Popular Post JMR 2,118 Posted September 18, 2016 Popular Post Share Posted September 18, 2016 Things I Think I Saw: AU vs Texas A&M If you haven’t read this little thing before, a quick caveat: I just watch the game and make mental notes on what I think I see. I don’t invest the time to re-look at anything, so I could very well be mistaken on my first take. That’s why it’s titled “Thinks I THINK I Saw.. These are just random observations and opinions, in no kind of order. Going into the game against A&M’s pair of outstanding rush ends Myles Garrett and Daeshon Hall, many AU fans wondered how Auburn would try to deal with them. I don’t think anyone expected an opening play of the game where Auburn actually asked the backside guard to pull and block Garrett on a play-action pass. Alone. And that was exactly the call. The guard, of course, couldn’t get there, and Garrett started the game with an 8-yard sack of Sean White. As if that were not enough, the AU offense ran the same play ten minutes later, with the same result. Both those plays were on first down, and both killed Auburn drives. Safety Stephen Roberts had a poor game, missing several tackles which resulted in big plays for the A&M offense. Auburn defensive end Jeff Holland is generally expected to become an elite pass rusher. But it was interesting to watch how he tried to play aTm’s inside zone read. Instead of attacking the mesh point, or choosing to eliminate the dive back or the quarterback, Holland instead shuffled laterally inside, which was ineffective to say the least. I don’t blame Jeff Holland, as I’ve seen other Auburn defensive ends play the zone read the same way. I’m not sure of the best way to defend that play, but I’m certain that eliminating neither option is not a good choice. AU needs to take a hard look at how they want to defend that particular play. For the second week in a row, an opposing offense was able to pull Auburn’s safeties out of deep coverage and go over the top with the ball. With wide receivers as talented as those A&M has, that’s a major problem, and A&M capitalized on it with a huge 51-yard completion. It was great to see Josh Holsey back on the field after his second ACL surgery. Josh played hard and reasonably well, but the size differential between him and A&M’s wideouts was too much to overcome. Carlton Davis continues to get better game after game. He is fun to watch, both as a coverage guy, and as a tackler. Great things ahead for that kid. I couldn’t help but wonder about the much-discussed “predictability” of the AU offense as I watched A&M nickel back Donovan Wilson guess right on play after play. Kam Pettway, in his debut season as a running back, was impressive. He is obviously powerful at 240 pounds, but he has some cuts as well. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Pettway had only carried the ball twice in the second half. We need to make him a much bigger part of the offensive game plan. Going into the game, Auburn’s offensive tackles were something of a concern, going against Garrett and Hall in pass protection. I thought both did a reasonably good job in that aspect *when asked to block Garrett and Hall*. Neither was beaten badly, and both were at least “decent” in run blocking. Center Xavier Dampeer had another rough game, and has shown little improvement through the first three games. Dampeer, who was fairly physical when he played early last season, is extremely tentative, and is generating no movement in the middle. I thought Braden Smith had his best game yet. His inability to get to Garrett on the pass protection blocks mentioned earlier was not his fault at all. That was an impossible assignment. His pulls to do that were basically perfect; it’s just a physical impossibility, and that falls on the coaches rather than the player. Robert Leff has improved markedly since the opening game. He’s no road grader for sure, but he’s usually in good position, which is maybe half the battle for an offensive lineman. Kudos once again to young linebacker Darrell Williams for his coverage skills. Saw him once run right with Ricky Seals-Jones on a wheel route. Not an easy feat, and I expect we will see bigger things from Williams as he gains experience. There’s been considerable talk about Carl Lawson through the first three games. I thought he made some good plays, and had some bad ones. I don’t know if Carl is quite the same as before his hip injury last year, but he doesn’t seem quite as agile, and sometimes fails to make a play even when left unblocked. Hope that situation improves soon, as we need him at his best. In the “some good, some bad” category, H-back Chandler Cox is missing an inordinate number of blocks. Sometimes he levels a defender, other times he runs right by a block he should have made. The performance of that position is critical to Auburn’s run game, and thus far, it hasn’t been what it needs to be. The outcome of this game had nothing to do with the officiating, which I thought was actually very good overall. But the illegal formation penalty on Auburn on a punt 7 minutes into the third quarter was mystifying. The penalty was for “more than four in the backfield”, but a still picture of the formation reveals 7 on the line of scrimmage, and four in the backfield. Not even CLOSE to having a fifth guy in the backfield. That penalty was unfortunate, as the re-kick cost Auburn 30 yards of field position. The shovel pass that A&M gained 17 yards on at a critical juncture in the game should have been for a one-yard gain, as Tre Williams missed an arm tackle. I thought Auburn’s defense had more missed tackles in this game than the first two games combined. The big hit by Javaris Davis on A&M’s Christian Kirk in the third quarter was picture perfect, and seemed to fire up the defense and the crowd for a few minutes. Auburn’s use of the fake statue-of-liberty play on third and long continues. You aren’t fooling anyone with play-action on third and 23, and the play requires the quarterback to turn his back to the coverage, so he can’t see what’s going on. Someone told me once, “If you’re running play-action passes on third and long, you need to take a hard look at your passing game.” Auburn’s defensive tackles played hard, but often got out of their pass rush lanes, resulting in some nice gains for Trevor Knight. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Auburn DL was gassed, likely from spending too much time on the field due to lack of production from the Auburn offense. Auburn started the quarter with the starters on the sideline, and both Maurice Swain and Devaroe Lawrence were consistently too high, and getting pushed down the field by aTm’s three first-year starters on the interior offensive line. Last week I thought the Auburn wide receivers were a contributing factor with their blockiing. This week, they were often in the right place, but had no punch at the point of contact, and didn’t contribute much. Auburn’s modified single-wing attack with Chandler Cox is fooling no one, and contributing to my perception that we have no offensive identity. Speaking of offensive identity, I have no idea what Auburn’s was intended to be in the second half. I could not recognize it. More dropped passes this week than in either of the first two games. Sean White is missing too many open receivers, even when he has time to set and throw. Marlon Davidson had another terrific “hustle” game. He is obviously blessed with tremendous ability, but the effort he shows, regardless of the score or the point in the game, is incredible to me. Anybody who puts that kind of effort into anything is certain to succeed. Montravius Adams showed great effort as well, and was tantalizingly close to making a couple more huge plays. I thought John Franklin III played well, considering that he was not part of the original game plan. He missed at least one read, but when the zone read is all you’re running, defenses are going to fool you now and then. Franklin threw the ball on short and intermediate routes better than I was expecting. On his first pass, deep over the middle, I believe he was throwing the ball away, as the receiver was double-covered. Rudy Ford and Tray Matthews both had disappointing games. Both those guys are key parts of our defense, and we need to get them both back on the correct page. Deshaun Davis had another strong game at linebacker. Amazing that a kid who couldn't get on the field a year ago has become such a key part of the team. That’s probably more than enough for this week. As I said at the beginning, I’m certain that if I went back and watched the game again, I’d see some things differently, or maybe see some things (good or bad) I didn’t notice the first time. But these are just first impressions from watching the game. This wasn’t an easy one to watch, and I definitely won’t be watching it again! 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Things I Think I Saw: AU vs Texas A&M If you haven’t read this little thing before, a quick caveat: I just watch the game and make mental notes on what I think I see. I don’t invest the time to re-look at anything, so I could very well be mistaken on my first take. That’s why it’s titled “Thinks I THINK I Saw.. These are just random observations and opinions, in no kind of order. Going into the game against A&M’s pair of outstanding rush ends Myles Garrett and Daeshon Hall, many AU fans wondered how Auburn would try to deal with them. I don’t think anyone expected an opening play of the game where Auburn actually asked the backside guard to pull and block Garrett on a play-action pass. Alone. And that was exactly the call. The guard, of course, couldn’t get there, and Garrett started the game with an 8-yard sack of Sean White. As if that were not enough, the AU offense ran the same play ten minutes later, with the same result. Both those plays were on first down, and both killed Auburn drives. Safety Stephen Roberts had a poor game, missing several tackles which resulted in big plays for the A&M offense. Auburn defensive end Jeff Holland is generally expected to become an elite pass rusher. But it was interesting to watch how he tried to play aTm’s inside zone read. Instead of attacking the mesh point, or choosing to eliminate the dive back or the quarterback, Holland instead shuffled laterally inside, which was ineffective to say the least. I don’t blame Jeff Holland, as I’ve seen other Auburn defensive ends play the zone read the same way. I’m not sure of the best way to defend that play, but I’m certain that eliminating neither option is not a good choice. AU needs to take a hard look at how they want to defend that particular play. For the second week in a row, an opposing offense was able to pull Auburn’s safeties out of deep coverage and go over the top with the ball. With wide receivers as talented as those A&M has, that’s a major problem, and A&M capitalized on it with a huge 51-yard completion. It was great to see Josh Holsey back on the field after his second ACL surgery. Josh played hard and reasonably well, but the size differential between him and A&M’s wideouts was too much to overcome. Carlton Davis continues to get better game after game. He is fun to watch, both as a coverage guy, and as a tackler. Great things ahead for that kid. I couldn’t help but wonder about the much-discussed “predictability” of the AU offense as I watched A&M nickel back Donovan Wilson guess right on play after play. Kam Pettway, in his debut season as a running back, was impressive. He is obviously powerful at 240 pounds, but he has some cuts as well. