My Thoughts From the Stadium (LSU)

[abw0004 10,110]

Good morning all,

I hope this email finds everyone in better spirits than Saturday night or yesterday for that matter.  I also want to take a moment to say for everyone in the Auburn Family that was in the path of Hurricane Florence, you are in my prayers.  I know the after-affects of the rain is the scary part, just like with Katrina, the damage came after the hurricane hit.  Let's do this shall we?

Weather:  Man this sure was a hot one.  It may have been the worst it has been that I have ever attended.  Not only that but it was very humid.  I was not sure if we were cheering harder for Auburn or the shade from the sun setting.

Jordan-Hare Attendance:  I have said this the past two weeks, and I am once again forced to mention it again.  Auburn has not been able to fill it's stadium this year.  Frankly, I don't know if we will this year.  If a top 10 match-up didn't do it against Washington, and a top 15 SEC match-up won't do it, maybe nothing will.  I suspect it might be that this season is the season that Georgia and Alabama are away games, so not as many bought season tickets, viewing our home schedule as a "down season."

LSU:  Their players really are the worst.  Their players were intentionally trying to start fights, and taunted our fans.  This was very apparent on kick-offs where they went straight to the student section and make a few gestures that shouldn't have been tolerated.  Obviously this did not stop after the win.  It is apparent seeing this in person and the off-season turmoil that Coach O has zero control over his team.  Their fans really weren't that bad though, which was a little surprising.

Officiating:  I really am not upset with our coaching or players for this loss.  I really do blame the referees for this one, which has been said here before.  It is almost as if they said "Look LSU is going to win this game no matter what."  Everyone in the stadium was furious the whole fourth quarter.  I know you heard it on the TV as well as much as we were booing.  A family friend sitting next to me at the game is a UGA graduate, and she even agreed the referees were costing us this game for no reason.  I would really like to know how they graded out and I hope Malzahn submits a few plays to be reviewed.

Freshmen:  I do not know about you but these freshmen are really something.  I remember when those on this forum were upset that Malzahn could not get a higher ranked class for 2018.  Man he sure made us forget about any ranking we had and that star rankings are not everything.  We have freshmen soaring in the depth charts, and that is not because we have zero depth or zero talent.  In this game, I have to point out Mr. Shivers, or WORM.  He will be a joy to watch in the years to come.

Special Moment:  I have always enjoyed seeing the lengths Auburn goes to in making someone feel welcome and loved in the stadium.  They do what they always do in honoring our military (there was also a flyover this game).  Auburn did something different Saturday.  They brought a little boy on the field with his sister.  Not over 10 years old.  The announcer described that he had gone though 4 chemo treatments and is finally cancer-free.  He is an avid Auburn fan and just wanted to see his team play.  But that wasn't all.  Next they asked him to look at the video board for a special announcement.  What do you know, former Auburn punter, Kevin Phillips, was on the screen to say how proud he was and that he and his family were going to Disneyworld!  To watch this little boy hug his sister our of excitement was well worth the heat and humidity we had to sit through.  The family friend next to me who is a UGA grad whose son is in the ROTC program at Auburn said that moment officially won her over.

Looking Forward:  If you recall, at this time last year after the LSU loss, I made a thread titled "The World is Not Falling," and I caught a large amount of flak over it.  So much so that the mods had to lock the thread.  But it turns out, everything I said came true.  After that loss, Auburn kicked it into gear and won out the rest of the regular season.  We are 2-1, not 1-2 or 0-3.  As of today we still have everything in front of us.  We need to continue to improve, and continue to let these freshmen develop as they are showing really great potential.  We are still ranked in the top 10 with many more statement games to come.  For the Arkansas game, Auburn is asking fans to wear BLUE.  Getting back on track started yesterday.  

[TigerOne 1,140]

Good points, but...

Something seems different, don't think this team has the fire, passion, will whatever you want to call it to win.

The coaches haven't seemed to learn anything different. There were flashes of what could be when Auburn scored 21 points.

Then what happened? Suspect play calling and penalties killed Auburn. I really think Auburn has to beat Arkansas by 4 touchdowns

to remove some of the doubt. No way that team should be able to hang anywhere close to the Auburn on paper.

We should be a very very angry team.

