Popular Post JMR 2,118 Posted October 6, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted October 6, 2019 These things are fun to write when AU plays well, not so much when they don't. Like most fans, I've been pleasantly surprised with the progress made by Bo Nix from game to game. But in the dark corners of my old football mind, I've been wondering whether it would last. It did not. Bo was hardly the only AU player who didn't have a great day yesterday, but because of the position he plays, his bad days are more impactful than most. This game was a bad one for our rookie QB, and the impact was huge. I was not impressed with the offensive game plan (if there was one). But to be fair, I have thought our plans going into the other five games this season have been pretty darn good. Sometimes as a coach you guess wrong; some coaches can quickly adjust to the circumstances, and some can't. It's never easy, as you've spent all your preparation time working on what you went into the game believing would work. Enough of my rambling. Here are some of the Things I Think I Saw..... The first offensive play was a real head-scratcher. Pretty much identical to the play we opened the Texas A&M game with a few years ago, which resulted in a huge sack by Myles Garrett. We faked to the tailback, then to a WR going behind the QB (requiring the QB to turn his back to the defense), and pulled the backside guard to block the DE. Same result as the one we all remember. Rough start, and equivalent to pouring gasoline on the raging fire that was the Florida home crowd. The second offensive play was a bad shotgun snap that inadvertently went to Boobee Whitlow instead of Bo Nix. We were fortunate that Whitlow was watching the ball. On Florida's second offensive play, Dan Mullen managed to get his fastest wide receiver covered by one of our linebackers. K.J. Britt (not unexpectedly) was beaten badly in coverage, Auburn safety Daniel Thomas overran the play, and the result was an instant score for Florida. More gasoline on the Florida Field fire. Auburn fans love Defensive Coordinator Kevin Steele. He is no doubt one of the better ones in the SEC. But more than once yesterday, the AU defensive front was on their knees, looking to the sideline for a signal, when Florida snapped the ball. The secondary was playing man coverage, expecting a strong pass rush, and because the front was not ready, there was none. I like Steele as much as anyone, but that was not good coaching. No matter how good you are, there are always things that need work. Christian Tutt has been terrific on punt returns, but he has taken some risks, fielding punts on the bounce, etc. That finally caught up with him yesterday. A punt returner is coached to *field the ball in the air* if he can do so without leaving his feet. Tutt lets too many punts hit the ground. Usually that results in a favorable roll for the punting team but yesterday it resulted in even worse, with Tutt touching, then losing a key punt, setting Florida up deep in AU territory. Tutt did make a great play on a safety blitz, executing a perfect tackle that resulted in a fumble by the UF quarterback. Huge hit by K.J. Britt on Florida running back Dameon Pearce. Britt unfortunately offset that great play with a missed tackle on Lamical Perine that resulted in an 88-yard, "nail-in-the-coffin" Florida TD. Dan Mullen's comment to the CBS reporter at halftime about "dirty play" on the part of Marlon Davidson was typical Dan Mullen. Had Florida offensive tackle Stone Forsythe not pulled Davidson down by the shoulder pads on the play, Trask would have been untouched. In point of fact, by my unofficial tally, Forsythe was Florida's leading tackler in the game. Amazing that he was only called for it twice. Auburn struggled mightily to convert third downs in the game. That's even more disappointing when considering that Towson was 8-of-15 on third down conversions against Florida last week. Derrick Brown was, as always, held over and over in the game. A few were actually called. Brown is an incredible player, and will be a millionaire very soon. Marlon Davidson was also held multiple times but played with great effort as he has all season. Though I dislike the man, Dan Mullen is an outstanding game planner. His use of 6-4 tight end Kyle Pitts as a wide receiver was a brilliant move. Auburn was forced to cover Pitts with a defensive back, meaning another Florida wide receiver had to be covered by a safety or a linebacker. Those matchups proved disastrous for Auburn. The Florida wide receivers got the better of the Auburn secondary yesterday. Auburn played lots of man coverage and the receivers were too good, and too well-coached on route-running for Auburn's DBs to handle without interference. Ugly day for that group. Was glad to see T.D. Moultry step up his effort on the pass rush yesterday. That effort did garner him a key sack. I can't emphasize enough how poorly Bo Nix played in this game. Missed throws, overthrows, terrible interceptions. Just one or two less of any of those, and the game likely would have