Bowl Preparations

[AU64 10,122]

14 minutes ago, DAG said:

Don’t kids yourself . The fans all want to win. Yes even those who disagree with you. I pose this question. Does your guy Gus care about winning more than just his own pride? Based on the characteristics of this Helter skelter offense this season , IMO, it hasn’t been seen. Maybe that will change now that he is calling the shots. But quit taking pot shots at our other fans in terms of their willingness to want. You are out of your mind if you don’t believe 99 percent of this fan base prioritizes winning over everything. AD Greene said as much in his letter to the fan base 

My observation  from last year ....comments on this forum was that winning only got really important after we lost.   Players deciding not to play and some guys not giving full effort....and characterization of the game as "loser" bowl......that was not a winning attitude...and I damn sure did not like it and said so at the time...

[DAG 33,955]

2 minutes ago, AU64 said:

My observation  from last year ....comments on this forum was that winning only got really important after we lost.   Players deciding not to play and some guys not giving full effort....and characterization of the game as "loser" bowl......that was not a winning attitude...and I damn sure did not like it and said so at the time...

I won’t lie that there was a small minority who had this idea that bowl games are meaningless and it doesn’t mean anything if we Win or lose. I believe a vast majority of people don’t believe that on this forum as many aren’t too happy with our 1-4 bowl record under this regiment. 

[AURealist 2,185]

6 minutes ago, DAG said:

I won’t lie that there was a small minority who had this idea that bowl games are meaningless and it doesn’t mean anything if we Win or lose. I believe a vast majority of people don’t believe that on this forum as many aren’t too happy with our 1-4 bowl record under this regiment. 

Admittedly, in the overall scheme of all things college football, winning a minor bowl isn't much.  But it's something and I don't want a coach who doesn't care about winning one or can't get his team motivated to win one.  Every post-season we get to hear how Gus' teams suck in bowls which just underscores that we need a better head coach.

[McLoofus 35,182]

11 hours ago, alexava said:

I want to win this game and I think Stidham gives us the best chance. But until someone posted in this thread I assumed he was going to skip the game and preparation to work on his nfl hopes. I was resigned to the fact that we’d use this time to get other qbs ready to play this game and compete with Bo this spring.  I think Bo is the favorite to win it. 

@oracle79, I agree with this. It is important to win this game for a lot of reasons and, as depressing a thought as it might be to some of us, Stidham gives us our best chance. 

I just don't think that one game against Purdue- with a new OC who's been on the job for a few weeks and a head coach who is "taking back" play calling duties- is going to meaningfully increase Willis's or Sandberg's chances of success next season. And I do want to respect aleava's wishes and not turn this into a bash thread, so I will just leave you to ponder how well we've ever prepared even our starting QB for a bowl win. (Hmm. That might server your argument better than mine.) And yeah, Nix is coming in, so next year's starter might not even be on our team RN. (I do not consider Gatewood to be a threat for the job next season, unless Killy Dilly possesses superhuman powers of both QB mentoring and persuasion.) 

[McLoofus 35,182]

8 hours ago, AU64 said:

My observation  from last year ....comments on this forum was that winning only got really important after we lost.   Players deciding not to play and some guys not giving full effort....and characterization of the game as "loser" bowl......that was not a winning attitude...and I damn sure did not like it and said so at the time...

I gave the team and the fans (such as myself) a pass on the bowl last year. 

Other ones, no. And since they got a pass last year, they don't get one this year. 

Sincerely,
A man whose passes count for nada

[WarDamnEagleWDE 12,737]

Those of you saying that this bowl games does not matter are crazy. Gus needs and better win this one. 

[PowerOfDixieland 3,225]

13 minutes ago, WarDamnEagleWDE said:

Those of you saying that this bowl games does not matter are crazy. Gus needs and better win this one. 

Your cryptic messages leave much to be desired lately.  I would infer from this statement that should Gus lose, you believe he is still in jeopardy of being let go.  Your reputation is not lost on me, but I have a very (very) hard time believing that...please clarify if that is not what you're implying.

