abw0004 10,110 Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 Good morning all, As you could guess from the title, I was not able to attend this game but living North of Atlanta I was still immersed in what what was going on. I wanted to share a few thoughts of the game, as well as moving forward. Enjoy! New forum posters: I needed to get this one off my chest first. This is specifically directed at the posters directly after the game trashing the team and Malzahn that had less than a 20 post history. Please stop. All it makes you look like is a troll. Grow up. It is plainly obvious you only created a username to trash the coach and had no intention of providing value to this forum. It was very cute of you to also go after well established posters. The funny thing is you pissed off enough regular posters, that people who typically never agree on this forum united to talk you down, that is how annoying you were. Ticket allotment: One thing that really irked me was how the SEC handled tickets. It is no secret that corporations controlled the majority of the tickets to that game. That is their prerogative, and not my qualm. What I did not like is how early they released those tickets to the corporations, where then UGA fans were able to scoop up the tickets weeks before we could. We deserved every right to have a fair shot at those tickets. The mix of UGA/Auburn fans is not the reason we lost, but it meant a lot of Auburn fans could not go that genuinely wanted to go. Injuries: This is not an excuse of why we lost. Alabama is not allowed to play that card as the reason why they lost, and in return we can't either. I do hate it for our players that were hurt and wanted to be out there. It does make you wonder the outcome had everyone been a little more healthy. It also makes you wonder why we play the SEC Championship at all when the Playoff Selection Committee has proven these championships do not matter, and just is an extra game for injuries. Turnovers: We really did lose the game on our own accord. 17 points were given to UGA due to costly turnovers. It was not our scheme, or play calling, but some errors on our end. One thing that does alarm me is the last few games we have fumbled at least once in the red zone, and every time is has been a turnover, or drive-killer. Malzahn's Extension: Gus has proven over time he is evolving into the coach we always knew he could be. No coach is a superstar overnight. What this raise does is show Gus we have confidence in him, and is show our recruits we have stability. Coaching turnover is never good. Tennessee and Florida say hello. You could even see it on our defense. How much better are we now that we have a coach that is here for the long haul. Malzahn has done wonderfully in his picks for coordinators. Gus took flak for hiring Steele, and told Jacobs to trust him when he hired Lindsey. Both are working. We have a 2017 Broyles Award finalist on our staff. How cool is that? Auburn is trending up, and it all started with Gus Malzahn. Looking forward: For the second year in a row we are in a New Year's Six game. We play a talented and respected team in the University of Central Florida. Beyond that we are getting to the point in where our team no longer rebuilds, it reloads. This is in large part to Kevin Steele rotating in our freshmen, so huge kudos to Steele. Our biggest concerns is the safety group and the offensive line. But remember we thought that about our linebackers in 2016, and our defensive line in 2017, and we were oh so wrong. I am confident in our offensive line next year as well with the depth Herb Hand has built. Not to mention, our recruiting is on fire. Get a few juniors to return, and we should have little drop-off. We, as Auburn fans, have a lot to be excited for moving forward. So let's get pumped up for our bowl game, and make sure we show out and take our seniors out with a bang! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linayus 676 Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 I've seen a lot of blame laid at Malzahn's feet for this loss and I just have to disagree. We started the game off decently and made plays but then cost ourselves with turnovers and other mistakes like penalties, bad snaps, failing to pick up blitzes, blocked FGs, etc. I think a lot of that can be chalked up to just being physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted. What other team in our position would have won all 3 match ups against top 7 teams? As much as that benefited us it also cost us. The only thing I put on the coaches for this loss is playing guys that are not healthy enough for the level of competition we were playing - mainly having KJ in the game way too much. That falls on our staff - no matter how much KJ wanted to be out there he didn't need to be. It may not have changed the outcome of the game, but we shouldn't have been relying on him so much. I'm glad we retained Gus. We need program stability during this time when it seems like half the SEC is now "under construction". That's good for recruiting. It's good for our current players. It could give us a slight edge next season as other teams adjust to their new staffs. I'm looking forward to the UCF game - though it's not a high profile match up, it's still a chance to ruin yet another team's undefeated season and that's always fun. Plus the tickets should be cheaper and I might actually be able to go. Next season will likely be my last opportunity to attend most of the home games (in the student section at least) but I think it'll be another good one! As always - War Eagle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeagleAU 594 Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 4 hours ago, abw0004 said: Ticket allotment: One thing that really irked me was how the SEC handled tickets. It is no secret that corporations controlled the majority of the tickets to that game. That is their prerogative, and not my qualm. What I did not like is how early they released those tickets to the corporations, where then UGA fans were able to scoop up the tickets weeks before we could. We deserved every right to have a fair shot at those tickets. The mix of UGA/Auburn fans is not the reason we lost, but it meant a lot of Auburn fans could not go that genuinely wanted to go. ^^^ I know. So unfair, but I don’t know what can be done about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArgoEagle 1,771 Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 Taking the whole season in consideration from start to finish, I give Gus an A- for the year. He has proven to be an excellent recruiter, a good motivator, hires excellent assistant coaches, and believe he learned when we have