SEC Coach Blasts Malzahn

[DAG 33,976]

25 minutes ago, NorthGATiger said:

Yes.  I don't get worked up when we play and coach to our ability and we lose.  I'm good with that.  I get bent out of shape when we lose games we had no business losing and when we look like we have no idea of how to make adjustments during a game.  My biggest complaint is that there are too many times we go into a game where what we are doing is not working and we have no answer.   We just keep running the same thing over and over again until the defense has been abandoned with no air support.

And let me be clear.  This isn't a problem that starts with Gus.  We have gotten whipped and looked like we ate marshmallows all week before Gus came here.  It just happens too often now.  I still have the curb stomp arse whoopin' etched in my mind where Texas A&M and Jackie Sherrill took Pat Dye with Bo Jackson to the woodshed.  I think it was 36-16 and it did not look that close.  But those type of performances were not as common as they are now.

Mentality from top to bottom will have to change to hit that next level. I’ve seen Clemson transition from the Clemsoning Clowns to formidable foes. It’s not good enough just to be good enough, if you want to get to that.

[keesler 5,924]

2 hours ago, abw0004 said:

Not really wanting to jump into the debate as this has been discussed at length before and most likely will again in the future until Fall camp starts, but my two cents: LSU was a tough one to swallow, Clemson was tough but Stidham was still shaking off the rust and the O-Line was zero help.  The SEC Champsionahip just about every key player was injured against a fully healthy UGA team.  Our first two RB’s, QB, CB, LB, and safety were all injured.  The Chick-Fil-A bowl was also another tough one, and can be pointed to coaching but that happens to the best of coaches after the prior loss.  Since people have referenced Saban in this thread, his team did the same against Michigan State in their bowl game a few years back.

I think both sides make a good point, including yours.  I think things like this though are more grey than clear cut black/white when looking for an answer to these questions.  

They crapped the bed in NS's 2nd yr vs Utah in '08 bowl game, they absolutely annihilated Michigan State in '10 bowl game.

[abw0004 10,110]

4 minutes ago, keesler said:

They crapped the bed in NS's 2nd yr vs Utah in '08 bowl game, they absolutely annihilated Michigan State in '10 bowl game.

I stand corrected.  Thank you for pointing that out.  

[McLoofus 35,182]

6 minutes ago, keesler said:

They crapped the bed in NS's 2nd yr vs Utah in '08 bowl game, they absolutely annihilated Michigan State in '10 bowl game.

And we can laugh all we want, but they absolutely *do* get to play the unmotivated card for that Utah loss. Undefeated regular season > close loss in the SECCG > ...Utah??

Sounds kinda familiar.

[DAG 33,976]

3 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

And we can laugh all we want, but they absolutely *do* get to play the unmotivated card for that Utah loss. Undefeated regular season > close loss in the SECCG > ...Utah??

Sounds kinda familiar.

No NS doesn’t get to play that card because he has all world talent who just show up at his door.

[AuburnNTexas 7,140]

On 5/25/2018 at 3:28 PM, gr82be said:

. "If Nick Saban had Auburn's talent, he'd have won national championships the last two years."  He didn't win the NC with his own talent 2 years ago. Considering that and the fact that Auburn beat them last year, we are out of excuses. No guess as to who said it, could have been several. Don't know that Gus has that many friends in the conference. 

How many bama plays went in first two rounds of NFL draft versus Auburn in the last two years. The NFL seems to think bama has more talent than Auburn yet this semi-intelligent coach says if Saban had Auburn's talent he would have won two NC's.  What a joke

 

[BigWhiskey91 632]

On 5/28/2018 at 9:51 AM, DAG said:

Whoever this person in this article directly points to that. We have MORE than enough talent to run the table. You just said last years team was the most complete team we ever had and we ended up losing 4 games. That doesn’t make any sense.

That is not what I said at all. I said it was the most complete team since Malzahn took over. I stand by that too.

The 2014 squad lacked the talent at LB and the depth of the talent was suspect. Lawson being out in 2014 and 2015 was very apparent and our pass rush suffered greatly from it. Also, I believe our HC made a change at DC and got the best available to replace him. Not sure what else Malzahn could’ve done in that situation. 

 

EDIT: I see someone already clarified that. But since you asked how it changes the message, I’ll go into that.

