Do we see Finley this Saturday? Offer your thoughts

[Hank2020 3,195]

Lots of great opinions. That’s what is good about it. We don’t know what Harsin might do, and neither does Smart.

[Eagle Eye 7 2,535]

4 hours ago, Win4AU said:

If TJ is in the game then the game is probably out of hand and Harsin is getting him some reps.  Its so disruptive to bring qbs in and out of games.  

Not being mean but this is not true. It’s no different than subbing any other player. This has been a bad idea for a long time at AU. If a QB is making mistakes it’s a good idea to let him sit for a drive or two. It allows him to see the game from another prospective. Also let’s him reset his mind. Unlike a pitcher a QB isn’t going to cool down and not be effective. It’s not just a punishment move it’s a educational move as well. Also allows the QB to understand he is just one of eleven people on the team and he doesn’t have to try and do it by himself. No different than taking out the MLB on defense. 🤔

 

[Eagle Eye 7 2,535]

3 hours ago, WarTim said:

To answer the question, no. Bo takes all snaps. 

Doubt this completely . 

[WarTim 3,456]

28 minutes ago, Eagle Eye 7 said:

Doubt this completely . 

Agree to disagree 

[Randman5000 4,223]

Go Five wide run go routes and then hit the running back down low or a QB run with TJ on a series. I hope there are enough looks to keep Georgia guessing  or spending time preparing for, just like the onside that didn't work. 

[steeleagle 2,945]

1 hour ago, kennypowers said:

Finley will inevitably transfer

During the game? 

[Eagle Eye 7 2,535]

20 minutes ago, WarTim said:

Agree to disagree 

To that I agree 😊. I just think it’s important to get TJ some playing time against good teams. You never know when any player might go down so it’s important especially in this league to have a back up ready to play and at a high level. And as I said before it’s a good move that is rarely used to allow your QB to watch a series from the side line and see the plays from a different angle . He might actually see something that will help him next time out . Plus momentarily it takes the pressure off him. One of Bo’s biggest faults is too often he tries to do it all by his self. While that’s commendable it’s also not wise. Your a whole lot better using everyone instead of doing it by yourself. 🤔

[homersapien 11,352]

3 hours ago, auburnphan said:

I would not be surprised if we see Finley in the 3rd series again.  I wonder if Troxell doesn’t kill the momentum on his lone drive how things would have panned out.  LSU did not game plan for Bo’s scrambling.  There is no way in hell that UGA repeats that mistake.....

 

Yep. 

But then,  Bo scrambling is not really a plan either.

It may buy a little time against the rush, but we are going to need to hit some passes - short, medium and long to have a chance to stay close, much less win.  Harsin/Bobo need to be very creative in their offensive planning. 

I just hope the defense can keep things within reach.

 

Edited October 6, 2021 by homersapien

[homersapien 11,352]

10 minutes ago, Eagle Eye 7 said:

To that I agree 😊. I just think it’s important to get TJ some playing time against good teams. You never know when any player might go down so it’s important especially in this league to have a back up ready to play and at a high level. And as I said before it’s a good move that is rarely used to allow your QB to watch a series from the side line and see the plays from a different angle . He might actually see something that will help him next time out . Plus momentarily it takes the pressure off him. One of Bo’s biggest faults is too often he tries to do it all by his self. While that’s commendable it’s also not wise. Your a whole lot better using everyone instead of doing it by yourself. 🤔

I'm with you. 

I don't really buy into the platitude that substituting your QB is necessarily disruptive.  I think TJ could a very effective in the right circumstance. 

Make the defense have to adjust.  We just need for our receivers to get more separation.

[AUinfusion 390]

6 hours ago, McLoofus said:

I don't know that I entirely agree with this. Finley isn't as mobile as Bo but I also feel that he's shown he's pretty difficult to tackle. Who was that huge QB for Kansas State back in the Ron Prince days? We were all over that dude all night but he just stood tall in the pocket and kept throwing darts. Like, I literally have this image of him standing there with perfect mechanics on display while two Auburn players are draped around his ankles. Anyway, Finley reminds me a little of that. Whereas Bo is avoiding contact, Finley is just persevering through it. 

You have examples of this, or is that just “what he could be”? TJ did a LOT better against GA St, but prior to that my memory of him was he just stood in the pocket and either got the pass off ahead of the rush or got sacked. One of my specific concerns about him was that he seemed to have very little awareness of the rush. That’s coming from memory, not film study, but my memory was that he has a great arm, sometimes failed to see the coverage, and almost never saw the rush.

[cbo 7,800]

I predict TJ will play. I guess I won't say why. 

[mcgufcm 4,096]

@McLoofus has heard this from me before, but our offense is best centered around Bo’s legs, the RBs, and the TEs. I would play 12 personnel, even in passing downs because I believe that gets our best receiving threats on the field.

