Aught's Review: Music City Bowl

[AUght2win 6,836]

Was fortunate enough to get to go the game today and witness the literal best first half in bowl history. I wanted to share my thoughts on what I saw in person, maybe bring up some things that haven't been discussed.

1. Gus is in command as an OC/HC - you could just tell it in the way he patrolled the sideline today. No booger digging or pants hiking. The guy is more confident because he is back to doing what got him there and what he KNOWS he is great at. Really was apparent to me today when he called the timeout following the 2nd quarter scuffle. Gathered the whole team and barked at his men. The confidence and comfort trickled down. 

2. The O-Line showed marked improvement - I know Purdue isn't a great defense. But they are likely better than Southern Miss, Arkansas, Ole Miss, and Tennessee. We dominated them in the trenches, which is something we haven't done all year. One of the best pass blocking performances I have seen in a long time. And the run blocking wasn't bad either. I think next year will hinge entirely on the O-Line, and this is a great step forward.

3. Malik is an athlete, Gatewood is a quarterback - the comfort, body language, and decision making of Joey was encouraging to see. Malik predetermines what he is going to do each play. It's year 2 and he struggles with a simple key-read. Time to move on and play him at DB or WR.

4. We still lack a pass rush - even among all the success today, we didn't rush the passer well. We did get some interior pressure, but there is still no outside heat unless we blitz a corner. This offseason we must find a land shark the likes of Groves, McGlover, Ford, or Holland. It isn't Coe. Moultry is too undisciplined. I have hope for Big Kat. But I was very impressed with Jibunor today. He got pressure, set the edge well, and track down ball carriers. Maybe he can be the next sack master at Auburn. If not, we are going to continue to struggle with 3rd down defense next season.

5. Derrick Brown is Auburn's biggest recruit - this guy will have a Fairley type year if he returns next year. Mark it down. If Gus can convince him to stay, it'll be the biggest recruit he has nabbed in a long time.

6. Shivers/Whitlow ⬆️, Martin/Miller ⬇️ - Shaun Shivers is a complete back. Whitlow is promising too. Kam Martin played well, but he should specialize as a pass catching back ala James White of the New England Patriots. Malik Miller should move to H-Back. 

7. Great, great win - just fun, man. I have been crying 'fire gus' along with everyone else. But if you can't enjoy today, find a new team to root for. A great Auburn senior class including Deshaun Davis, Chandler Cox, and Ryan Davis got sent out in the way they deserved. Auburn dominated in a way we knew we could. It was just a great win. One that I consider to be the first game of the 2019 season. One thing is for sure: Gus' road to redemption could not have gotten off to a better start.

[aubaseball 2,602]

I agree to everything you said.   I would also add getting Davidson and Tega to stay is also important.   

The one play that I think sums up why Gatewood is the better player at QB than Willis was the speed read on a third down that he handed off when he should have kept the ball on a huge hole up the middle.   It was the play that Mississippi State ran over and over against AU and wasn’t able to stop it.  You could see Gus was frustrated with Willis when they came off the field 

[Auskip 196]

How would you compare the turnout of the 2 fan bases? 50/50?

[all4AU 379]

3 minutes ago, Auskip said:

How would you compare the turnout of the 2 fan bases? 50/50?

I would say slight edge to Purdue. 55/45 at most. Purdue really showed for this, but I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of AU fans.

[AUFriction 1,179]

I agree with you on 1,2, and 7. I kind of agree on 4, though I don’t think it is as bad as you make it sound. I agree on Brown, but there’s no way he comes back. Even though he didn’t win any awards, he got attention and is projected high in the first round.

I completely disagree on 3. We haven’t seen enough of the quarterbacks to really make any sound opinions (beyond nearly pure guesses) on them. After the first drive with Willis, Purdue knew we were going to try to run the clock out, so they loaded the box and completely sold out on run on almost every play. Most of the time Willis was in there, there wasn’t a good read on the option. His passes were in predictable times. When Gatewood was in, Purdue had started playing reserves. He attempted just one pass and it was a dropped screen(albeit it was thrown behind the receiver). Gatewood looked better, but I don’t really think there performances in mop up time should really be compared, especially since they weren’t throwing. 

