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Reload or Rebuild on Offense


StatTiger

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51 minutes ago, Slammer1 said:

Well his offenses have taken us to two national championship games, winning one and coming within 13 seconds of winning the second one, so yes, I think he can.

SMH..

"His offense" won a national championship 9 years ago with the greatest QB in history and Tommy Tuberville's OL.

His offense- no scare quotes this time- got us to another title game 6 years ago. 

Since then it has been one of the most schizophrenic, inconsistent units in sports. 

A4E generally deserves a SMH but it's hardly out of bounds to wonder if Gus is still capable of rebuilding an offense. 2013 was a long time ago. 

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On 5/21/2019 at 2:01 PM, McLoofus said:

"His offense" won a national championship 9 years ago with the greatest QB in history and Tommy Tuberville's OL.

His offense- no scare quotes this time- got us to another title game 6 years ago. 

Since then it has been one of the most schizophrenic, inconsistent units in sports. 

A4E generally deserves a SMH but it's hardly out of bounds to wonder if Gus is still capable of rebuilding an offense. 2013 was a long time ago. 

Yes.  

I think the more fair and balanced question is not “can he do it?” , but “can he make the necessary adjustments to do it again?”

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On 5/21/2019 at 3:01 PM, McLoofus said:

"His offense" won a national championship 9 years ago with the greatest QB in history and Tommy Tuberville's OL.

His offense- no scare quotes this time- got us to another title game 6 years ago. 

Since then it has been one of the most schizophrenic, inconsistent units in sports. 

A4E generally deserves a SMH but it's hardly out of bounds to wonder if Gus is still capable of rebuilding an offense. 2013 was a long time ago. 

All true, but also true in 2017 the offense worked pretty well after we reshuffled the offensive line, producing 51, 49, 44, 23, 52, 42, 40, and 26 points in SEC play. The only loss being the 23 point effort at LSU.

I think we might have done better in 2018 had we not lost so much on the offensive line, but the OL losses and the loss of KJ killed Stidham's confidence, which led to Gus getting too conservative. I watched some of those 2018 games, and even mediocre competition like Southern Miss was eating up our OL.

This year is all on Gus. The defense should keep us in every game. The OL should be much more mature than last year. The RBs are more experienced, and the WRs are solid.

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1 hour ago, meh130 said:

All true, but also true in 2017 the offense worked pretty well after we reshuffled the offensive line, producing 51, 49, 44, 23, 52, 42, 40, and 26 points in SEC play. The only loss being the 23 point effort at LSU.

I think we might have done better in 2018 had we not lost so much on the offensive line, but the OL losses and the loss of KJ killed Stidham's confidence, which led to Gus getting too conservative. I watched some of those 2018 games, and even mediocre competition like Southern Miss was eating up our OL.

This year is all on Gus. The defense should keep us in every game. The OL should be much more mature than last year. The RBs are more experienced, and the WRs are solid.

The offense was pretty good in 2017, and personnel issues did influence 2018. But Gus's playcalling in 2018 was not a function of any shortcomings on Stidham's part. Our offensive coaching 2018 was much worse than any personnel shortcomings necessitated. (Not to mention the talent deficiencies weren't as bad to begin with as the coaching made them seem.)

The defense kept us in almost every game last year. Gus crapped the bed anyway. Hopefully he doesn't this year. 

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this year i worry about QB (why is this almost always an issue?). If Stidham had stayed we would be a favorite to make the playoff. as it stands we will be starting a freshman one way or the other. we could be dangerous by years end, but those early games will be tough.

Next year our lack of oline recruitment is going to get us.

 

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18 hours ago, fasttimes said:

If Stidham had stayed we would be a favorite to make the playoff.

For Gus' offense, I actually like Gatewood better than Stidham.  Not sure how friendly it will be to Bo.  Offensive line is the key this year.  And, how well Gus does taking back over the play calling. 5 wins, a national title, nor anything in between would shock me with Gus and Auburn.

