A-Day post game thread (merged threads)

[JFDTiger80 790]

Hearing Shannon's reason for not being at  the Spring game has made me feel a lot better. I am sorry for his family's loss. I think Shannon can be an important part of our team this year.

[doc4aday 1,887]

I think that Mr. Willis will be a star not too far down the road. We should be solid and then some for the QB position. We know that SW can get the job done when healthy. It would be great if we could redshirt Willis for 2017 with JS & SW running the show. I really had high hopes for Woody. Who knows though, he could show us something in the fall hopefully in a good way.

I am so looking forward to us being in the hunt for the SEC West title and beyond. It is time for us to take back the crown from bammer and hold onto it for a long time.

[bikeriderga 134]

2 hours ago, shabby said:

Did I see a pass to the tight end. It's a new era

Two. One to Jalen who had a nice run and one to Sal.

 

 

[dmoney 271]

Whats the deal with KD... Is he coming  back for real 

[WFE12 9,191]

2 hours ago, bigbird said:

I agree to a point.  Most of the year I suspect we will be playing a lot of some form of Man. So, IMO, we should practice it more than trying to emulate a real game.

It would've been fun to see though

Is that why scrambling qb's like trevor knight ran good against us last year , because of man coverage?

[Win4AU 4,052]

Stidham played well.  Offense performed better than expected with new coordinator.  NCM was amazing.  Hastings is fast.  Kam needs to learn how to catch a wide open pass.  1st teams dominated against 2nd team.  Willis and Barrett struggled with 2nd team but Willis played well with 1st.  Adams with a big throw to McClain.  Adams and Tolbert will be scout team.  JF3 with some looks at KR and did ok at WR.!!  Malik Miller will be a huge contributor behind Pettway this fall.

[Charhair 345]

I liked what I saw from the offense. They looked ready, we connected on deep and short balls and our QBs looked better than I expected. WRs were extremely impressive. Having NCM step up would be huge, he's up there with KD in terms of potential. It was nice seeing how well the 1s executed without even factoring in that they were down (arguably) their best player in KP. Side note, at this point I feel it's pretty safe to say the job is JS's to lose. 

Defense was a little bland, as expected but tackled well for the most part. PJ3 seems like he could be quite the explosive pass rusher. 

The KJ injury wasn't good to see, of course. I hope the fact that KJs ankle seems to be nagging him keeps this staff away from the giving bubba 35 carries in blowouts, if nothing else does.

 

[DAG 33,955]

Woody needs to be trying to move to LB. It is clear as day he probably won't be QB here .

[Never2Yield 1,005]

9 hours ago, bigbird said:

54616b65207468617420626167206f66206d6f6e657920746f20416e676c65746f6e2c205458

This sir, made me laugh!

Well played Bird, well played.

[bigbird 60,368]

6 hours ago, WFE12 said:

Is that why scrambling qb's like trevor knight ran good against us last year , because of man coverage?

To a point, yes.  What really helped Trevor was the inability to secure tackles by our DL. 

[WarEagleHunter1221 1,690]

I'm impressed with Stidham but that was to be expected. I'm more impressed with the mind and thought process of Willis. Mentally he looked waaaaay more advanced than a true freshman QB that hasn't been playing the position long. He seemed poised and confident. Not sure what happened with Barrett? Is it possible coaches already see that he won't make as successful a QB as the other three options so they just decided not to play him much once he struggled on the first few drives? I mean Willis started with the two's. That says something. Overall I'm thoroughly impressed with this team. A little nervous about the safety position. Maybe one of the true freshmen coming in are further ahead than usual. That would be nice. 

[AU64 10,122]

6 hours ago, DAG said:

Woody needs to be trying to move to LB. It is clear as day he probably won't be QB here .

Yep..he is about 4 serious injuries in front of him from seeing the field as QB.  Best to go ahead and work on Plan B and not waste his career on the scout team.

[aubiefifty 16,706]

ledger-enquirer.com

 

Blue team rides electric offense to victory in Auburn’s A-Day game

By Jordan D. Hilljhill@ledger-enquirer.com

It took exactly two plays for Auburn’s Blue team to show off its firepower in the Tigers’ A-Day scrimmage.

Quarterback Jarrett Stidham’s second pass of the afternoon was a beauty, as he lofted it to wide receiver Nate Craig-Myers, who took the pass for 50 yards. The play proved to be only the first of many highlights for Auburn’s first-team squad in its annual spring scrimmage.