I’ll disagree with whoever said Bo scrambling isn’t part of the gameplan. When you had as many built in bootlegs, naked boots, sprint outs, and RPOs as we ran last week, you are absolutely gameplanning for a QB to scramble. You’re not drawing it up in the board, but those plays are bound to lead to scramble drills. I’d bet Kiesau and Bedell spent a not insignificant amount of time working on scramble drills last week. The TEs and WRs did a nice job with it. That was (in my view) part of the plan and will be again this week. You can’t scheme that crazy 4th and 2, but you can create space for your QB to ad lib. I expect to see it. 

[NoALtiger 3,849]

I’m torn on this really. I think we need to go with Bo as I feel he’s our best option at the moment, but I do have a lot of interest in seeing what TJ can do as he has a different skill set overall. I’m glad I’m not the guy deciding because I would be a failure lol. I guess I would see what’s up and how Bo is rolling and if a change needs to be made I’d come in with TJ and give him the reins entirely. I don’t love the pre-planned series thing as I do think it can take away from momentum. 

[cole256 17,039]

I was hesitant to post this....But **** it. But I don't think the offense is focused around Bo's scrambling at all. I think they are just now starting to implement things. And I'm not throwing shots but I think as usual many are taking the good game and exponentially making it more than what it is.

We were high like this at the start, we played a decent team and some weaknesses were seen and we followed that with a poor performance. We now had a good game and I'm reading people feel like we have stability in areas we really don't. 

You don't game plan a scramble but you certainly game plan against it, LSU didn't. They said as much. Uga absolutely has now.

Also what we can't really call is the improvement the QB's will have on a weekly basis. We can just hope for the best. Lastly I think Tj has shown that he isn't a statue but some keep saying that. And also just like Bo improved with the coaching staff I don't think I've seen a single person apply that to TJ. He could be improving as well.

One QB has to play. Just because the other isn't playing doesn't mean the other sucks, or isn't capable. They have different strengths and different weaknesses. 

[alexava 6,972]

I would give TJ at least one series every game. If he got the throw to Worm down about 2 feet on 4th down, he’s probably still playing. He threw a sweet pass to #47 and got heavy pressure on the other throws.. he didn’t do bad. 

[Guest MustardSeed]

4 hours ago, WarTim said:

Agree to disagree 

But what if I don’t want to agree? 😜

[jAUSon 2,836]

3 hours ago, steeleagle said:

During the game? 

I spit my drink out right here.

[cbo 7,800]

54 minutes ago, cole256 said:

And I'm not throwing shots but I think as usual many are taking the good game and exponentially making it more than what it is.

 

This is exactly it. I will forever be grateful for Bo and his performance against LSU. I hated when people complained and argued about such a fun win. But now that we are talking about the future ... 

There's no reason to assume our QB problems are suddenly solved. I fear UGA could make a great QB look bad. And we don't have a proven, great QB on the roster. 

I predict Bo will struggle and I won't even be mad about it (if it's reasonable). Also, we don't know what TJ can do, so it's not time to cast him off to the land of irrelevance. 

[cole256 17,039]

31 minutes ago, cbo said:

This is exactly it. I will forever be grateful for Bo and his performance against LSU. I hated when people complained and argued about such a fun win. But now that we are talking about the future ... 

There's no reason to assume our QB problems are suddenly solved. I fear UGA could make a great QB look bad. And we don't have a proven, great QB on the roster. 

I predict Bo will struggle and I won't even be mad about it (if it's reasonable). Also, we don't know what TJ can do, so it's not time to cast him off to the land of irrelevance. 

It's just so weird and stupid to me, to feel like it has to be one or the other. Like we legit had people saying tj wasn't good. Same people calling for people to be ran off if Bo wasn't celebrated. I don't get that. Then I think I read somewhere Bo cheering tj wasn't....like come on man. Have the same energy and fervor for everybody. 

 

We're at a point where we need somebody to be consistent. To be honest it would take a bunch for tj to come in and do that because literally the entire that Bo has gotten all the reps. It would be crazy if tj did come in and look better than Bo in one series.

I'm confident that if he comes in he can play around Bo's level. I'm just wanting the QB level to take some steps up. The way this team is made up....it could do some damage with great QB play. Like put the team on your back type of play. It's not a team set up to hide the QB though. And I feel like mostly that's what we have been doing. Hiding the qb. If we are going to get this program marching we need to be led by the QB not hiding him. If we can get good QB play we could take steps in becoming a power house. I don't care who does it. I want a good program. That's it. Don't care who does it, somebody just do it. And when somebody does it I damn sure am not going to root against the guy. That's how I feel

[AU9377 4,912]

9 hours ago, McLoofus said:

I felt like he was a different QB after the Finley series. I honestly thought it was a merit-based benching. 

Agreed, but he was also much more resilient to pressure than Bo the week prior IMO.

I could imagine that he was overcaffeinated against his former team Saturday night. Might not have had anything to do with it, though.

