Gus going for it on 4th dn to open game

[War Knight 514]

It's terribly sad that he had to be booed to make that decision in my opinion. Go back and watch the games we've lost against good teams. $5 says we settle for field goals numerous times when a touchdown was within reach.

[kd4au 1,145]

You would think with the way the defense is playing it wouldn't be a hard call to make to go for it, Gus needs to trust how good the D is and man up in going for it in these situations. On a bright note we did see a new play from the wildcat and overall I thought the play calling was better last night, we did at least pass in the red zone a few times.

[around4ever 4,139]

1 hour ago, War Knight said:

It's terribly sad that he had to be booed to make that decision in my opinion. Go back and watch the games we've lost against good teams. $5 says we settle for field goals numerous times when a touchdown was within reach.

I doubt very seriously that the booing had any bearing on his decision. It better not anyway. 

[Scotty2Hotty 520]

16 minutes ago, kd4au said:

On a bright note we did see a new play from the wildcat

Not new. Gus ran it against Arkansas State in 2010 and against Alabama in 2014. But very refreshing to see Johnson give it to someone else. LONG overdue.

[yngwie1995 2,229]

32 minutes ago, around4ever said:

I doubt very seriously that the booing had any bearing on his decision. It better not anyway. 

Then why'd he send out the FG unit, and then call a timeout?

[around4ever 4,139]

19 minutes ago, yngwie1995 said:

Then why'd he send out the FG unit, and then call a timeout?

He had a few seconds to think about it and probably had asst. coaches and an OC in his ear. He may not have known the ball was inside the 1 yard line.  No respectable HC is going to let fan pressure change his mind. 

[IronMan70 3,277]

50 minutes ago, kd4au said:

You would think with the way the defense is playing it wouldn't be a hard call to make to go for it, Gus needs to trust how good the D is and man up in going for it in these situations. On a bright note we did see a new play from the wildcat and overall I thought the play calling was better last night, we did at least pass in the red zone a few times.

It's obvious that Gus is actually making a real effort to get outside his own comfort zone. I give him credit for that. That goal line call, turning the offense over to his OC and the way he is now conducting himself on game day, as a HC instead of an OC, are all examples of that.  It's a huge step in the right direction. Gus may have finally had the "head coach light bulb" come on and it comes just in the nick of time for this season. By the way, I thought Chip Lindsey's balanced play calling was some of the best we have seen in some time. Sure there is always going to be an issue with a play here or there but overall it was some very good play calling. 

[DAG 33,977]

6 minutes ago, IronMan70 said:

It's obvious that Gus is actually making a real effort to get outside his own comfort zone. I give him credit for that. That goal line call, turning the offense over to his OC and the way he is now conducting himself on game day, as a HC instead of an OC, are all examples of that.  It's a huge step in the right direction. Gus may have finally had the "head coach light bulb" come on and it comes just in the nick of time for this season. By the way, I thought Chip Lindsey's balanced play calling was some of the best we have seen in some time. Sure there is always going to be an issue with a play here or there but overall it was some very good play calling. 

I am very impressed with CCL and the defensive staff as an entirety . Our secondary has great fundamentals that make up for speed . I think the WRs still need to get comfortable with Stidham and Chip is slowly trying to find an identity with them .

[AUloggerhead 2,229]

2 hours ago, around4ever said:

He had a few seconds to think about it and probably had asst. coaches and an OC in his ear. He may not have known the ball was inside the 1 yard line.  No respectable HC is going to let fan pressure change his mind. 

No, I disagree with this.  It shouldn't even need to be mentioned that the HC should ALWAYS know where the ball is, especially in the red zone and certainly when the ball is inside the 5-yd line.  Moreover ... ... any 'respectable' HC should have a plan to know what play to run on such occasions.  Having to call a TO within the first 3 minutes of the game to be able to call such a play is inexcusable.  It suggests two things:  (1) the HC is unprepared for what to do when the team is on the 1/2-yd line in the 1Q, and (2) the HC showed the team his lack of confidence in them being able to get a 1/2-yd.     

[around4ever 4,139]

7 minutes ago, AUloggerhead said:

No, I disagree with this.  It shouldn't even need to be mentioned that the HC should ALWAYS know where the ball is, especially in the red zone and certainly when the ball is inside the 5-yd line.  Moreover ... ... any 'respectable' HC should have a plan to know what play to run on such occasions.  Having to call a TO within the first 3 minutes of the game to be able to call such a play is inexcusable.  It suggests two things:  (1) the HC is unprepared for what to do when the team is on the 1/2-yd line in the 1Q, and (2) the HC showed the team his lack of confidence in them being able to get a 1/2-yd.     

You are not disagreeing with me. See my post earlier in this thread.  I stated the same points. A coach standing on the 30 yard line can't tell exactly where the ball is near the goal line until the video board replay shows it.  He didn't wait for that.   He sent the FG team out almost immediately then saw it and had coaches in the press box telling him where it was.  At that point he had to call time out to get the offense back on the field. 

[bg5 536]

I am one of the last people who still stands behind Gus (or at least that's the way it feels) but when he sent out the FG unit the first thing I said was, Ok this is enough, even if we blow this team away Gus needs to go. Glad they changed it up.  

[TigerOne 1,140]

Only issue is having to take a timeout and think about it. Seems the mindset should already be if we are inside the 5 we are going for it.

To me this was when the game was won. Auburn made a statement and showed confidence.