Chances of a classic Darkhorse year?

[cole256 17,043]

51 minutes ago, AUGoo said:

Do you know anything about Penn St?

How do we compare to them?

Like how I think we are going to do against them or just literally talent as a team how do we stack up?

I know a little about Penn st. I'm very very very very happy their best pass rushers will be in the NFL soon when the draft is completed

[AUGoo 2,659]

Just now, cole256 said:

Like how I think we are going to do against them or just literally talent as a team how do we stack up?

 

Both.

Like I was saying before,  I've tuned out NCAA FB for the last couple of years, but seem to remember Penn St being on the struggle bus as well.

[Malcolm_FleX48 1,869]

Auburn is in a weird spot right now and while I don't think that we will have a horrible season, I don't think its going to be a fairytale one either.

Realistically we will probably be a little bit over 50%

If we do better than that, then its gravy. The roster was/is depleted in many areas. A lot of new guys are going to get PT but they'll be learning a system which is MILES ahead of what they've probably been called to learn unless they're transfers from a team that makes pro-reads, uses sight adjusts, and has the players making manual audibles and protection calls. A lot of these guys might not fit the roles they're supposed to fill 100% and that may create a bit of early turbulence. The QB spot will either return a guy who in addition to having to learn an entirely new system from the top down will have to undergo a FULL MECHANICAL AND TECHNIQUE overhaul or it'll be a new fresh face under center.

Defensively, I don't think we'll be that bad off only because this defense may not be as different to learn as past defenses except for the ability to get pressure without going single-high and calling blitzes all the time. There will probably be adjustments for the STUDs but outside of that, you're not going to see too many ground-breaking changes to what responsibilities probably will be except for probably 2-gapping at the LOS.

That combo is very boom or bust and while I know the coaching staff is pretty capable looking at its parts, it's the team compatibility due to having had so much of Gus' system being built into it that is the unknown. 

[Eagle Eye 7 2,535]

On 3/29/2021 at 7:36 AM, Tigerpro2a said:

Is there any evidence whatsoever to support this claim? Gus did a lot of things wrong, but I don't see even Gus letting someones parent have influence on him especially as paranoid as Gus is. I think Gus was very equipped to ruin Bo on his own without Daddy's help.

The point was I believe Pat made it known that Bo would be the starter period. Again Bo has the talent but he needs the competition as well. I think sitting Bo a couple of times during his freshman year would have been extremely helpful in Bo’s career. Now that Bo knows there will be consequences for his play I expect Bo to be much better. 

[Eagle Eye 7 2,535]

On 3/26/2021 at 9:51 PM, Viper said:

I don’t recall 2004 being laughed at preseason by anyone, not with the return of Cadillac & Brown. 

Actually the coaching in 2004 cost them the national championship. That was probably one of the best assembly of college athletes I have ever seen. Two top five picks then another top 15 and a forth , first rounder. Others in that group went on to be very good as well. Had tubby got off his butt early on and beat folks as bad as they could have, we would have been the #1 team going into the bowls. 

[Eagle Eye 7 2,535]

On 3/22/2021 at 11:37 AM, IronMan70 said:

Could this be a magical season ? Maybe, but a lot has to happen and first we have to take care of the basics. First of all, as the OL and DL go, so goes the season. One of the critical keys to that will be in the continued strength training for both lines during the summer. That is a must. Also important is whether the DL will take to the 3 man front or have a slow start with it. Finally, will the defense do their tackling with a vengeance and punish people ? If so, that will give us an early tell on the culture of the defense.

On offense, the key will be considerable improvement in the QB play. It has to happen. The current starter has to do it or someone else does. At RB, the Tank-Worm duo seems to be a perfect change of pace combo. All is well if they make it through the entire season. If not, the concern is if Tank is out, who can realistically carry that heavier load ? Finally, the goal should be that Auburn's typical season is close to magical (10+) every year, not the exception. This instead of what we have experienced the last decade or so. Let's hope Harsin can do that. He seems to be off to a good start so far.

Glad you mentioned the strength training. I think the last few years we have really sucked at that pop art of it. I don’t know if it was Russle’s fault or Gus’s be we definitely declined 

[1auburn1 1,110]

9 minutes ago, Eagle Eye 7 said:

Actually the coaching in 2004 cost them the national championship. That was probably one of the best assembly of college athletes I have ever seen. Two top five picks then another top 15 and a forth , first rounder. Others in that group went on to be very good as well. Had tubby got off his butt early on and beat folks as bad as they could have, we would have been the #1 team going into the bowls. 

USC and OU went undefeated and were 1 and 2 wire-to-wire (first time that had ever happened).   We pulled even in the polls with OU after throttling UGA but then slipped back after only a decent showing against a mediocre UAT team.    Other than winning out really big, AU wasn't going to get into the NC game, especially after having lost to USC the two previous years.    Tubs gave me a lot of heartburn for various reasons but 2004 wasn't one of them. 

