Now that we have (hopefully) calmed down

[BJCrawford 1,568]

1 minute ago, AUDevil said:

Offensive coordinators and their schemes have a very short shelf life in the SEC...4 years tops.  An OC has to constantly adjust, if not reinvent themselves to maintain an advantage in this league.  We made a dumb hire and should've known we'd only get 2 or 3 decent years out of it.  His concepts were great 7 years ago...but it was never going to last.  We need to move on ASAP.

Maybe he feels that since he has written a book on his stellar offensive schemes, he canno deviate from it?

[Eagle-1 3,821]

53 minutes ago, abw0004 said:

What I am about to say is not excusing the game and what happened.  Like in anything I do, I try to sit back and look at the whole turn of events after time has passed where cooler heads will prevail.  I have found that speaking in the midst of emotion can only lead to bad/embarrassing things.  None of these things individually made Auburn lose, or even as a collective, but they are worth noting.

I will start off by saying the LSU game did hurt.  It was painful to watch after such a strong start.  There were a few things I noticed from the game I think we do need to consider.

One thing I am starting to notice is LSU's respect for opposing teams.  I always knew their fans were nasty, and was not a place to take your children for a game.  For me it started with the Florida debacle last year.  This year during the game LSU was unwilling to let Auburn do what they needed to do to cool off our players.  Auburn was sitting in over 100 heat, while LSU's bench was in 80 degree weather.  Major difference.  On top of that, LSU has never let Auburn bring their cooled benches.  With that, many players were overheating, and had to come off the field due to cramps.

Injuries were a major issues.  On defense, I believe on of the main issues was the breakdown in communication.  The two leaders on defense for communication were Tre Williams and Tray Matthews.  One did not play, and the other got injured.  This lead to communication mishaps.  Our center, Casey Dunn, also went down, who controls all of the calls for the offensive line.  We got hurt in the areas we really could not afford to lose.

The kick return was a big issue for me with the block in the back on Eli Stove that was never called.  That play was the momentum changer.  If that was called, the score may have ended up the same still, but who knows.

Our receivers just simply could not catch anything in the second half, or get any separation.  Stidham did all he could do and threw really pretty balls to the guys.  I don't really know what went wrong there.

I was disappointed in Aubie trolling LSU (and Ole Miss), essentially stooping to their level.  It is not like Aubie to do that.  And as we know it backfired big time.  Disappointed for sure.

Lastly, I want to address the fans as a whole.  I know this loss was frustrating.  It hurt big time.  But we need to stay away from attacking the players like some have done.  We also need to stay away from people like Heath Evans who uses Auburn for his personal gain.  He did this same thing in 2012.  I am very happy to see Nosa Eguae call him out this morning.  I agreed with everything he said.  I see many people blame Gus for the play calling when the last few weeks it was a consensus agreement that Chip Lindsey was calling the plays.  I did not agree with all of the play calling, but we have the coordinators to get this back on track.  We are 5-2, not 2-5.

We lost, and it is time to look ahead to Arkansas.  The world has not ended, just like it didn't after Clemson.  What those players need right now is for us to rally around them, not tear them apart.  I hope this gets through to at least one person.  Thank you.

Oh my Goodness!

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

Four things:

1) I want whatever the OP is taking.  That's gotta be some real good stuff.

2) With all of the problems on the field Saturday, you're worried about freaking AUBIE?!  Dude, priorities.  It's a damn mascot.

3) Yeah, we're 5-2.  We should be 7-0.  Offensive play calling is the only thing stopping that from being the case right now.

4)  You couldn't be more wrong about their fans.  I didn't pay for food or drinks all day.  Those people put Auburn's pre-game tailgating scene and hospitality to shame.

 

[wdefromtx 3,159]

2 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

Three things:

1) I want whatever the OP is taking.  That's gotta be some real good stuff.

2) With all of the problems on the field Saturday, you're worried about freaking AUBIE?!  Dude, priorities.  It's a damn mascot.

3) Yeah, we're 5-2.  We should be 7-0.  Offensive play calling is the only thing stopping that from being the case right now.

I guess you could say our offensive play calling was pretty offensive!!  

[JBiGGiE 2,488]

The sunshine well is pushing up dust these days. And I was one of the last few still cranking out of desperation. Short of an immediate coaching change I can hardly see how we fix the problem that's keeping us from performing at a top 10 level.

[McLoofus 35,182]

44 minutes ago, abw0004 said:

I see many people blame Gus for the play calling when the last few weeks it was a consensus agreement that Chip Lindsey was calling the plays.

