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Five Things I Learned from the Iron Bowl

Potatooooooes!!

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Potatooooooes!! Founding Father

Potatooooooes!! 1,370

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There have been a few things I've been on the fence about regarding this year's team, but I think this year's Iron Bowl helped me over to the other side on some of these issues. As a shout out to DualThreatRigby, here's what I learned after last night's final game of the regular season:

1) Our offense still works

--When executed properly, that is. It may be simple, and other teams may have figured it out, but for the third year in a row we ran at will against Alabama. For some reason we quit running in the second half, but if our anemic offense can have that much success running the ball against Bama's defense, then we're in a good place. Better execution and better qb play will make us lethal once again. Which leads me to my next point...

2) Gus hasn't lost it

--Gus still has a tendency to think ahead to the point of outcoaching himself (such as abandoning the run in the second half) and still makes questionable calls (see the infamous 3rd and 2. And he's STILL pulling the running back with the hot hands out of the game after 3 downs), but overall he called an excellent game, especially in the first half. Yeah we only scored 13 points, but we can't expect him to call much with a quarterback he can't trust. Which brings me to my next point....

3) JJ is done.

--I've been on the fence about him since his return in the A&M game. Obviously he did a fine job then, and did okay during the Idaho and GA games, but I still wasn't sure he could ever be the answer. Now I know he's not. I can't recall ever seeing a qb so afraid of pressure in my life. He's a six three guy playing like he's five six, almost as if he's afraid the opposing defensive linemen are going to send him to the hospital. Combine that with the fact that every throw he made yesterday save one (that I can remember) was flat out awful, and you have a recipe for a position change or transfer. Which doesn't lead me to my next point, but...

4) Our defense is on it's way to being legit

--Yes, I know Henry gained north of 200+ yards on us, but he never dominated our d like Fournette did. In fact, no one did. In fact, I'd argue no one has since the Arky game. Henry gained chunks of yardage throughout the game, but he rarely had a big play, and certainly never broke loose. Not only that, but Coker was extremely limited in the passing game as well, save one or two big plays.

5) DON'T EVEN get me started on officiating. I'm so pissed I could

All in all, we've had a lot of things go wrong this year: injuries, poor execution, poor defense, dropped balls, and poor qb play. I'm never one to blame a single guy for a loss, but a better qb wins that game for us. At this point in the season, execution and defense are no longer an issue. I think if we can carry that over into next season and upgrade our wr and qb play, we will make some serious noise next year.

WDE

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HarpyTrain Rising Star

HarpyTrain 1

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There have been a few things I've been on the fence about regarding this year's team, but I think this year's Iron Bowl helped me over to the other side on some of these issues. As a shout out to DualThreatRigby, here's what I learned after last night's final game of the regular season:

1) Our offense still works

--When executed properly, that is. It may be simple, and other teams may have figured it out, but for the third year in a row we ran at will against Alabama. For some reason we quit running in the second half, but if our anemic offense can have that much success running the ball against Bama's defense, then we're in a good place. Better execution and better qb play will make us lethal once again. Which leads me to my next point...

2) Gus hasn't lost it

--Gus still has a tendency to think ahead to the point of outcoaching himself (such as abandoning the run in the second half) and still makes questionable calls (see the infamous 3rd and 2. And he's STILL pulling the running back with the hot hands out of the game after 3 downs), but overall he called an excellent game, especially in the first half. Yeah we only scored 13 points, but we can't expect him to call much with a quarterback he can't trust. Which brings me to my next point....

3) JJ is done.

--I've been on the fence about him since his return in the A&M game. Obviously he did a fine job then, and did okay during the Idaho and GA games, but I still wasn't sure he could ever be the answer. Now I know he's not. I can't recall ever seeing a qb so afraid of pressure in my life. He's a six three guy playing like he's five six, almost as if he's afraid the opposing defensive linemen are going to send him to the hospital. Combine that with the fact that every throw he made yesterday save one (that I can remember) was flat out awful, and you have a recipe for a position change or transfer. Which doesn't lead me to my next point, but...

4) Our defense is on it's way to being legit

--Yes, I know Henry gained north of 200+ yards on us, but he never dominated our d like Fournette did. In fact, no one did. In fact, I'd argue no one has since the Arky game. Henry gained chunks of yardage throughout the game, but he rarely had a big play, and certainly never broke loose. Not only that, but Coker was extremely limited in the passing game as well, save one or two big plays.