[WarDamnEagleWDE 12,737]

1 minute ago, PowerOfDixieland said:

Your cryptic messages leave much to be desired lately.  I would infer from this statement that should Gus lose, you believe he is still in jeopardy of being let go.  Your reputation is not lost on me, but I have a very (very) hard time believing that...please clarify if that is not what you're implying.

Gus will coach next year. But he better win this game and get some good momentum going his way. If AU comes out and loses, Gus will be the center of the hot seat debate all summer and into the fall. Win this game, quiets the situation a lot. 

[autigeremt 6,569]

16 minutes ago, PowerOfDixieland said:

Your cryptic messages leave much to be desired lately.  I would infer from this statement that should Gus lose, you believe he is still in jeopardy of being let go.  Your reputation is not lost on me, but I have a very (very) hard time believing that...please clarify if that is not what you're implying.

I didn't take it as cryptic at all. He had better win this bowl game!

[1auburn1 1,110]

Gus' seat is scorching, win or lose in the bowl game.     I don't think his approval rating will change much at all with a win.    We the fans have been burned too much in the past to forget about the deficiencies this guy has.

[PowerOfDixieland 3,225]

14 minutes ago, WarDamnEagleWDE said:

Gus will coach next year. But he better win this game and get some good momentum going his way. If AU comes out and loses, Gus will be the center of the hot seat debate all summer and into the fall. Win this game, quiets the situation a lot. 

I don't believe anything but winning (at everything) will quell the uprising.  However, I will predict that even if he does win the Music City Bowl there will be some issues between January and the end of August that will continue to fan the flames.  February 6th will be tough to overcome;  there will be more transfers;  additional staff changes;  player stupidity/discipline issues over the summer;  SEC media days will be white hot with job insecurity speculation...oh, and the guys like Josh Moon will continue to lob hand grenades just because they know Auburn people will eat it up.  He's got to get it into his head that the contract doesn't guarantee anything, which is hard to do with the "75% clause", and I'm all but certain the idea of a reduction was a hoax.

[DAG 33,955]

25 minutes ago, WarDamnEagleWDE said:

Gus will coach next year. But he better win this game and get some good momentum going his way. If AU comes out and loses, Gus will be the center of the hot seat debate all summer and into the fall. Win this game, quiets the situation a lot. 

We said this last bowl game didn’t we?

[Auburn2Eugene 2,317]

Haha it's funny all the people last year saying bowls were meaningless now everyone says he HAS to win this game (which I don't think he/we will.) 

Also it's pretty funny that last year so many people were complaining and moaning when Carlton Davis sat out the bowl game. Now people are complaining that Stidham IS going to play. You people are good for a laugh, I'll tell you what 

[DAG 33,955]

This is my concern with Stidham:

from a a talent standpoint, he does give us the best chance to win. The problem is talent is not near enough the final conclusion of winning a game. We were more talented then UCF last year and we saw those results. IMO, every QB on paper should be able to lead us to victory against this Purdue team.

Now full circle here:

1: Stidham has said he is going to the NFL. Good for him. My issue is where will his mind be during this game? If it is 3rd and 2 and we need 3 yards will he be willing to sacrifice his body for those 3 yards? Will he be mentally intuned to this game as this will be his last? I liken it to an employee on his last day vs an employee in orientation. The orientation employee is going to go over and beyond. It’s just human nature.

2: IMO, I think this is more of a comma ride thing then anything with Stidham which is cool. That is not going to be enough to bear this Purdue team who will see this as their Super Bowl and has beat a much better tOSU team already

3: I think this could be a coming out party for whoever wants to start next year and it will be treated as such. Just my opinion. Doesn’t mean mistakes won’t be made but you know what? Mistakes have been made with the starter QB.

4. This might be the point of emphasis. Gus will now be calling plays Totally. I think there was some sort of hybrid between him and Lindsey. Well not anymore. Based on Gus current track record, he will want to establish the run. If it works with JS great, but it seems like he wants his QBs to at least be able to make some plays. Coach the game to put the player in the best position and utilize the player who will work well under your system. I don’t care if it is JS, Joey Gatewood, MW or Cord Sandberg.

[Linayus 676]

10 hours ago, alexava said:

I remember that wisconsin game painfully. 06? we won 10-11 games and tubs never even acted like the bowl game mattered. but i don't think he even considered that we could possibly lose it either. I didnt.