I'm not going to jump on you for your post, but I do want to discuss this.

-Please look at the play calling the first half of the Ole Miss game and then compare it to the 2nd half. Then look at the play calling in the first quarter against LSU and compare it to the last 3 quarters. I'm not talking about just the number of runs vs the number of passes. I'm talking about the actual plays.

You will see that the first half against Ole Miss and the first quarter against LSU were creative and diverse. The quarters after those were inside handoffs on first down on almost every single possession. They were often inside handoffs on 2nd down, too. Then they were long developing pass plays where Stidham stared at one WR downfield for about 3 seconds and then still threw to him even though he was double covered. I'm only slightly exaggerating here. 

-Now compare the play calls in those later quarters to any single quarter that Chip Lindsey has called the plays for before he got to Auburn. No, I haven't watched them all, but I can almost guarantee you that he has never called a game that looked anything like what we've seen from our offense this year. The plays he ran at previous stops that I watched looked nothing like what our offense has done this season. And he frequently threw intermediate passes in the middle of the field.

-Think about the fact that we're even having a discussion about who calls the plays for our football team. Think about the fact that our head coach had to hand over play calling duties midstream last season, and that our offensive coordinator moved from the sidelines to the box this season. I don't think that I'm being anything but objective when I say that our head coach isn't sure how he wants his offense run, and that it is highly susceptible to drastic changes from week to week. 

It's not a bad thing that Gus will be gone after this season. It's a very bad thing that Chip Lindsey and Kevin Steele will be, too. And some of these players. They've all got more guts and more balls than Gus does and it really breaks my heart that he's forcing them to fail. 

 

[SaltyTiger 7,777]

1 minute ago, Brad_ATX said:

Three things:

1) I want whatever the OP is taking.  That's gotta be some real good stuff.

2) With all of the problems on the field Saturday, you're worried about freaking AUBIE?!  Dude, priorities.  It's a damn mascot.

3) Yeah, we're 5-2.  We should be 7-0.  Offensive play calling is the only thing stopping that from being the case right now.

Awful Brad. I am always concerned about Aubie

I have calmed down and apparently you have not.

Now, take 3 deep breaths and lets humanely discuss the upside and positives regarding  Gus.........................................................................................................................

.............your turn, I'm waiting

[msza 228]

Some people want Gus out, some want him to stay. Can we compromise and let him coach the first half of games, then bring on a closer HC for the second half?  Cuz we'd probably win a championship every year . . .

[80Tiger 899]

18 minutes ago, abw0004 said:

Well I am a person who sticks to my views.  I have no issue doing it, and have done it in the past.  I can get 50 face palms, but I will still stick to what I believe.  Many people on here jump from bandwagon to bandwagon depending on the outcome of the game.  For instance a few people who responded on this thread on Friday were saying that they were happy with how things are going with the coaching staff, and how games were being handled.  That should be more frustrating since they are showing what they post has no substance because they flip-flop with what everyone else is doing.

I understand everyone's views, and I may be alone in mine but that is okay.   You guys have made valid points this weekend and I respect what you guys have to say which is why I am not arguing my point to anyone.

I am one that while I have had my frustrations over the years, I respected that Gus was the HC. It's his program and he gets to do what he wants to do. He can call the plays if he wants to. He can run the defense if he wants to. That is what the HC gets to decide. I have never been one that insisted that Gus hand over play calling duties or not be involved with the game from an offensive stand point. I have not been one to call for a change after year 2, 3 or 4. Changes done quickly like that wreck a program. So I say that to indicate that I am not one that has been flip flopping.

That said, it is time to move on. Yes we may win 7 or 8 games a year, but 3 of those are out of conference cupcakes and the rest of them are wins over the lower tier SEC. We do not win big games under Gus. We caught some luck in 2013, but outside of that every important game we have failed in. This was the worst LSU team in 20 years and we could not beat them. It wasn't about injuries, or communication and there was no block in the back on the punt return. It was about the failure of our offense to be creative or to make any type adjustments. And it has been for quite some time beginning with UGA and UAT in 2014  (we scored a lot of points against UAT in 2014 but we left a lot on the field in the first half that year just like last Saturday).

A person is not being a disloyal AU fan by demanding changes. It has been 5 years.

[The Freak 2,526]

31 minutes ago, abw0004 said:

Not true Auburn fans because they don't agree with you?  That is a little dumb don't you think?  Last time I checked I drive to Auburn for every home game and away game within a 3 hour distance.  I also donate to the school every year.  Do you?  Not to mention I am also a graduate of the school.