5) DON'T EVEN get me started on officiating. I'm so pissed I could

All in all, we've had a lot of things go wrong this year: injuries, poor execution, poor defense, dropped balls, and poor qb play. I'm never one to blame a single guy for a loss, but a better qb wins that game for us. At this point in the season, execution and defense are no longer an issue. I think if we can carry that over into next season and upgrade our wr and qb play, we will make some serious noise next year.

WDE

UUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHH THAT OFFICIATING!!!!!! >:(:angry::puke::realmad: Everytime I see THAT ONE official I just want to :hammerin:

Anyways, I think this is so spot-on on all your points. I'm very excited for our defense next season. I also think that after the 30-yard penalties led to the field goal our guys were kind of deflated. Henry picked up his yards that put him well over 200 after that. But in short, we did keep them in check much better than anticipated and I think Coach Boom will have this D playing lights out next season.

Too I think our ground game will be a machine again next season; so long as we get a QB that isn't afraid to throw downfield. Contrary to some on here, I don't think we even need a dual-threat QB next season because we will have a fairly experienced O-line. I think if Sean White improves even just a bit that we could still be a damned good offense. I also don't see JJ starting for us again.

Looking forward to 2016 after the disappointment of this year. WDE!

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doc4aday Founding Father

doc4aday 1,887

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I hope that Woody Barrett is given the opportunity to be the QB if possible. I think SW is a good QB, but Barrett looks like the real deal with size and speed. He seems to fit the bill for a prototype dual threat QB. This offense is at its most dangerous with a QB with size, speed, and one who will run over DBs like Cam did. Nick was a solid DT QB and it showed for the most part of his 2 years with us.

I am not sure why CGM & staff went the direction of a more pocket passer type of QB, but it seems that Gus' offense is far superior with a DT QB running it instead of a pocket passer type of QB. The offense can be decent with a pocket passer, but is far superior when at the hands of a DT QB.

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AU64 Founding Father

AU64 10,122

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I stopped reading when I saw "we ran at will against Alabama"......since it was obvious from that observation that he had the uniform colors confused ....that it was bama (well Henry) who ran at will against AU. JR got about 25 yards in his first three carries and about the same for the rest of the game.

Run "at will" was what Tre did a few years ago....but this season: we have not run at will against anyone..not even SJSU.

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keesler Founding Father

keesler 5,924

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I stopped reading when I saw "we ran at will against Alabama"......since it was obvious from that observation that he had the uniform colors confused ....that it was bama (well Henry) who ran at will against AU. JR got about 25 yards in his first three carries and about the same for the rest of the game.

Run "at will" was what Tre did a few years ago....but this season: we have not run at will against anyone..not even SJSU.

And here comes the wet blanket ^^^^

Just kidding AU64. I agree with you 100%, AU hasn't run "at will" against anybody this year - if we had we wouldn't be sitting at 6-6 right now.

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AUFAN78 Founding Father

AUFAN78 3,894

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There have been a few things I've been on the fence about regarding this year's team, but I think this year's Iron Bowl helped me over to the other side on some of these issues. As a shout out to DualThreatRigby, here's what I learned after last night's final game of the regular season:

1) Our offense still works

--When executed properly, that is. It may be simple, and other teams may have figured it out, but for the third year in a row we ran at will against Alabama. For some reason we quit running in the second half, but if our anemic offense can have that much success running the ball against Bama's defense, then we're in a good place. Better execution and better qb play will make us lethal once again. Which leads me to my next point...

2) Gus hasn't lost it

--Gus still has a tendency to think ahead to the point of outcoaching himself (such as abandoning the run in the second half) and still makes questionable calls (see the infamous 3rd and 2. And he's STILL pulling the running back with the hot hands out of the game after 3 downs), but overall he called an excellent game, especially in the first half. Yeah we only scored 13 points, but we can't expect him to call much with a quarterback he can't trust. Which brings me to my next point....

3) JJ is done.

--I've been on the fence about him since his return in the A&M game. Obviously he did a fine job then, and did okay during the Idaho and GA games, but I still wasn't sure he could ever be the answer. Now I know he's not. I can't recall ever seeing a qb so afraid of pressure in my life. He's a six three guy playing like he's five six, almost as if he's afraid the opposing defensive linemen are going to send him to the hospital. Combine that with the fact that every throw he made yesterday save one (that I can remember) was flat out awful, and you have a recipe for a position change or transfer. Which doesn't lead me to my next point, but...

4) Our defense is on it's way to being legit

--Yes, I know Henry gained north of 200+ yards on us, but he never dominated our d like Fournette did. In fact, no one did. In fact, I'd argue no one has since the Arky game. Henry gained chunks of yardage throughout the game, but he rarely had a big play, and certainly never broke loose. Not only that, but Coker was extremely limited in the passing game as well, save one or two big plays.