[1auburn1 1,110]

As far as Coach O not having control of his team, I don't think that's the case.    Based on his antics after the game he has total control of his team and they are acting exactly the way he wants them to.

[atl-tiger 655]

11 minutes ago, 1auburn1 said:

As far as Coach O not having control of his team, I don't think that's the case.    Based on his antics after the game he has total control of his team and they are acting exactly the way he wants them to.

Yea his little post game speech went viral on barstool sports.  I won't post it because I'm not sure of the profanity rules on the forum.  

[JBiGGiE 2,488]

This is way I saw it.

First quarter, we laid an egg. That one's on us.

Second and third quarters we owned, and were in the lead.

Fourth quarter, is on the refs.

We can talk about missed opportunities and not getting it done BUT... I don't know how you do that if the officials allow LSU to do whatever they want on defense.

I don't know how you get it done when nary a one holding call is made against the LSU offensive line... Yes you could call holding on every other play, for both sides, and I'm not even saying Auburn didn't deserve the two they picked up, but LSU suspiciously had too much time in the pocket.

And lastly, I don't know how you get it done when your receiver coverage is perfect and still get penalized.

I saw an absolute robbery Saturday, and had the officials' jobs not been on the line for it, probably would've let the targeting penalty slide too. 

I don't blame refs when Auburn underperforms, but I have never in my short 27 years of life, seen such an obviously, egregious, down-right sickening display of hand-cuffing by an officiating staff.

[BJCrawford 1,568]

Most of their “injuries” were on defense. Does anyone feel this was the plan going in? Not to necessarily slow us down but to give their defense a rest in the heat.  Everything I’ve read indicated their number one’s are possibly the best in the country but their depth is not. Every last one of them walked off the field.  I guess you give their coaches kudos if this was a plan.

[kevon67 2,368]

Good post.......No surprise that LSU plays dirty......especially when they are behind........been playing that way for as long as I can remember........In my honest opinion it has less to do with O having control of his team........in fact willing to bet O encourages it......just dont get caught.

[ronau57 12]

Auburn is coached by a mediocre head coach.  Auburn had first and goal from the 1 foot line and he calls a sweep with a man in motion.  Why not put the biggest best blocking 10 players on the field and a running back and run over the defense.  Later AU had a 21 - 10 lead and the ball.  All AU needs to do is run the clock and score points, even the coaches favorite, a field goal would have put it out of reach.  Again, more plays with a man in motion and no time taken off the clock.  Love Auburn.  No more watching Auburn as long as this genius is the coach. 

[tigeraddikt 1,600]

5 minutes ago, BJCrawford said:

Most of their “injuries” were on defense. Does anyone feel this was the plan going in? Not to necessarily slow us down but to give their defense a rest in the heat.  Everything I’ve read indicated their number one’s are possibly the best in the country but their depth is not. Every last one of them walked off the field.  I guess you give their coaches kudos if this was a plan.

Absolutely. Give it to Coach O and his staff, they pushed the right buttons with both their players and officials to pull out the win.

[BJCrawford 1,568]

Just now, ronau57 said:

Auburn is coached by a mediocre head coach.  Auburn had first and goal from the 1 foot line and he calls a sweep with a man in motion.  Why not put the biggest best blocking 10 players on the field and a running back and run over the defense.  Later AU had a 21 - 10 lead and the ball.  All AU needs to do is run the clock and score points, even the coaches favorite, a field goal would have put it out of reach.  Again, more plays with a man in motion and no time taken off the clock.  Love Auburn.  No more watching Auburn as long as this genius is the coach. 

I was there. Dont remember s first and goal on the one foot line. Did I miss something? Also he was lambasted last year for sitting on a lead. If you can’t make a first down running the ball.....well no clock running.

[kevon67 2,368]

46 minutes ago, 1auburn1 said:

As far as Coach O not having control of his team, I don't think that's the case.    Based on his antics after the game he has total control of his team and they are acting exactly the way he wants them to.

Honestly Coach O has that old school smash mouth mentality........willing to roll in the mud at practice himself to proove a point.........think thats one way he gains respect of his player.....just my opinion.

[triangletiger 1,599]

13 minutes ago, BJCrawford said:

I was there. Dont remember s first and goal on the one foot line. Did I miss something? Also he was lambasted last year for sitting on a lead. If you can’t make a first down running the ball.....well no clock running.

