Things I Think I Saw: Auburn vs Arkansas.....

[McLoofus 35,182]

13 hours ago, ScottsboroAuburnFan said:

We have never had had 3 WR at one time with the skill of NCM, Stove and Davis. And they are True Freshman!!!

You're forgetting Slayton and, presumably, R. Davis. And Truitt. And it's not out of the question that Tony Stevens gets drafted. And McClain is redshirting. 

[oldman 23]

Have to say you and StatTiger are the biggest reason I keep coming back . There are a few others that makes some good posts but y'all are top notch and worthy to be published/featured in/on national publications or networks. Fine Bama and SEC network should come a calling 

 

 

[Budapesttiger 2]

Great post. I agree with all.

 

One thing I thought I saw - I never realized how bow legged Stanton Truitt is. I'm glad to see him be successful.

[JMR 2,118]

53 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

You're forgetting Slayton and, presumably, R. Davis. And Truitt. And it's not out of the question that Tony Stevens gets drafted. And McClain is redshirting. 

For what it's worth, I like McClain. Big strong guy, with lots of potential.

[hikerdns 52]

56 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

You're forgetting Slayton and, presumably, R. Davis. And Truitt. And it's not out of the question that Tony Stevens gets drafted. And McClain is redshirting. 

Yeah, Haven't had this much confidence in our overall receiving core since, Aromashodu , Obomanu, C Taylor,  lined up in 2005.

[WarTim 3,456]

Indeed. Thanks Coach!!

[McLoofus 35,182]

14 hours ago, JMR said:

Yeah, I remember very well, canuck. I still feel like going to Stanton right out of the gate in that game was unwise, but as Pat Dye used to say, "hindsight is always 50-50". If he'd gone for a TD, I'd have thought it was brilliant. In any case, I said on our podcast last week that I wanted to see more of Truitt at running back, and I'm glad that happened.

It was absolutely wrong at the time and you were right. Don't mind canuck, he/she relishes in being a contrarian. That he/she would pick out that one little thing out of all your valuable insight and be an arse about it... well, it's par for the course, actually. 

Gus said exactly what the problem was the first half of the season- that he had tunnel vision in trying to make certain things work, he was too close to it all, and he wasn't paying attention to the football game as a whole- and, thankfully, has addressed it. Now we have KJ and KP settled into their roles as bell cows behind Sean, with Truitt coming in as a rock star change of pace guy. That wasn't the case against at all against Clemson and they weren't using him appropriately. Like you said, no sense in harping on things we can't change- the team is playing lights out and we should enjoy it while it lasts. 

WDE and, as the others said, always appreciate your thoughts before and after the games. 

[mcgufcm 4,096]

I really like what I've seen from Kyle Davis, NCM, and Stove, but "never" is a really strong word. Again, Obomanu, Aromashodu, and CT won a truck ton of games and were a matchup nightmare during their careers. All three were eventually drafted. It feels unnecessarily premature for me to say we've "never" had three more talented WRs than we do now.

That minor point aside, Coach, thanks for the thoughts. I'd add that I thought Tray Matthews played like a hammer on Saturday. He was had some big time hits in run defense that set a tone early in the game. I also think Rudy Ford is playing some amazing and underappreciated football. Going back to last season when Stephen Roberts emerged and allowed us to move Ford around the field at Safety and Nickel, Ford may be our best defender, certainly our most consistent one. He's a sure tackler. He's very solid in coverage, and he reacts quickly to everything (like a Senior should). That's an NFL player. He's going to have his hands full next week because I suspect he's getting the primary coverage responsibility on Evan Engram, but I think he's up to the task.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

17 hours ago, doc4aday said:

Does anyone know what Bubba's 40 speed? My guess is in the mid 4.5 range. I think in some ways he is tougher to deal with than Fournette. Fournette is faster, but Bubba is just plain meaner and this is a good thing no doubt. When KJ is back up to speed, our offense will go from very scary all the way to the wrath of a category 5 hurricane.

No offense doc, but Fournette, when he's 100% healthy, could run all over Kam.  I love Kam, but he's a work horse, not a superstar tailback like Fournette.  I think both will be playing at the next level, but Fournette will likely be a star out of the gate and Kam will likely be a back-up for at least a couple of years.

[McLoofus 35,182]

7 minutes ago, JMR said:

For what it's worth, I like McClain. Big strong guy, with lots of potential.

Right there with you, Coach. And with Kodi teaching him how to block... could really be a difference maker in our perimeter run game. 

 

[McLoofus 35,182]

Agreed about Tray, @mcgufcm, and I think Rudy is suffering from his consistency. The dude has been so solid for so long, I think he just gets taken for granted. NFL skills for sure and I think he might be a revelation at the combine. 

 

[mcgufcm 4,096]

Funny side note on McClain. I heard really good things about him in fall camp so I was telling my dad about that. Then, we had the following exchange:

Dad:  Great. I love big targets that can block. Can he catch?
Me:  Ya know, I haven't heard a lot about that part of his game. Let's see if he shows up on any of the practice videos. **Finds video of WR practice** Here he is in drills.
Dad:  That guy is huge. Oh, he dropped that one. 
Me:  Running the drill again.
Dad:  Messed up the footwork but at least he dropped it again. **Pause** I don't think he's going to play this year.