The Blue team topped the White team 37-13 thanks in large part to the play of Stidham. Stidham showed off his big arm repeatedly in his first public showing for the Auburn fans, throwing for 267 yards in the game.

“I think it was a very good day,” Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn said. “The weather was great, and our kids got a chance to go out in front of a crowd and play football. Really, what stood out to me was our No. 1 defense. The No. 1 offense, I thought, had a very good day, too. We had a chance to let everybody play and do their thing.”

Stidham led the Blue team’s first drive down the field in no time, in large part thanks to a pass to Nate Craig-Myers which went for 50 yards. Kerryon Johnson finished the drive off right, breaking one tackle and changing direction on a 4-yard touchdown run to put the Blue team up 7-3 with 8:00 left in the opening quarter.

Johnson ultimately left the game in the first half with an ankle injury that Malzahn confirmed was not serious.

After a Daniel Carlson field goal on the second drive, the Blue team got rolling again on its third possession. Stidham led the Blue team on a four-play, 75-yard drive which included a pass to Darius Slayton for a 46-yard pickup. Running back C.J. Tolbert got the call on the next play, taking it in for a 9-yard score to give his side a 17-3 lead.

Up 20-6 with the clock ticking down before halftime, the Blue team put together one last scoring drive before hitting the locker room.

The Blue team took over on its own 46 and quickly made its way down the field thanks again to another long Stidham pass, this one to Craig-Myers for 34 yards. Stidham inadvertently finished the drive with a touchdown, as his hand-off to Kam Martin was fumbled. Stidham grabbed the ball and reached the end zone to push the score to 27-6.

Malik Miller tacked on the Blue team’s last touchdown to end the third quarter and did so with style. Miller took the carry from the 15-yard line and bulldozed his way past a pair of White team defenders, building a 34-6 lead.

The White team couldn’t keep up with its counterparts, but there were a few standout efforts from the backups. Quarterback Malik Willis split time between both teams and threw for 157 yards, including impressive throws of 28 yards to Ryan Davis and 37 yards to Craig-Myers.

“For a guy who should still be in high school, I think he’s just really doing some things to really impress our coaches,” Malzahn said of Willis. “He managed the offense. I know he took a sack or two today, but that’s from being young.”

On the other side of the ball, defensive back Nick Ruffin was all over the field for the White squad and led both sides with 11 tackles.

Auburn senior kicker Daniel Carlson got plenty of work in during the scrimmage. Playing for both teams, he went 5-for-5 on field goal attempts with a long of 55 yards. He also handled the punting duties for each team and ended the day with six punts.

Malzahn said the team would practice Tuesday only in helmets as a chance to make corrections, but with the end of Saturday’s scrimmage, the Tigers’ spring session is essentially in the books.

“Overall, I thought it was a very successful day,” Malzahn said. “It really capped off our main work for spring.”

[AUBwins 10,064]

10 hours ago, bigbird said:

It was Just a suggestion.  You didn't have to...sounds more like a want to. 

 

WARNING: EXPLICIT IMAGE MAY NOT BE SUITED FOR YOUNGER VIEWERS ....

[bigbird 60,368]

3 minutes ago, AUBwins said:

WARNING: EXPLICIT IMAGE MAY NOT BE SUITED FOR YOUNGER VIEWERS ....

That's perfect!  

[Mims44 1,864]

Why didn't Pettway play?

He recovering from injury/soreness? Or has he just proven so well that he's the nations best human bowling ball that there was no reason to go out?

[bg5 536]

The points for both teams could have been much higher if the QB runs had been live. The passing opens up the run. I am super excited about next year. Did Cowart play yesterday? I was looking forward to seeing him at DT.

 

[AidiAU 1,270]

2 hours ago, Mims44 said:

Why didn't Pettway play?

He recovering from injury/soreness? Or has he just proven so well that he's the nations best human bowling ball that there was no reason to go out?

The later.

[WDEKC 187]

Replay is on WatchESPN. No need to wait for a replay.

[AUMASTERS 555]

17 hours ago, bigbird said:

Hastings dropped a wr screen

I was thinking in the bama game he dropped a wheel route , or didn't try to catch it.

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

Was downright impressed with the throws Mr. Stidham was making, but also noted that he seemed to have forever to make them.

Can I be a little disappointed that Mr. Carlson missed wasn't perfect on his long exhibition kicks?

All in all, much to feel optimistic about.