It changes because it adds context. The 2013 and 2014 offense were brilliant and had everyone willing to give Malzahn the benefit of the doubt going into 2015. The 2017 team was very dominant and finished the regular season as one of the hottest teams in the country. I said as much in my original post but I will say it again. We went into the SEC title game with our 200+ yd performer (in the first matchup) banged up and should’ve been unavailable. Not only that, but our other 1000yd rusher had been unavailable since he last played against Arkansas. UGA wouldve been just as anemic if they had to deal with Chubb and Michel in a similar fashion.

[Tiger Refuge 6,662]

2 hours ago, McLoofus said:

You've been warned, gang. If you see the #marshmallows hashtag, it's not a good fall Saturday.

#staypuft

[DAG 33,976]

1 hour ago, FullBloodedTiger91 said:

The 2014 squad lacked the talent at LB and the depth of the talent was suspect.

Cassanova McKinzy - Signed to three practice squads in the NFL, but is released now. 247 called him a 4-star recruit.

Kris Frost - Didn't make it to the NFL unfortunately. Consistent four-star OLB. Rivals gave him 5 stars

Robenson Therezie - Made the Falcons final roster in his first season. After, played on several practice squads. 4 star recruit

Tre Williams - 5-star recruit from Mobile

Nick Ruffin - 4-star recruit from Georgia

Anthony Swain - 3-star recruit

Javierre Mitchell - 3-star recruit from Leeds, Alabama

Cameron Toney - 3-star recruit from Huntsville

This list is based on the 4-2-5 defense we played. I don't want to hear another word about lack of talent UNLESS people can prove it.

1 hour ago, FullBloodedTiger91 said:

Also, I believe our HC made a change at DC and got the best available to replace him

Yes, this is what you get paid to do as a coach.

 

1 hour ago, FullBloodedTiger91 said:

Lawson being out in 2014 and 2015 was very apparent and our pass rush suffered greatly from it.

One player should not completely derail a whole unit. It can definitely affect a team, but to completely derail a whole unit is unacceptable, especially when you do have other talented players. This is a criticism of Muschamp, Gus and Jimbo Fisher. Unless, you are all world (E.G. Jadeveon Clowney, Cam Newton, Etc) I don't want to hear that. You shouldn't be second to last on the defensive side of the ball in the conference. In 2015, We were worst than Arkansas statistically speaking. Again, this is a criticism to the whole defensive staff and Gus because he is the head coach. The same applies to that 2014 defensive staff. 

 

1 hour ago, FullBloodedTiger91 said:

The 2017 team was very dominant and finished the regular season as one of the hottest teams in the country. I said as much in my original post but I will say it again. We went into the SEC title game with our 200+ yd performer (in the first matchup) banged up and should’ve been unavailable. Not only that, but our other 1000yd rusher had been unavailable since he last played against Arkansas. UGA wouldve been just as anemic if they had to deal with Chubb and Michel in a similar fashion.

 

You can get away with that excuse losing to UGA in the SEC title game. That excuse does not work losing to UCF. I don't care if K.J. didn't take a dang snap. You don't lose to that team after you already blew a game to a not so good LSU team throughout the season. There is no reason to feel horrible losing to a quality UGA and Clemson. But to lose to LSU, who got freaking beat by Troy State the week before and to a much lesser talented UCF team, who SPECIFICALLY, called you out is not okay. I don't know what UGA would've done and quite frankly, I don't care I am talking about Auburn here. 

1 hour ago, FullBloodedTiger91 said:

Not only that, but our other 1000yd rusher had been unavailable since he last played against Arkansas

We knew KP wasn't going to be able to play. He hadn't played most of the year. That is when you develop and use the four-star running backs that you recruited. Also, KP does not have great stats against teams with good defensive lines. Go look up his stat line against UGA, Clemson, Alabama, LSU. He is either injured or not producing efficiently. So counting on him against teams like that won't win you games.

I am going to say it again. Since 2013, AU has had more than enough talent to go deep in the regular season. I am not saying they had to win every game, but losing 5 games in 2014, losing 6 games in 2015, losing 4 games last year should not be acceptable. 

 

[NorthGATiger 1,801]

2 hours ago, FullBloodedTiger91 said:

That is not what I said at all. I said it was the most complete team since Malzahn took over. I stand by that too.

The 2014 squad lacked the talent at LB and the depth of the talent was suspect. Lawson being out in 2014 and 2015 was very apparent and our pass rush suffered greatly from it. Also, I believe our HC made a change at DC and got the best available to replace him. Not sure what else Malzahn could’ve done in that situation. 