I also disagree on 6. All four running backs do things well. There is clearly a pecking order. 1. Whitlow/Martin, 2. Shivers, 3. Miller. I saw an analysis of our running backs last year where it was mentioned that Martin is an impatient runner. That’s why he looked good yesterday but bad through the season. He has great burst, good hands (catches the ball well), and underrated power, but he doesn’t do a good job making his own yards when the OL is struggling.  If the OL had panned out this year, he would have had more touches and a lot more yards. I like the idea of using them all moving forward, but touches should probably come in this order (assuming OL improves): Whitlow, Martin, Shivers, Miller. 

[AUght2win 6,836]

2 hours ago, Auskip said:

How would you compare the turnout of the 2 fan bases? 50/50?

Purdue sent more fans. Our fans were sort've uninterested at kickoff, relative to theirs. But once the music city massacre began, everyone was feeling fine.

[AUght2win 6,836]

56 minutes ago, AUFriction said:

I agree with you on 1,2, and 7. I kind of agree on 4, though I don’t think it is as bad as you make it sound. I agree on Brown, but there’s no way he comes back. Even though he didn’t win any awards, he got attention and is projected high in the first round.

I completely disagree on 3. We haven’t seen enough of the quarterbacks to really make any sound opinions (beyond nearly pure guesses) on them. After the first drive with Willis, Purdue knew we were going to try to run the clock out, so they loaded the box and completely sold out on run on almost every play. Most of the time Willis was in there, there wasn’t a good read on the option. His passes were in predictable times. When Gatewood was in, Purdue had started playing reserves. He attempted just one pass and it was a dropped screen(albeit it was thrown behind the receiver). Gatewood looked better, but I don’t really think there performances in mop up time should really be compared, especially since they weren’t throwing. 

I also disagree on 6. All four running backs do things well. There is clearly a pecking order. 1. Whitlow/Martin, 2. Shivers, 3. Miller. I saw an analysis of our running backs last year where it was mentioned that Martin is an impatient runner. That’s why he looked good yesterday but bad through the season. He has great burst, good hands (catches the ball well), and underrated power, but he doesn’t do a good job making his own yards when the OL is struggling.  If the OL had panned out this year, he would have had more touches and a lot more yards. I like the idea of using them all moving forward, but touches should probably come in this order (assuming OL improves): Whitlow, Martin, Shivers, Miller. 

I think the Willis observation is also counting his work throughout the season. Against Washington, he missed his wide open primary route on the 2 point try. Against Bama, he missed Cox for a 1st down on the fake field goal. I just don't think he has good vision.

Also, Gatewood allows for the QB power read. That is a play we haven't run really since Cam. Remember Cam's Heisman moment against LSU where he outran Patrick Peterson? Same play we saw Gatewood score on (even though the refs botched the call). I think Gus really likes having a QB that can hammer it right up the middle. 

[Tigger1985 806]

I had hoped Gus would let the backups run the WHole offense to see how they would look.

[AUght2win 6,836]

Ya know, I wish someone would research this: Auburn scored 42 points in the first 17 minutes of the game. I wonder if that has ever happened.

[I_M4_AU 7,811]

10 hours ago, Tigger1985 said:

I had hoped Gus would let the backups run the WHole offense to see how they would look.

I’ve hoped this for years, but it just isn’t Gus’ way.  Gus isn’t there to please the fans and give them what they want in this regard.  The only time the fans can see how the QB performs is in the A day game, which is severely watered down.  We just have to trust the man’s judgment on opening day.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,666]

I hope someone compiles Gatewood’s PT for us who couldn’t watch 

[BJCrawford 1,568]

I would like opinions as to why our OLine looked so much better (if you think they did). Stidham has been running for his life most of the year. I think he had a couple of hurries but no sacks. I understand their defense is not good, but as others have said, we made a lot of bad defenses look good.  

[PoetTiger 1,896]

11 hours ago, Tigger1985 said:

I had hoped Gus would let the backups run the WHole offense to see how they would look.

They will get a chance...I guess he did not want to at the expense of punishing  Purdue any further. 

[PoetTiger 1,896]

52 minutes ago, BJCrawford said:

I would like opinions as to why our OLine looked so much better (if you think they did). Stidham has been running for his life most of the year. I think he had a couple of hurries but no sacks. I understand their defense is not good, but as others have said, we made a lot of bad defenses look good.  

