Things I Think I Saw: AU vs Washington

[corchjay 5,311]

Agree Coach.  

Horton played poorly.  Kim did ok.  Driscoll played well on the outside rush but missed on locking up on inside gap containment.  Not sure if Horton was supposed to be helping or not.  Tega had a pretty good day.  Harrell looked solid.  Still got a ways to go but these next 2 weeks of practice will be very beneficial for these guys.  

Coach Grimes with be able to analyze what fundamentals were lost in the heat of the moment and correct them.  I expect much better next week and then comes another good test in 2 weeks.

[AUsince72 11,084]

6 hours ago, shawnb01 said:

Quote

 

Finally, and this has NOTHING to do with the game ... has anyone found a great online sight to stream the Auburn Radio Network for games?  I'd much rather listen to Bramblett up here in Indianapolis than the clowns usually doing the games, but the problem is the delay.  Last night's delay was at least 30-seconds. There has to be a better sight out there, so I'd appreciate any help!  And yes I have tried pausing the live game and running on delay but it still seems to never work out very well.

 

Have you tried the Tune In App? AU has its own channel and games are streamed live. Not sure about a delay. 

Correct. 

Try the "TuneIn Radio" App.  Been using it 2-3 years now.

Can't speak for Indy TV but in FL my TV coverage is a min or so ahead so I can just pause the TV until I hear "War Eagle" on the kick-off and then fine tune the synch in a couple plays or so.  Last year, every little while or so, the App would suddenly be out of synch and I'd have to readjust.  However, this Sat it stayed in perfect synch the whole game.

Good luck & War Eagle!

Edited September 3, 2018 by AUsince72

[AUsince72 11,084]

6 hours ago, SaturdayGT said:

Thanks coach! How do you rate our ability to adjust at halftime? Im no expert, but it really seems to me like we struggle with halftime adjustments. Just seems like, in so many games, the opposing teams come out in the 2nd half improved against us, where we just look the same. Maybe Im being overly  critical, but as long as Ive watched football, in bad games, I have always had hope that things will turn around after halfime. Now, halftime kind of makes me nervous....because it always seems to be the opponent that adjusts and improces, not Auburn. Im curious if you agree, and if you dont...maybe you can end this streak of frustrating negativity Im going through

I basically agree with you on halftime.

My perception is that Steele may or may not adjust well coming out of the half BUT the D usually seems to adjust well on the fly and as the game goes you see marked improvement (as long as the AU O doesn't keep hanging them out there).

However, it seems like the O pretty much looks the same as they did the first half and it's just a matter of how well the opposing D adjusts or doesn't adjust.  Matter of fact, as been pointed out numerous times post game, it seems that things that work earlier in the game often disappear.

Fortunately, the O found some intestinal fortitude when it counted the other day.  Gives us hope!

[JMR 2,118]

9 hours ago, SaturdayGT said:

Thanks coach! How do you rate our ability to adjust at halftime? Im no expert, but it really seems to me like we struggle with halftime adjustments. Just seems like, in so many games, the opposing teams come out in the 2nd half improved against us, where we just look the same. Maybe Im being overly  critical, but as long as Ive watched football, in bad games, I have always had hope that things will turn around after halfime. Now, halftime kind of makes me nervous....because it always seems to be the opponent that adjusts and improces, not Auburn. Im curious if you agree, and if you dont...maybe you can end this streak of frustrating negativity Im going through

As pointed out statistically by Stat Tiger, halftime adjustments have not been one of our strengths in recent years.  That is obviously an understatement. ?

[Zeek 16,613]

12 hours ago, RunInRed said:

Forgot to add a note about Seth.  Looks like the fall camp hype was real.  But why did we go away from him in the second half?  Never saw him after halftime ...

Welcome to the Gus Light Zone

OooooOoOooOoo

Where players doing really well seem to disappear altogether halfway through the game lol.

A few differences from seasons past that are extremely encouraging:

1. Gus is trusting the Freshmen to actually get in there and play. Shivers got a play on an important down, remember Boobee is still a freshman, My man SMOKE was in and blitzing on literally the most important play, and Seth got some important targets. This is very new for Gus. Hell even Carlson was trusted to make a 53 yarder after missing a chip shot.

