It's Not Either Or....IT'S BOTH.

[IronMan70 3,277]

IT'S BOTH

Many of the posts on the board lately follow a similar pattern. One poster will say it's Gus's fault, another will say it's Bo's poor play. That seems to me to be talking right past each other and turns it into an either or situation. However it's not, it's both. I got into a short but pleasant convo in the game thread after I posted, "if Bo had just been average we win this game going away." I believe that to be true. The other person said, "but reasons 1-20 are on Gus". I happen to agree with that too but it's a different topic. I'm not a basher or a sunshine pumper. Having been a Gus fan albeit realistic and neutral on him going into the season, a Bo fan, a Joey fan and most importantly an Auburn fan, I'd like to address this. 

Gus is the head coach and is responsible for everything, period. He decides who is recruited, how to develop players, who plays in the game and what plays to call. I said before the season that Gus's biggest issue over the years has been losing those games he never should have lost. I felt he had to change that and do it this year. In addition, he had to start consistently winning at least 9 games. Those 8-4 seasons easily turn into 9, 10 or 11 wins if not for that. Yet here we are again and 2 more games can be added to the list. We were better than Florida and LSU at their home field. It's very frustrating.  

Another topic is the skill set currently being demonstrated at the QB position, the most important position on offense. The head scratcher here is that Bo can make 1 or 2 very good passes then miss 2 or 3 in a row as badly as I've ever seen a QB miss. It's puzzling but unfortunately it often occurs in key situations. Yes there was definitely some bad play calling but, even with the plays that were called, there were times he couldn't hit WRs wide open on some basic short patterns. I can't explain it but it happens to be the reality at this point in his career. 

So we don't know why this is happening but I think it's unfair to the rest of the team to let it continue, especially with this great defense. To consistently win big games, the team as a whole can not tolerate substandard play like that at any position let alone at QB. I would also add right here that it's Gus's decision whether to continue with a QB and that is on him. In addition, if we don't have any other option at the QB position that is on him too. 

Finally, this year was all up to Gus. I was pulling for him and for the team to make it happen. Simply put, it was cautious optimism with more of a 'show me' stance than anything. But honestly I don't see how he can keep losing games year after year he should have never lost in the first place and be able to remain. I stated that before the season too because it's the one thing that will keep a team from being an upper tier team and it hasn't improved this year. Upper tier teams win those games. Let me end by saying, at J-H with this defense, we should beat UGA and bama can be beat there too. Who knows, maybe we still get those 9 regular season wins. We'll have to wait and see what happens. 

 

Edit: 4 days after writing this Joey Gatewood officially left the team.    

[nixtosanders94 2,180]

well said

[ChltteTiger 649]

We better beat UGA or this place will literally blow up!

[shabby 1,956]

Nix aint ready. the offensive line makes it twice as bad. and gus is responsible for all of that

[IronMan70 3,277]

1 minute ago, shabby said:

Nix aint ready. the offensive line makes it twice as bad. and gus is responsible for all of that

All true.

[the_raven_tiger 13]

Cant win kicking field goals...a Gus legacy.

[doug3020 842]

7 minutes ago, ChltteTiger said:

We better beat UGA or this place will literally blow up!

Gonna go out on a limb and say it won’t happen or not without their help. When we beat them in ‘17 they made the stupid penalties we do now (offsides, PF’s etc). They also muffed a punt. I don’t think they’ll do much offensively, I just fear we’ll wear down bc our OL blows and our play calling is like we just pull plays out of a hat. Maybe I’ll be wrong. Maybe not. Either way, I’m obviously not hopeful. I’m actually concerned about OM. It’s a trap game. 

[muxi87 148]

Nix is the worst QB I’ve seen in Auburn history.  Show me any stat that says he isn’t.  I’m done.  This is a disgrace...

[WalkingCarpet 1,379]

25 minutes ago, muxi87 said:

Nix is the worst QB I’ve seen in Auburn history.  Show me any stat that says he isn’t.  I’m done.  This is a disgrace...

You do know Jeremy Johnson was quarterback a whole four years ago. 

[bigbird 60,498]

26 minutes ago, muxi87 said:

Nix is the worst QB I’ve seen in Auburn history.  Show me any stat that says he isn’t.  I’m done.  This is a disgrace...

That's just hyperbolic stupidity. Do you not remember Moseley, JJ, Frasier, Trotter, et.al.

BTW, whats the common denominator?

[beaumak 174]

14 minutes ago, bigbird said:

That's just hyperbolic stupidity. Do you not remember Moseley, JJ, Frasier, Trotter, et.al.

BTW, whats the common denominator?

Trotter beat Florida right? oops.

[nixtosanders94 2,180]

17 minutes ago, beaumak said:

Trotter beat Florida right? oops.

 

That UF team was 8-5...