 

EDIT: I see someone already clarified that. But since you asked how it changes the message, I’ll go into that.

It changes because it adds context. The 2013 and 2014 offense were brilliant and had everyone willing to give Malzahn the benefit of the doubt going into 2015. The 2017 team was very dominant and finished the regular season as one of the hottest teams in the country. I said as much in my original post but I will say it again. We went into the SEC title game with our 200+ yd performer (in the first matchup) banged up and should’ve been unavailable. Not only that, but our other 1000yd rusher had been unavailable since he last played against Arkansas. UGA wouldve been just as anemic if they had to deal with Chubb and Michel in a similar fashion.

Have you seen Swift?  Not to derail this thread but we just are not getting the horses we need at that position in my opinion.  If Sony and Chubb had both gone down UGA still had Swift and Holyfield.  We had KJ, a converted H-Back, a transfer from Baylor, a freshman screen catcher, and Miller.  With all due respect we need to recruit this position better moving forward.  I hope Asa, Worm, Joiner, and Whitlow prove to be studs because if we have injuries like this past year we are in trouble.  I HATE UGA, but they are stacking the backs up.  They have Swift, Holyfield, Zamir White, and James Cook.  

 

Back off of my soapbox now

[McLoofus 35,182]

2 hours ago, FullBloodedTiger91 said:

UGA wouldve been just as anemic if they had to deal with Chubb and Michel in a similar fashion.

Swift carried the ball 7 times for 88 yards in the SECCG- more than Chubb or Michel.

Elijah Holyfield had 1 more carry than Kam Martin, and Kam Martin had been RB2 since September. Put Martin and Miller together and they still only had 1 more carry than Holyfield. 

Also, Tim Horton already stated the obvious and admitted that they mishandled the RB rotation last year. 

Gus has caught some bad breaks at the RB position the last few years. He usually hasn't responded well. 

 

 

[AUsince72 11,084]

6 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Swift carried the ball 7 times for 88 yards in the SECCG- more than Chubb or Michel.

Elijah Holyfield had 1 more carry than Kam Martin, and Kam Martin had been RB2 since September. Put Martin and Miller together and they still only had 1 more carry than Holyfield. 

Also, Tim Horton already stated the obvious and admitted that they mishandled the RB rotation last year. 

Gus has caught some bad breaks at the RB position the last few years. He usually hasn't responded well. 

 

 

So as for the source of the quote, your money's on Horton.  

[McLoofus 35,182]

7 minutes ago, AUsince72 said:

So as for the source of the quote, your money's on Horton.  

 

 

(Edit for #gifsquad @fredst @GwillMac6)

[keesler 5,924]

28 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Swift carried the ball 7 times for 88 yards in the SECCG- more than Chubb or Michel.

Elijah Holyfield had 1 more carry than Kam Martin, and Kam Martin had been RB2 since September. Put Martin and Miller together and they still only had 1 more carry than Holyfield. 

Also, Tim Horton already stated the obvious and admitted that they mishandled the RB rotation last year. 

Gus has caught some bad breaks at the RB position the last few years. He usually hasn't responded well. 

 

 

I wait for the day when "stating the obvious" are long gone.  Everywhere from play calling, roster management, depth management, in-game adjustments or lack of adjustments, player evaluation, etc. etc. etc.

I'm a pure football spectator and when I'm calling out the obvious deficiencies as a season progresses but the men pulling in millions don't react and fix the issues then somethings wrong.

[DAG 33,976]

Disclaimer: We are not ragging just to be ragging. We know how good this team is and we know how good Gus can be. If we can make a glimmer of change we can get to the point of at least hitting the standards that the media tend to want to give us lately (Another false ideology by AU fans).

[AU64 10,122]

What's the objective of this thread.?  ....to .see if it is possible to drag it out to 100 pages based on a story that may or may not be "fake news"  ?    If so, y'all need to pick up the pace.....

[BigWhiskey91 632]

1 hour ago, DAG said:

Cassanova McKinzy - Signed to three practice squads in the NFL, but is released now. 247 called him a 4-star recruit.

