So what are the most urgent things that need to be addressed

[McLoofus 35,182]

20 minutes ago, BigWhiskey91 said:

FWIW, the folks criticizing any ‘reads’ from an option standpoint need to realize that a majority of the time, those are predetermined keepers or handoffs. I do believe that Nix missed some reads in the passing game. I have to believe that the drastic difference in rush/pass attempts is an attempt to get WRs and Nix on the same page in live action. If he continues to struggle vs Kent State, May want to look at giving Gatewood the second half at minimum to go full offense with the 1st team (tempo and all). 

Agree all the way. 

[auburnphan 6,050]

23 hours ago, cole256 said:

I've been trying not to wrap my head around this as I literally don't see how that could be possible.....becoming an anchor to our o line should sell like handing out a ticket to playing in the NFL......we should have a back log of uber athletes wanting to play for us....without selling it mind you

the only NFL lineman who has been solid is Smith and Slade had a splash.  Robinson and Coleman have been colossal busts.  It is huge that Braden is having some success because our system has not developed players to the next level which hurts recruiting when you go after the top tier guys.

[auburnphan 6,050]

On 9/8/2019 at 10:26 AM, bigbird said:

Been worried since the Washington game last year. Thankfully I was assured we just needed more time with Grimes. The line play has been bad but I haven't seen the center of guards on there butts as often as last year, so that's good. As far as being able to do something, I'd try and infuse some young, hungry, mean attitude from the underclassmen into the starting lineup. It can't be much worse and would help ease next year's difficulties.

Preach On

[TigerOne 1,140]

Well the gameplan from here on out for the opponent is make Bo throw the ball. A&M is gonna blitz the hell out of Auburn.

Now Auburn has the talent to beat that plan but will we use it?

[auburnphan 6,050]

22 hours ago, I_M4_AU said:

Good thread Cole, and like others have said, the singular most urgent need is help for the OL.  The problem is the urgency should have been addressed in earlier recruiting years and the lack of prospective OL players have come home to roost.  I’m not sure what can be done to help in the near term except, as @bigbird said, to replace some guys with young, more aggressive linemen. 

You noticed last night Bo was staring down his receivers. The particular play was a 3rd and 5 at about our 25 yard line.  Hastings was lined up in the slot and I was focused on him as I figured he was the receiver Bo had the most confidence in at the time.  It turns out not only did I know it, Bo knew it, Gus knew it, the whole stadium knew it and so did the Tulane MLB. It was almost a pick six.  The point being Gus’ leash is too tight.  Bo was being baited into that throw and he didn’t recognize it as that was where the ball was going no matter what.  No situational awareness.  If you have a hunting dog that you don’t want to hunt, just nurture him early and keep him on a leash so he doesn’t have to make his own decisions (or mistakes).

This brings up another observation, some people have complained that the receivers are not running their route properly or are lackluster about them.  The above could be a contributing factor as if they know they are not the primary receiver they may not be as enthused about their assignment, especially with a rookie QB. This is obviously speculation, but as I recall we had a similar situation in 2015 that was more obvious with Duke Williams that manifested itself into his dismissal from the team.

Bottom line, the coaching, developing and play calling have not changed in the last few years.  The team has to come together and if the trend is it will after 4 games, we have two left to see what we have.  Auburn fans have a hard time managing our expectations.

Gus has systematically practiced his QB's to always hit the first read in practice.  He always believes he has the perfect call every play.  And most of these plays are timed throws so that the QB finds his guy and hits him.  Other receiver routes are set up to clear space or to block after the catch.  That is why you see poor effort from the other options because they are not designed to be a target.  Think about it, every QB under Gus will blatantly miss wide open receivers constantly because the play was not designed to hit that guy.  Cam and Nick could scramble and find those wide open guys more than others by making plays off of a poor play being called.  

We have always had terrible play calling, we have just been blessed with talent that has been able to overcome it.  The wrong person got a big contract because of the amazing talent of others.  

[auburnphan 6,050]

Besides several things mentioned what scares me is that we have been more lucky than good in these first 2 games.

[NorthGATiger 1,801]

On 9/8/2019 at 10:49 AM, cole256 said:

I think we all agree then it's ABSOLUTELY vital that we get some kind of a push from the o line. We can't have one guy being able to disrupt EVERYTHING we want to do on offense. 