Oh God, you had to bring that one up... I was staring at my tv in disbelief as they ran all over us. I had seen a couple of their games and they looked SLOW (fairly typical Wisconsin offense) until that game and suddenly we couldn't catch them. lol

[Linayus 676]

4 minutes ago, DAG said:

This is my concern with Stidham:

from a a talent standpoint, he does give us the best chance to win. The problem is talent is not near enough the final conclusion of winning a game. We were more talented then UCF last year and we saw those results. IMO, every QB on paper should be able to lead us to victory against this Purdue team.

Now full circle here:

1: Stidham has said he is going to the NFL. Good for him. My issue is where will his mind be during this game? If it is 3rd and 2 and we need 3 yards will he be willing to sacrifice his body for those 3 yards? Will he be mentally intuned to this game as this will be his last? I liken it to an employee on his last day vs an employee in orientation. The orientation employee is going to go over and beyond. It’s just human nature.

2: IMO, I think this is more of a comma ride thing then anything with Stidham which is cool. That is not going to be enough to bear this Purdue team who will see this as their Super Bowl and has beat a much better tOSU team already

3: I think this could be a coming out party for whoever wants to start next year and it will be treated as such. Just my opinion. Doesn’t mean mistakes won’t be made but you know what? Mistakes have been made with the starter QB.

4. This might be the point of emphasis. Gus will now be calling plays Totally. I think there was some sort of hybrid between him and Lindsey. Well not anymore. Based on Gus current track record, he will want to establish the run. If it works with JS great, but it seems like he wants his QBs to at least be able to make some plays. Coach the game to put the player in the best position and utilize the player who will work well under your system. I don’t care if it is JS, Joey Gatewood, MW or Cord Sandberg.

1. Given Stidham's tendencies this year, I don't think he'll be attacking defenders for a 1st down. lol I don't think he'll shy away but he'll definitely angle for the sideline more often than turn it up field.

2. Depends on which Purdue team shows up. The long gap between the final regular season game and the bowl games really mess with momentum/timing/etc. Same for us too though.

3. Don't put your hopes on seeing another QB in the game unless we are destroying Purdue early. lol

4. We did this more with Stidham early last year and it wasn't working too well. He just didn't have enough quickness to get away from the edge rusher unless they completely bit on the RB. If Gus forces this style then he'll definitely have to use someone else or run Wildcat more often, which I'm okay with as long as we're not substituting every time to take away our own momentum.

[Auburn2Eugene 2,317]

18 hours ago, Zeek said:

Agreed, I think some of us just want to see different players out there because maybe it'll be something different to watch than what we saw all year.

Maybe Stidham lights it up enough that Gus brings in Malik and our passing coordinator actually gets him 10-15 legitimate throws.

Our passing game coordinator will be helping with the game plan. That's about it. He isn't calling plays so he has 0 chance to get Willis a single snap muchless 10 to 15 of them. 

10 hours ago, DAG said:

Don’t kids yourself . The fans all want to win. Yes even those who disagree with you. I pose this question. Does your guy Gus care about winning more than just his own pride? Based on the characteristics of this Helter skelter offense this season , IMO, it hasn’t been seen. Maybe that will change now that he is calling the shots. But quit taking pot shots at our other fans in terms of their willingness to want. You are out of your mind if you don’t believe 99 percent of this fan base prioritizes winning over everything. AD Greene said as much in his letter to the fan base 

I'll be honest, I am indifferent if we win or not. I've been indifferent since Mississippi State this season. Then Tennessee just reaffirmed my stance. I didn't care we lost to UGA and expected to lose to Bama by 50, so being beat by 30 didn't sting at all. Also the thing I'm looking forward to the most is Brohm showing people how a player the size of worm should be used. Not us playing, not us winning. I don't expect us to win a single other game with Gus, and certainly don't expect #ButGus to win a bowl game. I'll be indifferent next season as well. 

It's a sad state of affairs when someone who has bled orange and blue for 30 years becomes indifferent about the football team. But I had to. I couldn't keep getting so upset week after week seeing the same old tired inept offense which is now only going to get worse. 

