it was last year but 60/40 at least. This OL could become better if they got to run block more. We need an identity! What say you?

[Mikey 16,578]

One thing we are is a team that gave up 38 points last Saturday. Our defense was not stout enough to stop MSU and make them settle for field goals after turnovers. Our offensive deficiencies are repairable and not that bad to begin with. I don't know what to say about how to fix the defense.

35, 41, 38, 28, 42, 34, 14, 38. Those are the number of points we've given up to our eight most recent toughest opponents, starting with the LSU game last year. That averages out to 34 points a game. Only one of those opponents, K-State, was held to less than 28 points.

Nobody can give up 34 points a game to their best opponents and expect to win many of those games. It's not as much fun to evaluate the defense as it is the offense, but if we're going to operate on the premise that we should fix the biggest problem first, then we need to be discussing the defense because that's where the big trouble is located.

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

One thing we are is a team that gave up 38 points last Saturday. Our defense was not stout enough to stop MSU and make them settle for field goals after turnovers. Our offensive deficiencies are repairable and not that bad to begin with. I don't know what to say about how to fix the defense.

35, 41, 38, 28, 42, 34, 14, 38. Those are the number of points we've given up to our eight most recent toughest opponents, starting with the LSU game last year. That averages out to 34 points a game. Only one of those opponents, K-State, was held to less than 28 points.

Nobody can give up 34 points a game to their best opponents and expect to win many of those games. It's not as much fun to evaluate the defense as it is the offense, but if we're going to operate on the premise that we should fix the biggest problem first, then we need to be discussing the defense because that's where the big trouble is located.

It's not really fair to place blame on the defense last week. Pretty hard to consistently hold a good offense out of the end zone when you are defending short fields, as was the case for 3 of MSU's touchdowns.

[gravejd 3,270]

I find it strange you are trying to pin the Mississippi state loss on the defense. I'll agree that redzone D should have been better. But the offense performed just as poorly in the redzone. We had multiple chances to tie that game. 6 points in our first 3 redzone trips. Atleast 4 positions in the middle if the game where we had the ball with the chance to tie.

I'm not saying D played lights out, 38 points says they didn't. But to put the loss at their feet just seems to reek of an agenda of some kind. No idea why you have that agenda. Maybe you can explain? Why are O problems easily fixed but D is falling apart? It's my opinion the D has performed better than the O all season.

[AUBigCat 17]

There really is plenty of blame to go around for both offense and defense. But the strength of this year's team was suppose to be the O. The D playing as well as it has (even with it's issues) is a bonus.

[auskull 239]

I don't think he is placing blame on the D. I think it is all relative to who our opponents have been. The O cannot make 3 yards routinely against the better Ds on our schedule. Our D played its first good O in MSU. Up until now, our schedule has not exposed our D or O much. K State was much stouter than expected on D. Let's see how they do against Oklahoma this week and how we do against Ole Miss, Georgia, and Alabama. They have good Ds. I do think our OL is missing Robinson and Korzan from last year and got exposed on pass protection against a very stout DL. Marshall is not a stellar passer, but acceptable. He is stellar at operating the running game. I think we will keep improving and except for Ole Miss and UAT, we should not face another D like MSU. Just my opinion.

[NoALtiger 3,850]

There really is plenty of blame to go around for both offense and defense. But the strength of this year's team was suppose to be the O. The D playing as well as it has (even with it's issues) is a bonus.

Definitley plenty of issues to fix all around but that's true for most teams I'd say. Big Cat brings up a good point here though about the O being our bread & butter and the good play from the D basically being gravy. Clearly if the O is sputtering, we appear to be in trouble because we just can't rely on the D's play and haven't been able to for some years now. It's tough being a one trick pony and not expect to have some clunker games from time to time. It's a overall upgrading process Gus is working on and it will take time.

[AubTiger14 0]

Defense was put in horrible situations and got some tough calls. Can't put them game on them. However, the 4-man pass rush is absolutely non-existent. Offensively we all know the turnovers killed us. I think our main problem is the consistency in our passing game because teams are forcing us to be more balanced. I'm not going to say it's Nick's fault, but I'm not going to not say it's Nicks fault. He can do some great things with the ball in his hands, but his passing struggles are still very obvious.

[WarTiger 3,901]

I've read a ton of comments and opinions about what went wrong in Starkville and there are some great points being made. But my bottom like analysis is that we don't know who we are yet. All of the talking heads think we are a strong running team but we haven't really shown that to this point. My guesstimation is that this staff got a bit offended that the 2013 Tigers were considered to be ONLY a running team. They wanted the 2014 Tigers to be more balanced and we are. But we aren't great at either the run or pass.

2013 LSU is not equal to 2014 MSU because last year in that loss, we discovered our identity. But it still took a few more games before it was perfected. I wish that Gus would use this bye week to rededicate this team to the run. Maybe not 75/25 or whatever it was last year but 60/40 at least. This OL could become better if they got to run block more. We need an identity! What say you?