They seemed to do more power blocking on the runs....and let’s not kid ourselves those early runs by Kam helped open up the one one coverage for Slayton and with his speed he can beat most CB’s. And in pass blocking they seemed more fundamentally sound.

[BJCrawford 1,568]

1 hour ago, PoetTiger said:

They seemed to do more power blocking on the runs....and let’s not kid ourselves those early runs by Kam helped open up the one one coverage for Slayton and with his speed he can beat most CB’s. And in pass blocking they seemed more fundamentally sound.

Maybe I’m wondering why do this in this game and not before now? Or did they just get more experience throughout the season? Or was the Gus/chip dynamic that confusing. I’m thinking of the Arkansas and southern miss games specifically.  Just hoping this becomes more the norm and not just a single good day.

[hooverwareagle1 32]

I don't get overly hyped based on this bowl game.  So much of the game is mental.  I give Gus absolute credit for having the team ready to play from the opening kick-off.  Purdue was not ready to play.  In these bowl games that happens.  It has happened to us on several occasions.  We owned the trenches and that allows you to do a lot.  It allows the QB to step up and make reads and good throws.  It allows the LBers to make tackles in the holes.  Unfortunately, there were several games during the season where we did not own the trenches.  The OL played better down the stretch.  I have constantly bashed JBG but I do think he coached improvement in the OL during the second half of the season.  His recruiting issues will continue to plague us.  So it will be interesting to see if this bowl game transfers to the off season and spring practice.  I don't think we will play many teams next season that are mentally not prepared or that we will own the LOS.  I hope that I am wrong.  

[AUght2win 6,836]

5 hours ago, BJCrawford said:

I would like opinions as to why our OLine looked so much better (if you think they did). Stidham has been running for his life most of the year. I think he had a couple of hurries but no sacks. I understand their defense is not good, but as others have said, we made a lot of bad defenses look good.  

There are a lot of common misconceptions in football, especially if you watch a TV broadcast. For instance, people often blame the closest DB when a receiver catches a wide open pass, when in reality he was covering for someone else who didn't do their job. I think that is the case with fan perception and our pass blocking.

No, we weren't great at pass blocking this year. There were times where Stidham was under duress. But I would say we actually did an adequate job pass blocking all year. We averaged less than 2 sacks per game. Stidham ran for his life 70% of the time when he didn't need to. This makes it seem like our line sucks, when it was actually the QB's fault for not having the guts to hang in the pocket. 

Against Purdue, our line was stellar. And I mean stellar. Stidham didn't even come close to being touched. If he had, he would have flushed like he did all season.

I think we definitely took a big step forward up front, but they weren't THAT bad at pass pro to being with. 

[kd4au 1,145]

33 minutes ago, AUght2win said:

There are a lot of common misconceptions in football, especially if you watch a TV broadcast. For instance, people often blame the closest DB when a receiver catches a wide open pass, when in reality he was covering for someone else who didn't do their job. I think that is the case with fan perception and our pass blocking.

No, we weren't great at pass blocking this year. There were times where Stidham was under duress. But I would say we actually did an adequate job pass blocking all year. We averaged less than 2 sacks per game. Stidham ran for his life 70% of the time when he didn't need to. This makes it seem like our line sucks, when it was actually the QB's fault for not having the guts to hang in the pocket. 

Against Purdue, our line was stellar. And I mean stellar. Stidham didn't even come close to being touched. If he had, he would have flushed like he did all season.

I think we definitely took a big step forward up front, but they weren't THAT bad at pass pro to being with. 

I still have faith in JBG. It is just taking some time to get the Hand out of them. I really think we will see a better o-line next year. JBG may not be a great recruiter but 4 of the starters are players he recruited and he has to rebuild relationships with recruits after being gone.

[Swamp Eagle 5,134]

On 12/28/2018 at 11:11 PM, AUght2win said:

Was fortunate enough to get to go the game today and witness the literal best first half in bowl history. I wanted to share my thoughts on what I saw in person, maybe bring up some things that haven't been discussed.