5) DON'T EVEN get me started on officiating. I'm so pissed I could

All in all, we've had a lot of things go wrong this year: injuries, poor execution, poor defense, dropped balls, and poor qb play. I'm never one to blame a single guy for a loss, but a better qb wins that game for us. At this point in the season, execution and defense are no longer an issue. I think if we can carry that over into next season and upgrade our wr and qb play, we will make some serious noise next year.

WDE

Fair assessment with a couple notable exceptions:
  • We certainly did not run at will albeit respectable in the first half
  • Gus hasn't totally lost it for certain, but where is the basic screen? It was there multiple times in this game and could have given JJ necessary confidence, extended drives, possibly produced an explosive play, etc.

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Potatooooooes!! Founding Father

Potatooooooes!! 1,370

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There have been a few things I've been on the fence about regarding this year's team, but I think this year's Iron Bowl helped me over to the other side on some of these issues. As a shout out to DualThreatRigby, here's what I learned after last night's final game of the regular season:

1) Our offense still works

--When executed properly, that is. It may be simple, and other teams may have figured it out, but for the third year in a row we ran at will against Alabama. For some reason we quit running in the second half, but if our anemic offense can have that much success running the ball against Bama's defense, then we're in a good place. Better execution and better qb play will make us lethal once again. Which leads me to my next point...

2) Gus hasn't lost it

--Gus still has a tendency to think ahead to the point of outcoaching himself (such as abandoning the run in the second half) and still makes questionable calls (see the infamous 3rd and 2. And he's STILL pulling the running back with the hot hands out of the game after 3 downs), but overall he called an excellent game, especially in the first half. Yeah we only scored 13 points, but we can't expect him to call much with a quarterback he can't trust. Which brings me to my next point....

3) JJ is done.

--I've been on the fence about him since his return in the A&M game. Obviously he did a fine job then, and did okay during the Idaho and GA games, but I still wasn't sure he could ever be the answer. Now I know he's not. I can't recall ever seeing a qb so afraid of pressure in my life. He's a six three guy playing like he's five six, almost as if he's afraid the opposing defensive linemen are going to send him to the hospital. Combine that with the fact that every throw he made yesterday save one (that I can remember) was flat out awful, and you have a recipe for a position change or transfer. Which doesn't lead me to my next point, but...

4) Our defense is on it's way to being legit

--Yes, I know Henry gained north of 200+ yards on us, but he never dominated our d like Fournette did. In fact, no one did. In fact, I'd argue no one has since the Arky game. Henry gained chunks of yardage throughout the game, but he rarely had a big play, and certainly never broke loose. Not only that, but Coker was extremely limited in the passing game as well, save one or two big plays.

5) DON'T EVEN get me started on officiating. I'm so pissed I could

All in all, we've had a lot of things go wrong this year: injuries, poor execution, poor defense, dropped balls, and poor qb play. I'm never one to blame a single guy for a loss, but a better qb wins that game for us. At this point in the season, execution and defense are no longer an issue. I think if we can carry that over into next season and upgrade our wr and qb play, we will make some serious noise next year.

WDE

Fair assessment with a couple notable exceptions:
  • We certainly did not run at will albeit respectable in the first half
  • Gus hasn't totally lost it for certain, but where is the basic screen? It was there multiple times in this game and could have given JJ necessary confidence, extended drives, possibly produced an explosive play, etc.

Thanks. I do agree with your second point.

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johnnyAU Founding Father

johnnyAU 3,630

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It just seemed that Gus had a plan "A" for this season with JJ at the helm and a little more passing with Duke and the WR corps. When that sputtered out of the gate, there seemed to be more panic than a realistic plan "B". Gus just appeared to be in no man's land with the play calling while transitioning to Sean and then afterwards with both QB's coming in and out of the game.

I don't mind running some zone read plays every now and then to keep the D off balance, but I don't want an offense predicated on that and an athletic QB that runs the ball twice as much as he throws it. I'd rather have a guy that can make plays when needed, but understands defenses and can make the necessary throws without turning it over in bunches because he predetermines where he is going with the ball. We have some good RB's, HB's, WR's and now a TE. Let's use 'em.

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Potatooooooes!! Founding Father

Potatooooooes!! 1,370

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I stopped reading when I saw "we ran at will against Alabama"......since it was obvious from that observation that he had the uniform colors confused ....that it was bama (well Henry) who ran at will against AU. JR got about 25 yards in his first three carries and about the same for the rest of the game.

Run "at will" was what Tre did a few years ago....but this season: we have not run at will against anyone..not even SJSU.

