Were we really that bad in 2015?

[Win4AU 4,052]

Louisville - beat them before they got things figured out 2nd half of the season

JSU - exposed AU and JJ

LSU - caught us at our worst and their best IMO

Miss St - caught AU restarting on offense.  Auburn beats them if this game is played 2 weeks later

SJS - still building o with Sean.  

UK- Auburn beats UK at their peak. 

Ark - probably the point the o got the wheels turning full speed under Sean.  Missed opportunity.  

Ole Miss - Auburn outplays ole miss till Sean goes down.  

aTm - Auburn catches aTm at a low point.  

UGA - Georgia was a bad team at this point.  Auburn should have won this game but O was nonexistent 

Bama - best defensive game of the year.  Lack of trust with JJ keeps O stuck in mud.  One crazy throw keeps this game close.

 

[tombigbeetiger 223]

1 hour ago, Mike4AU said:

AU was in every game except LSU.  That said, some of the play calling and roster management were head scratchers.  We will see this year if Gus is worth $4.7 mil.

i don't have to wait to answer that question....i have seen enough to know the answer

[bigbird 60,367]

11 minutes ago, tombigbeetiger said:

i don't have to wait to answer that question....i have seen enough to know the answer

You don't know jack chit and your incredible posting history proves that. You probably call yourself a "realist", but that really doesnt describe your incessant bemoaning. You're a troll. Period.... and the reality is, your schtik is beyond transparent and tiresome. Take the crap that you smear on every thread you post somewhere else. 

[Tiger 8,817]

 

2 minutes ago, bigbird said:

You don't know jack chit and your incredible posting history proves that. You probably call yourself a "realist", but that really doesnt describe your incessant bemoaning. You're a troll. Period.... and the reality is, your schtik is beyond transparent and tiresome. Take the crap that you smear on every thread you post somewhere else. 

ugh "crap" and "smearing" in the same sentence is not a good visual right after lunch...lol driveby commenting over here

[autigersj 122]

1 hour ago, Win4AU said:

Louisville - beat them before they got things figured out 2nd half of the season

JSU - exposed AU and JJ

LSU - caught us at our worst and their best IMO

Miss St - caught AU restarting on offense.  Auburn beats them if this game is played 2 weeks later

SJS - still building o with Sean.  

UK- Auburn beats UK at their peak. 

Ark - probably the point the o got the wheels turning full speed under Sean.  Missed opportunity.  

Ole Miss - Auburn outplays ole miss till Sean goes down.  

aTm - Auburn catches aTm at a low point.  

UGA - Georgia was a bad team at this point.  Auburn should have won this game but O was nonexistent 

Bama - best defensive game of the year.  Lack of trust with JJ keeps O stuck in mud.  One crazy throw keeps this game close.

 

Don't make me relive some of those games. I could have cried when Ricardo dropped that last pass against Arky. Bad QB play plus WR's dropping balls makes for a long year.

[TitanTiger 20,464]

41 minutes ago, bigbird said:

You don't know jack chit and your incredible posting history proves that. You probably call yourself a "realist", but that really doesnt describe your incessant bemoaning. You're a troll. Period.... and the reality is, your schtik is beyond transparent and tiresome. Take the crap that you smear on every thread you post somewhere else. 

Ever notice how almost every pessimist claims they're a realist?

[SumterAubie 3,031]

10 minutes ago, autigersj said:

Don't make me relive some of those games. I could have cried when Ricardo dropped that last pass against Arky. Bad QB play plus WR's dropping balls makes for a long year.

Oh. And Blake Countess dropping what could have been interception returns for touchdowns against OM and bamr.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

22 minutes ago, Win4AU said:

Louisville - beat them before they got things figured out 2nd half of the season

JSU - exposed AU and JJ

LSU - caught us at our worst and their best IMO

Miss St - caught AU restarting on offense.  Auburn beats them if this game is played 2 weeks later

SJS - still building o with Sean.  

UK- Auburn beats UK at their peak. 

Ark - probably the point the o got the wheels turning full speed under Sean.  Missed opportunity.  

Ole Miss - Auburn outplays ole miss till Sean goes down.  

aTm - Auburn catches aTm at a low point.  

UGA - Georgia was a bad team at this point.  Auburn should have won this game but O was nonexistent 

Bama - best defensive game of the year.  Lack of trust with JJ keeps O stuck in mud.  One crazy throw keeps this game close.

 

Ark - Introduction to the fact that our only really good receiver was also a head case.  With Duke gone, the drops multiply.

UGA - Proof that you can't play one-dimensional... as soon as UGA stacks the box, the O stalls. Two stupid mistakes, one on D, not O, cost us the game.

[Tiger 8,817]

4 minutes ago, lionheartkc said:

Ark - Introduction to the fact that our only really good receiver was also a head case.  With Duke gone, the drops multiply.

UGA - Proof that you can't play one-dimensional... as soon as UGA stacks the box, the O stalls. Two stupid mistakes, one on D, not O, cost us the game.

