Feeling better about next year

[AU64 10,122]

21 minutes ago, autan said:

With Sr leadership from DB I expect our defense to be better next year  (if we don't have key injuries). DBs will be far more talented and experienced which showed toward the end of season.  Achilles heel is LBs.  I was not as high on our Sr LBs as most of you. Next years group may be more talented but almost no experience to build on.  Hope Mikey waves his magic wand.

Gotta be somewhat encouraged by the guys coming back...not just for the sake of them playing next season but also for me that's an indication of higher expectations for 2019 that many fans are talking about.    

Time will tell of course but I can't imagine these top players returning to participate in a 6-6 season for their senior season.   Maybe they are wearing their orange and blue glasses....but I expect they are also able to read the enthusiasm level of their teammates. 

[PowerOfDixieland 3,226]

[Farmer Brown 2,391]

This gif, originally posted and credited to Bigbird, sums up my expectations for a Gus coached Auburn team. And now, for your viewing pleasure....

 

[McLoofus 35,182]

13 hours ago, AU64 said:

Hoping the D is better than it showed the last few games of the regular season.    Not sure what was going on but the D was better in the bowl game and hope that's a trend that can continue.  

Amazing what happens to the defense when the offense chooses to participate. 

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

13 hours ago, AU64 said:

Hoping the D is better than it showed the last few games of the regular season.    Not sure what was going on but the D was better in the bowl game and hope that's a trend that can continue.  

We played a vastly ovetmatched team talent wise that couldn't match our speed and strength, particularly in the trenches.  Can't compare Purdue to Bama/UGA.

[Slammer1 409]

After watching Bo Nix's performance in the UA All American bowl I am optimistic about this coming season. Watched an interview he had and some more of his highlights  and was impressed with his play and  his attitude and confidence. He seems like a true leader and that is what a QB has to be. Also the offensive line seems to have improved a lot. I can't remember seeing an AU team click like they did in the Music City bowl. I guess the real Stidham finally showed up.  I hope Gus and the team continue their excellent play into the coming season.

WDE!!!

[bigbird 60,509]

9 hours ago, Farmer Brown said:

This gif, originally posted and credited to Bigbird, sums up my expectations for a Gus coached Auburn team. And now, for your viewing pleasure....

 

It's the gif that keeps on giving

[AU64 10,122]

7 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

We played a vastly ovetmatched team talent wise that couldn't match our speed and strength, particularly in the trenches.  Can't compare Purdue to Bama/UGA.

Who did that?   Not me..... Purdue was gonna beat AU by 3 TDs...I saw it on this site so it had to be true.   

But Purdue's O was pretty good...ask OSU and the teams where they scored 40 or so.     AU defense gave up yards and points by the basket full against teams in the Purdue class last year but shut down the boilermakes pretty well....so  hope that continues with a more experienced DL and healthier defense overall. 

[aujeff11 6,243]

15 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Amazing what happens to the defense when the offense chooses to participate. 

Kinda like in the first half of the Georgia game. Amirite?

[Swamp Eagle 5,134]

13 hours ago, James Howell said:

Auburn wont amount to much as long as malzahn is there.  You guys sentiment is pretty much the same as after the 2007 peach bowl when Tony Franklin took over but what happened in 2008.  Gus was calling plays in 2015 and part of 2016.  Now you can believe that gus has become a sean Payton in play calling after 1 game but I am not believing any of it.

What fun would a football season be without any unknowns?

[abw0004 10,110]

12 hours ago, James Howell said:

Well this pretty much makes my point about gus coaching ability as a coach.  He recruited that personnel and tried to make them fit his scheme.  A good coach will develop a scheme to fit his personnel instead gus tried to fit the personnel to his scheme.