1. Gus is in command as an OC/HC - you could just tell it in the way he patrolled the sideline today. No booger digging or pants hiking. The guy is more confident because he is back to doing what got him there and what he KNOWS he is great at. Really was apparent to me today when he called the timeout following the 2nd quarter scuffle. Gathered the whole team and barked at his men. The confidence and comfort trickled down. 

2. The O-Line showed marked improvement - I know Purdue isn't a great defense. But they are likely better than Southern Miss, Arkansas, Ole Miss, and Tennessee. We dominated them in the trenches, which is something we haven't done all year. One of the best pass blocking performances I have seen in a long time. And the run blocking wasn't bad either. I think next year will hinge entirely on the O-Line, and this is a great step forward.

3. Malik is an athlete, Gatewood is a quarterback - the comfort, body language, and decision making of Joey was encouraging to see. Malik predetermines what he is going to do each play. It's year 2 and he struggles with a simple key-read. Time to move on and play him at DB or WR.

4. We still lack a pass rush - even among all the success today, we didn't rush the passer well. We did get some interior pressure, but there is still no outside heat unless we blitz a corner. This offseason we must find a land shark the likes of Groves, McGlover, Ford, or Holland. It isn't Coe. Moultry is too undisciplined. I have hope for Big Kat. But I was very impressed with Jibunor today. He got pressure, set the edge well, and track down ball carriers. Maybe he can be the next sack master at Auburn. If not, we are going to continue to struggle with 3rd down defense next season.

5. Derrick Brown is Auburn's biggest recruit - this guy will have a Fairley type year if he returns next year. Mark it down. If Gus can convince him to stay, it'll be the biggest recruit he has nabbed in a long time.

6. Shivers/Whitlow ⬆️, Martin/Miller ⬇️ - Shaun Shivers is a complete back. Whitlow is promising too. Kam Martin played well, but he should specialize as a pass catching back ala James White of the New England Patriots. Malik Miller should move to H-Back. 

7. Great, great win - just fun, man. I have been crying 'fire gus' along with everyone else. But if you can't enjoy today, find a new team to root for. A great Auburn senior class including Deshaun Davis, Chandler Cox, and Ryan Davis got sent out in the way they deserved. Auburn dominated in a way we knew we could. It was just a great win. One that I consider to be the first game of the 2019 season. One thing is for sure: Gus' road to redemption could not have gotten off to a better start.

Knee-jerk post. 😀

[Swamp Eagle 5,134]

5 hours ago, BJCrawford said:

I would like opinions as to why our OLine looked so much better (if you think they did). Stidham has been running for his life most of the year. I think he had a couple of hurries but no sacks. I understand their defense is not good, but as others have said, we made a lot of bad defenses look good.  

Probably due to the Purdue DL being so bad.

[doc4aday 1,887]

This was a good game all around. I think we could have given a lot of teams fits if they had faced us in the bowl game. The team was better prepared than I have seen them for all this past season. I hope that this mind set will carry over into 2019 and that Gus will have them prepared the right way each game next season.

Purdue was not a bad team and should not have been taken as one. They were no UGA or anything of that class, but a team that is capable of beating good teams on a given day. Next season will come soon enough and the expectations will be there although not to the degree they were for 2018. If this team is prepared each week like was the case for the bowl game, we can compete with anyone on our schedule.

[AuJoe 79]

It really is funny and somewhat sad to read some of the posts from the folks that just won't give Gus any credit at all for anything he does or has done. The game against Purdue was a spectacular performance any way you choose to look at it. Now some folks are saying Purdue was a crappy team and Auburn should've won and some are the same folks that predicted an Auburn loss by-the-way. Others posting that Auburn recruits in the top 10 and Purdue recruits in the 60-70 range so Auburn's athletes should have been expected to smash Purdue simply by showing up due to their far superior athleticism and talent, you know, the old Jimmies and Joes argument that removes the X's and O's. Yet none of them takes into account that Ohio State recruits in the top 10 to top 5 range every year and so should have had the same if not better talent and athleticism gap over Purdue but they managed to get their doors blown off by this same Purdue team to the tune of 29 points. Shouldn't Ohio St. have taken them down by an equal or greater score just by showing up also since they had all the better Jimmies and Joes?