You're so much a more loyal fan than the rest of us.

[abw0004 10,110]

*no need to quote and keep that garbage up*

Did you really just say that?  You do realize that there are women on this forum that post and people that have different sexual orientations than you that you just put down right?  I know you and I differ on our view of the program, but I will never stoop down to those comments I guarantee that.  

All of you can disagree with my post all you want, but if anyone else decides they want to stoop down to posts like this I have zero respect for you.

[arktiger05 9]

The frustrating part of this from my perspective is that we lack a killer instinct to keep the hammer down and finish games. We have seen this over and over again: Get a big lead and then try to run the clock out. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

The lack of offensive production in the 2H of the LSU game was foreshadowed by the poor 2H performance with Ole Miss. Clearly teams are making adjustments vs. our schemes and we are not. LSU was always a dangerous team but to loose a 20pt lead is embarrassing and I think shows that Gus is out of his depth. Just like in the Clemson game, we had no intermediate passing game for some unknown reason and our special teams (excluding Carlson) is a joke. I don't think Gus is adroit at handling big time expectations and his player discipline and development have been highly suspect since he became HC. 

My only concern is I don't know who we replace him with if we fire him and I would hate to start over on defense after the turnaround there. That said, I don't think Gus can take us where we all want to go. His record against LSU, UGA and Alabama is inexcusable and baring two fluke plays he would be O-fer against our two biggest rivals. 

[selias 2,398]

BFS...Battered Fan Syndrome

[logan adams 333]

Gus has to win out for me to support him. Otherwise, I will not support him any longer. That is not to say that I will not support my Tigers. War Eagle always. 

[PowerOfDixieland 3,226]

Did anyone ever call you a "Yes Man"?  982 posts and 832 likes?  You must be easy like Sunday morning.  

[ClaytonAU 4,606]

42 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

Four things:

1) I want whatever the OP is taking.  That's gotta be some real good stuff.

2) With all of the problems on the field Saturday, you're worried about freaking AUBIE?!  Dude, priorities.  It's a damn mascot.

3) Yeah, we're 5-2.  We should be 7-0.  Offensive play calling is the only thing stopping that from being the case right now.

4)  You couldn't be more wrong about their fans.  I didn't pay for food or drinks all day.  Those people put Auburn's pre-game tailgating scene and hospitality to shame.

 

Yeah the fans were really nice on Saturday. The students who are my age gave the guys and I some hell but the older ones gave us anything we wanted under their tent on Saturday.

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

Just now, ClaytonAU said:

Yeah the fans were really nice on Saturday. The students who are my age gave the guys and I some hell but the older ones gave us anything we wanted under their tent on Saturday.

That's literally the experience I've had every time I've gone down there and I'm in my mid-30s.  Their fans actively stopped me on the sidewalk and told me to come party/eat/drink with them.  And this was at multiple tailgates.  That doesn't happen anywhere else.

[abw0004 10,110]

2 minutes ago, PowerOfDixieland said:

Did anyone ever call you a "Yes Man"?  982 posts and 832 likes?  You must be easy like Sunday morning.  

The way I look at it, is I try to post quality, not quantity.  I never wanted to be a poster on here that makes a post without adding value to it.  Kind of the Eagle Scout in me wanting to leave a place better than I found it.  So when I do post, I want to make sure it counts, so I limit what I say (or I try to).  Now, not everyone agrees with me, as this thread is obvious to that, but that is okay.  Someone somewhere apparently does from time to time, in which I am thankful for them throwing the "like" my way.  You guys do make some great points though.  I hope that makes some sense of my method.

[keesler 5,924]

Malzhan is in over his head.  

We'd ALL say the same damn thing if another conference rival had the same W-L record and stats we have. 

We'd laugh our tails off, point fingers, chuckle at the demise of a once proud program that used be be strong and a real threat in the mighty SEC.  We'd hope and pray they offered contract extensions and retained him forever,  just like we felt towards Mike Shula.

SEC fans aren't stupid, and neither is this Auburn man - I know a solid football team when I see one, I know a solid coaching staff when I see the product they consistently put on the field, I recognize teams that can evolve and make adjustments, I can spot players that are getting fundamentally strong development, coaching and training. 

After 5 years, I refuse to blame the heat/weather conditions, injuries, communication mishaps, poor officiating, WRs lack of execution & having game changing drops, and I damn sure refuse to throw Aubie's troll job into the bag of excuses that may have caused AU to give up a 20 pt lead against a team that has a buffoon for a HC.