Edited on reread

[TAYLORKEETON 786]

I'm wondering why WB never really saw the field in the second half when Malik & a walk on saw time

[gr82b4au 5,568]

It was a beautiful day in AU yesterday. Here is my takeaway:

- Stidham of course looked great. He makes you at least have hope for the season. If the OL gives him time he is just awesome. 

- T Mathews is violent. He just about took a guys head off right in front of us. 

- The players were really happy for Mclain as they were all celebrating his TD catch on the sideline. It looks like the WR corp is a really tight group. 

- NCM made it look easy but the coverage on a few of those catches was pretty good. 

- Hastings is a jitterbug. He looks so small in person standing next to some of the other WR but if he can hold on to the ball he will probably be Stidham's main target. 

- I thought the first team run defense looked good. 

- the baby crawl from the 5 to the goal line was awesome. 

[JDUBB4AU 5,102]

Where was sal canella??

[AlaskanFAN 1,665]

My perspective: Offense

Stidham - is what everyone said he would be. Very live arm and accurate, placed the ball where receivers could only catch it. 

Wanogho - rotated every other series with James at LT. Good Balance, lateral footwork was impressive for a guy 6'8". On run plays made it to the second level quickly and attacked.  Attacked the pass rusher, did not wait for pass rusher to attack him, which could be bad against a good player like Arden Key of LSU, but I still like our chance.  

James - play LT and rotated out to RT when Wanogho can in. To be honest I think he would be best suited as our LG. Has great size and speed for a interior lineman. Could be a great, nasty mauler inside. 

Harrell - played at LG. Did not do anything bad, but I did not see any thing supergreat either. 

Malik Willis - outstanding play from a kid who supposed to going to his Prom, not playing in a Collegiate A day game.  Nice tight spiral, good velocity, decisive throws.  Clearly better than Woody Barrett.  Needs to work on placing the ballover the outside shoulder, got NCM killed on a sideline route by throwing it inside.  Also has a couple throws slightly behind, but the receivers were balling out.  Over all he is by far and away the future. 

Recievers - Nate Craig, Darius Slayton, Marquis McLain are all big bodies and fast  .  Small DB's are no match. If Stidham can work with these guys over the summer and develop timing, come fall, wow...just wow.

Will Hastings - is Julian Edelman and Wes Walker all balled up in to a 5'10" 172 body  . Do not be surprise if he leads this team in catches!!!!

1st team defense will be as good or better than last year. 

Linbackers - the strength of the team and the best depth we have had in years. KJ Britt is going to be a great player in 2018. He will get some good experience on special teams and in late mop up duty in 2017.

Brian Cowart - defensive tackle may be his spot, but right now it still won't be as a starter.  He was not shedding blocks and was arriving at the the tackle late. He had a few plays where he filled the gap but the run would be to the other side away from him. He still needs work. 

Tre Mathews - is a interesting case. When plays are on the sideline he arrives just late enough to make the or try to make the highlight reel big hit. The problem is I think he does this on purpose. There were at least 2 times I saw that he slowed down a few yards early and then line up for the big hit but did not.  If it was a real game I think he would have taken the hit and it would have cost us15 yds and him a possible targeting call.

Secondary - depends on Coach Rodney Garner. What? CRG? Yup, if Garner can find the right combo of 10-12 d-linemen to consistently apply pressure and keep the DL fresh for the WHOLE game, then the secondary will be really good.  The big problem is after our starters the exsperience level cliff dives. That's why we have to 1) avoid the injury bug and 2) have a front 4 that can apply pressure so our secondary is not running around in coverage forever wearing themselves out and needing backups to play for extended periods of time.

Daniel Carlson - missed the 60 yard attempt wide RT at half time BUT made the 60 yard attempt at the end of the game. I would be hard pressed to see him make it much further than that.  Possibly a 62 or 63 yarder. He definitely will be a weapon again this year. Unfortunately as good as he is, he may not be a Lou Groza finalist again. If our offense does what it is suppose to do, his field goal attempts may cut by 30-40% while his PAT's could go up as much as 30-40%. PAT's do not get a Lou Groza. ( Mabel he would be happy with big ole SEC + Natty Rings instead?)

Hey, I am sun burn on half my face, I have those sunglasses streaks only on half my head. I spent to much money at the stadium and the bookstore. It was a unbelievably beautiful day and I spent it with 46,000 + passionate people. I could think of worse things to do.  War Eagle!