We had a first a goal on the one foot line when Stidham ran it down there and couldn't quite get it in.  IIRC, we got a penalty (False start?) a play or two later that backed us up to the 6, but ended up scoring a TD on 3rd down on a pass to Slayton.

[ShocksMyBrain 9,362]

22 minutes ago, ronau57 said:

Auburn is coached by a mediocre head coach.  Auburn had first and goal from the 1 foot line and he calls a sweep with a man in motion.  Why not put the biggest best blocking 10 players on the field and a running back and run over the defense.  Later AU had a 21 - 10 lead and the ball.  All AU needs to do is run the clock and score points, even the coaches favorite, a field goal would have put it out of reach.  Again, more plays with a man in motion and no time taken off the clock.  Love Auburn.  No more watching Auburn as long as this genius is the coach. 

Gonna be a long half decade for you with no AU football. 

[Gowebb11 9,314]

1 hour ago, abw0004 said:

Officiating:  I really am not upset with our coaching or players for this loss.  I really do blame the referees for this one, which has been said here before.  It is almost as if they said "Look LSU is going to win this game no matter what."  Everyone in the stadium was furious the whole fourth quarter.  I know you heard it on the TV as well as much as we were booing.  A family friend sitting next to me at the game is a UGA graduate, and she even agreed the referees were costing us this game for no reason.  I would really like to know how they graded out and I hope Malzahn submits a few plays to be reviewed.

I know this is an unpopular position coming off a huge and unexpected loss, but we blew our chances. There were some missed calls Saturday, and they hurt our cause. But there were over 120 plays in the game. Their rookie QB had no turnovers, our veteran threw two awful picks. We went for it on 4th and 1 and they threw us for a loss, they went for it on 4th and 7 and made it. On a field goal attempt to ice the game, we had a bad snap. On their field goal attempt to win the game, they executed flawlessly. We had more than enough opportunities to win this game, and lack of execution costs us. 

[jptiger 481]

1 hour ago, 1auburn1 said:

As far as Coach O not having control of his team, I don't think that's the case.    Based on his antics after the game he has total control of his team and they are acting exactly the way he wants them to.

Our coaches should take note. He’s doing something right and had his team ready to fight. They looked better in every way except on the defense. 

[abw0004 10,110]

1 minute ago, jptiger said:

Our coaches should take note. He’s doing something right and had his team ready to fight. They looked better in every way except on the defense. 

I wouldn't say that.  His players are also getting arrested, most recently for abusing women.  Gus' players have not done any of that.

[I_M4_AU 7,801]

As other posters have alluded to, Coach O has complete control of his players.  When we had that first turn over, LSU was fired up, our defense came in cold and uninspired.  The crowd tried to get the defense fired up, but LSU drove down and scored with little resistance.  At that point I knew it was going to be a long day, I thought we would win, but it wouldn’t be easy.

When LSU tried that fake punt and failed, it lit a fire under the offense and they took full advantage.  The offense reeled off 21 unanswered points, 14 before the half, when the LSU defense was exhausted.  This, as another poster pointed out, led to the “injury” time outs in the 3rd and 4th qtrs.

This loss was the third time in a row that Auburn has lost to a team with less talent. LSU last year, the bowl game with UCF and this game.  The common denominator is the coaches of those teams motivated their players to exceed their natural ability and we had no fire to show them they couldn’t. 

I would really like to see some fire in Coach in situations like this.  He showed that fire last year after the LSU loss, I wish he could recognize when that fire was needed during a game. With CCL in the booth, he’s the only one that can provide that fire on the sidelines.  I don’t want to bash coach, but “milktoast” Malzahn needs to turn into “Mad Man” Malzahn during these critical situations during the game.  Maybe even cuss once.

[The Freak 2,526]

39 minutes ago, BJCrawford said:

Most of their “injuries” were on defense. Does anyone feel this was the plan going in? Not to necessarily slow us down but to give their defense a rest in the heat.  Everything I’ve read indicated their number one’s are possibly the best in the country but their depth is not. Every last one of them walked off the field.  I guess you give their coaches kudos if this was a plan.

They have been doing this for a few years.  It is absolutely how they plan to handle the hurry up or slow down momentum... and not just against us.