Kris Frost - Didn't make it to the NFL unfortunately. Consistent four-star OLB. Rivals gave him 5 stars

Robenson Therezie - Made the Falcons final roster in his first season. After, played on several practice squads. 4 star recruit

Tre Williams - 5-star recruit from Mobile

Nick Ruffin - 4-star recruit from Georgia

Anthony Swain - 3-star recruit

Javierre Mitchell - 3-star recruit from Leeds, Alabama

Cameron Toney - 3-star recruit from Huntsville

This list is based on the 4-2-5 defense we played. I don't want to hear another word about lack of talent UNLESS people can prove it.

Yes, this is what you get paid to do as a coach.

 

One player should not completely derail a whole unit. It can definitely affect a team, but to completely derail a whole unit is unacceptable, especially when you do have other talented players. This is a criticism of Muschamp, Gus and Jimbo Fisher. Unless, you are all world (E.G. Jadeveon Clowney, Cam Newton, Etc) I don't want to hear that. You shouldn't be second to last on the defensive side of the ball in the conference. In 2015, We were worst than Arkansas statistically speaking. Again, this is a criticism to the whole defensive staff and Gus because he is the head coach. The same applies to that 2014 defensive staff. 

 

 

You can get away with that excuse losing to UGA in the SEC title game. That excuse does not work losing to UCF. I don't care if K.J. didn't take a dang snap. You don't lose to that team after you already blew a game to a not so good LSU team throughout the season. There is no reason to feel horrible losing to a quality UGA and Clemson. But to lose to LSU, who got freaking beat by Troy State the week before and to a much lesser talented UCF team, who SPECIFICALLY, called you out is not okay. I don't know what UGA would've done and quite frankly, I don't care I am talking about Auburn here. 

We knew KP wasn't going to be able to play. He hadn't played most of the year. That is when you develop and use the four-star running backs that you recruited. Also, KP does not have great stats against teams with good defensive lines. Go look up his stat line against UGA, Clemson, Alabama, LSU. He is either injured or not producing efficiently. So counting on him against teams like that won't win you games.

I am going to say it again. Since 2013, AU has had more than enough talent to go deep in the regular season. I am not saying they had to win every game, but losing 5 games in 2014, losing 6 games in 2015, losing 4 games last year should not be acceptable. 

 

Not as easy to multiquote on Mobile.

 

The talent of 2014 defense was fine until depth issues surfaced. Some may even point at culture as an issue as well which plays a part in the performance. This was addressed.

You say that losing one player shouldn’t cause that type of impact but it absolutely can. Lawson helped keep OLs from keying on Monty Adams and that was a huge part of 2016s DL being so dominant. Monty seemed to disappear when Lawson was out. 

 

The article talks a lot about he loss to UGA which is why I addressed. I did not excuse the loss to UCF at any point. No complaints here about that. I attended that game and listened to UCF fans all afternoon. 

 

I get what youre saying about the LSU loss, but I don’t know if we go on the run we went on without it. Obviously it sucked, but much like the Troy loss was to LSU, it was a turning point in our season. We were just talented enough to run the table and make it to the SEC title. 

 

If it was based on his injury injury only, many suggested he would be available as early as Iron Bowl week. We can all speculate, but that is still a talented back that wasn’t available. You can pour at his performances against those teams, but he wasn’t healthy for UGA, Bama or Clemson. No one was going to have success against LSU with the way we approached closing that game out.

 

Wasnt your first statement about those teams that we had enough talent to run the table? That is what I was disagreeing with. There are 3 other SEC schools that typically out recruit us ranking wise that we play annually. It is what it is. Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t beat them or that Malzahn is perfect. I am just saying that there are several reasons why Auburn hasn’t been consistent in the last 20-25 years. Even during the 2004-2006 success run we had, the complaints were still around so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

[AUsince72 11,084]

7 minutes ago, AU64 said:

What's the objective of this thread.?  ....to .see if it is possible to drag it out to 100 pages based on a story that may or may not be "fake news"  ?    If so, y'all need to pick up the pace.....

We're just wishing in one hand and..... Well, you probably know the rest.  

[BigWhiskey91 632]

1 hour ago, NorthGATiger said:

Have you seen Swift?  Not to derail this thread but we just are not getting the horses we need at that position in my opinion.  If Sony and Chubb had both gone down UGA still had Swift and Holyfield.  We had KJ, a converted H-Back, a transfer from Baylor, a freshman screen catcher, and Miller.  With all due respect we need to recruit this position better moving forward.  I hope Asa, Worm, Joiner, and Whitlow prove to be studs because if we have injuries like this past year we are in trouble.  I HATE UGA, but they are stacking the backs up.  They have Swift, Holyfield, Zamir White, and James Cook.  

