***FINAL: Auburn 41 Georgia Southern 7 --- Post-Game Thread***

[Timeslider 6 269]

It's obvious the bama trolls are out. 

[WarEagleHunter1221 1,690]

I gotta say, I don't see our production on the DL dropping any this year. Davidson, Holland, and Brown are some baaaaaaaaad dudes. Coe was making noise too in his first game. Those three though, they are next level players. Wow. 

[lionheartkc 6,150]

7 hours ago, Eagle-1 said:

So you're saying if Jarrett goes down, Sean's suspension goes away? What the Hades kind of suspension is that? I swear if Gus was not a football coach he should look into being a politician, or espionage. Jeez!

I don't know if Gus would/could be that guy, but I've seen other coaches do it. Note that he has never used the word suspension and made it very clear that he's never going to tell anyone what's going on.

[Eagle-1 3,821]

9 minutes ago, lionheartkc said:

I don't know if Gus would/could be that guy, but I've seen other coaches do it. Note that he has never used the word suspension and made it very clear that he's never going to tell anyone what's going on.

That's for sure, and when he does I don't believe a word of it. Like announcing Sean White as the starter last year before the Clemson game, and then playing three QB Monty all night.

[AURex 1,984]

19 minutes ago, AU64 said:

As for KJ, he's been one of my favorites since day 1....and I don't know what can be done to keep him from breaking down on a fluke play like that. 

Yes, I've always liked KJ too. I know he is frustrated and angry. He worked hard in the off season strengthening his body, trying to reduce his risk of injury, because he knows he is not the sturdiest guy around. I feel bad for him. I hope he can get past this quickly.

[Barnacle 9,064]

No way that you can put KJ's injury on Gus. That's absurd. 

[AUpreacherman22 3,876]

27 minutes ago, WarEagleHunter1221 said:

I gotta say, I don't see our production on the DL dropping any this year. Davidson, Holland, and Brown are some baaaaaaaaad dudes. Coe was making noise too in his first game. Those three though, they are next level players. Wow. 

Don't forget about Russell.  He is as solid as it gets in the middle of that line!

[cole256 17,039]

7 minutes ago, Barnacle said:

No way that you can put KJ's injury on Gus. That's absurd. 

No i won't put it on Gus but I will say I've seen teams that is more running heavy than us be much more efficient in substituting.....kj ran the ball 16 times in a row. I personally think that's stupid. 

[Barnacle 9,064]

1 minute ago, cole256 said:

No i won't put it on Gus but I will say I've seen teams that is more running heavy than us be much more efficient in substituting.....kj ran the ball 16 times in a row. I personally think that's stupid. 

That's a good point, and I won't argue with it. 

[Eagle-1 3,821]

8 hours ago, subterranean_jack said:

There is improvement on offense over last year, but there is a whole lot that needs work. If we weren't playing Clemson in less than a week, then we would all be saying there is plenty of time to work out the kinks before the conference games begin. The OL run blocked well, but the pass protection was not very good, particularly the left side of the line. Herb needs to get that fixed pronto. The fumble was not Stidham's fault. The left side left him unprotected. If it happens against Clemson, their DL will hurt Stidham. If that happens, not getting Malik some reps tonight is going to seem unforgivably stupid. Obviously, the coaches don't want to burn his redshirt, but we ARE playing the national champion on their home field next week, and we don't have a back-up ready to go against one of the top defenses in the country?

The O was sloppy at times and I don't think you can give the typical excuse of playing a weak sister because GA Southern was playing hard. I'll buy Stidham was rusty and a bit nervous. And, yes, with Pettway on the field, the defense would have backed off more. I like the new routes and Sal looks like a weapon who is in danger of being woefully underutilized, but overall the WRs did not dominate like they should have against a Sunbelt secondary. I don't buy we went vanilla to confuse Clemson. I don't think we are that smart. What we saw tonight IS the new offense. Passing game requires improvement all around to be effective against good teams-- OL, QB, TE, & WRs. A few new bells and whistles, but how much it still looks the same is what is so alarming. Yes, we were probably trying to run the clock and didn't need to sling it, but there's nothing on tonight's film that is going to keep Clemson defenders from getting a good night's sleep.

As soon as I saw Gus with the headphones on, and the play sheet in his hands I knew we were not going to see too much difference in the offense. Yes, we saw a few new routes,  but the play calling still looks to me like they nail the play sheet to a tree, and throw darts at it.

[cole256 17,039]

Just now, Barnacle said:

That's a good point, and I won't argue with it. 

I guess what irritates me the most about it, you know this guy has a history with injuries, you know pettway is out; this is basically a fluff game; you know Clemson is up next; and judging by kam's performance you had to know he could at the least be respectable; and lastly you did the same thing with pettway as well last year.....just seem like you wouldn't be giving a guy 20 carries in the first half

[Barnacle 9,064]

Just now, cole256 said:

I guess what irritates me the most about it, you know this guy has a history with injuries, you know pettway is out; this is basically a fluff game; you know Clemson is up next; and judging by kam's performance you had to know he could at the least be respectable; and lastly you did the same thing with pettway as well last year.....just seem like you wouldn't be giving a guy 20 carries in the first half

Yeah, again, those are good points. I just don't see 15-20 carries as being too many, even for GA Southern. But, sure you'd like to see them subbing in and out more instead of giving him 16 straight. 