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On 7/17/2019 at 10:49 AM, oracle79 said:

For Gus' offense, I actually like Gatewood better than Stidham.  Not sure how friendly it will be to Bo.  Offensive line is the key this year.  And, how well Gus does taking back over the play calling. 5 wins, a national title, nor anything in between would shock me with Gus and Auburn.

In watching film on BO he is faster and quicker than Stidham who can get us more yardage with his legs than Stidham and also uses his legs to buy time to hit his receivers. I love Stidham but he is more of a true Pro style QB and Gus never evolved our offense to take advantage of that. Both Bo and Gatewood fit this O better than Stidham but beyond improved O-Line play the real key to the O Season this year is if Gus will adjust his O to take advantage of the skill players we have and not always run the same 3 plays.Passes to TE's, Slants, passing over the middle, passing to backs, utilizing our speed with Worm and Schwartz, etc. 

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Gus never seemed capable of transitioning away from his ideal concept requiring a duel purpose QB.  Since '13, no new Marshall or Cam rained down from heaven as neither Gus, nor Rhett could sign any similar talent that could perform anywhere near such extremely rare productive levels.  Therefore, Gus just couldn't make it click with a pro style QB regardless of how talented an arm Stidham possessed, nor could he get out of his own way allowing Lindsey to fully impliment his offense.

Might likely would not have mattered with the weakness of the OL early, and the inexperience at skill positions generally in '18 apart from Davis and Slayton.

For two years Gus was lost with a QB who understood his limitations running, and seemed genuinely afraid of the threat a second shoulder injury would present to his dream.  And, we got what we got until Lindsey left and we faced a Purdue level defense in the bowl.  It was demoralizing to the whole program unfortunately.

Now we have come full circle seemingly, back to having a couple of young studs at QB, who can flat move around and sling it with great accuracy.  Gus is back in full charge of the offense.  The offensive line is stocked with 4th and 5th year guys with many SEC starts. (Stat Tiger has quantified what any of us brave enough to be honest with ourselves are observing).  This '19 team is suddenly loaded with exceptional physical talent possibly exceeding that of AU's two exceptional SEC championship teams, less a Cam, Fairley, Greg Robinson or Nick Marshall.

This year will be another phenomenal year for this program despite a schedule with no home games in the month of October.  It's safe to go ahead and get excited.  There's a bunch of winners on this team and win they will this fall.

Gus will be the only limiting factor.  Time to earn that big check.

 

 

 

 

 

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fwiw BSPN just published article of top 10 (relatively speaking) schools for each position - both sides of the ball (BCS era & thereafter).

We got #7 @ QB and #10 RB. Period. 

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On 7/17/2019 at 10:49 AM, oracle79 said:

For Gus' offense, I actually like Gatewood better than Stidham.  Not sure how friendly it will be to Bo.  Offensive line is the key this year.  And, how well Gus does taking back over the play calling. 5 wins, a national title, nor anything in between would shock me with Gus and Auburn.

Isn't that pretty much the case every year. The OL just couldn't give protection last year. I like Gus but agree he has to make progress this year. That will be tough when you consider our schedule.

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On 7/26/2019 at 7:24 PM, Tiger Sue said:

Isn't that pretty much the case every year. The OL just couldn't give protection last year. I like Gus but agree he has to make progress this year. That will be tough when you consider our schedule.

I'm hoping the line play improves simply by virtue of the system. Rather than having the rather convoluted zone-blocking scheme of Chip Lindsay's RPO spread offense, I think you'll see a more clear, well polished attack and protection scheme under Malzahn's Power spread. I think having a line that knows for certain what the play will be rather than having to react to what the defense throws at you will result in a better on-field product.

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On 6/7/2019 at 11:07 AM, AUpreacherman22 said:

Yes.  

I think the more fair and balanced question is not “can he do it?” , but “can he make the necessary adjustments to do it again?”

This. That 2013-14 team was about adjustments. During LSU second half and rest of the year we went full on zone-read. Against Purdont, we went attack mode after sitting on the ball multiple games in Gus’s career. He needs to adjust personnel and taking advantage of defenses by putting them on their heels for 4 quarters. We can be dangerous this year. 

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