had a different outcome. I think Bo is going to be great and unfortunately, part of getting to that point is enduring painful lessons and not repeating them. Disappointed that the staff didn't give more of our Florida players opportunities to be a part of the game yesterday. Joey Gatewood, D.J. Williams, Shaun Shivers. W ould have been nice for them to get some action against the flagship team in their home state. If you don't think that means anything to those kids, you need to tweak your thinking. On the bright side, Anders Carlson looked great on his two field goal attempts. Hopefully, he is on track for a great season. The Auburn OL got whipped most of the time by the Florida DL. I'm still not sure how good Florida's defensive front is but they definitely looked the part yesterday. The crowd was indeed a factor, resulting in some key false start penalties on Auburn. Gus said he was surprised by that. What??? This was a bitter loss, and I'm not gonna try to pump any sunshine. But the world has not ended, the season is not in ruins. There are dang sure some stiff challenges down the road, but unlike most fans, players are exceptionally resilient. They have an open date to heal bumps and bruises and make needed corrections before taking on a desperate Arkansas. Got to use this one as a learning tool, and get back to work. WAR EAGLE!! 10 24 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
These things are fun to write when AU plays well, not so much when they don't. Like most fans, I've been pleasantly surprised with the progress made by Bo Nix from game to game. But in the dark corners of my old football mind, I've been wondering whether it would last. It did not. Bo was hardly the only AU player who didn't have a great day yesterday, but because of the position he plays, his bad days are more impactful than most. This game was a bad one for our rookie QB, and the impact was huge. I was not impressed with the offensive game plan (if there was one). But to be fair, I have thought our plans going into the other five games this season have been pretty darn good. Sometimes as a coach you guess wrong; some coaches can quickly adjust to the circumstances, and some can't. It's never easy, as you've spent all your preparation time working on what you went into the game believing would work. Enough of my rambling. Here are some of the Things I Think I Saw..... The first offensive play was a real head-scratcher. Pretty much identical to the play we opened the Texas A&M game with a few years ago, which resulted in a huge sack by Myles Garrett. We faked to the tailback, then to a WR going behind the QB (requiring the QB to turn his back to the defense), and pulled the backside guard to block the DE. Same result as the one we all remember. Rough start, and equivalent to pouring gasoline on the raging fire that was the Florida home crowd. The second offensive play was a bad shotgun snap that inadvertently went to Boobee Whitlow instead of Bo Nix. We were fortunate that Whitlow was watching the ball. On Florida's second offensive play, Dan Mullen managed to get his fastest wide receiver covered by one of our linebackers. K.J. Britt (not unexpectedly) was beaten badly in coverage, Auburn safety Daniel Thomas overran the play, and the result was an instant score for Florida. More gasoline on the Florida Field fire. Auburn fans love Defensive Coordinator Kevin Steele. He is no doubt one of the better ones in the SEC. But more than once yesterday, the AU defensive front was on their knees, looking to the sideline for a signal, when Florida snapped the ball. The secondary was playing man coverage, expecting a strong pass rush, and because the front was not ready, there was none. I like Steele as much as anyone, but that was not good coaching. No matter how good you are, there are always things that need work. Christian Tutt has been terrific on punt returns, but he has taken some risks, fielding punts on the bounce, etc. That finally caught up with him yesterday. A punt returner is coached to *field the ball in the air* if he can do so without leaving his feet. Tutt lets too many punts hit the ground. Usually that results in a favorable roll for the punting team but yesterday it resulted in even worse, with Tutt touching, then losing a key punt, setting Florida up deep in AU territory. Tutt did make a great play on a safety blitz, executing a perfect tackle that resulted in a fumble by the UF quarterback. Huge hit by K.J. Britt on Florida running back Dameon Pearce. Britt unfortunately offset that great play with a missed tackle on Lamical Perine that resulted in an 88-yard, "nail-in-the-coffin" Florida TD. Dan Mullen's comment to the CBS reporter at halftime about "dirty play" on the part of Marlon Davidson was typical Dan Mullen. Had Florida offensive tackle Stone Forsythe not pulled Davidson down by the shoulder pads on the play, Trask would have been untouched. In point of fact, by my unofficial tally, Forsythe was Florida's leading tackler in the game. Amazing that he was only called for it twice. Auburn struggled mightily