2. Stidham shared the love. Too often we’ve had QBs focus on one or two guys. This year it seemed like 5 different receivers had big moments: Williams, Craig-Myers, Cox, Slayton, Davis, and even the RBs had big time catches.

3. We blitzed and it worked! I might. E remembering incorrectly but I don’t recall doing so many blitzes. Nice work by Steele who I think is still slowly implementing things.

4. It really does look like Gus has handed over the offensive play calling. Lindsey still had some weird calls like the aforementioned dive plays. Seeing slants, crossing routes, a real RPO, and the H-back being used is very interesting! We went a little vanilla later in the game but I like the roll out plays and the different looks. Stidham is improving on throwing it away but he still needs some work.

5. For all the big passes we gave up, we didn’t allow them to run a screen on us and they didn’t really tear us up with slants and crossing routes; two passing routes that have destroyed us in recent years.

Alabama State I’m sorry that you have to be our opponent next week. These boys are about to receive a lot of butt chewing; hoping they take it out on AlSt

[jptiger 481]

Great analysis as usual. Appreciate you taking the time for this and the podcast. WDE 

[McLoofus 35,182]

Love #2, @Zeek. Not sure we're talking about it enough. I think @bigbird said we completed passes to 9 different guys. That's awesome! 26 completions against 17.5 a game last year. 

Yes, Seth Williams was hyped and he caught the pass he was thrown. It's entirely possible that he had trouble getting open against that Washington defense the rest of the game. Most receivers that face that team do. Also, Williams is in the same WR corps as *Ryan Davis*, *Darius Slayton* and *Nate Craig-Myers*. How about that catch Sal made? How about how effective Martin and Cox were? (Another new element we're not talking about a lot.) We have playmakers all over the field, and many of them are very experienced. I can't be worried about who we *didn't* throw to when Stidham put up the numbers he did- 61% completion rate, 246 yards, a stunning red zone touchdown to Sal Cannella and no picks- in game 1 against a top 10 team with at least a couple NFL DBs. 

If we've had 10 consistent gripes about our passing offense the last few years, 6 or 7 of them were addressed in the first game of the season on the biggest stage of the weekend imo.

Edited September 3, 2018 by McLoofus

[WarNole 138]

Thanks for all your input.  Very informative.

[ellitor 33,062]

17 hours ago, RunInRed said:

Any one else find themselves screaming at our cornerbacks ... "turn your head around, play the ball!"

No because that's how Steele & Brown coach & believe in coverage principles in man coverage. If the CB turns his head he can loose a step or 2 on the WR causing an even bigger play. So they teach don't look back to maintain engagement & use the rake technique to try to rip the ball out as it arrives to the WR.

For not being a DB coach how did I do explaining that @bigbird?

[RunInRed 16,360]

41 minutes ago, ellitor said:

No because that's how Steele & Brown coach & believe in coverage principles in man coverage. If the CB turns his head he can loose a step or 2 on the WR causing an even bigger play. So they teach don't look back to maintain engagement & use the rake technique to try to rip the ball out as it arrives to the WR.

For not being a DB coach how did I do explaining that @bigbird?

Flawed technique IMO 

[toddc 13,194]

You see this technique in the pros a lot too! How is it flawed? 

[AUGoo 2,659]

11 hours ago, TAYLORKEETON said:

Could it be that our OL didn’t play all that bad...just UW’s D was that good? Maybe some of both? 

We still had 150 yds of rushing and 460ish total Offense against a top 5 D.

I was kind of negative right after the game, but time has given me a little more perspective.

Not bad first game.

[AUsince72 11,084]

39 minutes ago, toddc said:

You see this technique in the pros a lot too! How is it flawed? 

Often what is good for the Pros is not so good for college players.  I'll bet there are some alterations depending on who Auburn is playing each week.

With that said, personally I think the DB's played admirably and I would not be surprised to see UDubs make a LOT of defensive backfields look silly this year.

 

Edited September 3, 2018 by AUsince72

[ellitor 33,062]

43 minutes ago, RunInRed said:

Flawed technique IMO 

Maybe not. Most teams do it for their man coverage techniques. They must do it for a reason.

[ellitor 33,062]

3 minutes ago, AUsince72 said:

With that said, personally I think the DB's played admirably and I would not be surprised to see UDubs make a LOT of defensive backfields look silly this year.