They insist the win against a much weaker opponent meant nothing and was no big deal. These naysayers also fail to see or mention that Auburn broke an NCAA record in first half scoring. Following their Auburn-much-greater-than-Purdue logic that also should've been an expected outcome. So you're going to tell me that in the history of the NCAA and bowl games there has never been a match-up between 2 teams where one team easily outclassed the other team? I'm pretty sure, if I even cared to try (and I don't), I could come up with dozens and maybe even hundreds of lop-sided bowl matchups where one team was leaps and bounds better than their opponent and yet never did any of those result in a 56 point first half for the better team. Nah, nope, that record doesn't mean anything, right?

OK, lets look at just SEC teams then. In the history of SEC teams in bowl games the most points scored was 61 by Alabama over Syracuse in 1953. So you're going to tell me that never, ever in the history of bowl games that involved SEC teams did any of them outclass their opponent as bad as Auburn v Purdue because if they had then surely they would have put up more than 61 on the opponent right? So nope, the 63 points scored record doesn't mean anything either.

There are some who just won't give credit when credit is due no matter what. I'm waiting for someone to come out and say that Dillingham was calling the plays, but only the successful ones, and Gus interjected on the ones that didn't gain any yardage or points like the overthrow to Slayton or the outside handoff to Worm that lost yards. That's the sort of logic I've been seeing on this and other sites this year. Geez, getting really ridiculous I think. Some just can't allow themselves to be happy or to give Gus any credit even when it's obvious he deserves it. Their biases won't allow it I guess. Unfortunately, some are also hoping for Gus' failure which means Auburn's failure also. Sad.

Do I think Auburn and Gus did a spectacular job in the bowl game, heck yes! Do I think it means Auburn will be in the CFP next year? I'm not saying that and I'm not sure I saw where anyone did say that. There will be too many changes to the team for anyone to make more than a whimsical guess right now. Do I think Auburn will be better next year? I have no idea, but I sure hope so and the bowl game made me feel a little better and more hopeful of it, especially based on the o-line's improvement towards the end of the season and in the bowl game. Do I think Gus is the answer for Auburn? Right now he is Auburn's coach so I sure hope so and will give him all my faith and support. Do I have a positive outlook for next season with Gus at the helm? Absolutely! I don't know how to be any other way.

Here's a bonus to think about: Did you ever consider that Gus Malzahn (as Auburn head coach or coordinator) has been the only SEC coach to prevent Alabama with Saban (excluding his first year as the Alabama coach) from going to the SEC Championship game and/or the National Championship game more than once? Some might say Hugh Freeze but the losses to Ole Miss didn't keep them from the SEC Championship those 2 years. You could say Les Miles except that while he kept them out of the SEC Championship, he lost to them in the National Championship that same year and it was the only time he stopped them from either. Some might say Urban Meyer but he only stopped them once from going to the National Championship as coach of Florida by beating them in the SEC Championship game. Gus has done it 3 times: 2010 (OC), 2013 (HC) and 2017 (HC).

[HarrisBoy334 63]

20 hours ago, AUght2win said:

There are a lot of common misconceptions in football, especially if you watch a TV broadcast. For instance, people often blame the closest DB when a receiver catches a wide open pass, when in reality he was covering for someone else who didn't do their job. I think that is the case with fan perception and our pass blocking.

No, we weren't great at pass blocking this year. There were times where Stidham was under duress. But I would say we actually did an adequate job pass blocking all year. We averaged less than 2 sacks per game. Stidham ran for his life 70% of the time when he didn't need to. This makes it seem like our line sucks, when it was actually the QB's fault for not having the guts to hang in the pocket. 

Against Purdue, our line was stellar. And I mean stellar. Stidham didn't even come close to being touched. If he had, he would have flushed like he did all season.

I think we definitely took a big step forward up front, but they weren't THAT bad at pass pro to being with. 

That's the best summarizing of this oline I relation to Stidham's glaring weakness all season. I noticed this from the Clemson game last year thru this year.  Watching the dline instead of paying and check downs. Premature scrambling but still taking sacks outside of the tackle box. I think with quality depth this oline can exceed expectations.

[ChltteTiger 649]

On ‎12‎/‎30‎/‎2018 at 12:42 AM, AUght2win said:

Ya know, I wish someone would research this: Auburn scored 42 points in the first 17 minutes of the game. I wonder if that has ever happened.