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Pettway had only carried the ball twice in the second half. We need to make him a much bigger part of the offensive game plan. Going into the game, Auburn’s offensive tackles were something of a concern, going against Garrett and Hall in pass protection. I thought both did a reasonably good job in that aspect *when asked to block Garrett and Hall*. Neither was beaten badly, and both were at least “decent” in run blocking. Center Xavier Dampeer had another rough game, and has shown little improvement through the first three games. Dampeer, who was fairly physical when he played early last season, is extremely tentative, and is generating no movement in the middle. I thought Braden Smith had his best game yet. His inability to get to Garrett on the pass protection blocks mentioned earlier was not his fault at all. That was an impossible assignment. His pulls to do that were basically perfect; it’s just a physical impossibility, and that falls on the coaches rather than the player. Robert Leff has improved markedly since the opening game. He’s no road grader for sure, but he’s usually in good position, which is maybe half the battle for an offensive lineman. Kudos once again to young linebacker Darrell Williams for his coverage skills. Saw him once run right with Ricky Seals-Jones on a wheel route. Not an easy feat, and I expect we will see bigger things from Williams as he gains experience. There’s been considerable talk about Carl Lawson through the first three games. I thought he made some good plays, and had some bad ones. I don’t know if Carl is quite the same as before his hip injury last year, but he doesn’t seem quite as agile, and sometimes fails to make a play even when left unblocked. Hope that situation improves soon, as we need him at his best. In the “some good, some bad” category, H-back Chandler Cox is missing an inordinate number of blocks. Sometimes he levels a defender, other times he runs right by a block he should have made. The performance of that position is critical to Auburn’s run game, and thus far, it hasn’t been what it needs to be. The outcome of this game had nothing to do with the officiating, which I thought was actually very good overall. But the illegal formation penalty on Auburn on a punt 7 minutes into the third quarter was mystifying. The penalty was for “more than four in the backfield”, but a still picture of the formation reveals 7 on the line of scrimmage, and four in the backfield. Not even CLOSE to having a fifth guy in the backfield. That penalty was unfortunate, as the re-kick cost Auburn 30 yards of field position. The shovel pass that A&M gained 17 yards on at a critical juncture in the game should have been for a one-yard gain, as Tre Williams missed an arm tackle. I thought Auburn’s defense had more missed tackles in this game than the first two games combined. The big hit by Javaris Davis on A&M’s Christian Kirk in the third quarter was picture perfect, and seemed to fire up the defense and the crowd for a few minutes. Auburn’s use of the fake statue-of-liberty play on third and long continues. You aren’t fooling anyone with play-action on third and 23, and the play requires the quarterback to turn his back to the coverage, so he can’t see what’s going on. Someone told me once, “If you’re running play-action passes on third and long, you need to take a hard look at your passing game.” Auburn’s defensive tackles played hard, but often got out of their pass rush lanes, resulting in some nice gains for Trevor Knight. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Auburn DL was gassed, likely from spending too much time on the field due to lack of production from the Auburn offense. Auburn started the quarter with the starters on the sideline, and both Maurice Swain and Devaroe Lawrence were consistently too high, and getting pushed down the field by aTm’s three first-year starters on the interior offensive line. Last week I thought the Auburn wide receivers were a contributing factor with their blockiing. This week, they were often in the right place, but had no punch at the point of contact, and didn’t contribute much. Auburn’s modified single-wing attack with Chandler Cox is fooling no one, and contributing to my perception that we have no offensive identity. Speaking of offensive identity, I have no idea what Auburn’s was intended to be in the second half. I could not recognize it. More dropped passes this week than in either of the first two games. Sean White is missing too many open receivers, even when he has time to set and throw. Marlon Davidson had another terrific “hustle” game. He is obviously blessed with tremendous ability, but the effort he shows, regardless of the score or the point in the game, is incredible to me. Anybody who puts that kind of effort into anything is certain to succeed. Montravius Adams showed great effort as well, and was tantalizingly close to making a couple more huge plays. I thought John Franklin III played well, considering that he was not part of the original game plan. He missed at least one read, but when the zone read is all you’re running, defenses are going to fool you now and then. Franklin threw the ball on short and intermediate routes better than I was expecting. On his first pass, deep over the middle, I believe he was throwing the ball away, as the receiver was double-covered. Rudy Ford and Tray Matthews both had disappointing games. Both those guys are key parts of our defense, and we need to get them both back on the correct page. Deshaun Davis had another strong game at linebacker. Amazing that a kid who couldn't get on the field a year ago has become such a key part of the team. That’s probably more than enough for this week. As I said at the beginning, I’m certain that if I went back and watched the game again, I’d see some things differently, or maybe see some things (good or bad) I didn’t notice the first time. But these are just first impressions from watching the game. This wasn’t an easy one to watch, and I definitely won’t be watching it again!