I'm constantly amazed at how many people throw out stats like this without actually checking anything. Through 5 games ( prior to MSU) we were ahead of last seasons rushing yards, carries and passing yards and completions. It was the 6th game last year (Auburn rushed for 511 vs. Western Carolina) that our running game really took off. Game 6 this year was vs. Mississippi State (much better obviously than Western Carolina) Auburn rushed for 232 yards. Through 6 games in 2013 we had 1722 yards rushing and 1123 yards passing. In 2014 through 6 games we have 1572 Rushing and 1355 Passing. Now, let's look at total plays:

2013 (through 6 games)

145 Pass attempts

275 Rushing attempts

420 TOTAL PLAYS that equals 65% RUSHING PLAYS

2014 (through 6 games)

158 Pass Attempts

283 Rushing attempts

441 TOTAL PLAYS that equals 64% RUSHING PLAYS

We've only thrown the ball 13 more times through 6 games this year than we did through 6 games last year.

[TheBlueVue 177]

I've read a ton of comments and opinions about what went wrong in Starkville and there are some great points being made. But my bottom like analysis is that we don't know who we are yet. All of the talking heads think we are a strong running team but we haven't really shown that to this point. My guesstimation is that this staff got a bit offended that the 2013 Tigers were considered to be ONLY a running team. They wanted the 2014 Tigers to be more balanced and we are. But we aren't great at either the run or pass.

2013 LSU is not equal to 2014 MSU because last year in that loss, we discovered our identity. But it still took a few more games before it was perfected. I wish that Gus would use this bye week to rededicate this team to the run. Maybe not 75/25 or whatever it was last year but 60/40 at least. This OL could become better if they got to run block more. We need an identity! What say you?

I'm constantly amazed at how many people throw out stats like this without actually checking anything. Through 5 games ( prior to MSU) we were ahead of last seasons rushing yards, carries and passing yards and completions. It was the 6th game last year (Auburn rushed for 511 vs. Western Carolina) that our running game really took off. Game 6 this year was vs. Mississippi State (much better obviously than Western Carolina) Auburn rushed for 232 yards. Through 6 games in 2013 we had 1722 yards rushing and 1123 yards passing. In 2014 through 6 games we have 1572 Rushing and 1355 Passing. Now, let's look at total plays:

2013 (through 6 games)

145 Pass attempts

275 Rushing attempts

420 TOTAL PLAYS that equals 65% RUSHING PLAYS

2014 (through 6 games)

158 Pass Attempts

283 Rushing attempts

441 TOTAL PLAYS that equals 64% RUSHING PLAYS

We've only thrown the ball 13 more times through 6 games this year than we did through 6 games last year.

Thats an interesting analysis. I didn't think we had thrown the ball that much more outside of the 1st half of the 1st game. Im looking forward to seeing this team come together and find their rhythm and Im betting they will.

[mcgufcm 4,096]

And as a rebuttal to Mikey's point about the defense, those teams he highlighted had the following scoring averages:

MSU - 41.8 PPG; scored 38 on us

KSU - 40.8 PPG; scored 14 on us

FSU - 51.6 PPG; scored 34 on us

Mizzou - 39.1 PPG, scored 42 on us

Bama - 38.2 PPG; scored 28 on us

UGA - 36.7 PPG; scored 38 on us

A&M - 44.2 PPG; scored 41 on us

LSU - 35.8 PPG; scored 35 on us

So in his cherry-picked (I'll get there) list of "best teams" we held six of the eight below their scoring averages. We held 3 of the 8 teams, 10+ points below their average. Two of the teams scored above their average.

I just love the list that includes 2013 UGA (an unranked 8-5 team) and 2013 A&M (a ranked 9-4 team) but excludes 2013 Ole Miss (unranked 8-5 team) that we held to 22 points and 2014 LSU (currently 5-2) that we held to 7 points. I always find it's best to just exclude unhelpful examples of defense when I'm trying to make a point about how poorly our defense has played in big games.

[StatTiger 3,188]

MSU game simply came down to red zone and turnover to points ratio.

MSU had 31 pts in RZ, while AU had 20.

MSU scored 21 pts off of T.O. and AU scored 13.

Bottom line...

Run offense is No. 15 nationally with 262.0 yards per game. We got spoiled last year with 328 per game. Averaging 262 per game is still a great running game.

Pass-Offense is No. 17 in pass-efficiency.

How many offenses in the nation are top-20 in both? Auburn knows their identity but there are few little things that need to be cleaned up.

[cooltigger21 0]

Well right now I don't know what the identity of this team is. Just by looking at the stats you would think everything was hunky dory. All you have to do is watch this team play to know that they are not in sync yet.