[homersapien 11,352]

16 hours ago, Eagle Eye 7 said:

Thanks for the write up. I think Kim did well for his first start. No bad snaps while staring in the face of a good seasoned NT is always a plus. I was quite pleased with our new DB field. They played with aggression. Backshoulder throws are tough to defend, but as stated UW was getting away with a lot of push offs. I wondered how much latitude JS would have at calls but I saw several times when he made big changes without even looking at the bench so I have no doubt they are giving him room. That as you said will be a learning situation. Probably the best thing I saw last night was good tackling. Gone are the days of arm tackling. Sure there were block outs but when our guys made contact with their ball carriers they took them down. I would be interested in seeing their YAC numbers from last night. And our RBs didn’t do bad just wasn’t a lot of running room to be found, give their defense some credit for that. Thanks again for your knowledgeable opinions. 

This stood out to me also.

[homersapien 11,352]

14 hours ago, shawnb01 said:

 

Have you tried the Tune In App? AU has its own channel and games are streamed live. Not sure about a delay. 

There's about a 15 second delay with Tune-in.

[alexava 6,973]

1 hour ago, ellitor said:

Maybe not. Most teams do it for their man coverage techniques. They must do it for a reason.

I guess they need eyes in the back of their heads?  The REALLY good ones have an internal clock Like a qb feeling the backside rush. If they look back the we can break off the route or like previous mentioned you lose steps. The only way to play it different is to have safety help. 

[WDavE 332]

JMR or anybody else with experience with coaching DB's

 

When the DB's are in a zone defense are they taught to keep an eye on the QB or receivers coming into their area?  I keep seeing ours for the most part looking at the QB.

[KolchakAU85 430]

21 hours ago, JMR said:

I kind of think we ought to be patient with Kim. He is a smart player, just not terribly physical. He doesn't have to be, if he'll use his smarts/technique wisely. Greg Gaines is one powerful dude. Also, neither of our guards played real well, not getting off the combo blocks with Kim and moving to the second level quickly enough. J.B. needs to get busy; both Harrell and Horton are *capable* of being really good players. Kim looked a little lost at times, as did Harrell and Horton. That's on J.B. to fix.

I'm not thrilled with the RB situation. Kam Martin is a good little back, but he has his limitations. To be honest, that's hard to evaluate when your OL isn't doing its job. Whitlow has potential, but having played at a small school, this is a major step up for him. I do think he will get better and be a guy we can count on, given time. He is progressing pretty rapidly IMO.

Love Ryan Davis. He is "electric" with the ball.

Coach,

Did you see anything defensively from Washington that might explain the lack of speed sweep calls for us yesterday?

[AURocketman 73]

2 hours ago, ellitor said:

Maybe not. Most teams do it for their man coverage techniques. They must do it for a reason.

This^^^^

Well the preference would be to have DBs that are a step quicker and more athletic than the opponents receiver so they can always control them if I may  expand on Bigbirds previous post.  

When matched athleticism, the DB is already at a disadvantage due to having to react to WR moves.  WR can fake looking for a catch and turn a DB.  The DB is usually trying to REcover Ground as WR tries to separate.

The reason is more parity in athletic talent.  

 

 

 

[lala 327]

The 2 pt play after the 1st TD was unnecessary.  The crowd went from rocking to quiet which could have affected the momentum if not for our d stop on the next series.  

Edited September 3, 2018 by lala

[lala 327]

The run by Cox was after a 1st down where we tried to speed up.   I like pace but it was a poor call and a wasted play.  Need to make sure we have the right personnel on the field

[toddc 13,194]

1 hour ago, KolchakAU85 said:

Coach,

Did you see anything defensively from Washington that might explain the lack of speed sweep calls for us yesterday?

They played their defensive ends out wide and it’s hard to get around them on speed sweeps! I think ccl even said as much in his presser.

[C'viewTiger 242]

2 hours ago, alexava said:

I guess they need eyes in the back of their heads?  The REALLY good ones have an internal clock Like a qb feeling the backside rush. If they look back the we can break off the route or like previous mentioned you lose steps. The only way to play it different is to have safety help. 

Most of the good DBs read the receivers eyes. When the receiver sees the ball coming he's focusing and you can read his eyes. At that point, a DB should be turning his head.