That is amazing and hard to believe it could have happened previously.

[ChltteTiger 649]

18 hours ago, AuJoe said:

It really is funny and somewhat sad to read some of the posts from the folks that just won't give Gus any credit at all for anything he does or has done. The game against Purdue was a spectacular performance any way you choose to look at it. Now some folks are saying Purdue was a crappy team and Auburn should've won and some are the same folks that predicted an Auburn loss by-the-way. Others posting that Auburn recruits in the top 10 and Purdue recruits in the 60-70 range so Auburn's athletes should have been expected to smash Purdue simply by showing up due to their far superior athleticism and talent, you know, the old Jimmies and Joes argument that removes the X's and O's. Yet none of them takes into account that Ohio State recruits in the top 10 to top 5 range every year and so should have had the same if not better talent and athleticism gap over Purdue but they managed to get their doors blown off by this same Purdue team to the tune of 29 points. Shouldn't Ohio St. have taken them down by an equal or greater score just by showing up also since they had all the better Jimmies and Joes?

They insist the win against a much weaker opponent meant nothing and was no big deal. These naysayers also fail to see or mention that Auburn broke an NCAA record in first half scoring. Following their Auburn-much-greater-than-Purdue logic that also should've been an expected outcome. So you're going to tell me that in the history of the NCAA and bowl games there has never been a match-up between 2 teams where one team easily outclassed the other team? I'm pretty sure, if I even cared to try (and I don't), I could come up with dozens and maybe even hundreds of lop-sided bowl matchups where one team was leaps and bounds better than their opponent and yet never did any of those result in a 56 point first half for the better team. Nah, nope, that record doesn't mean anything, right?

OK, lets look at just SEC teams then. In the history of SEC teams in bowl games the most points scored was 61 by Alabama over Syracuse in 1953. So you're going to tell me that never, ever in the history of bowl games that involved SEC teams did any of them outclass their opponent as bad as Auburn v Purdue because if they had then surely they would have put up more than 61 on the opponent right? So nope, the 63 points scored record doesn't mean anything either.

There are some who just won't give credit when credit is due no matter what. I'm waiting for someone to come out and say that Dillingham was calling the plays, but only the successful ones, and Gus interjected on the ones that didn't gain any yardage or points like the overthrow to Slayton or the outside handoff to Worm that lost yards. That's the sort of logic I've been seeing on this and other sites this year. Geez, getting really ridiculous I think. Some just can't allow themselves to be happy or to give Gus any credit even when it's obvious he deserves it. Their biases won't allow it I guess. Unfortunately, some are also hoping for Gus' failure which means Auburn's failure also. Sad.

Do I think Auburn and Gus did a spectacular job in the bowl game, heck yes! Do I think it means Auburn will be in the CFP next year? I'm not saying that and I'm not sure I saw where anyone did say that. There will be too many changes to the team for anyone to make more than a whimsical guess right now. Do I think Auburn will be better next year? I have no idea, but I sure hope so and the bowl game made me feel a little better and more hopeful of it, especially based on the o-line's improvement towards the end of the season and in the bowl game. Do I think Gus is the answer for Auburn? Right now he is Auburn's coach so I sure hope so and will give him all my faith and support. Do I have a positive outlook for next season with Gus at the helm? Absolutely! I don't know how to be any other way.

Here's a bonus to think about: Did you ever consider that Gus Malzahn (as Auburn head coach or coordinator) has been the only SEC coach to prevent Alabama with Saban (excluding his first year as the Alabama coach) from going to the SEC Championship game and/or the National Championship game more than once? Some might say Hugh Freeze but the losses to Ole Miss didn't keep them from the SEC Championship those 2 years. You could say Les Miles except that while he kept them out of the SEC Championship, he lost to them in the National Championship that same year and it was the only time he stopped them from either. Some might say Urban Meyer but he only stopped them once from going to the National Championship as coach of Florida by beating them in the SEC Championship game. Gus has done it 3 times: 2010 (OC), 2013 (HC) and 2017 (HC).

Like clockwork here comes the sunshine pumping. Didn't this same thing happen after we beat Memphis to avoid a losing season?