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

Well right now I don't know what the identity of this team is. Just by looking at the stats you would think everything was hunky dory. All you have to do is watch this team play to know that they are not in sync yet.

The offensive chemistry is a little off. They can't seem to get a rhythm going.

[StatTiger 3,188]

Well right now I don't know what the identity of this team is. Just by looking at the stats you would think everything was hunky dory. All you have to do is watch this team play to know that they are not in sync yet.

. As fans we can make assumptions but I have no doubt the coaches andd players know what direction they are going. Execution has been inconsistent, not the plan.

[aubfaninga 16]

And as a rebuttal to Mikey's point about the defense, those teams he highlighted had the following scoring averages:

MSU - 41.8 PPG; scored 38 on us

KSU - 40.8 PPG; scored 14 on us

FSU - 51.6 PPG; scored 34 on us

Mizzou - 39.1 PPG, scored 42 on us

Bama - 38.2 PPG; scored 28 on us

UGA - 36.7 PPG; scored 38 on us

A&M - 44.2 PPG; scored 41 on us

LSU - 35.8 PPG; scored 35 on us

So in his cherry-picked (I'll get there) list of "best teams" we held six of the eight below their scoring averages. We held 3 of the 8 teams, 10+ points below their average. Two of the teams scored above their average.

I just love the list that includes 2013 UGA (an unranked 8-5 team) and 2013 A&M (a ranked 9-4 team) but excludes 2013 Ole Miss (unranked 8-5 team) that we held to 22 points and 2014 LSU (currently 5-2) that we held to 7 points. I always find it's best to just exclude unhelpful examples of defense when I'm trying to make a point about how poorly our defense has played in big games.

Here is why I will not say much about the defense.

(per game) 2012 2013 2014

Points allowed 65th 47th 14th (in the nation)

Rushing yards 100th 63rd 30th

Passing yards 48th 102nd 35th

Total yards 81st 87th 30th

I fully understand that we have the meat of our schedule left to play and these numbers most likely will drop but there is gradual improvement to be seen.

The only thing that has me scratching my head is how we give up so many yards on 1st down.

Does Ellis have a tendency that opposing coaches are exploiting?

[AUBigCat 17]

I've read a ton of comments and opinions about what went wrong in Starkville and there are some great points being made. But my bottom like analysis is that we don't know who we are yet. All of the talking heads think we are a strong running team but we haven't really shown that to this point. My guesstimation is that this staff got a bit offended that the 2013 Tigers were considered to be ONLY a running team. They wanted the 2014 Tigers to be more balanced and we are. But we aren't great at either the run or pass.

2013 LSU is not equal to 2014 MSU because last year in that loss, we discovered our identity. But it still took a few more games before it was perfected. I wish that Gus would use this bye week to rededicate this team to the run. Maybe not 75/25 or whatever it was last year but 60/40 at least. This OL could become better if they got to run block more. We need an identity! What say you?

I'm constantly amazed at how many people throw out stats like this without actually checking anything. Through 5 games ( prior to MSU) we were ahead of last seasons rushing yards, carries and passing yards and completions. It was the 6th game last year (Auburn rushed for 511 vs. Western Carolina) that our running game really took off. Game 6 this year was vs. Mississippi State (much better obviously than Western Carolina) Auburn rushed for 232 yards. Through 6 games in 2013 we had 1722 yards rushing and 1123 yards passing. In 2014 through 6 games we have 1572 Rushing and 1355 Passing. Now, let's look at total plays:

2013 (through 6 games)

145 Pass attempts

275 Rushing attempts

420 TOTAL PLAYS that equals 65% RUSHING PLAYS

2014 (through 6 games)

158 Pass Attempts

283 Rushing attempts

441 TOTAL PLAYS that equals 64% RUSHING PLAYS

We've only thrown the ball 13 more times through 6 games this year than we did through 6 games last year.

Key words in the text you highlighted are "last year". We played more than 6 games "last year" and ran the ball 72.4% of our plays...last year.

[cooltigger21 0]

Well right now I don't know what the identity of this team is. Just by looking at the stats you would think everything was hunky dory. All you have to do is watch this team play to know that they are not in sync yet.

. As fans we can make assumptions but I have no doubt the coaches andd players know what direction they are going. Execution has been inconsistent, not the plan.

Ok but what you are able to execute is what your identity is. Now the coaches may have a plan but if the players can't execute that, then it doesn't do much good.

[StatTiger 3,188]

Well right now I don't know what the identity of this team is. Just by looking at the stats you would think everything was hunky dory. All you have to do is watch this team play to know that they are not in sync yet.

. As fans we can make assumptions but I have no doubt the coaches andd players know what direction they are going. Execution has been inconsistent, not the plan.

Ok but what you are able to execute is what your identity is. Now the coaches may have a plan but if the players can't execute that, then it doesn't do much good.

.