[FoundationEagle 637]

1 hour ago, AURex said:

No, I'm not kidding. It was not his 6th carry. It was his 16th carry and that was only about 5 minutes into the 2nd quarter. I hope the injury is not serious and that he can come back quickly. KJ is a good change of pace for KP. He works hard and deserves playing time. He;'s definitely a positive on the team. But you can't ride him like that.

Cadillac and Ronnie Brown used to carry 40 times a game. Where were their injuries to blame on Tubs?

[Bottomfeeder 244]

My main concern is the offensive line's performance. It was mediocre at best and needs a lot of work. The receiving corp dropped passes and missed blocking assignments resulting in lost points. The offensive scheme seems to have Malzahn's fingerprints on it, which is concerning to me. This team needs to change a lot of things before Saturday. Losing KJ for Saturday is another concern. I will accept any kind of W we can muster again Clemson.

[cole256 17,039]

4 minutes ago, Barnacle said:

Yeah, again, those are good points. I just don't see 15-20 carries as being too many, even for GA Southern. But, sure you'd like to see them subbing in and out more instead of giving him 16 straight. 

Look at bammer, Stanford, Wisconsin, and Clemson's rushing attempts...also keep in mind that one of the first things Gus said was we have great hb depth, and those teams attempts are the ENTIRE game not a half. Clemson guys will be fresh and ready to go....what is our guy going to do? Pettway will have 20 carries in the first half and if it's a close game? Well....advantage them

[cole256 17,039]

4 minutes ago, FoundationEagle said:

Cadillac and Ronnie Brown used to carry 40 times a game. Where were their injuries to blame on Tubs?

Can you show the stats when both of them played they each carried the ball 40?

[Barnacle 9,064]

Just now, cole256 said:

Pettway will have 20 carries in the first half and if it's a close game? Well....advantage them

Yeah, and this is another reason why I've been harping on RB depth since the off-season. Need some of the young backs to grow up in a hurry. If Pettway goes down, you can pretty much say goodbye to an SEC championship. 

[AidiAU 1,270]

1 hour ago, weagl1 said:

My thoughts:

D was magnificent especially the D line.  Kudos to the D coaching staff their guys looked great even the backups.  

OL was horrible in pass protection the first half.  A little better in the second half. If they come out next week like they came out this week we will have no chance against the Clemson DL.  

I feel sorry for KJ.  The kid is great when he is well but he just can't stay that way.  KM did well but we need big Bubba back and rolling to get the inside running game going.  

Stidham looked like a deer in the headlights the first half but settled down as he got better protection later on.  Receivers still dropping balls.like last year.  I was expecting big things from NCM but he was MIA in the passing game just like last year.

Always surprising any time you actually see Legatron miss.  

I never try to read too much into a first game especially an easy win but the OL pass blocking, the JS happy feet and inaccuracy along with the drops have to be concerning.  I expected much better from the passing game.  

 

NCM was hurt last year - for most of the season I believe. 

[fredst 9,064]

25 minutes ago, cole256 said:

No i won't put it on Gus but I will say I've seen teams that is more running heavy than us be much more efficient in substituting.....kj ran the ball 16 times in a row. I personally think that's stupid. 

Yep. And later, when Martin fumbled, Gus gave him an earful on the sideline but the guy had just run it five straight plays or so and was winded. That's where the whole "hurry up and run the play" plan is just self-defeating IMO.

[AU64 10,122]

31 minutes ago, Barnacle said:

No way that you can put KJ's injury on Gus. That's absurd. 

Well I gave folks time to see the error in this logic....it was Chip's offense, decided who played and called the plays unless Gus was doing it with telepathy so if you want to blame a coach for a fluke injury write CCL on it. . 

Meanwhile,  think what we did not see from a usual Gus offense last night.......no arm flapping or other antics along sideline by Gus, only one speed sweep, virtually no meaningless shifts or re-positioning of players, very few backs or WRs in motion and few of the usual pulling guard plays once KJ went down.   Basically, none of of the smoke and mirrors stuff that we associate with Gus and only one screen a WR.  

This was so vanilla that it bore the fingerprints of no one....and told Clemson NOTHING....which in my view, was a primary objective...along with winning the game of course.

[johnnyAU 3,630]

We needed more Malik "the Masher" Miller too IMHO.  Who, BTW, averaged 5 yds/carry (3 for 15)

He also happens to be my "man crush".   

[Barnacle 9,064]

Just now, AU64 said:

Well I gave folks time to see the error in this logic....it was Chip's offense, decided who played and called the plays unless Gus was doing it with telepathy so if you want to blame a coach for a fluke injury write CCL on it. 

I still don't blame either coach for the injury, but I do think Cole made a good point about substituting. I was listening on the radio and didn't catch the fact that they weren't substituting him out. 16 carries through a quarter and a half of play is a lot when you've got fresh legs behind you. Still, that pulled hamstring could have happened on his first run of the game. 

[lionheartkc 6,150]

41 minutes ago, Barnacle said:

No way that you can put KJ's injury on Gus. That's absurd. 

I still very much question if we do enough flexibility training in our conditioning. Coach Russell needs to get these boys doing yoga.

[Barnacle 9,064]

3 minutes ago, AU64 said:

This was so vanilla that it bore the fingerprints of no one....and told Clemson NOTHING....which in my view, was a primary objective...along with winning the game of course.

Nothing wrong with the play calling last night, agreed. 

[TAYLORKEETON 786]

Too early to start complaining about the play calling. You'd hope you wouldn't have to open the playbook against a team like Georgia Southern. Now if the calls aren't any different next week against Clemson, it's a different story.