[AUloggerhead 2,229]

10 minutes ago, Eagle Eye 7 said:

Actually the coaching in 2004 cost them the national championship. That was probably one of the best assembly of college athletes I have ever seen. Two top five picks then another top 15 and a forth , first rounder. Others in that group went on to be very good as well. Had tubby got off his butt early on and beat folks as bad as they could have, we would have been the #1 team going into the bowls. 

That's a bit harsh.  While it was often frustrating at times to watch Tuberville refuse to win by blow-out scores when he had the chance, it was the BCS system that was at fault due to too much reliance on the damn polls -- SC & OU were at top of the polls wire to wire for the season.    

[McLoofus 35,182]

28 minutes ago, 1auburn1 said:

USC and OU went undefeated and were 1 and 2 wire-to-wire (first time that had ever happened).   We pulled even in the polls with OU after throttling UGA but then slipped back after only a decent showing against a mediocre UAT team.    Other than winning out really big, AU wasn't going to get into the NC game, especially after having lost to USC the two previous years.    Tubs gave me a lot of heartburn for various reasons but 2004 wasn't one of them. 

You can even leave out the "Other than winning out really big" part. Didn't matter. The other teams made for better ratings. Fin.

[1auburn1 1,110]

21 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

You can even leave out the "Other than winning out really big" part. Didn't matter. The other teams made for better ratings. Fin.

Largely true but if you want better ratings when you play, go win games that matter (see JHS, August 30, 2003).

[McLoofus 35,182]

5 minutes ago, 1auburn1 said:

Largely true but if you want better ratings when you play, go win games that matter (see JHS, August 30, 2003).

Oh, definitely a conversation to be had about being one of those name programs for once. Hiring a qualified coach was a really good start.

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

2 hours ago, Eagle Eye 7 said:

Actually the coaching in 2004 cost them the national championship. That was probably one of the best assembly of college athletes I have ever seen. Two top five picks then another top 15 and a forth , first rounder. Others in that group went on to be very good as well. Had tubby got off his butt early on and beat folks as bad as they could have, we would have been the #1 team going into the bowls. 

I don't think so. It is hard to drop a team in polls that win especially against decent competition. the fact that usc and Ok were 1 and 2 out the gate killed us. if they didn't do preseason polls it should have helped. who knows... you may be right.

[Beaker 2,457]

19 hours ago, Eagle Eye 7 said:

Actually the coaching in 2004 cost them the national championship. That was probably one of the best assembly of college athletes I have ever seen. Two top five picks then another top 15 and a forth , first rounder. Others in that group went on to be very good as well. Had tubby got off his butt early on and beat folks as bad as they could have, we would have been the #1 team going into the bowls. 

 

17 hours ago, Tigerpro2a said:

I don't think so. It is hard to drop a team in polls that win especially against decent competition. the fact that usc and Ok were 1 and 2 out the gate killed us. if they didn't do preseason polls it should have helped. who knows... you may be right.

I don't always agree with Eagle Eye 7, but I do 100% this time:

Had Auburn throttled some teams like they were more than capable of doing, we could have matched OU earlier than the thUGA game and easily jumped them after the thUGA  game.  That Auburn team had as much talent or capability as any team ever assembled up to that point in history.  I truly believe it. 

Also at that time,  Tommy easily could have given the media some juicy sound bites to run with and created some buzz.   He NEVER did that until after the bama game.   That was a missed opportunity. 

Tubberville's ultra conservative nature and coaching prowess absolutely cost us a shot  vs  USC. 

Preseason polls really do hurt programs that are not 'blue bloods' and some programs like an OU can run the tables and never really be tested with even  2 or 3 challenging games in a season.   

I appreciate Tubs and what he accomplished for Auburn, but - 

[1auburn1 1,110]

Losing two years in a row to USC didn’t help our cause.  We played hard in one, didn’t bring our pads in the other.  If we could have earned a split that would have added intrigue for a third game but in the world of opinion polling, a lot of people didn’t want to see that matchup again. 

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

5 hours ago, Beaker said:

 

I don't always agree with Eagle Eye 7, but I do 100% this time:

Had Auburn throttled some teams like they were more than capable of doing, we could have matched OU earlier than the thUGA game and easily jumped them after the thUGA  game.  That Auburn team had as much talent or capability as any team ever assembled up to that point in history.  I truly believe it. 

Also at that time,  Tommy easily could have given the media some juicy sound bites to run with and created some buzz.   He NEVER did that until after the bama game.   That was a missed opportunity. 

Tubberville's ultra conservative nature and coaching prowess absolutely cost us a shot  vs  USC. 

Preseason polls really do hurt programs that are not 'blue bloods' and some programs like an OU can run the tables and never really be tested with even  2 or 3 challenging games in a season.   