And a massive special team's blunder on our end is what was the literal difference in the score vs UGA. 

[boisnumber1 2,817]

15 hours ago, AuburnSoldier said:

Easily the most I've cussed at an Auburn player, ever. Sorry about that Melvin. 

I don't think we were that bad last year. It was just a combination of injuries (Lawson and White) mistakes (countless drops and dumb penalties), and questionable play-calling. I think some of that will get fixed this year, and it will equal a few more wins. 

Exactly. While Gus obviously never lost the team, he seemed to never figure out what to do to make it successful. Hopefully he has by now and we wont get the square peg/round hole and same play call over and over again on 1st down this year like we did last.

[80Tiger 899]

16 hours ago, yngwie1995 said:

I know our season record was bad, but after re-watching the last 3 (big) games (offense) of last season, we didn't look horrible.

Against UGA, we were driving, down 20-10, and we fumbled inside the 5 yard line. We end up losing 20-13.

Against bama, we were down 22-13 late in the fourth, went for it on 4th down, and the WR drops it (would have been a first down...hits him right in the hands)...ball game. Gives bama the short field, to go up 29-13.

Against Memphis, we looked pretty good, especially in the 2nd half.

The only blowout was to LSU.

Lost to Arky in 4 OTs, MSU by 8 and Ole Miss by 8. And of course, our JSU win was down to the wire.

Just saying, maybe we weren't as bad as our record showed? A few plays here or there, and we have a much better record than 7-6.

Maybe I just have a bad memory?

 

 

While I agree with your overall assessment and conclusion, in those games that you mentioned and lost, we did look very pedestrian and pretty close to horrible. I just remember thinking in all of those games we lost about how bad our offense looked.  Memphis game we actually looked better running the ball. So yes, with the exception of the LSU games, we were in it the game with some opportunities to win,  but yes we did look horrible offensively.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

9 minutes ago, boisnumber1 said:

While Gus obviously never lost the team, he seemed to never figure out what to do to make it successful.

As has been noted multiple times, with all of the injuries and off the field drama that was out of the coaches control, it's doubtful that ANY coach could have made last year's squad successful.  Had Jeremy not been a headcase, we would have been a championship contender.  Had Carl not gotten hurt, we would have won more games.  Had Jovon not had injury/attitude issue we would have won more games.  Had Sean not gotten hurt, we would have won more games.  Had Duke not lost his mind, we would have won more games. Had Roc been able to stay healthy for 4 straight quarters, we might have won more games. Add that all together and it's a wonder we won any games.

As for this year, the key players are all healthy and he learned his lesson from Duke. Bad on the field performance against Clemson is definitely all on Malzhan, but not beating Clemson would be FAR from damning... getting our butts handed to us, on the other hand......

[atl-tiger 655]

The ball just never bounced in our direction last year.  Dropped balls and horrible red zone offense didn't help.

Look at 2013.. if Ricardo doesn't catch the tip against UGA would we have been confident enough to play Bama as good as we did?  Sometimes a few plays can change a season.

[cole256 17,039]

Don't have to read the thread, don't feel like excuses. The answer to the title of this thread....yes we were

[McLoofus 35,182]

4 minutes ago, cole256 said:

Don't have to read the thread, don't feel like excuses. The answer to the title of this thread....yes we were

Reason is a synonym for excuse, yet they sound so different sometimes. 

[cole256 17,039]

Well reasons. Whatever you want to call it, all I know is we went through what alot of teams did/has. JJ was a head case ok I'm sure that has happened before. SW was a redshirt freshman...ok there are plenty of those guys that played and if not all star, still well. 

A players bad attitude causing losses is literally the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life. This board loves that. I'm getting frustrated about it really. These guys aren't bad but most of the guys that many pump up is NOT as good as y'all make pretend. 

Oh I take that back sw having to play in jj's offense is the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

You don't remember the lashing I took when I said barber was an average back? I said it game 2 and was hammered. Now who says he was better than Robinson? 

Oh yeah the dropped passes BOTH qb's dealt with that. 3rd and longs? Both qb's dealt with that. Tired of the cherry picking excuses. 

Tired of the favoritism with one guy and killing the other. I feel like I'm on a football board where ten people at the most watch football games and the rest lives in the moment because of one play. 

I mean when cam came out many said he wouldn't be good in the pro's because they remembered a game he threw high....Sammie was never going to be a wide receiver in the NFL remember? He dropped passes before remember? First guy tomlin talked about who has impressed him? Sammie. Ford had that horrible play against lsu right? Now he sucks can't believe anybody would draft him. Roc Thomas fumbled the Alabama game so he can't hold on to the ball.  He can't play...

Sw wasn't hardly hurt that Memphis game. That's an excuse.  JJ had drops against Louisville and jsu. That's an excuse. Duke was a bad influence, excuse. 