to convert third downs in the game. That's even more disappointing when considering that Towson was 8-of-15 on third down conversions against Florida last week. Derrick Brown was, as always, held over and over in the game. A few were actually called. Brown is an incredible player, and will be a millionaire very soon. Marlon Davidson was also held multiple times but played with great effort as he has all season. Though I dislike the man, Dan Mullen is an outstanding game planner. His use of 6-4 tight end Kyle Pitts as a wide receiver was a brilliant move. Auburn was forced to cover Pitts with a defensive back, meaning another Florida wide receiver had to be covered by a safety or a linebacker. Those matchups proved disastrous for Auburn. The Florida wide receivers got the better of the Auburn secondary yesterday. Auburn played lots of man coverage and the receivers were too good, and too well-coached on route-running for Auburn's DBs to handle without interference. Ugly day for that group. Was glad to see T.D. Moultry step up his effort on the pass rush yesterday. That effort did garner him a key sack. I can't emphasize enough how poorly Bo Nix played in this game. Missed throws, overthrows, terrible interceptions. Just one or two less of any of those, and the game likely would have had a different outcome. I think Bo is going to be great and unfortunately, part of getting to that point is enduring painful lessons and not repeating them. Disappointed that the staff didn't give more of our Florida players opportunities to be a part of the game yesterday. Joey Gatewood, D.J. Williams, Shaun Shivers. W ould have been nice for them to get some action against the flagship team in their home state. If you don't think that means anything to those kids, you need to tweak your thinking. On the bright side, Anders Carlson looked great on his two field goal attempts. Hopefully, he is on track for a great season. The Auburn OL got whipped most of the time by the Florida DL. I'm still not sure how good Florida's defensive front is but they definitely looked the part yesterday. The crowd was indeed a factor, resulting in some key false start penalties on Auburn. Gus said he was surprised by that. What??? This was a bitter loss, and I'm not gonna try to pump any sunshine. But the world has not ended, the season is not in ruins. There are dang sure some stiff challenges down the road, but unlike most fans, players are exceptionally resilient. They have an open date to heal bumps and bruises and make needed corrections before taking on a desperate Arkansas. Got to use this one as a learning tool, and get back to work. WAR EAGLE!!
Win4AU 4,044 Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 When Tutt muffed that punt I knew it was going to be one of those games. The team didn’t look ready to play. Gotta wonder if it was the noise or just not respecting Florida enough going in and obviously Gus Dump etc. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jptiger 481 Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 Great analysis as usual. Wish we had one coach that thought like you. Hopefully the team will respond and grow from this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JScottt 0 Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 Coach , why do you think our line is getting worse and not better? Their grades were horrible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post 3rdgeneration 6,458 Posted October 6, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted October 6, 2019 I am sure that when Gus said he was surprised by the noise, he meant he was surprised by THAT MUCH NOISE. Ear-splitting, rattle your thinking, non-stop constant noise. JHS does not even approach this much noise. Their stadim is different than ours in that it does not have 2 distinct levels. It is a pieced meal bowl that is pretty steep. The seats are close to the field and the sidelines are narrow. There is no where for the noise to escape. They did not take a break at anytime we were on offense. Bo was going to lose a game for us sometime this year. It was inevitable, especially with the hype that has been put on him this year. I hope he is made of the stuff that he can regroup, learn, and shut out all the noise to concentrate on what he needs to do. He is capable. This team is capable. I will remain optimistic after just one loss. Thanks for your analysis @JMR. It is always a reasoned, intelligent, and fair expert synopsis. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doverstutts 1,643 Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 3 minutes ago, 3rdgeneration said: Gus said he was surprised He gets surprised by a lot of things on a regular basis 2 2 1 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abw0004 10,095 Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 I wonder if Shivers was held out due to his incident in warm-ups with the Florida players? I have no idea, I’m just wondering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarTim 3,455 Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 21 minutes ago, 3rdgeneration said: I am sure that when Gus said he was surprised by the noise, he meant he was surprised by THAT MUCH NOISE. Ear-splitting, rattle your thinking, non-stop constant noise. JHS does not even approach this much noise. Their stadim is different than ours in that it does not have 2 distinct levels. It is a pieced meal bowl that is pretty steep. The seats are close to the field and the sidelines are narrow. There is no where for the noise to escape. They did not take a break at anytime we were on offense. Bo was going to lose a game for us sometime this year. It was inevitable, especially with the hype that has been put on him this year. I hope he is made of the stuff that he can regroup, learn, and shut out all the noise to concentrate on what he needs to do. He is capable. This team is capable. I will remain optimistic after just one loss. Thanks for your analysis @JMR. It is always a reasoned, intelligent, and fair expert synopsis. Out of likes. I will simply say Amen. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarTim 3,455 Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 14 minutes ago, abw0004 said: I wonder if Shivers was held out due to his incident in warm-ups with the Florida players? I have no idea, I’m just wondering. What happened?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmer Brown 2,391 Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 49 minutes ago, JMR said: Sometimes as a coach you guess wrong; some coaches can quickly adjust to the circumstances, and some can't. Gus can't do this. If his game plan doesn't work, he is skunked. 50 minutes ago, JMR said: Disappointed that the staff didn't give more of our Florida players opportunities to be a part of the game yesterday. Joey Gatewood, D.J. Williams, Shaun Shivers. Mind boggling. This coach has never utilized his talent. Somtimes a new QB can spark an offense, when the first guy is struggling. This bozo never attempts anything different, except a stupid call to go for it, on 4th and a mile. I will be glad when he is gone. It is just a matter of time. 54 minutes ago, JMR said: I was not impressed with the offensive game plan (if there was one). ^^^^^^This 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdgeneration 6,458 Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 Yes @abw0004, what happened? I didn't see anything, but we got to our seats right before the team was going back to the locker room, so pregame warm-ups were about done. I thought I saw Worm dancing to a rap song near some UF players, but it was across the field from where I was. Surely he wouldn't get in trouble for dancing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post doverstutts 1,643 Posted October 6, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted October 6, 2019 6 minutes ago, WarTim said: What happened?? He delivered a double punch to two UF a**holes that ventured over on the AU half of the field during warmups....he hit two in the face, one fist for one face and the other for another face....real thing of beauty....i gained a lot of respect for him to do that...he knocked hell out of em' 13 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WalkingCarpet 1,379 Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 God forbid we put someone out there on offense who's fired up and has something to prove. 4 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auburn4ever 1,266 Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 I watched UF give AU and Gus an old fashioned behind the barn ass whooping. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post RunInRed 16,239 Posted October 6, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted October 6, 2019 I’ve never seen someone like Malzahn oscillate between genius and Mr. Prepared to pure idiot ... frustrating. 8 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunInRed 16,239 Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 Also Coach, you notice anything along these lines ... 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeek 16,525 Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 (edited) What I saw is an inept coach wasting this teams potential incapable of getting past the 50 and failing to score as much as Kentucky did. I saw Florida fans ridiculing us and talking about how overrated Bo Nix and this team are. I saw a stellar defense giving up big gains because they knew they had to force turnovers to give this team a chance. I saw Auburn fans feeling embarrassed yet again. I saw **** head commentators reaming their hands thinking they were right. I saw a team that’s about to go 8-4 and even when they do some here will still be saying “we don’t want to be Tennessee”. We haven’t won the SEC in 6 years and we’re not going to this year and likely not next year with all the talent we are going to lose. But everything is okay. Season ticket prices will keep skyrocketing and poor fans will continue to save up change to make a big trip to support these young men only to be disgusted by borderline insanely idiotic play calling. Edited October 7, 2019 by Zeek 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aubaseball 2,540 Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 It truly blows my mind but to think that we have speed that only a handful of teams have, and yet the HC/OC can’t scheme several plays to get that speed in space and in one on one situations . To be paid 7 million dollars and I did not see one play that put our fastest player in a mismatch with the other team. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aubearcat 2,131 Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 40 minutes ago, 3rdgeneration said: Yes @abw0004, what happened? I didn't see anything, but we got to our seats right before the team was going back to the locker room, so pregame warm-ups were about done. I thought I saw Worm dancing to a rap song near some UF players, but it was across the field from where I was. Surely he wouldn't get in trouble for dancing? Several uf players crossed the midfield stripe and started static with him. In my opinion, he did nothing but defend/stand up for himself and deserves zero blame in the incident. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChltteTiger 649 Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 53 minutes ago, Farmer Brown said: Gus can't do this. If his game plan doesn't work, he is skunked. Mind boggling. This coach has never utilized his talent. Somtimes a new QB can spark an offense, when the first guy is struggling. This bozo never attempts anything different, except a stupid call to go for it, on 4th and a mile. I will be glad when he is gone. It is just a matter of time. ^^^^^^This Careful you might violate a pumpers safe space. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abw0004 10,095 Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 1 hour ago, WarTim said: What happened?? 1 hour ago, 3rdgeneration said: Yes @abw0004, what happened? I didn't see anything, but we got to our seats right before the team was going back to the locker room, so pregame warm-ups were about done. I thought I saw Worm dancing to a rap song near some UF players, but it was across the field from where I was. Surely he wouldn't get in trouble for dancing? There is a video of it somewhere. They were making fun of him for his height so he got into it with them. Nothing that bad to be honest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMC 3 Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 Good observation Coach. I definitely agree with you on the game plan or the like there of, at some point as a coach when you see that your QB is struggling and wide eyes, it don't or wouldn't hurt to set him on the side line for a few plays and let him watch from the sideline. Florida Field is different then most field in that it is very close to the sideline, my daughter graduated from the University of Florida and I been there several time.its not that Florida out played Auburn, I think their (Dan Mullen & DC) just had a better game plan against what we was running.. offensively we did not adjust or try to help out a young QB. other word I hate to say this, Out coach!!! still a tigers and will continue to be a tiger, 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowebb11 9,258 Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 (edited) 14 hours ago, JMR said: Auburn fans love Defensive Coordinator Kevin Steele. He is no doubt one of the better ones in the SEC. But more than once yesterday, the AU defensive front was on their knees, looking to the sideline for a signal, when Florida snapped the ball. The secondary was playing man coverage, expecting a strong pass rush, and because the front was not ready, there was none. I like Steele as much as anyone, but that was not good coaching. No matter how good you are, there are always things that need work. I do love KS and appreciate how hard our defense plays. But after 6 games and about 250 passes thrown against us, we have exactly 1 interception. One of our senior safeties is consistently taking bad tackling angles and getting caught flat footed on pass plays. And we have zero speed rushers on a roster of 85. For us to have a chance vs our 3 looming rival games, those things have to be addressed. Edited October 7, 2019 by Gowebb11 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jptiger 481 Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 2 hours ago, jptiger said: Great analysis as usual. Wish we had one coach that thought like you. Hopefully the team will respond and grow from this. What was wrong with what I said chickendale? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle-1 3,821 Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 Another poster in a different thread had it right. Gus calls plays. It doesn't matter if he has the personnel to execute said play, or not. The backside guard has never been able to get to the D end on that play. At least not when it's SEC talent. The play was stupid, and set the tone for the entire first half. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now