Well that's your problem then. You must have been watching a different game. The only time we got anywhere down the field was when we...ran it. And they couldn't consistently stop it. Were there some runs where we got only a few yards? Yes. But Alabama had the same issue and Henry certainly didn't run at will against us. You do realize that Jovon wasn't the only Auburn guy running the ball right? Though it SURE wasn't like 2013, I'll give you that in a heartbeat.

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tiger88 Founding Father

tiger88 934

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I stopped reading when I saw "we ran at will against Alabama"......since it was obvious from that observation that he had the uniform colors confused ....that it was bama (well Henry) who ran at will against AU. JR got about 25 yards in his first three carries and about the same for the rest of the game.

Run "at will" was what Tre did a few years ago....but this season: we have not run at will against anyone..not even SJSU.

Well that's your problem then. You must have been watching a different game. The only time we got anywhere down the field was when we...ran it. And they couldn't consistently stop it. Were there some runs where we got only a few yards? Yes. But Alabama had the same issue and Henry certainly didn't run at will against us. You do realize that Jovon wasn't the only Auburn guy running the ball right? Though it SURE wasn't like 2013, I'll give you that in a heartbeat.

what game were you watching? We had 3 scores. One involved a 77 yd td pass. The other a fg on a drive with a long gainer off a wheel route. Not sure about our 2nd fg drive. We ran it ok at times against bama, which was an accomplishment, but both our leading rushers averaged 3 yds a carry but we "ran at will".

Meanwhile #2 averaged 5.9 a carry for 46 carries but "didn't run at will" on us?

Seriously?

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Potatooooooes!! Founding Father

Potatooooooes!! 1,370

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I stopped reading when I saw "we ran at will against Alabama"......since it was obvious from that observation that he had the uniform colors confused ....that it was bama (well Henry) who ran at will against AU. JR got about 25 yards in his first three carries and about the same for the rest of the game.

Run "at will" was what Tre did a few years ago....but this season: we have not run at will against anyone..not even SJSU.

Well that's your problem then. You must have been watching a different game. The only time we got anywhere down the field was when we...ran it. And they couldn't consistently stop it. Were there some runs where we got only a few yards? Yes. But Alabama had the same issue and Henry certainly didn't run at will against us. You do realize that Jovon wasn't the only Auburn guy running the ball right? Though it SURE wasn't like 2013, I'll give you that in a heartbeat.

what game were you watching? We had 3 scores. One involved a 77 yd td pass. The other a fg on a drive with a long gainer off a wheel route. Not sure about our 2nd fg drive. We ran it ok at times against bama, which was an accomplishment, but both our leading rushers averaged 3 yds a carry but we "ran at will".

Meanwhile #2 averaged 5.9 a carry for 46 carries but "didn't run at will" on us?

Seriously?

Uhhhh....yeeeeeees. Seriously. The only time we got in field goal range was when we ran the ball (for the most part). I'm not talking about scores, so I'm not sure why you are talking about that like it's pertinent to the conversation. Unlike Alabama, we didn't run it all game (I'm not even sure we ran it for most of the first half) and we definitely didn't have just one guy running it the entire game like they did. You do realize that because they (and specifically he) ran it way more than we did, that he is going to have a much bigger sample size, and thus a better average, right? As I've said before, there are lies, there are damn lies, and then there are statistics (no offense Stat). Henry gained chunks throughout the game, the entire game, but he didn't run wild on us like Fournette. As for us, would you prefer I swap out "ran at will" with "ran quite effectively"?

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Eagle-1 Founding Father

Eagle-1 3,821

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how about ran with moderate success. In the first half. I think we had like 2 yards rushing in the second half. If you don't like zone read offense, with a running QB I suggest you look the other way until Gus is gone because he is incapable of coaching an offense against this kind of competition without one. Do any of you remember the mysterious disappearance of our offensive production with Chris Todd at the helm once we got into the meat of the schedule in 2009? No screens, no shallow crossing routes, no damn tight end, Phillip Lutz was a pass catching machine,who would go for games on end without seeing a single pass thrown his way.

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japantiger Founding Father

japantiger 4,051

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how about ran with moderate success. In the first half. I think we had like 2 yards rushing in the second half. If you don't like zone read offense, with a running QB I suggest you look the other way until Gus is gone because he is incapable of coaching an offense against this kind of competition without one. Do any of you remember the mysterious disappearance of our offensive production with Chris Todd at the helm once we got into the meat of the schedule in 2009? No screens, no shallow crossing routes, no damn tight end, Phillip Lutz was a pass catching machine,who would go for games on end without seeing a single pass thrown his way.