We are not going to get any type of push from a 308# average OL.  We have recruited agile 300# lineman while others around us have recruited 330# road graders who are serious dudes.  Without angles, misdirection, and trickeration 308# is not blowing anyone off of the ball.  That is why we can't get 3rd or 4th and a foot without using the Wildcat.

[Beenjammin 87]

Always remember.... At least we are not Tenn....... can always get worse then our woes.

[McLoofus 35,182]

2 minutes ago, Beenjammin said:

Always remember.... At least we are not Tenn....... can always get worse then our woes.

Exactly what my bammer buddy texted me the other night.

Ahhhhhh, patronizing texts from your friends who hate Auburn. What a time to be alive. 

[I_M4_AU 7,773]

14 minutes ago, auburnphan said:

Gus has systematically practiced his QB's to always hit the first read in practice.  He always believes he has the perfect call every play.  And most of these plays are timed throws so that the QB finds his guy and hits him.  Other receiver routes are set up to clear space or to block after the catch.  That is why you see poor effort from the other options because they are not designed to be a target.  Think about it, every QB under Gus will blatantly miss wide open receivers constantly because the play was not designed to hit that guy.  Cam and Nick could scramble and find those wide open guys more than others by making plays off of a poor play being called.  

We have always had terrible play calling, we have just been blessed with talent that has been able to overcome it.  The wrong person got a big contract because of the amazing talent of others.  

Well said, I’m in agreement here as this is what we have seen since Gus came to Auburn.  The scrambles of Cam and Nick were what made the play work, not necessarily the play itself.  It was when the play broke down that we saw the genius of Cam and Nick, but praised Gus.

It can be devastating to just robotically throw a ball without looking how it’s being defended first, it only takes a split second to do so.  Stidham’s first throw in the 2018 LSU game comes to mind.

[oracle79 3,569]

48 minutes ago, auburnphan said:

Besides several things mentioned what scares me is that we have been more lucky than good in these first 2 games.

Very true, but I'll always take lucky over good in big situations.

[Tiger 8,818]

On 9/8/2019 at 11:34 AM, ValleyTiger said:

The interior of the OL is the team weakness, but we continue to go into games expecting to impose our will the opponent with our weakness. That's maddening. 

That's the system. I don't ever want to hire a "system coach" ever again. No Chip Kelly's, no Gustav's, none of that vibe anymore. I want a coach/OC that can see the forest for the trees.

20 hours ago, GwillMac6 said:

Let me just ask you this. When is the last time you actually had fun watching a Gus offense? Sans 2 games in November in 2017 the last time I had any fun and excitement watching AU football was the 2014 offense. Not only are we just plain awful on the OL we are painfully boring to watch. I can only imagine how recruits feel.

Worst part of it all was that we had elite basketball recruits visiting and Gus treated them to a snoozefest on O making our stadium seem sleepy.

[Zeek 16,617]

1 hour ago, McLoofus said:

Exactly what my bammer buddy texted me the other night.

Ahhhhhh, patronizing texts from your friends who hate Auburn. What a time to be alive. 

My "formative" years of college football began when our 6 win streak against Alabama began. Needless to say my expectations for Auburn vs. Alabama were high. Honestly don't mind when my true Bama friends make jabs but there's a lot of people who weren't Bama fans during that losing streak that now seem to own a lot of crimson.

[Warbird82 160]

On 9/8/2019 at 9:35 AM, Sully to Beasley said:

The development of a better passing game will help stop future AU opponents from loading up the box the way Tulane did in the 1st half. It is mighty hard to block 8 guys in the box even if you are the New England Patriots! Bo being a true freshman will continue to make freshman mistakes but he must improve his reads and decision making. I have not given up on this team or this offense. I still think we can be a top 25 squad by the time the dust settles on the season.

I too was aggravated on Saturday night with the lack of play by the interior of the O-line...then I started counting how many defensive players that Tulane was putting in the box.  You are correct, 5 to block 8 is a tall order.  Once I realized this, I became more and more frustrated with the stubbornness of the play calling, especially running into that setup.  Even running to the outside instead of inside was tough...they knew we were going to run.  Of course, the way you counter that is with misdirection (screens) and dumping short passes across the middle.  The coaching staff seemed to realize this in the second quarter.  It loosened their defense up and then the runs were more successful.  I just wish they would react or expect this quicker than they are currently doing.  It would certainly help by BP in the first quarter...thank goodness my meds are working!

