Auburn is a contender

[WarEagle1983 2,185]

On 4/10/2017 at 3:25 PM, DAG said:

JS is the starter unless he gets kicked out of school or injured between now and August. The team knows it, the coaches know it, the fans know it. This is just due process stuff.

Exactly. Anything reported and/or stated by reporters or Gus will just be for clicks. If JS isn't our starter when the offense hits the field...Gus should be fired on the spot. 

[DAG 33,982]

27 minutes ago, WarEagle1983 said:

Any other year i'd have the wait and see mentality about having strong opinions of our team. Not this year! It's time to put up or shut up! We have far too much talent not to be a contender this year. All the excuses are over. We have our starter in JS and a viable backup QB in SW to lead us to the playoffs. The defense isn't going to have much drop off and even though we play in the toughest conference and SEC division in CFB it should certainly come down to the winner of the Iron Bowl goes to Atlanta.

We've recruited far too much talent at this point not to have the mentality of being a championship contender if managed right. Of course players will have to execute but a lot of the upcoming season is on Gus. He's got all he needs and now it's time to get it done!

I'm fully convinced this is a playoff team as long as: 1. Gus let's Chip do what he needs to do with the offense and isn't calling ANY of the plays. I'm not naive in understanding Gus will still be involved in the offense. However, Cox better not have a passing attempt all year! 2. Players stay focused and don't get into any trouble throughout the season. This team should most certainly have at least 10 wins when it's all said and done. 

 

I think people are missing that keyword: CONTENDER

[WarEagle1983 2,185]

1 hour ago, Charhair said:

Stidham only started against Oklahoma (loss by 10) k-state and ok-state. Not necessarily SEC tier. And lost to the biggest opponent he's ever faced in OU. And it's not like those teams had anymore film on him than they did JJ. Add on that Stidham ended 2015 with an injury and hasn't taken a "real" snap since.

While that is more impressive than WCU/Arky/FAU (I think that's who else JJ played, can't quite remember that third game) it's not like throwing for 950/3 against some big 12 teams is enough to know that he can beat bama.

it is a media problem, I've agreed to that already. But the fans pumping themselves up with it and then being ready to clean house by the first or second loss of the season is why I think the crazy preseason expectations are ridiculous. If we played to our potential year in and year out, I'd say it is completely rational. But we've now had fans and media talking about the amount of QB talent we've had for 3 years now where it's ended up being our Achilles heal in the last two seasons. 

Im just voicing my opinion on it, just like the fans who are hyping him and our team up are doing. If you accept and enjoy the homerism than you've gotta be open to the negative nancies too. 

Besides the year JJ took over, i didn't see many fans having the belief we were a major contender going into last season. IMO that was due to the fact that we had the same players particularly at QB coming back. There was a lot of hope that a QB transfer could be the answer and/or the fact that Gus proclaimed he was going to change the course of how he was going to be more involved with the QBs and going to make certain changes. IMO it was more excitement and hope focused on changes Gus claimed he was going to make that would in turn lead to our QBs being better prepared and performing better that had many excited. That was my excitement anyway. Instead, we had a QB debacle the first game and stayed that way until Gus finally came to his senses and allowed his OC to perform the job he's hired to do. I can understand the hesitation so i'm certainly not disagreeing with it.

It's just for me that i'm tired of "running" from the fact that Auburn should be in the same discussions with FSU, Ohio State, Bama, LSU...UGA..etc being contenders. UGA fans have been delusional for how many years with NC hope? Still doesn't stop their fans for believing they are contenders each year. With the level of talent they recruit they should believe. And possibly much of our fan base hesitation comes from the fact that the years we have done well is when no one expected us to do anything and people love the fact we're the underdog. I personally don't gear my expectations according to the media b/c those guys have sucked when it comes to ultimately predicting the top teams. But that's where really knowing your team objectively comes in to play for me. There will always be some missing parts but as a whole this team should be seen as a playoff team. No doubt it.

Discussing the Heisman at this point is a waste of time for me. I just want our offense to look prepared, have the ability to make the adjustments needed, have a solid game plan and play calling that gives us the best chance to win. If that leads to JS putting up Heisman numbers then that's just extra IMO. I'm tired of losing to horrible UGA teams and getting our behinds handed to us against Bama. I could care less about the Heisman.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

[WarEagle1983 2,185]

26 minutes ago, DAG said:

I think people are missing that keyword: CONTENDER

Agree. And we should be contenders more years than not. 

[Linayus 676]

4 hours ago, WDE_OxPx_2010 said:

I'm not alone in my assessment. Lots of the media thinks we're being over hyped.

Link to more talking heads

Auburn should've been a 10 win team last season with a fairly one dimensional offense. With a QB who can stretch the field (and yes, I believe he can and will), 10 wins should be our lower expectation of this season. Even with the losses on the d-line, we've got the depth and talent to be good enough there to not really miss a beat. The FPI has us 5th but with an average of about 9 wins. I'd say that's pretty darn fair considering it's our SOS that's boosting us above several of the teams below us. They have us losing to Clemson, LSU, and Bama. That's pretty realistic to me!