Afraid I agree more with this sentiment...

  • The only thing we did well was run in the 1st half...we abandoned the run; again, in the 2H...like against GA...had we run on 3rd and 2 in the 2nd qtr; we likely go on in to score...at that point; we were running at will...it would have been a very different game.
  • I will never forget that 3rd and 2 call...my god...it is forever burned into my "bad Alabama game" memory bank like when Doug Barfield subbed Jerry Beasley in at corner against Bama (and every Auburn fan at Legion Field sayed "NO") and the receiver lined up opposite him waived at the QB and pointed at Beasley and made a passing hand guesture and then they promptly threw the ball for a TD over Beasley....and won....again...it reminded me of the 3rd down call against FSU in the NC game when after having Tre run over FSU for 3 qtrs...and having run the ball down the field on that drive with no passes...Gus passed on 3rd down from inside the 4....incomplete naturally...why do supposedly smart coaches do such stupid things...
  • Because of things like this...it is hard to say Gus still has it...
  • We need a DT QB to make this offense go...painfully obvious...I can't understand how anyone can not see that.
  • The Defense played well enough to win...not stellar against Henry by any means; but well enough that with any level of competence from our $5m offensive staff would should have won the game...we should be good assuming we land another strong class and the folks coming back develop...Muschamp finally figured out what no one had done in 4 years...get production from our LB crew...of course, he did that by moving one from LB to DE...which turned out to be a great move...funny how he saw that and quit trying to fit a square peg in a round hole...
  • We did throw some dump passes out to the backs against Bama, 1st time all year and they worked...should be done more...we have three good backs that can catch the ball...I would like to see us put in packages for the personnel we have...put all 3 of these backs on the field..use two of them in the slot...that is what TCU, Baylor, etc., do...very successful with just getting their best people on the field all at the same time...

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Potatooooooes!! Founding Father

Potatooooooes!! 1,370

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how about ran with moderate success. In the first half. I think we had like 2 yards rushing in the second half. If you don't like zone read offense, with a running QB I suggest you look the other way until Gus is gone because he is incapable of coaching an offense against this kind of competition without one. Do any of you remember the mysterious disappearance of our offensive production with Chris Todd at the helm once we got into the meat of the schedule in 2009? No screens, no shallow crossing routes, no damn tight end, Phillip Lutz was a pass catching machine,who would go for games on end without seeing a single pass thrown his way.

Afraid I agree more with this sentiment...

  • The only thing we did well was run in the 1st half...we abandoned the run; again, in the 2H...like against GA...had we run on 3rd and 2 in the 2nd qtr; we likely go on in to score...at that point; we were running at will...it would have been a very different game.
  • I will never forget that 3rd and 2 call...my god...it is forever burned into my "bad Alabama game" memory bank like when Doug Barfield subbed Jerry Beasley in at corner against Bama (and every Auburn fan at Legion Field sayed "NO") and the receiver lined up opposite him waived at the QB and pointed at Beasley and made a passing hand guesture and then they promptly threw the ball for a TD over Beasley....and won....again...it reminded me of the 3rd down call against FSU in the NC game when after having Tre run over FSU for 3 qtrs...and having run the ball down the field on that drive with no passes...Gus passed on 3rd down from inside the 4....incomplete naturally...why do supposedly smart coaches do such stupid things...
  • Because of things like this...it is hard to say Gus still has it...
  • We need a DT QB to make this offense go...painfully obvious...I can't understand how anyone can not see that.
  • The Defense played well enough to win...not stellar against Henry by any means; but well enough that with any level of competence from our $5m offensive staff would should have won the game...we should be good assuming we land another strong class and the folks coming back develop...Muschamp finally figured out what no one had done in 4 years...get production from our LB crew...of course, he did that by moving one from LB to DE...which turned out to be a great move...funny how he saw that and quit trying to fit a square peg in a round hole...
  • We did throw some dump passes out to the backs against Bama, 1st time all year and they worked...should be done more...we have three good backs that can catch the ball...I would like to see us put in packages for the personnel we have...put all 3 of these backs on the field..use two of them in the slot...that is what TCU, Baylor, etc., do...very successful with just getting their best people on the field all at the same time...

I guess my point is we had very little success running the ball in the second half because we kind of didn't run the ball in the second half; we abandoned the run, just as you say. But I'll give. We ran it. Then we didn't. That is all

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TigerOne Founding Father

TigerOne 1,140

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the mindset and desire to win by this coaching staff and team is weak at least on the offensive side. The coaches don't give the players an opportunity to win.

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