Not necessarily.  If you look back at his quarterbacks, he has adapted to their skills.  Chris Todd, Cam Newton, Nick Marshall, and Jarrett Stidham all were different and thrived in his system.  Now Jeremy Johnson had motivation issues and was lazy in practice.  Sean White liked to party.  You can lead a horse to water, but can't force them to drink.  That can't be on the coaches, and both of those quarterbacks were highly coveted.  Jarrett Stidham this year was revealed after our bowl win that he had an injury all year.  My guess was it was the hit in the Washington game, as before that hit he was lighting Washington up like in the Purdue game.   This upcoming year, Bo Nix is more of a Jarrrett Stidham type in that fact that he can isn't inept at running but his forte is in the passing game.  Reports in camp has said that Joey Gatewood has made strides in his development.  Not all doom and gloom when it comes to Gus and quarterbacks.

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

52 minutes ago, AU64 said:

Who did that?   Not me..... Purdue was gonna beat AU by 3 TDs...I saw it on this site so it had to be true.   

But Purdue's O was pretty good...ask OSU and the teams where they scored 40 or so.     AU defense gave up yards and points by the basket full against teams in the Purdue class last year but shut down the boilermakes pretty well....so  hope that continues with a more experienced DL and healthier defense overall. 

You specifically mentioned how the D was better in the bowl games than the last few games of the year and wondered why.  I gave you an answer: Purdue was overmatched.  As long as AU showed up to play, Purdue had no shot.

Even the teams AU gave up yards and points too were above Purdue's "class".  Look at the average recruiting rankings for the last 5 years.  Purdue averages in the 70s.  To put that in perspective, 5-7 Tennessee averaged around Top 15 in recruiting during the same span.

Remember, there are only 64 teams playing "Power 5" football, so the math tells me that Purdue has been out-recruited by several smaller schools.  Essentially, we were playing a team full of top tier MAC or Sun Belt recruits.

[abw0004 10,110]

20 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

Essentially, we were playing a team full of top tier MAC or Sun Belt recruits.

Would love to have Moore though.  That kid was a stud and appears to have a good head on his shoulders as well.  Their recruiting is going up too for what it's worth.  Just had a 4* WR commit to them.

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

9 minutes ago, abw0004 said:

Would love to have Moore though.  That kid was a stud and appears to have a good head on his shoulders as well.  Their recruiting is going up too for what it's worth.  Just had a 4* WR commit to them.

Oh Moore is great and I know their recruiting is getting better under Brohm.  But the kids that were on the field against AU were not highly regarded coming out of high school.  That's the point I'm making here.

[aubearcat 2,137]

14 hours ago, aujeff11 said:

Malzahn is on the hotseat and amen corner is at home. I’m just saying. 

Yep, that’s when AUburn will win 11-12 games and “just miss” the playoffs. Gus gets another extension. A portion of the fan base gets excited believing Gus has “turned the corner”  and think AUburn will be a regular top 5-10 program only to have Lucy pull the football and several mediocre seasons follow. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

49 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

You specifically mentioned how the D was better in the bowl games than the last few games of the year and wondered why.  I gave you an answer: Purdue was overmatched.  As long as AU showed up to play, Purdue had no shot.

Even the teams AU gave up yards and points too were above Purdue's "class".  Look at the average recruiting rankings for the last 5 years.  Purdue averages in the 70s.  To put that in perspective, 5-7 Tennessee averaged around Top 15 in recruiting during the same span.

Remember, there are only 64 teams playing "Power 5" football, so the math tells me that Purdue has been out-recruited by several smaller schools.  Essentially, we were playing a team full of top tier MAC or Sun Belt recruits.

To wit: According to this, Purdue had the 49th-best signing class in the country this year and has been 69th-best over the last 5 years. 

(We sit at 12 and 7, respectively.)

[gravejd 3,270]

Hard not to feel better about next year when our best defensive player decides to come back for his senior season. Have to see what the rest of the juniors decide but that is a hell of a good start. But feeling better about next season means i have gone from expecting 5-6 wins to hoping for 7-8 wins. Which means a crap season to a little less crappy season. QB and OL are still a worry and will be until about game 6 of next season. At that point i'll know what we have and can stop worrying about it. 

Off the top of my head i expect we will be underdogs against Oregon, TXAM, UF, LSU, Bama, and UGA. 