Charhair 345 Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 That play action Statue of Liberty pass is what Gus is replacing his always call a hb dive on first down philosophy with. if it's 3rd 9 or more, I can tell you what Gus' play call will be and be right 90% of the time 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metafour 4,968 Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 Things I Think I Saw: A dead man walking. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUIH1 1,515 Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 (edited) 7 minutes ago, metafour said: Things I Think I Saw: A dead man walking. To give you credit (and I disagreed with you at the time) you had problems with Gus even after 2013. wde Edited September 18, 2016 by AUIH1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUApostle 7,651 Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 Thanks for the points of view. You've called out Dampeer now every week. I'm interested hear what Cubelic has to say about him this week, as he's been praising him as a strength thus far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Win4AU 4,052 Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 Last night was Gus's worst nightmare. Sean White had an off night and it killed the offense. JF3 came in but it became pretty clear that auburn was running 9/10 of the time. The LSU game becomes a must win. TaMu dominated Auburn offensively and defensively last night. Sean is still only a sophmore and Auburn's best option to have a complete offense. I say stick with him and he'll get better every game. He will win Auburn more games than he loses. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAYLORKEETON 789 Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 The play calling is just as big of a problem as SW, if not more. With the way Gus calls plays in bigger games, he's setting up SW to fail. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug3020 842 Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 I agree completely with the fact that SW doesn't fit Gus's offense but last night had much more to do with idiotic play calling than SW. Hard to get in a rhythm when you know the defense knows exactly what's coming. Here's another thought...why in the world is it acceptable that JF3 doesn't know the playbook (there 's only 5-6 plays at most) He's been on campus for what, 8+ months, correct? Our coaching staff is just adding fuel to a raging dumpster fire that JJ began when he gave CGM an extension. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUIH1 1,515 Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 18 minutes ago, Win4AU said: Last night was Gus's worst nightmare. Sean White had an off night and it killed the offense. JF3 came in but it became pretty clear that auburn was running 9/10 of the time. The LSU game becomes a must win. TaMu dominated Auburn offensively and defensively last night. Sean is still only a sophmore and Auburn's best option to have a complete offense. I say stick with him and he'll get better every game. He will win Auburn more games than he loses. Our offense's worst nightmare IS Gus. SW did not kill the O. Gus did. wde 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strychnine 1,802 Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 35 minutes ago, AUIH1 said: To give you credit (and I disagreed with you at the time) you had problems with Gus even after 2013. wde While his delivery can be brutal, he rarely ends up being wrong. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUIH1 1,515 Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 Just now, Strychnine said: While his delivery can be brutal, he rarely ends up being wrong. Agree. wde Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TigerOne 1,140 Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 Fair analysis, Auburn's offense is probably very easy for opponents to prepare for. I imagine the opposing coaches watching Auburn film saying "I cant believe they are doing that" or "wow". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aucater 150 Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 JMR I think I saw what you think you saw. First time in a long time I didn't watch a game all the way to the end, win or lose and I've been watching and listening since 1961( first recollection). The play calling begins to look like the keystone cops at the first sign of stress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auburn2Eugene 2,317 Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 3 hours ago, JMR said: . Safety Stephen Roberts had a poor game, missing several tackles which resulted in big plays for the A&M offense. You sure this wasn't supposed to say Tray Matthews? He whiffed on 2 open field tackles. One resulting in a HUGE play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
. Safety Stephen Roberts had a poor game, missing several tackles which resulted in big plays for the A&M offense.