[tbone4jc 2,241]

1 hour ago, ronau57 said:

Auburn is coached by a mediocre head coach.  Auburn had first and goal from the 1 foot line and he calls a sweep with a man in motion.  Why not put the biggest best blocking 10 players on the field and a running back and run over the defense.  Later AU had a 21 - 10 lead and the ball.  All AU needs to do is run the clock and score points, even the coaches favorite, a field goal would have put it out of reach.  Again, more plays with a man in motion and no time taken off the clock.  Love Auburn.  No more watching Auburn as long as this genius is the coach. 

Its gonna be okay little fella! We are all frustrated. You just gotta love Auburn, win, lose or tie. 

[Linayus 676]

The penalties are frustrating - especially when they cost us the game, but the only one that had me absolutely cussing mad was the no-call on LSU that killed our drive and then the refs called the exact same thing on us on the resulting LSU drive to seal the deal. Either you call it both ways or you don't call it at all and let them play freaking football. Grrrrr!!

[Win4AU 4,052]

This game should have never come down to penalties.  When Auburn went up 21-10 it should have been over.  The offense was running successfully and passing successfully.  I feel like after Boobie went out with the hand injury things kinda fizzled.  Shivers came in and got stuffed and Auburn abandoned the running game.  To me that’s when the game went south again.  When teams stop Auburn’s run and make Stidham beat them Auburn loses.  Clemson, LSU twice, UGA SEC, and UCF.  

[keesler 5,924]

3 hours ago, The Freak said:

They have been doing this for a few years.  It is absolutely how they plan to handle the hurry up or slow down momentum... and not just against us.

Exactly, LSU's been playing this for a while against the tempo offenses and it's an excellent plan to slow things down and get your opponent our of rhythm.  If the offense can't execute outside of fast-tempo/hurry up, then who's fault is that?

[Eagle Eye 7 2,535]

I’ll say this and then I’m moving on from LSU to the pigs. My biggest problem was other than our freshmen I’m just not seeing any enthusiasm out of the players. We hit the field like zombies Saturday. You go back to our sucessful year’s and even the later part of last year , those guys came out enthusiastic . Dancing on the sidelines yelling at the fans behind them. Just not seeing that enthusiasm from these guys. They don’t seem to be having fun. That attitude worries more than the Xs and the Os. Attitude is important.

[TigerOne 1,140]

5 minutes ago, Eagle Eye 7 said:

I’ll say this and then I’m moving on from LSU to the pigs. My biggest problem was other than our freshmen I’m just not seeing any enthusiasm out of the players. We hit the field like zombies Saturday. You go back to our sucessful year’s and even the later part of last year , those guys came out enthusiastic . Dancing on the sidelines yelling at the fans behind them. Just not seeing that enthusiasm from these guys. They don’t seem to be having fun. That attitude worries more than the Xs and the Os. Attitude is important.

yep, think the coaches are the same way. Young players don't have the fire to win no matter what. They want to win on the surface but overcoming adversity which Gus so boasted about after Washington didn't carry over to this game. You really have to wonder what goes on in coaches meetings during the week.

[SumterAubie 3,031]

5 hours ago, abw0004 said:

Officiating:  I really am not upset with our coaching or players for this loss.  I really do blame the referees for this one, which has been said here before.  It is almost as if they said "Look LSU is going to win this game no matter what."  Everyone in the stadium was furious the whole fourth quarter.  I know you heard it on the TV as well as much as we were booing.  A family friend sitting next to me at the game is a UGA graduate, and she even agreed the referees were costing us this game for no reason.  I would really like to know how they graded out and I hope Malzahn submits a few plays to be reviewed.

The officiating was not so good. But I don't lay blame on the referees for Auburn losing. Auburn lost that game. 

No one talks about the 4th quarter, 12 second, 71 yard one play touchdown drive lsu had. How do you blame the officials for that? If lsu were to score on that drive, after burning 4 or 5 minutes to do it, then there is no time left for a final second 42 yard field goal. Blame the crappy play by the Auburn defensive backs.

Or if Auburn makes a first down on the last possession there is likely not enough time left lsu to drive for a field goal. And if I recall correctly, Auburn's center clearly held on the first down play of that drive, negating a good first down gain.

Auburn lost.