The overall numbers show the plan and schemes can be successful. Breakdown in the smaller things hurt AU in the redzone against MSU along with turnovers. It is way too early to press any panic buttons.

[StatTiger 3,188]

Regardless of the outcome of MSU, I have no doubt AU remains one of the best teams in the nation. A team with no identity looks like South Carolina, not Auburn. Coaches made the most of the bye week after the loss to LSU. Let's what they do with this one.

[cooltigger21 0]

Well right now I don't know what the identity of this team is. Just by looking at the stats you would think everything was hunky dory. All you have to do is watch this team play to know that they are not in sync yet.

. As fans we can make assumptions but I have no doubt the coaches andd players know what direction they are going. Execution has been inconsistent, not the plan.

Ok but what you are able to execute is what your identity is. Now the coaches may have a plan but if the players can't execute that, then it doesn't do much good.

.

The overall numbers show the plan and schemes can be successful. Breakdown in the smaller things hurt AU in the redzone against MSU along with turnovers. It is way too early to press any panic buttons.

Who's panicking? I never said they couldn't rectify things and get it on track. I am simply stating my observations and my opinion of what I see. I never claimed I was an expert. I'm not trashing anyone or saying that they aren't trying to do the best they can.

[StatTiger 3,188]

Well right now I don't know what the identity of this team is. Just by looking at the stats you would think everything was hunky dory. All you have to do is watch this team play to know that they are not in sync yet.

. As fans we can make assumptions but I have no doubt the coaches andd players know what direction they are going. Execution has been inconsistent, not the plan.

Ok but what you are able to execute is what your identity is. Now the coaches may have a plan but if the players can't execute that, then it doesn't do much good.

.

The overall numbers show the plan and schemes can be successful. Breakdown in the smaller things hurt AU in the redzone against MSU along with turnovers. It is way too early to press any panic buttons.

Who's panicking? I never said they couldn't rectify things and get it on track. I am simply stating my observations and my opinion of what I see. I never claimed I was an expert. I'm not trashing anyone or saying that they aren't trying to do the best they can.

My apology. I took your comment for lack of identity as a sign of panic.

[cooltigger21 0]

Well right now I don't know what the identity of this team is. Just by looking at the stats you would think everything was hunky dory. All you have to do is watch this team play to know that they are not in sync yet.

. As fans we can make assumptions but I have no doubt the coaches andd players know what direction they are going. Execution has been inconsistent, not the plan.

Ok but what you are able to execute is what your identity is. Now the coaches may have a plan but if the players can't execute that, then it doesn't do much good.

.

The overall numbers show the plan and schemes can be successful. Breakdown in the smaller things hurt AU in the redzone against MSU along with turnovers. It is way too early to press any panic buttons.

Who's panicking? I never said they couldn't rectify things and get it on track. I am simply stating my observations and my opinion of what I see. I never claimed I was an expert. I'm not trashing anyone or saying that they aren't trying to do the best they can.

My apology. I took your comment for lack of identity as a sign of panic.

no problem brother WDE

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

One thing we are is a team that gave up 38 points last Saturday. Our defense was not stout enough to stop MSU and make them settle for field goals after turnovers. Our offensive deficiencies are repairable and not that bad to begin with. I don't know what to say about how to fix the defense.

35, 41, 38, 28, 42, 34, 14, 38. Those are the number of points we've given up to our eight most recent toughest opponents, starting with the LSU game last year. That averages out to 34 points a game. Only one of those opponents, K-State, was held to less than 28 points.

Nobody can give up 34 points a game to their best opponents and expect to win many of those games. It's not as much fun to evaluate the defense as it is the offense, but if we're going to operate on the premise that we should fix the biggest problem first, then we need to be discussing the defense because that's where the big trouble is located.

It's not really fair to place blame on the defense last week. Pretty hard to consistently hold a good offense out of the end zone when you are defending short fields, as was the case for 3 of MSU's touchdowns.

Not watching for a quarterback sneak on a 3rd and nine when there are five wideouts and our D only puts 5 men in the box? Multiple missed tackles leading to touchdowns or big gains? Except for 2 picks, MSU's recievers had a very good day. I don't think the full blame should be on the defense at all, but the D also let some things happen that shouldn't have and in critical moments. Offense has got to gel, but defense needs to improve as well.

[weagl1 1,782]

We can look at the stats all day but our problem is we can't run it against a good team when we need it. The best two teams we have played to date are KSU and MSU. KSU stoned our run game and MSU stoned our run game in the red zone, especially when they had their first defense on the field. Our OL and HB are simply not getting the job done. There are no holes when we try to run on a good defense. IMHO our best players on offense are the receivers and we must open up the offense and get them the ball. Duke and Sammy are game breakers but they can't do it without the ball. We need to o be throwing it 40 times a game and if Nick can't get it done we have someone else who can.