 

 

[Butthead 525]

+1 to kessler.  the ship has sailed and time to move on.  it makes no sense to keep a coach that cannot seem to coach the second half of games.  or a coach that is offensive minded but cannot score points against our biggest rivals.  i'm done.

[WarDamnEagleWDE 12,737]

2 hours ago, abw0004 said:

What I am about to say is not excusing the game and what happened.  Like in anything I do, I try to sit back and look at the whole turn of events after time has passed where cooler heads will prevail.  I have found that speaking in the midst of emotion can only lead to bad/embarrassing things.  None of these things individually made Auburn lose, or even as a collective, but they are worth noting.

I will start off by saying the LSU game did hurt.  It was painful to watch after such a strong start.  There were a few things I noticed from the game I think we do need to consider.

One thing I am starting to notice is LSU's respect for opposing teams.  I always knew their fans were nasty, and was not a place to take your children for a game.  For me it started with the Florida debacle last year.  This year during the game LSU was unwilling to let Auburn do what they needed to do to cool off our players.  Auburn was sitting in over 100 heat, while LSU's bench was in 80 degree weather.  Major difference.  On top of that, LSU has never let Auburn bring their cooled benches.  With that, many players were overheating, and had to come off the field due to cramps.

Injuries were a major issues.  On defense, I believe on of the main issues was the breakdown in communication.  The two leaders on defense for communication were Tre Williams and Tray Matthews.  One did not play, and the other got injured.  This lead to communication mishaps.  Our center, Casey Dunn, also went down, who controls all of the calls for the offensive line.  We got hurt in the areas we really could not afford to lose.

The kick return was a big issue for me with the block in the back on Eli Stove that was never called.  That play was the momentum changer.  If that was called, the score may have ended up the same still, but who knows.

Our receivers just simply could not catch anything in the second half, or get any separation.  Stidham did all he could do and threw really pretty balls to the guys.  I don't really know what went wrong there.

I was disappointed in Aubie trolling LSU (and Ole Miss), essentially stooping to their level.  It is not like Aubie to do that.  And as we know it backfired big time.  Disappointed for sure.

Lastly, I want to address the fans as a whole.  I know this loss was frustrating.  It hurt big time.  But we need to stay away from attacking the players like some have done.  We also need to stay away from people like Heath Evans who uses Auburn for his personal gain.  He did this same thing in 2012.  I am very happy to see Nosa Eguae call him out this morning.  I agreed with everything he said.  I see many people blame Gus for the play calling when the last few weeks it was a consensus agreement that Chip Lindsey was calling the plays.  I did not agree with all of the play calling, but we have the coordinators to get this back on track.  We are 5-2, not 2-5.

We lost, and it is time to look ahead to Arkansas.  The world has not ended, just like it didn't after Clemson.  What those players need right now is for us to rally around them, not tear them apart.  I hope this gets through to at least one person.  Thank you.

[keesler 5,924]

2 minutes ago, WarDamnEagleWDE said:

abw0004 ----->> same as he/she ever was.

[lca408 366]

20 minutes ago, keesler said:

After 5 years, I refuse to blame the heat/weather conditions, injuries, communication mishaps, poor officiating, WRs lack of execution & having game changing drops, and I damn sure refuse to throw Aubie's troll job into the bag of excuses that may have caused AU to give up a 20 pt lead against a team that has a buffoon for a HC.

Seriously. I mean, WTF difference does it have on the outcome of the game? Anything to deflect from Gus' responsibility?

[WarEagle1983 2,185]

This calm down is momentary. From this point on each week is going to be an adventure to see if we're going to screw up even worse on offense. Just when you think Gus can't screw up any worse, he manages to do so. Never seen anything like it. And now it appears we're about to lose our most effective WR(i don't blame Gus for this). This bus is beyond repair. 

[ToomersStreet 795]

Different words are used to describe different coaches in the SEC.  Muschamp is "Intense" Saban is a "Perfectionist" Derek Mason is "High Energy" Kirby Smart is "Aggressive", Gus Malzahn is "Stubborn" and "Paranoid". 

 

Also I am not saying Gus is a bad coach.  He isn't.  He recruits extremely well.  Has put together a stellar defensive staff.  The off the field issues are minor and few.  However, Gus IS an 8-4 football coach.  He is being paid to be a 10-2 football coach at least.  Gus still thinks he is a 12-2 guy.  He sales recruits on that too. But after this season Gus will be 8-4 yet again.