countoff 331 Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 I have closely followed Auburn football for over 30 years. Over those years, we've had some important bowl games. But I've never seen us go into such a lowly bowl game with so much of the future on the line. As far as I am concerned, this year's bowl game is the first game of the 2016 season. Gus will be making a big mistake if his attitude is "this game is a reward for our seniors" or "we need to go with the players that got us here". Gus needs to sit down and realistically think about who will be on the field against Clemson come September 2016 and then play them in this bowl game. The personnel decisions of the coaches will say volumes to not only the players, but also the fan base. By the end of December, I assume SW will be fully healthy. If JJ trots out as the starter, then it will be clear that Gus has no confidence in SW. This means neither SW or JJ will be our QB next year. Will Roc be healthy? If so, does he play? Our defense has been improving. But can they dominate one of the better teams from a mediocre conference? Can our offense run at will against players rejected by SEC, PAC 10, Big 10, and ACC schools? If they go out there with our young promising players and play well, our players and fan base will go into the off season with a sense of hope. If they lay an egg then players, fans, and potential recruits will take serious notice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift 350 Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 If there were better players on the team at each position, and they were healthy, I have to believe CGM would have played them all season. Don't expect much to change in 5 weeks. You will likely see the same players............... And to add to that, the younger players will have all of the off season to develop, including spring training and fall camp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger 8,818 Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 We don't have THAT many seniors that it would stunt the development of the guys behind them any further for just 1 game. I think the additional number of practices for the bowl is a almost as big of a boost. It's an additional spring essentially Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
autigeremt 6,591 Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 Clemson will be better next year than this. That program is loaded with young talent and will lose just a few to graduation. I would hope we use the bowl game as the beginning of the 2016 season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooltigger21 0 Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 I have closely followed Auburn football for over 30 years. Over those years, we've had some important bowl games. But I've never seen us go into such a lowly bowl game with so much of the future on the line. As far as I am concerned, this year's bowl game is the first game of the 2016 season. Gus will be making a big mistake if his attitude is "this game is a reward for our seniors" or "we need to go with the players that got us here". Gus needs to sit down and realistically think about who will be on the field against Clemson come September 2016 and then play them in this bowl game. The personnel decisions of the coaches will say volumes to not only the players, but also the fan base. By the end of December, I assume SW will be fully healthy. If JJ trots out as the starter, then it will be clear that Gus has no confidence in SW. This means neither SW or JJ will be our QB next year. Will Roc be healthy? If so, does he play? Our defense has been improving. But can they dominate one of the better teams from a mediocre conference? Can our offense run at will against players rejected by SEC, PAC 10, Big 10, and ACC schools? If they go out there with our young promising players and play well, our players and fan base will go into the off season with a sense of hope. If they lay an egg then players, fans, and potential recruits will take serious notice. I don't know how healthy Sean will be. They may just decide it isn't worth the risk for the bowl game. If he's not at or very close to 100% I wouldn't play him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dual-Threat Rigby 8,652 Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Off the field, its program defining On the field, its gonna be difficult to watch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homersapien 11,357 Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 I have closely followed Auburn football for over 30 years. Over those years, we've had some important bowl games. But I've never seen us go into such a lowly bowl game with so much of the future on the line. As far as I am concerned, this year's bowl game is the first game of the 2016 season. Gus will be making a big mistake if his attitude is "this game is a reward for our seniors" or "we need to go with the players that got us here". Gus needs to sit down and realistically think about who will be on the field against Clemson come September 2016 and then play them in this bowl game. The personnel decisions of the coaches will say volumes to not only the players, but also the fan base. By the end of December, I assume SW will be fully healthy. If JJ trots out as the starter, then it will be clear that Gus has no confidence in SW. This means neither SW or JJ will be our QB next year. Will Roc be healthy? If so, does he play? Our defense has been improving. But can they dominate one of the better teams from a mediocre conference? Can our offense run at will against players rejected by SEC, PAC 10, Big 10, and ACC schools? If they go out there with our young promising players and play well, our players and fan base will go into the off season with a sense of hope. If they lay an egg then players, fans, and potential recruits will take serious notice. That's a hopeful "assumption". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homersapien 11,357 Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Clemson will be better next year than this. That program is loaded with young talent and will lose just a few to graduation. I would hope we use the bowl game as the beginning of the 2016 season. This is one of my major concerns for next year. We had better been hitting on all cylinders for this game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AU-24 3,063 Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 I have closely followed Auburn football for over 30 years. Over those years, we've had some important bowl games. But I've never seen us go into such a lowly bowl game with so much of the future on the line. As far as I am concerned, this year's bowl game is the first game of the 2016 season. Gus will be making a big mistake if his attitude is "this game is a reward for our seniors" or "we need to go with the players that got us here". Gus needs to sit down and realistically think about who will be on the field against Clemson come September 2016 and then play them in this bowl game. The personnel decisions of the coaches will say volumes to not only