[murpjf88 506]

2 hours ago, shabby said:

Nix aint ready. the offensive line makes it twice as bad. and gus is responsible for all of that

He's also treating Gatewood like K. Frasier, sending him out there for one play, to run up the middle. The other team knows it's a run everytime he comes into the game yet, this silly man continues to do it. How is Gatewood suppose to learn anything unless Gus is training him to be a running back.

[Dan-0 479]

A lot of us were willing to write off the FL game as just a bad game for Bo. But, after LSU, there is a pattern there. Bo was a hero in the Oregon game for the winning the game with a last-second pass. But if you look at his completion percentage, even in that game, he is not cutting it. And his completion percentages against FL & LSU were horrible. He can´t even complete the short, easy passes. But it´s ultimately on Gus when Bo doesn´t get it done. Gus has to make a change because the current offense is a wreck and it´s not due to lack of talent.

[CAReeves2010 627]

1 hour ago, muxi87 said:

Nix is the worst QB I’ve seen in Auburn history.  Show me any stat that says he isn’t.  I’m done.  This is a disgrace...

Good lord calm down, he's 18. Offensive play calls haven't helped him much and for his age he's pretty impressive throwing the ball away to avoid sacks, he needs a little work throwing it away while still in the box though but damn. How'd you feel about Campbell in 2001 ?

[Dan-0 479]

39 minutes ago, CAReeves2010 said:

Good lord calm down, he's 18. Offensive play calls haven't helped him much and for his age he's pretty impressive throwing the ball away to avoid sacks, he needs a little work throwing it away while still in the box though but damn. How'd you feel about Campbell in 2001 ?

I know he´s 18 and a freshman. He may be a great QB one day, I hope so. But this is big-time SEC football and you don´t get a grace period or a certain number of bad games. He has to make those short throws, freshman or not. Bo was a hero in the Oregon game but I sounded the alarm back then because he was 13-31 passing. And that low completion percentage has repeated itself in both the FL & LSU games. How many bad games do you think he should get before a change is made?

[TigerEyez13 46]

Bo was facing immense pressure on passing plays. There was literally a defender on him in less than two seconds. Even seasoned QBs would suffer under that barrage. Look what our defense does to the QBs we face. And we don't get the penetration that defenses get against us.

 

The majority of blame is on the head coach. The play calling was amateur hour. I will give Gus credit for finally learning to QB sneak from under center for short yards. But those calls up the middle... it was painful. He tries it with one running back. It fails. I know, let's put Boobee in there, that's the ticket. Same play. Same result. Okay, put Joey in, that's something different. Same play.  I feel sorry for the kids on this team. They are doing the best they can under the circumstances.

[CR 2,442]

8 hours ago, bigbird said:

That's just hyperbolic stupidity. Do you not remember Moseley, JJ, Frasier, Trotter, et.al.

BTW, whats the common denominator?

At some point it can't just be that all the QB's suck for no reason.

[sevenlee36 1,654]

9 hours ago, shabby said:

Nix aint ready. the offensive line makes it twice as bad. and gus is responsible for all of that

This sums it up. Seriously.

[sevenlee36 1,654]

8 minutes ago, CR said:

At some point it can't just be that all the QB's suck for no reason.

Gus needs a Joe Brady but idt he works with high school concepts and gadget plays

[1auburn1 1,110]

We should contact Oklahoma and see if they would consider a merger.   

[ToomersStreet 795]

11 hours ago, bigbird said:

That's just hyperbolic stupidity. Do you not remember Moseley, JJ, Frasier, Trotter, et.al.

BTW, whats the common denominator?

Wayne Bolt?

[dyehardfanAU 2,117]

When it's literally Gus' fault that Nix is having to play no blame an be put on Nix.  He's a 19 year old true freshman playing behind a poor OL with terrible coaching.

Anyone putting one bit of this on Bo needs to take a step back and let the realization flow over them that they know nothing about football or how a program is supposed to be built.

[dyehardfanAU 2,117]

11 hours ago, bigbird said:

That's just hyperbolic stupidity. Do you not remember Moseley, JJ, Frasier, Trotter, et.al.

BTW, whats the common denominator?

Gus has only recruited (1) QB in 7 years as a HC who was good enough to overcome his coaching.

[oracle79 3,569]

Here's a thought. For some reason Gus wants to show he can win and have a great offense without a player like Cam or Nick.  It started in 2014 when he tried to force Marshal to become a passing QB. It continued with JJ's anointment and the Sean White debacle. Then he demonstrated that he could take the future backup to Tom Brady and regress him over two seasons.  This year he had the perfect opportunity to allow a true freshman time to learn the offense and get accustomed to the college game while he sat behind a QB that is basically tailor made for Gus' offensive system. But no, Gus wants to show he can take a passing QB and win with his brilliant offensive scheme/mind to prove to the rest of the football world that he truly is an offensive genius and play caller. Pride does goeth before a fall.

Edit: after reading other threads, it also occurred to me that him starting a true freshman QB gives him a built in excuse for losing big games like these.  Always have the excuse, he's improving and will be better next year and start winning these types of games. New OC needs time to work with him, etc. Making more sense now.