[McLoofus 35,182]

7 minutes ago, Zeek said:

My "formative" years of college football began when our 6 win streak against Alabama began. Needless to say my expectations for Auburn vs. Alabama were high. Honestly don't mind when my true Bama friends make jabs but there's a lot of people who weren't Bama fans during that losing streak that now seem to own a lot of crimson.

Exactly. These are good friends. I honestly don't have a problem with many of the graduates I've known. It's almost always the ones who didn't go there. 

Speaking of that 6 game streak, I made a bet with one of these guys. Loser had to sing the other team's fight song over the phone. Guess when I made that bet with him? 2002. I let him stop doing it ~2006 I think. So I didn't have to sing it to him once.  

[GwillMac6 20,607]

22 minutes ago, Zeek said:

My "formative" years of college football began when our 6 win streak against Alabama began. Needless to say my expectations for Auburn vs. Alabama were high. Honestly don't mind when my true Bama friends make jabs but there's a lot of people who weren't Bama fans during that losing streak that now seem to own a lot of crimson.

You keep bama people in your life!? I can't relate!! Once I find out their allegiance I will drop them out of my life faster than Tommy trott dropped passes lol 

[Zeek 16,617]

6 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

You keep bama people in your life!? I can't relate!! Once I find out their allegiance will drop them out of my life faster than Tommy trott dropped passes lol 

I loved Tommy Trott dangit!
Can't help it, some of them are good people they're just misguided lol.

[GwillMac6 20,607]

Just now, Zeek said:

I loved Tommy Trott dangit!
Can't help it, some of them are good people they're just misguided lol.

Well I hate people and socializing pretending to care about their stories  so it just makes it easier to hit the byeeeeeeee Felecia on them and throw up the deuces!!! I am out of this bishhhhhh lol. I am not about to talk about to pretend to care and hear about tua non stop!!!! Haha I rather just bitch about Gus with my fellow Auburn men and women!!! Hahaha  

[Zeek 16,617]

2 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

Well I hate people and socializing pretending to care about their stories  so it just makes it easier to hit the byeeeeeeee Felecia on them and throw up the deuces!!! I am out of this bishhhhhh lol. I am not about to talk about to pretend to care and hear about tua non stop!!!! Haha I rather just bitch about Gus with my fellow Auburn men and women!!! Hahaha  

Haha true, I love my UCF friends too because they're so eager about everything even though a lot of them haven't been following football very long. That school is the sleeping giant on the verge of waking up. Other Florida schools better watch out whenever UCF gets in a P5 conference.

[fasttimes 356]

1 hour ago, Tiger said:

That's the system. I don't ever want to hire a "system coach" ever again. No Chip Kelly's, no Gustav's, none of that vibe anymore. I want a coach/OC that can see the forest for the trees.

 

i want to go get venables.

[GwillMac6 20,607]

1 hour ago, Tiger said:

That's the system. I don't ever want to hire a "system coach" ever again. No Chip Kelly's, no Gustav's, none of that vibe anymore. I want a coach/OC that can see the forest for the trees.

Worst part of it all was that we had elite basketball recruits visiting and Gus treated them to a snoozefest on O making our stadium seem sleepy.

So true fan!!! Gus is just a less high profile Chip Kelly. They don't adapt. They don't innovate. They don't adjust and they don't tweak. They are married to their system for better or worse. And both of them are being left behind because the refuse to adjust. System coaches are way to stubborn for their own good.

[DAG 33,955]

4 minutes ago, fasttimes said:

i want to go get venables.

I would love that too but apparently there is some underneath stuff. I have no true evidence. Just rumors. 

[nixtosanders94 2,180]

18 minutes ago, Zeek said:

I loved Tommy Trott dangit!
Can't help it, some of them are good people they're just misguided lol.

Satanists are “misguided” 

[fasttimes 356]

1 minute ago, DAG said:

I would love that too but apparently there is some underneath stuff. I have no true evidence. Just rumors. 

like he has utters?

[Tiger 8,818]

We basically have the modern version of Hal Mumme. Everyone took his O and ran with it while he stayed the same and he is currently coaching at *checks* The Dallas Renegades.

Everyone took Gus' O and modernized it and we are stuck running our RB into the buttcrack of our RG. Soon enough Gus will be coaching at wherever Kiehl Frazier finished his college career. If only Steven Leath didn't freaking sabotage us.....