Wasn't Aaron Murray awesome even as a freshman? I know me was by he was a sophomore, but sw needs to essentially be a Jr before we can expect him to perform? Excuse. And nobody ever mentions that jj little experience. Guarantee sw practiced against the first team offense more than jj ever did. 

Last year was bad because there wasn't any facet of the game we were good or great in. Even the coaches need to get better...

If we get better we'll get more wins, That's it. 

 

End of rant

[Auburn06 76]

Jacksonville State did not lose another game until the FCS national title game. 

 

 

As a JSU alum, we should have went for it all in the Auburn game. No way JSU could go toe to toe with Auburn in OT.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

When ever a IAA team (Jacksonville State takes your team Auburn into overtime and your team comes away with a 27-20 win, then yes. I'd say the 2015 team was really that bad. JSU Grass out coached Malzahn and his players out AU's played by a long shot.

[SumterAubie 3,031]

15 hours ago, tigerman1186 said:

Question some of the play calling....we weren't good enough to be in long situations....we needed to have positive yards on every play because we didn't have a lot of faith with our offense...I know during the GA game in the 3rd quarter, we ran 3 pass plays in a row and each pass was incomplete....I also wonder if teams have started to figure out our offense and play calling....also I don't think our offensive line really controlled the LOS against quality competition....BUT to make a long story short...but being so inconsistent at QB (and not blaming them), it spread to all factions of the team....let's hope this year we won't have this issue.... 

IMO Malzahn was ham strung last year by his personnel as far as his play calling is concerned.. By the 4th game Auburn was using it's 4th string tailback, a redshirt freshman at qb, and the main threat at wr never was a factor. The remaining wrs were as likely to drop a pass as catch it. On top of that two freshman were playing Hback, the center had been out of football for a year, on top of not being a natural center. A starting guard had also  been away from the game for over a year. With all those factors coming together at one time it is easy to see why he would have been conservative in his playcalling.

I will be surprised and disappointed if Malzahn's playcalling is not more diversified this upcoming season.

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 hour ago, Auburn06 said:

As a JSU alum, we should have went for it all in the Auburn game. No way JSU could go toe to toe with Auburn in OT.

Single worst coaching decision I've ever witnessed. Truly feel sorry for the guy. He has to know he blew it. 

And cole256, you said one thing that was on point. I agree about "Sean having to play in JJ's offense". Ridiculous. The offense shouldn't be much different for either guy. It's not switching from Peyton Manning to Mike Vick. 

Have already addressed the rest. (That which was relevant to this conversation. It's not a Sean vs Jeremy conversation... at all. Although saying both QBs sucked and were inexperienced only further serves my point.)

[WDEKC 187]

I think being able to understand where things went wrong and pointing them out is not necessarily an excuse. We lost the games, our record was our record. We don't know what would have happened with better QB play, a non headcase #1 WR and a healthy Carl Lawson. Not really too much point in saying what if. I think even with all of those things going our way, we probably still weren't really a contender. Just need to hope the coaches understood what went wrong and know how to correct any issues and move forward.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

26 minutes ago, WDEKC said:

I think even with all of those things going our way, we probably still weren't really a contender.

I can't quite understand how you could think that way when we were close in all but one game without those 3 key things (and don't forget the 3rd string running back).  Look what Carl coming back did to our D overnight.  They weren't world beaters week one of him coming back, but there was a noticeable improvement that continued throughout the rest of the season.

[WDEKC 187]

49 minutes ago, lionheartkc said:

I can't quite understand how you could think that way when we were close in all but one game without those 3 key things (and don't forget the 3rd string running back).  Look what Carl coming back did to our D overnight.  They weren't world beaters week one of him coming back, but there was a noticeable improvement that continued throughout the rest of the season.

We also had  3 wins by 7 points or less and were taken to OT by JSU. It's not like we just had close losses. That very easily could have been a 4 season just as much as it could have been a 9 win season using the logic of "close games"

 

Also...see my first post in this thread. I think QB play was the biggest what if, but that's the only one that I think could have really changed the outcome of our season last year.

[AUsince72 11,084]

Horseshoes & Hand Grenades aside, I understand the point of the OP.  However, as an AU fan any season where they lose to BOTH thUga & uat....yes it was THAT bad.  I do love that there was effort and desire throughout the whole season, but AU MUST win at least 1 of those games every year.  ...yes, yes... just my li'l ol opinion.

War Eagle!

[aujeff11 6,243]

57 minutes ago, lionheartkc said:

I can't quite understand how you could think that way when we were close in all but one game without those 3 key things (and don't forget the 3rd string running back).  Look what Carl coming back did to our D overnight.  They weren't world beaters week one of him coming back, but there was a noticeable improvement that continued throughout the rest of the season.

That doesn't make them contenders. People think just because we were one break away from winning and they naturally forget about the team that was just one break away from putting the game away. Such as Ole Miss in our red zone, with the lead and driving, when Frost makes a beautiful interception. Things usually even out to where if you deserve to win, you win.