somebody beat, keep your foot on their neck til the final horn sounds. On the other side of the coin I believe he showed Sat. that he still lacks in the area of in-game adjustments (if plan A doesn't work, there seems to be no plan B). The one glaring example of this is after we scored our only td, GA made an adjustment and started relentlessly pressuring Stidham with their inside lb's. We continued to run the same offense all game and not make the obvious adjustment to throw to the middle where the lb's have vacated in order to blitz. You combat this with drag routs, slants, crossing routes over the middle ( I realize we don't have an effective TE for the drag routs, but could sub the slot receivers for this play.) Gus really needs to have this pointed out to him by someone he will listen to over the off season and quit putting all his eggs into 1 basket. Our backup rb's and qb's must be ready to step in and play if our starters go down for any reason. I feel if Gus can overcome these weaknesses, we will be in very good shape the next few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TigerTennis80 345 Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 4 hours ago, abw0004 said: Good morning all, As you could guess from the title, I was not able to attend this game but living North of Atlanta I was still immersed in what what was going on. I wanted to share a few thoughts of the game, as well as moving forward. Enjoy! New forum posters: I needed to get this one off my chest first. This is specifically directed at the posters directly after the game trashing the team and Malzahn that had less than a 20 post history. Please stop. All it makes you look like is a troll. Grow up. It is plainly obvious you only created a username to trash the coach and had no intention of providing value to this forum. It was very cute of you to also go after well established posters. The funny thing is you pissed off enough regular posters, that people who typically never agree on this forum united to talk you down, that is how annoying you were. Ticket allotment: One thing that really irked me was how the SEC handled tickets. It is no secret that corporations controlled the majority of the tickets to that game. That is their prerogative, and not my qualm. What I did not like is how early they released those tickets to the corporations, where then UGA fans were able to scoop up the tickets weeks before we could. We deserved every right to have a fair shot at those tickets. The mix of UGA/Auburn fans is not the reason we lost, but it meant a lot of Auburn fans could not go that genuinely wanted to go. Injuries: This is not an excuse of why we lost. Alabama is not allowed to play that card as the reason why they lost, and in return we can't either. I do hate it for our players that were hurt and wanted to be out there. It does make you wonder the outcome had everyone been a little more healthy. It also makes you wonder why we play the SEC Championship at all when the Playoff Selection Committee has proven these championships do not matter, and just is an extra game for injuries. Turnovers: We really did lose the game on our own accord. 17 points were given to UGA due to costly turnovers. It was not our scheme, or play calling, but some errors on our end. One thing that does alarm me is the last few games we have fumbled at least once in the red zone, and every time is has been a turnover, or drive-killer. Malzahn's Extension: Gus has proven over time he is evolving into the coach we always knew he could be. No coach is a superstar overnight. What this raise does is show Gus we have confidence in him, and is show our recruits we have stability. Coaching turnover is never good. Tennessee and Florida say hello. You could even see it on our defense. How much better are we now that we have a coach that is here for the long haul. Malzahn has done wonderfully in his picks for coordinators. Gus took flak for hiring Steele, and told Jacobs to trust him when he hired Lindsey. Both are working. We have a 2017 Broyles Award finalist on our staff. How cool is that? Auburn is trending up, and it all started with Gus Malzahn. Looking forward: For the second year in a row we are in a New Year's Six game. We play a talented and respected team in the University of Central Florida. Beyond that we are getting to the point in where our team no longer rebuilds, it reloads. This is in large part to Kevin Steele rotating in our freshmen, so huge kudos to Steele. Our biggest concerns is the safety group and the offensive line. But remember we thought that about our linebackers in 2016, and our defensive line in 2017, and we were oh so wrong. I am confident in our offensive line next year as well with the depth Herb Hand has built. Not to mention, our recruiting is on fire. Get a few juniors to return, and we should have little drop-off. We, as Auburn fans, have a lot to be excited for moving forward. So let's get pumped up for our bowl game, and make sure we show out and take our seniors out with a bang! Really appreciate & agree with all you said, esp your analysis of the seccg game & that that game needs to go if the selection committee isn't going to value playing in it. I also think we're trending upward. Looking forward to what we're building. As always, IGTBAAT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldaufeller 367 Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 1 hour ago, ArgoEagle said: On the other side of the coin I believe he showed Sat. that he still lacks in the area of in-game adjustments (if plan A doesn't work, there seems to be no plan B). The one glaring example of this is after we scored our only td, GA made an adjustment and started relentlessly pressuring Stidham with their inside lb's. We continued to run the same offense all game and not make the obvious adjustment to throw to the middle where the lb's have vacated in order to blitz. You combat this with drag routs, slants, crossing routes over the middle ( I realize we don't have an effective TE for the drag routs, but could sub the slot receivers for this play.) Gus really needs to have this pointed out to him by someone he will listen to over the off season and quit putting all his eggs into 1 basket. Our backup rb's and qb's must be ready to step in and play if our starters go down for any reason. I feel if Gus can overcome these weaknesses, we will be in very good shape the next few years. I like the new aggressiveness and I am very happy to hold on to Gus - I think he is coming into his own (which is formidable) and will improve from here. I love it for the players and recruits - stability and direction. Buuuutt... You could tell some our key guys were running on