JMR 2,118 Posted September 18, 2016 Author Share Posted September 18, 2016 Him too. Thought I mentioned him and Rudy Ford somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leglessdan 1,934 Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 20 minutes ago, Auburn2Eugene said: You sure this wasn't supposed to say Tray Matthews? He whiffed on 2 open field tackles. One resulting in a HUGE play. There were an enormous amount of missed tackles. Tray and Stephen had horrible games, but they weren't alone in the tackling department. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auburn2Eugene 2,317 Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 12 minutes ago, leglessdan said: There were an enormous amount of missed tackles. Tray and Stephen had horrible games, but they weren't alone in the tackling department. I know. But both of Matthew's total whiffs in the open field come to mind more than any. Especially the 2nd one. He will be on both those guys highlight reels for life. Just like he is in Ricardo Lewis'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunInRed 16,381 Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 Braden Smith ... Braden. Smith. Borderline erotic. https://t.co/nobXYbbRQV— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) September 18, 2016 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard78 73 Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 I keep seeing references to our D being gassed. I'm sure they were from chasing Knight, but facts are that we ran 12 more plays than TAMU and led time of possession. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aucanucktiger 1,791 Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 Many bizarre "observations" (lots of not sure why they did this but in hindsight I wouldn't have) but how did you (apparently) miss Franklin running out of bounds untouched and then clearly being shocked it was forth down? Brilliant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olewarthog 3 Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 3 hours ago, doug3020 said: Here's another thought...why in the world is it acceptable that JF3 doesn't know the playbook (there 's only 5-6 plays at most) He's been on campus for what, 8+ months, correct? Our coaching staff is just adding fuel to a raging dumpster fire that JJ began when he gave CGM an extension. My thoughts exactly. Gus pretty much wasted all preseason practice by dragging out a 3 way QB comp. It should be clear that neither SW or JJ are SEC caliber QBs. Why not put all the time into prepping JF3 or even Barrett? Banner & uga seemed to be able to get a TFR QB ready to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexava 6,973 Posted September 19, 2016 Share Posted September 19, 2016 i am going to have to watch the game again. i did drink about 11-12 beers but i didn't see some of the same things i am seeing ranted about here. I swore the game was starting at 5 instead of 6. i worked till 2:45 had to change a tire and start grilling very rushed and drank about five before kickoff. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AURocketman 73 Posted September 19, 2016 Share Posted September 19, 2016 2 hours ago, Richard78 said: I keep seeing references to our D being gassed. I'm sure they were from chasing Knight, but facts are that we ran 12 more plays than TAMU and led time of possession. But most of AU time of possession was standing and looking at sidelines pre-snap. TAMU time of possession had more running after snap. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AURealist 2,185 Posted September 19, 2016 Share Posted September 19, 2016 4 hours ago, Aucater said: JMR I think I saw what you think you saw. First time in a long time I didn't watch a game all the way to the end, win or lose and I've been watching and listening since 1961( first recollection). The play calling begins to look like the keystone cops at the first sign of stress. Yep. I believe Gus is overwhelmed and when he says "we need to get better", the "we" is actually the royal "we." He's hoping he can work his way out of this mess. I think that's where much of his control freakishness is rooted - insecurity. I just don't see him pulling himself together under current circumstances at AU. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lca408 366 Posted September 19, 2016 Share Posted September 19, 2016 7 hours ago, doug3020 said: I agree completely with the fact that SW doesn't fit Gus's offense but last night had much more to do with idiotic play calling than SW. Hard to get in a rhythm when you know the defense knows exactly what's coming. Here's another thought...why in the world is it acceptable that JF3 doesn't know the playbook (there 's only 5-6 plays at most) He's been on campus for what, 8+ months, correct? Our coaching staff is just adding fuel to a raging dumpster fire that JJ began when he gave CGM an extension. This! I've been wondering this ever since it was mentioned that he didn't pick it all up by now. This is just part of the development problem that is afflicting this offensive staff. How do you bring a guy in that you're expecting to compete for the starting job and let him go through winter workouts, Spring camp, summer workouts, and Fall camp, and not know the whole offense??? Not sure Gus can use the "it's a complicated offense" excuse considering how JV and repetitive the play calling is. This is unacceptable. In the same way that putting Sean out there and not tailoring the offense to fit his skill set, especially when it became obvious that he was going to be the starter and not Franklin. White is far from perfect but he'd look a lot better in an offense that more resembles what we ran in 2009. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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