 

Back off of my soapbox now

All young backs. Sure they are talented, but losing those two backs is certainly a lot of experience and big pieces to the gameplan that they go through week to week. My point is we were obviously handicapped. And due to our lack of RB rotation we heavily impacted by it. Despite how healthy their backfield was for the rematch, it was still a one score game entering the 4th quarter.

[DAG 33,976]

5 minutes ago, FullBloodedTiger91 said:

Not as easy to multiquote on Mobile.

 

The talent of 2014 defense was fine until depth issues surfaced. Some may even point at culture as an issue as well which plays a part in the performance. This was addressed.

You say that losing one player shouldn’t cause that type of impact but it absolutely can. Lawson helped keep OLs from keying on Monty Adams and that was a huge part of 2016s DL being so dominant. Monty seemed to disappear when Lawson was out. 

 

The article talks a lot about he loss to UGA which is why I addressed. I did not excuse the loss to UCF at any point. No complaints here about that. I attended that game and listened to UCF fans all afternoon. 

 

I get what youre saying about the LSU loss, but I don’t know if we go on the run we went on without it. Obviously it sucked, but much like the Troy loss was to LSU, it was a turning point in our season. We were just talented enough to run the table and make it to the SEC title. 

 

If it was based on his injury injury only, many suggested he would be available as early as Iron Bowl week. We can all speculate, but that is still a talented back that wasn’t available. You can pour at his performances against those teams, but he wasn’t healthy for UGA, Bama or Clemson. No one was going to have success against LSU with the way we approached closing that game out.

 

Wasnt your first statement about those teams that we had enough talent to run the table? That is what I was disagreeing with. There are 3 other SEC schools that typically out recruit us ranking wise that we play annually. It is what it is. Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t beat them or that Malzahn is perfect. I am just saying that there are several reasons why Auburn hasn’t been consistent in the last 20-25 years. Even during the 2004-2006 success run we had, the complaints were still around so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

Fair points . Great debate friend.

[BigWhiskey91 632]

1 hour ago, McLoofus said:

Swift carried the ball 7 times for 88 yards in the SECCG- more than Chubb or Michel.

Elijah Holyfield had 1 more carry than Kam Martin, and Kam Martin had been RB2 since September. Put Martin and Miller together and they still only had 1 more carry than Holyfield. 

Also, Tim Horton already stated the obvious and admitted that they mishandled the RB rotation last year. 

Gus has caught some bad breaks at the RB position the last few years. He usually hasn't responded well. 

 

 

Oh no doubt. My point was that it was a lot of experience to lose and our unique lack of RB rotation exponentially increased how critical their health was. 

Im not saying that Malzahn is perfect at all. In fact the one thing I constantly scratch my head about with him is our RB position in terms of recruitment and handling. If he is going to say martin is too small for Clemson’s linebackers, then why are we recruiting backs he doesn’t want to utilize?

[McLoofus 35,182]

3 minutes ago, FullBloodedTiger91 said:

The talent of 2014 defense was fine until depth issues surfaced. Some may even point at culture as an issue as well which plays a part in the performance. This was addressed.

Big time culture issues. 

I maintain that the biggest difference between Ellis Johnson and Will Muschamp was that CEJ was too old to put up with that **** and Muschamp carried enough weight to get assurances that it wouldn't be a problem before he took the job. And, thanks to Champ, Steele hasn't had to fight that fight. 

Anyway, I'm convinced that the 2014 IB was one giant middle finger from CEJ to the PTB. 

[BigWhiskey91 632]

1 minute ago, DAG said:

Fair points . Great debate friend.

?

I fear that despite how deep we are on defense and how many skill guys we have, our OL is going to have us pulling our hair out a few games.

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 minute ago, FullBloodedTiger91 said:

?

I fear that despite how deep we are on defense and how many skill guys we have, our OL is going to have us pulling our hair out a few games.

At least we've gotten used to that the last 3 years 

[AUsince72 11,084]

4 minutes ago, FullBloodedTiger91 said:

?

I fear that despite how deep we are on defense and how many skill guys we have, our OL is going to have us pulling our hair out a few games.

BUT!

THIS year the OL should PROgress instead of REgress.

War Eagle.