 

 

I'll be excited about Auburn football again when a new staff is in place. The Auburn/Gus relationship is fractured. It's broken. No amount of sweet talking or sugar coating will change the fact it's a big brown smelly turd at the helm. I mean you can put a $10,000 suit on a turd with diamond flakes that spits out Benjamin's and it's still that same smelly turd underneath

[AUsince72 11,084]

10 hours ago, AU64 said:

JMO but it goes to attitude...players and fans alike in recent years.

Nobody seemed to consider a win an important goal....people wanting to see who would be playing next year, giving young guys a chance to play, etc. etc....about everything but being committed to winning the game. Hoping the players are really serious about winning the game.....and not mostly there to pick up a bling bag and have some fun touring Nashville night spots.

It depends on the bowl and matchup.

I guarantee the team (& we fans) wanted to beat Oklahoma a few years ago.  

But when Auburn has a "lesser bowl" type of season, yes it does seem to take the wind out of our sails.

I doubt it THAT uncommon though, for traditional powers.  Which AU is one.

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 minute ago, AUsince72 said:

It depends on the bowl and matchup.

I guarantee the team (& we fans) wanted to beat Oklahoma a few years ago.  

But when Auburn has a "lesser bowl" type of season, yes it does seem to take the wind out of our sails.

I doubt it THAT uncommon though, for traditional powers.  Which AU is one.

I wanted that Oklahoma game so damned badly. Unfortunately, so did Oklahoma. 

[tbone4jc 2,238]

26 minutes ago, 1auburn1 said:

Gus' seat is scorching, win or lose in the bowl game.     I don't think his approval rating will change much at all with a win.    We the fans have been burned too much in the past to forget about the deficiencies this guy has.

Speak for yourself. Some realize that its not all doom and gloom. CGM needs to step it up. I still have hope he will, but .......

[aubaseball 2,583]

16 minutes ago, DAG said:

We were more talented then UCF last year and we saw those results.

If you really break it down player by player and take the name of the universities away, was AU really more talented? Their QB hasn’t lost a game in two years.    I’m just not sold on the talent that some claim that AU has on the team.    

[DAG 33,955]

1 minute ago, aubaseball said:

If you really break it down player by player and take the name of the universities away, was AU really more talented? Their QB hasn’t lost a game in two years.    I’m just not sold on the talent that some claim that AU has on the team.    

Yes. Player by player Auburn was more talented than UCF.  Does necessarily mean they were the better team. 

[kd4au 1,145]

4 minutes ago, aubaseball said:

I’m just not sold on the talent that some claim that AU has on the team.    

But we look good on paper. I also think we tend to put on those blue and orange glasses and see talent that some times is not as good as we think. But some of that could be coaching and not getting the talent to play up to their potential. It's hard to know which.

[Auburn2Eugene 2,317]

13 minutes ago, AUsince72 said:

It depends on the bowl and matchup.

I guarantee the team (& we fans) wanted to beat Oklahoma a few years ago.  

But when Auburn has a "lesser bowl" type of season, yes it does seem to take the wind out of our sails.

I doubt it THAT uncommon though, for traditional powers.  Which AU is one.

Yeah I'm sure everyone wanted that Oklahoma game as well. However some of us were realistic and knew we basically had no chance in that game. We backed into the Sugar Bowl. We had no business even being in that bowl. We weren't the best team in the SEC, not by far. 

5 minutes ago, DAG said:

Yes. Player by player Auburn was more talented than UCF.  Does necessarily mean they were the better team. 

We absolutely were more talented. Anyone who thinks Auburn doesn't have more talent than every G5 school needs medication. Its about the (non) development of our players. They tend to regress rather then progress, especially on the offensive side of the ball.

[oracle79 3,569]

2 hours ago, McLoofus said:

I agree with this. It is important to win this game for a lot of reasons and, as depressing a thought as it might be to some of us, Stidham gives us our best chance. 

Yep that's what I thought.  Wanting to win the Bowl Game is the ONLY reason I can see for playing Stidham.  Unfortunately, I don't think we will win either way, and would rather use those 15 bowl practices as a head start on determining the starting QB for next year.  God knows Gus will need as much time as possible for that.  And, at least the QB would be "live" in the Bowl Game and that will be the ONLY live experience they will get before starting against Oregon next year.