[WFE12 9,191]

1 hour ago, WarEagle1983 said:

Besides the year JJ took over, i didn't see many fans having the belief we were a major contender going into last season. IMO that was due to the fact that we had the same players particularly at QB coming back. There was a lot of hope that a QB transfer could be the answer and/or the fact that Gus proclaimed he was going to change the course of how he was going to be more involved with the QBs and going to make certain changes. IMO it was more excitement and hope focused on changes Gus claimed he was going to make that would in turn lead to our QBs being better prepared and performing better that had many excited. That was my excitement anyway. Instead, we had a QB debacle the first game and stayed that way until Gus finally came to his senses and allowed his OC to perform the job he's hired to do. I can understand the hesitation so i'm certainly not disagreeing with it.

It's just for me that i'm tired of "running" from the fact that Auburn should be in the same discussions with FSU, Ohio State, Bama, LSU...UGA..etc being contenders. UGA fans have been delusional for how many years with NC hope? Still doesn't stop their fans for believing they are contenders each year. With the level of talent they recruit they should believe. And possibly much of our fan base hesitation comes from the fact that the years we have done well is when no one expected us to do anything and people love the fact we're the underdog. I personally don't gear my expectations according to the media b/c those guys have sucked when it comes to ultimately predicting the top teams. But that's where really knowing your team objectively comes in to play for me. There will always be some missing parts but as a whole this team should be seen as a playoff team. No doubt it.

Discussing the Heisman at this point is a waste of time for me. I just want our offense to look prepared, have the ability to make the adjustments needed, have a solid game plan and play calling that gives us the best chance to win. If that leads to JS putting up Heisman numbers then that's just extra IMO. I'm tired of losing to horrible UGA teams and getting our behinds handed to us against Bama. I could care less about the Heisman.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

This is what I'm talking about! we are a freaking powerhouse school. I've been tired of the underdog label too. We got the players and coaches...God forbid any major injuries we are in the conversation no doubt about it.

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

By any definition, we contended last year. 

I have every expectation that we will contend this year.

WDE

[WDE_OxPx_2010 5,297]

4 hours ago, DAG said:

For instance, if someone were to create a thread titled "pump your brake on the JS hype." I am not going to go on that thread and ask the freaking moderators to delete it. That is silly.

 

If this is what has everyone in a tizzy, that was some serious sarcasm on my part. I guess it didn't translate well, and that's my fault. I would never expect a literal lock and delete. It was my way of starting the discussion.

Quote

If we played to our potential year in and year out, I'd say it is completely rational. But we've now had fans and media talking about the amount of QB talent we've had for 3 years now where it's ended up being our Achilles heal in the last two seasons. 

@Charhair posted this, and this is what I'm saying. Show me we can sustain it and I'll jump on board. Until then, I'm just not going to get overly excited. But that's my opinion, and this is the internet. It's just a discussion.

[Charhair 345]

I'm not trying to compare JJ and JS as players, I'm just saying we have been unpleasantly surprised at our QB play the past couple of years. 

I believe JS looks like he could be a great one. But i personally will wait until I see our new OC and offense in action with him facing true high caliber defenses week in week out before I make a judgement.

i think SW (assuming he heals well) leading this team could be a contender too. Great running game, good defense, good QB play. JS I believe gives us more of a chance based off what I've seen but like I said...

Like I said in one of my earlier posts, it's just a little early for me. 

[I_M4_AU 7,810]

Gus has known talent on the offensive side of the ball to start the season this year.  In previous years that Gus has been the head coach he extended his fall camp into the first 3 games of the season and has cost us a game or two until he knew what he wanted to do offensively.  If Gus can come out of the gate with a strong offensive showing in the first two games, it will show me he picked the correct OC and Gus is letting the man coach.

I love hearing the hype, but I will wait to see how Gus starts the season before determining how good we are and can be.  JS looked very good in the A-day game and I have confidence in his game.  SW should be a capable packup that should get some good reps in games that are well in hand (hoping Gus and Chip will do this throughout the season) and should be a great option if called upon.  JMO, I could be wrong.

[WarEagle1983 2,185]

2 hours ago, I_M4_AU said:

Gus has known talent on the offensive side of the ball to start the season this year.  In previous years that Gus has been the head coach he extended his fall camp into the first 3 games of the season and has cost us a game or two until he knew what he wanted to do offensively.  If Gus can come out of the gate with a strong offensive showing in the first two games, it will show me he picked the correct OC and Gus is letting the man coach.

I love hearing the hype, but I will wait to see how Gus starts the season before determining how good we are and can be.  JS looked very good in the A-day game and I have confidence in his game.  SW should be a capable packup that should get some good reps in games that are well in hand (hoping Gus and Chip will do this throughout the season) and should be a great option if called upon.  JMO, I could be wrong.

This is where CCL would need to assert himself as OC IF needed. I understand that even if you go into a game with a plan..esp. to start the season that it may require more tweaking from week 1 to 3. However, we can't afford to drop 1 or 2 games experimenting like we did last year. Fortunately we play GA Southern before Clemson to get things worked out some.  

[bikeriderga 134]

On 4/10/2017 at 11:41 AM, gr82b4au said:

Yes we should have a chance to win every game we play if we are healthy. That is the biggest key of all. Last year injuries decimated this team in November. 

We stay healthy, we can win a lot of games. 

Bingo!