the players, but also the fan base. By the end of December, I assume SW will be fully healthy. If JJ trots out as the starter, then it will be clear that Gus has no confidence in SW. This means neither SW or JJ will be our QB next year. Will Roc be healthy? If so, does he play? Our defense has been improving. But can they dominate one of the better teams from a mediocre conference? Can our offense run at will against players rejected by SEC, PAC 10, Big 10, and ACC schools? If they go out there with our young promising players and play well, our players and fan base will go into the off season with a sense of hope. If they lay an egg then players, fans, and potential recruits will take serious notice. I really understand what you are saying, but just as this season played-out, what you may be looking for, will be tough to accomplish without a QB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countoff 331 Posted December 2, 2015 Author Share Posted December 2, 2015 I have closely followed Auburn football for over 30 years. Over those years, we've had some important bowl games. But I've never seen us go into such a lowly bowl game with so much of the future on the line. As far as I am concerned, this year's bowl game is the first game of the 2016 season. Gus will be making a big mistake if his attitude is "this game is a reward for our seniors" or "we need to go with the players that got us here". Gus needs to sit down and realistically think about who will be on the field against Clemson come September 2016 and then play them in this bowl game. The personnel decisions of the coaches will say volumes to not only the players, but also the fan base. By the end of December, I assume SW will be fully healthy. If JJ trots out as the starter, then it will be clear that Gus has no confidence in SW. This means neither SW or JJ will be our QB next year. Will Roc be healthy? If so, does he play? Our defense has been improving. But can they dominate one of the better teams from a mediocre conference? Can our offense run at will against players rejected by SEC, PAC 10, Big 10, and ACC schools? If they go out there with our young promising players and play well, our players and fan base will go into the off season with a sense of hope. If they lay an egg then players, fans, and potential recruits will take serious notice. That's a hopeful "assumption". I have to admit I am not "in the know" regarding the players. But SW was dressed out for the games and he did not appear to be limping. Surely, whatever is the problem with the knee will be healed within the next couple of weeks. Or does he need surgery to get things really fixed?But my overall point is that SW was playing the QB position pretty well before he got hurt. So if he is no longer hurt by the time of the bowl game and still does not play, then something is terribly wrong with the overall QB position looking forward to next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countoff 331 Posted December 2, 2015 Author Share Posted December 2, 2015 I have closely followed Auburn football for over 30 years. Over those years, we've had some important bowl games. But I've never seen us go into such a lowly bowl game with so much of the future on the line. As far as I am concerned, this year's bowl game is the first game of the 2016 season. Gus will be making a big mistake if his attitude is "this game is a reward for our seniors" or "we need to go with the players that got us here". Gus needs to sit down and realistically think about who will be on the field against Clemson come September 2016 and then play them in this bowl game. The personnel decisions of the coaches will say volumes to not only the players, but also the fan base. By the end of December, I assume SW will be fully healthy. If JJ trots out as the starter, then it will be clear that Gus has no confidence in SW. This means neither SW or JJ will be our QB next year. Will Roc be healthy? If so, does he play? Our defense has been improving. But can they dominate one of the better teams from a mediocre conference? Can our offense run at will against players rejected by SEC, PAC 10, Big 10, and ACC schools? If they go out there with our young promising players and play well, our players and fan base will go into the off season with a sense of hope. If they lay an egg then players, fans, and potential recruits will take serious notice. I really understand what you are saying, but just as this season played-out, what you may be looking for, will be tough to accomplish without a QB. I'm hoping SW is the answer to the QB problem. I would really hate to see us play a mediocre game against a mediocre team using JJ as QB and then have to wait all the way until September to see if Gus has a decent fix for the QB position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subterranean_jack 112 Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 You might see a few younger guys get a few more touches on offense than usual, but that's going to be about it. Expecting anything more, you're just setting yourself up for a letdown. Coaches do not implement "fixes" or "make-overs" during bowl practice. Hell, very little was installed on the offensive side during spring or fall practice as far as I can tell. Football coaches simply do not make radical changes unless they are forced to, and then it is extremely grudingly. See Tuberville. See Miles. See Richt. Malzahn may have a few different notions about how to run an offense, but he is in a profession that stays the course until the ship sinks. I don't expect anything much to change until a new QB steps on campus, and then it is going to be more like reverting to what worked in the past. Either Woody Barrett or John Franklin had better be a Newton/Marshall hybrid or Gus is likely screwed. Wish I could be more hopeful but I just don't see any evidence to believe the bowl game is going to be any different (except for playing an inferior opponent, which Cincinnati is) or that we're going to see anything we haven't already seen in the past from the offense next season. Maybe John or Woody is the second coming. Maybe Kyle Davis has great hands. Maybe the depth at OL can fill the gaps if Coleman and Avery leave. That's a lot of maybes and there are a lot more than I listed. Gus may right the ship given time, but I just don't see anything drastic changing next year. Doesn't mean I don't believe there need to be changes. It's just that I don't think they're going to happen over bowl practice or even one off-season, especially with how little changed during the last off-season in regards to the offense. A lot is going to ride on what recruits Auburn brings in instead of expecting significantly different performances from the ones already on campus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jt86w1 8 Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 I spoke with Rob Pate before the game and he said Sean White has an ankle problem as well not just the knee and that's why he's been so limited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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