[Barnacle 9,064]

1 hour ago, Brad_ATX said:

You specifically mentioned how the D was better in the bowl games than the last few games of the year and wondered why.  I gave you an answer: Purdue was overmatched.  As long as AU showed up to play, Purdue had no shot.

Even the teams AU gave up yards and points too were above Purdue's "class".  Look at the average recruiting rankings for the last 5 years.  Purdue averages in the 70s.  To put that in perspective, 5-7 Tennessee averaged around Top 15 in recruiting during the same span.

Remember, there are only 64 teams playing "Power 5" football, so the math tells me that Purdue has been out-recruited by several smaller schools.  Essentially, we were playing a team full of top tier MAC or Sun Belt recruits.

I almost never bet on Auburn games, but this one I did for all of these reasons. At the end of the day, we still have more talent than most teams in the country, and much, much more talent than Purdue. It was going to take a lot for us to lose that game. 

[I_M4_AU 7,801]

17 hours ago, abw0004 said:

Sunshine UNITE!

‘Tis time to walk in your season.

[Linayus 676]

1 hour ago, gravejd said:

Off the top of my head i expect we will be underdogs against Oregon, TXAM, UF, LSU, Bama, and UGA. 

I expect Oregon to be a tight one but I think we will be favored because of our defense. The rest, I agree with you. Things could change though if we beat Oregon and then aTm early and have some momentum.

[meh130 1,043]

19 hours ago, AU_Tiger_88 said:

Oline should be better...so hinging on who is the QB and RB play...

Line play (on both sides) is critical. Our O-Line struggles were the root cause of our problems in 2018. Our O-Line should be better next year. If Tega returns, it has the potential to be very good.

D. Brown returning is a big deal, and could be key to reducing the pressure on a developmental year for our LBs. Brown will require opposing OLs to double team him. It is like getting two DLs for the price of one.

The other factor are playmakers on both sides of the ball. One of our challenges in 2018 was the lack of a dynamic edge rusher at Buck. I think Richard Jibunor might emerge as that. An interior linemen like Brown who need to be double-teamed, combined with a fast, agile edge rusher complicates things for opposing teams.

I think we are good at RB. QB will be interesting.

[James Howell 80]

7 hours ago, abw0004 said:

Not necessarily.  If you look back at his quarterbacks, he has adapted to their skills.  Chris Todd, Cam Newton, Nick Marshall, and Jarrett Stidham all were different and thrived in his system.  Now Jeremy Johnson had motivation issues and was lazy in practice.  Sean White liked to party.  You can lead a horse to water, but can't force them to drink.  That can't be on the coaches, and both of those quarterbacks were highly coveted.  Jarrett Stidham this year was revealed after our bowl win that he had an injury all year.  My guess was it was the hit in the Washington game, as before that hit he was lighting Washington up like in the Purdue game.   This upcoming year, Bo Nix is more of a Jarrrett Stidham type in that fact that he can isn't inept at running but his forte is in the passing game.  Reports in camp has said that Joey Gatewood has made strides in his development.  Not all doom and gloom when it comes to Gus and quarterbacks. [Unquote]

First of all cam and nick fit his zone read.  However, during nick tenure he never really progressed as a downfield passer he was as likely to underthrow/overthrow receivers or hit them.

Noodle arm todd was just plain sorry I wont hold that one against malzahn.  I am not sure anyone could have done anything with noodle arm.

You mention white as a party animal.  Instead of making excuses for gus coaching you indite his ability as a coach.  I dont know if white as you say is a party animal but if you are correct he played for almost 2 years and at some point gus should recognize that white is not progressing and bench him but instead he continued to reward white bad behavior with starting.  That is sorry coaching.

In the case of stidham are you saying gus risked the well being of the team as well risking the physical health of one of his players to win games.  That not only makes gus a sorry coach but a sorry individual.  I always thought gus was a sorry coach but I thought he was a good guy

 

 

 

[tigerman1186 537]

Why are we playing TA&M so early in the schedule this coming year??? It seems we've played them later in the season....

[ClaytonAU 4,606]

How do you delete other people’s posts

[toddc 13,194]

17 minutes ago, ClaytonAU said:

How do you delete other people’s post’s 

LOL