fumes. Every snap in this half of the season showed a lot of dedication by our players but they were beat up. You go toe-to-toe with the other heavyweights you're going to get beat-up and wore down. But they never backed off. What I want to see is packages for some of the depth. Some of the lower string players get their time in the game and more than a few times we run a low risk ultra-conservative play making us have a deer-in-headlights type moment. I know the bandwidth isn't there for every player to be coached up to every possible option that could be made of them, but can't we coach them with a couple of packages for their abilities. I played soccer (a bazillion years ago) at the national level. The seasoned players mentored the younger ones. The coaches coached us but we also coached ourselves. We are in a position to have hard schedules for a long time. Trial by fire can produce some fine gold but we've got to fortify the depth and have them ready to contribute meaningfully. So Mr. head coach - I'm glad you're here. Announce a goal to develop the depth meaningfully and set the plan. So there, I've had my armchair coaching moment. I feel better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goatgravy7 19 Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 6 hours ago, abw0004 said: Good morning all, As you could guess from the title, I was not able to attend this game but living North of Atlanta I was still immersed in what what was going on. I wanted to share a few thoughts of the game, as well as moving forward. Enjoy! New forum posters: I needed to get this one off my chest first. This is specifically directed at the posters directly after the game trashing the team and Malzahn that had less than a 20 post history. Please stop. All it makes you look like is a troll. Grow up. It is plainly obvious you only created a username to trash the coach and had no intention of providing value to this forum. It was very cute of you to also go after well established posters. The funny thing is you pissed off enough regular posters, that people who typically never agree on this forum united to talk you down, that is how annoying you were. Ticket allotment: One thing that really irked me was how the SEC handled tickets. It is no secret that corporations controlled the majority of the tickets to that game. That is their prerogative, and not my qualm. What I did not like is how early they released those tickets to the corporations, where then UGA fans were able to scoop up the tickets weeks before we could. We deserved every right to have a fair shot at those tickets. The mix of UGA/Auburn fans is not the reason we lost, but it meant a lot of Auburn fans could not go that genuinely wanted to go. Injuries: This is not an excuse of why we lost. Alabama is not allowed to play that card as the reason why they lost, and in return we can't either. I do hate it for our players that were hurt and wanted to be out there. It does make you wonder the outcome had everyone been a little more healthy. It also makes you wonder why we play the SEC Championship at all when the Playoff Selection Committee has proven these championships do not matter, and just is an extra game for injuries. Turnovers: We really did lose the game on our own accord. 17 points were given to UGA due to costly turnovers. It was not our scheme, or play calling, but some errors on our end. One thing that does alarm me is the last few games we have fumbled at least once in the red zone, and every time is has been a turnover, or drive-killer. Malzahn's Extension: Gus has proven over time he is evolving into the coach we always knew he could be. No coach is a superstar overnight. What this raise does is show Gus we have confidence in him, and is show our recruits we have stability. Coaching turnover is never good. Tennessee and Florida say hello. You could even see it on our defense. How much better are we now that we have a coach that is here for the long haul. Malzahn has done wonderfully in his picks for coordinators. Gus took flak for hiring Steele, and told Jacobs to trust him when he hired Lindsey. Both are working. We have a 2017 Broyles Award finalist on our staff. How cool is that? Auburn is trending up, and it all started with Gus Malzahn. Looking forward: For the second year in a row we are in a New Year's Six game. We play a talented and respected team in the University of Central Florida. Beyond that we are getting to the point in where our team no longer rebuilds, it reloads. This is in large part to Kevin Steele rotating in our freshmen, so huge kudos to Steele. Our biggest concerns is the safety group and the offensive line. But remember we thought that about our linebackers in 2016, and our defensive line in 2017, and we were oh so wrong. I am confident in our offensive line next year as well with the depth Herb Hand has built. Not to mention, our recruiting is on fire. Get a few juniors to return, and we should have little drop-off. We, as Auburn fans, have a lot to be excited for moving forward. So let's get pumped up for our bowl game, and make sure we show out and take our seniors out with a bang! Thank you for this! I completely agree with everything said here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aubaseball 2,592 Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 I hope that the juniors return for another run at the title. I think if they do, AU is in a good position to win and also build for 2019 and beyond. I think that the biggest get this off season, is getting everyone to return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corchjay 5,311 Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 17 minutes ago, aubaseball said: I hope that the juniors return for another run at the title. I think if they do, AU is in a good position to win and also build for 2019 and beyond. I think that the biggest get this off season, is getting everyone to return. I would love to have them back but if you have the opportunity to make millions playing a game you take it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linayus 676 Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 4 minutes ago, corchjay said: I would love to have them back but if you have the opportunity to make millions playing a game you take it. I think some of them stay but a few go. If you were that close to claiming an SEC championship and playing for it all, something you've wanted for years, it's a pretty good motivator to come back. You only have that opportunity while in college. The NFL will still be there for most after another year (barring bad injuries). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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