Despite my prior comments on the first part of your post and even though I credited Harsin for his man management against LSU, I hadn't really considered doing it again in this game for the same reason as opposed to a "Finley gives us this other dimension" perspective. LSU crowd noise vs uga pass rush... potentially the same effect. I like it. 

Finley came in slinging it in the Ga State game because we were at the desperation level of urgency.  The way I see it, TJ was playing with house money at the end of that game.  He could sling it and not worry about the consequences.  He would either end the game the hero (which he did thankfully) or it wouldn't be is fault.

Nerves are very different when you are playing to score, but also to not make mistakes.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,641]

No way Auburn doesn’t try a double pass if they’re really getting stomped on O. They’re gonna throw out the kitchen sink 

Think it’s really just a question who’s the player who throws that double pass. Doubt they go back to Hudson unless they intend on maybe using him as a decoy

[AURex 1,983]

Do we see him on Saturday? YES. We will.

Why? Not because he is the best QB or because he is better than Bo.

He performed reasonably well vs GSU, plus Harsin understands that it is important to have a #2 ready to go.

So, just like last week, I expect to see TJ getting a series in the first half. And YES! I'm perfectly OK with that!

 

Edited October 7, 2021 by AURex

[cbo 7,800]

28 minutes ago, cole256 said:

It's just so weird and stupid to me, to feel like it has to be one or the other. Like we legit had people saying tj wasn't good. Same people calling for people to be ran off if Bo wasn't celebrated. I don't get that. Then I think I read somewhere Bo cheering tj wasn't....like come on man. Have the same energy and fervor for everybody. 

 

We're at a point where we need somebody to be consistent. To be honest it would take a bunch for tj to come in and do that because literally the entire that Bo has gotten all the reps. It would be crazy if tj did come in and look better than Bo in one series.

I'm confident that if he comes in he can play around Bo's level. I'm just wanting the QB level to take some steps up. The way this team is made up....it could do some damage with great QB play. Like put the team on your back type of play. It's not a team set up to hide the QB though. And I feel like mostly that's what we have been doing. Hiding the qb. If we are going to get this program marching we need to be led by the QB not hiding him. If we can get good QB play we could take steps in becoming a power house. I don't care who does it. I want a good program. That's it. Don't care who does it, somebody just do it. And when somebody does it I damn sure am not going to root against the guy. That's how I feel

And that's how everyone should feel. Root for them all, but celebrate the guy that gets the job done. 

I've seen talk about TJ not doing well, too. He was better in his ONE series than Bo was in his first two. But then Bo showed out and we all loved it. Myself included.

But we don't know what TJ can do. He hasn't had the opportunity yet. That's the point. 

I've been thinking the same about a QB leader. One that can take over a game. I am more worried about Harsin's recruiting than most of the reasonable people on here. Harsin is on the right path, but it will take some time. I'm not sure if the patience is there. And this recruiting season and the last won't upgrade the talent like we need it to. 

So what's the answer? A great QB. To cover up the deficiencies. I wish Harsin could get someone even close to Cam. He would win big AND sustain the momentum. 

[TeBoneAU 88]

IMO Bo played his best game as AU QB against LSU on Saturday night. He put on an electricfying performance, dodging defenders and finding the open receiver.....however I need to see more consistency play from Bo on that level before I feel like TJ just needs to sit and wait for garbage time or next year.  Until Bo proves that Saturday night wasn't a 1 hit wonder, keep giving TJ meaningful SERIES to develop and build some chemistry with the offense. 

[Quietmaninthecorner 1,945]

2 hours ago, cole256 said:

I was hesitant to post this....But **** it. But I don't think the offense is focused around Bo's scrambling at all. I think they are just now starting to implement things. And I'm not throwing shots but I think as usual many are taking the good game and exponentially making it more than what it is.

We were high like this at the start, we played a decent team and some weaknesses were seen and we followed that with a poor performance. We now had a good game and I'm reading people feel like we have stability in areas we really don't. 

You don't game plan a scramble but you certainly game plan against it, LSU didn't. They said as much. Uga absolutely has now.

Also what we can't really call is the improvement the QB's will have on a weekly basis. We can just hope for the best. Lastly I think Tj has shown that he isn't a statue but some keep saying that. And also just like Bo improved with the coaching staff I don't think I've seen a single person apply that to TJ. He could be improving as well.

One QB has to play. Just because the other isn't playing doesn't mean the other sucks, or isn't capable. They have different strengths and different weaknesses. 

Didn't Harsin say they were working on a package for Finley around the end of 2-a-days? 

With TJ's skill set,  we likely have a completely different style of plays that can be plugged in once he gets it going.  I suspect we will see him for more than one series whether we are wining or losing.   At least,  this is what I am hoping. 

random example.  It's a big difference in styles you can attempt between the skilsets of Nix with Hunter, Tank or Shivers (speed) and the skill sets of TJ with Sean Jackson  (size) in the backfield.