That has no bearing on what he will be, but it made me chuckle at the time!

Edited October 24, 2016 by mcgufcm

[autan 737]

I realize Arky doesn't have the best defense in SEC, but that was the most dominating OL performance by an Auburn team Tackle to Tackle (+FB) that I've seen in a while. Kudos to CHH and his Grad Assistants.  Gaping holes throughout the game. WDE

[Eagle Eye 7 2,535]

Very Good post. Thanks for taking the time to share. One thing I am really liking about this defense is the way the DL is collapsing the pocket. They are not just blitzing or beating the tackles, they are pushing their men back into the QB and then making the sack. As Coach Steele pointed out last night, when you look at every play the line was driving their men back. I don't remember seeing this done to this degree. Remember too that Arky has about the biggest line in all of college football. Why is this important ? Because when you can do this you make it hard for the run game to develop, which allows the LBs to react quicker and it is a lot easier to make the tackle on the RB if you can get them before they can build steam. It also prevents mobile QBs from being able to run as much. This will play well for Ole Miss this week and against uat later. As far as KP he has deceptive speed and like other big backs when he is going full bore the DBs are going to pay a price for getting in his way.On KM he reminds me of KJ last year. All the tools just needs more size. Look what one year did for KJ. Truit was unbelievable. I new he had speed but he has some great toughness as well. He is not afraid of going inside. On SW he has suffered to some degree with slow starts to get his rhythm, but once he does is money. I think in this game it didn't show because we scored so much early and the run game was working so well it really did not call for much passing later on. But I do hope folks see now that he does have some wheels and is not afraid to use them. As the coaches said this team is getting not only better but stronger each week. We see new younger players coming into their own and becoming a depth that other teams can not overcome.Again thanks for your knowledgeable insight. WDE

[ClaytonAU 4,606]

So I've got a quick question for anyone over 30, my granddad told me that this team reminds him a lot of the 89' team, can you guys agree? Explanations? 

[JwgreDeux 1,279]

I'm not sure if it was the pre-game exchange before the game or what, but it seemed like we finished that game with some serious fire.

[Aucater 150]

23 hours ago, Maverick.AU said:

Great post.

One thing I noticed last night is how disciplined our D has been coached with the late hits/targeting by the sideline. However, teams are starting to take advantage of that and cut it up last second and turn a 3-4 yard gain into 9+. Really hate to see a rule cause those things because our D is better sideline to sideline than it has been in awhile.

Saw that too, I kept expecting #80 for Ark to get laid out.

[Linayus 676]

15 hours ago, AUloggerhead said:

As far as Lashlee's playcalling, I about fell on the floor when he had Sean White fake the hand-off to Pettway and bootleg it around the right side for a score.  Perfect set-up by bringing in the "heavy package" for that play too! 

That fake was a thing of beauty too. I was already shaking my head in frustration at the call when I realized Sean kept it! LOL

[Linayus 676]

1 hour ago, hikerdns said:

Yeah, Haven't had this much confidence in our overall receiving core since, Aromashodu , Obomanu, C Taylor,  lined up in 2005.

Even if the first two dropped just as many as they caught. CT was such an asset to our team, I honestly don't know why he didn't have a bigger stint in the NFL.

[kd4au 1,145]

19 minutes ago, ClaytonAU said:

So I've got a quick question for anyone over 30, my granddad told me that this team reminds him a lot of the 89' team, can you guys agree? Explanations? 

If I remember right that team started slow and continued to get better as the season went on and then of course we beat the turds in the first ever Iron Bowl at AU.Maybe this team is like the 89 team.

[McLoofus 35,182]

11 minutes ago, Linayus said:

Even if the first two dropped just as many as they caught. CT was such an asset to our team, I honestly don't know why he didn't have a bigger stint in the NFL.

Eh, I'd argue that Obamanu's big drop against Ole Miss made their dropsies seem a lot worse than they really were. 

[lionheartkc 6,150]

2 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Eh, I'd argue that Obamanu's big drop against Ole Miss made their dropsies seem a lot worse than they really were. 

I guarantee neither of them averaged 1 drop per game like one of our current WRs. 

[Fricking Ray 47]

Thanks JMR for your valuable insight!! I get the feeling that as NCM gains experience this season that he will at some point replace TS as the starter. TS catches the ball with his body a lot and is inconsistent. Thoughts?

 

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 minute ago, lionheartkc said:

I guarantee neither of them averaged 1 drop per game like one of our current WRs. 

Seems unlikely.

Man, I'm trying not to go back on some nice things I said about a certain receiver earlier in the season. I think he's got some clutch plays left in him yet, though. 

[lionheartkc 6,150]

7 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Seems unlikely.

Man, I'm trying not to go back on some nice things I said about a certain receiver earlier in the season. I think he's got some clutch plays left in him yet, though. 

Yea.  This week just looked particularly bad because he didn't get enough targets to make up for the drop.  Though... that initial block may have made up for it on its own.

Edited October 24, 2016 by lionheartkc