I appreciate Tubs and what he accomplished for Auburn, but - 

I get where you and Eagle Eye are both coming from, I just honestly don't know that it would have made any difference. The media was already so infatuated with OU and USC from pre-season and they both beat up there schedule pretty well. I mean it definitely wouldn't have hurt our cause, but I don't know if it makes enough difference.

That was also before the SEC's run of dominance that demonstrated to the entire country that the SEC is clearly the Top Dog of CFB. We all have known it for years, but the national media didn't seem to recognize it to the extent they do after the run.

[DAG 33,977]

5 hours ago, Tigerpro2a said:

I get where you and Eagle Eye are both coming from, I just honestly don't know that it would have made any difference. The media was already so infatuated with OU and USC from pre-season and they both beat up there schedule pretty well. I mean it definitely wouldn't have hurt our cause, but I don't know if it makes enough difference.

That was also before the SEC's run of dominance that demonstrated to the entire country that the SEC is clearly the Top Dog of CFB. We all have known it for years, but the national media didn't seem to recognize it to the extent they do after the run.

We were 0-2 against them prior. Perception makes a world of difference 

[AUApostle 7,651]

On 4/7/2021 at 4:52 PM, 1auburn1 said:

Largely true but if you want better ratings when you play, go win games that matter (see JHS, August 30, 2003).

The problem is if we win that game against USC, we don't lose to GT, Jetgate probably doesn't happen, we don't have a renewed Tuberville, and Nallsminger still runs the offense.  Maybe Tommy should've just hired Borges in 03...would've saved a huge headache.

[McLoofus 35,182]

Definitely lots of stuff we could have done before 2004. Nothing we could have done during.

Oklahoma's combined scores against the 3 ranked teams- and one top 10- they played: 92-70, or 31-23 per. They only scored 12 against UT, and only beat TAMU and OSU by a score each. 

Auburn played 4 ranked teams- including three top 10s- and beat them 106-53, or 26-13 per. 

Auburn was the better team by every objective measure. Didn't matter. 

Side note: It's that much more bizarre that Tuberville is a US senator now, because y'all are right that he sure as hell wasn't much of a politician back then. (Just wasn't the reason we didn't go to the 'ship.)

[McLoofus 35,182]

5 minutes ago, AUDevil said:

and Nallsminger still runs the offense.  Maybe Tommy should've just hired Borges in 03

Nallsminger was more an indictment of the overall Tuberville experience than I realized at the time. That nice Borges run from '04-'06 was the exception, not the rule. 

[W.E.D 11,070]

On 4/7/2021 at 10:55 AM, Beaker said:

Rankings would not matter so darn much if we had 12-16 teams in the playoffs.  

 

I will likely die before we have a legit  playoff system.  

 

We'll see an expanded playoff when the agreement is up in a few years.  100%

[McLoofus 35,182]

22 minutes ago, W.E.D said:

We'll see an expanded playoff when the agreement is up in a few years.  100%

I just hope it never goes above 8 teams. 

Problem is D1 is just way too big with way too many teams. I'd love something similar to the NFL, except 8 regional divisions of 8 teams each, each division plays 7 divisional and 4 cross-divisional games, each division sends their champion to the playoffs. I just thought of this and have not spent more time than it took to type it thinking about how it would actually work. 

[toddc 13,194]

5 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

I just hope it never goes above 8 teams. 

Problem is D1 is just way too big with way too many teams. I'd love something similar to the NFL, except 8 regional divisions of 8 teams each, each division plays 7 divisional and 4 cross-divisional games, each division sends their champion to the playoffs. I just thought of this and have not spent more time than it took to type it thinking about how it would actually work. 

So the same way the NCAA does things and makes decisions on major changes. 😝 See one year transfer rule- it’s on, it’s off, it’s...

[DAG 33,977]

20 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

I just hope it never goes above 8 teams. 

Problem is D1 is just way too big with way too many teams. I'd love something similar to the NFL, except 8 regional divisions of 8 teams each, each division plays 7 divisional and 4 cross-divisional games, each division sends their champion to the playoffs. I just thought of this and have not spent more time than it took to type it thinking about how it would actually work. 

There is truly never more than 6 teams in any given season IMO who truly could win the natty. I think 8 would suffice though to give the little guys a fair chance to get In though. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

4 minutes ago, DAG said:

There is truly never more than 6 teams in any given season IMO who truly could win the natty. I think 8 would suffice though to give the little guys a fair chance to get In though. 

Under the current system, I am 100% be in favor of six teams with the top two teams getting a first round bye. It just seems like the winds are blowing towards eight teams at least.

[DAG 33,977]

Just now, McLoofus said:

Under the current system, I am 100% be in favor of six teams with the top two teams getting a first round bye. It just seems like the winds are blowing towards eight teams at least.

I would love that and quite frankly I don’t understand why the NCAA didn’t just play with that last year since it seemed to be an asterisk* season. The NBA is still doing the play in and MLB had its own playoff changes. We also saw the addition of playoff teams in the NFL.