Birmingham Bowl: Auburn vs Houston

[Eagle Eye 7 2,535]

9 minutes ago, PowerOfDixieland said:

They went 12-1 in the most difficult division of the most difficult conference on the planet. 

They may not be as good as the 2020 version but they're better than "not that good".

They went 12-1 against a very weak sec west this year. Probably the weakest I’ve seen in some time. Look where teams like us finished . Heck as bad as we were we beat Uat if we had a decent coach last week. Heck Gus would have beat Nick again this year. Even Nick would tell you in private this was one of his worst teams at Uat. 

[AUbritt 611]

6 minutes ago, PowerOfDixieland said:

Because Maryland, Rutgers and Indiana are tougher than aTm, Auburn and LSU.  C'mon man....

Indiana would smoke us!

[Old fan 47 769]

38 minutes ago, shabby said:

Me too. Living in Georgia had me pulling for Alabama last night. Im not sure how i feel about that. 🤣

Be angry, to the post w the red face, but until you live by GA fans forever and hear their BS, when they’ve won nothing in 40 years, it actually makes Bama fans seem partially sane. 

[Old fan 47 769]

36 minutes ago, Hank2020 said:

Bo is definitely the better QB that we have seen (at this stage of their careers). Lights may come on more at spring practice though. Going to be hard to knock Bo out of the saddle in that time frame though (IMO).

That may be. I honestly think he returns, but unless we can get some very talented O linemen plugged in, it may not matter who is under center. I def agree TJ was not the answer and we obviously don’t know much about DD, but Gernier spelling, may be it. I have to trust Harsin for at least 2 to 3 years, to see if he can change it from the previous regime, which in my opinion had gotten stale and lazy. 

[woodford 3,655]

1 hour ago, AUbritt said:

What evidence suggests we are going to get smoked by Houston?

You haven't read up on them much?

Auburn should kill Houston. That is true a priori.

 

The evidence from this season that's troubling to me is that we seem to play up or down to our competition. We beat some good teams, some teams we never beat (like LSU in Red Stick), and took Bama down to the wire. We lost to teams we should have beaten (like Miss State and South Carolina). So, my worry is that we will not consider Houston to be an opponent we need to up our game for. If we take them lightly, we will lose. If we take them seriously, we should kill them.

Our Sun Belt level OL for starters then our mediocre back up QB to follow that up. 
 

Oh I hate that phrase “play up or down to competition” (I swear football has the dumbest excuses of any sport). Where the hell were they when the Dawgs were in town? That’s code for “inconsistent.” Auburn lost to MSU and USC because they’re not that great to begin with and they can’t run the ball. When the O has an off night, it’s all but guaranteed they’ll lose. 
 

If UH has trouble with the run then Auburn has a shot. If Auburn’s D is on the field all game, then the good guys have a real problem on their hands. 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,648]

19 minutes ago, PowerOfDixieland said:

Because Maryland, Rutgers and Indiana are tougher than aTm, Auburn and LSU.  C'mon man....

I like how you just wrote out the part where I mentioned the quality of teams that Auburn and LSU were struggling against. I don’t know why Maryland can’t beat Auburn or LSU when they literally got slapped up by far worse teams. Your perception  of those teams doesn’t match what occurred this season. 
And even if the worst of the SECW is better, Michigan has a better report than Alabama. OSU’s is roughly comparable imo, but it’s not much worse. Mich St isn’t much worse than Ole Miss. 

Their first looked better than the SEC’s first, same for the second and third, PSU and A&M is a push to me, and Miss St looks better than UMD. They win in the top 5 spots overall

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,648]

Alabama played 4 teams teams that finished ranked in the AP poll (I imagine the CFP stuck another one in because they LOVE the SEC). Lost to A&M, scraped by Arky, and beat OM and UGA. 

I don’t know why Arkansas is ranked. 

[Maverick.AU 13,279]

26 minutes ago, AUbritt said:

Indiana would smoke us!

Britt!?!?? Hope you're doing well!

[AUBwins 10,068]

1 hour ago, Old fan 47 said:

After Bama exposing the vaunted GA D, I’m not sure they beat Michigan. I don’t like Harbaugh, but living in GA, I can’t stand the pups. 

I don't think they should have made the playoff with the one loss, after the way they lost to Bama. 

[AUbritt 611]

8 minutes ago, Maverick.AU said:

Britt!?!?? Hope you're doing well!

Doing just fine, Mav, you?

 

[cole256 17,042]

52 minutes ago, Taco said:

I watched every Kentucky game this year. Levis is not a better QB than Bo. He may honestly be a poor man’s Bo Nix lol 

But Davonte Robinson and UK’s Oline are tough. I’d argue if Davonte Robinson was at any of the bigger programs in the SEC he would have a lot more media hype cause he’s good

I disagree. I judge qb on being able to throw more than anything

[cole256 17,042]

1 hour ago, aucanucktiger said:

Ky had a better line and it's slightly better than avg QB looked better because of that. Re Ky QB better than Nix...🤣

I don't know what you are h trying to say

[cole256 17,042]

But my point was Kentucky was better than us and more consistent, so they are in the better bowl as result

[keesler 5,924]

37 minutes ago, Eagle Eye 7 said:

They went 12-1 against a very weak sec west this year. Probably the weakest I’ve seen in some time. Look where teams like us finished . Heck as bad as we were we beat Uat if we had a decent coach last week. Heck Gus would have beat Nick again this year. Even Nick would tell you in private this was one of his worst teams at Uat. 

This was his 2nd worse team at uat no doubt.  And in a bad year they still won another SEC title, are back atop the CFP and are still playing for another NC.  Many programs would give their left arm for a “bad” team like that.  

[murpjf88 506]

2 hours ago, AUbritt said:

What evidence suggests we are going to get smoked by Houston?

You haven't read up on them much?

Auburn should kill Houston. That is true a priori.

 

The evidence from this season that's troubling to me is that we seem to play up or down to our competition. We beat some good teams, some teams we never beat (like LSU in Red Stick), and took Bama down to the wire. We lost to teams we should have beaten (like Miss State and South Carolina). So, my worry is that we will not consider Houston to be an opponent we need to up our game for. If we take them lightly, we will lose. If we take them seriously, we should kill them.

What? The Georgia St. Last gasp win didn't trouble you? Auburn is very lucky to be in a bowl game this year. LSU was awful this year to put it mildly and it took some Bo Nix heroics in the pocket and a blind end zone  pass to pull off a miraculous win. People were disappointed that the committee granted us such low level inferior opponents and most were overconfident in the result when we played Minnesota last year and UCF several years ago and we lost both those games. We were heavy favorites in both. 

Houston can score a lot of points and Auburn is starting a back up QB that looked outright dreadful against Alabama so color me a little skeptical that we'll kill them.

Edited December 6, 2021 by murpjf88

[EagleEye67 1,938]

2 hours ago, AUbritt said:

We should kill them. But we will need to be up for the fight. If we aren't excited to be there, we will lose.

Who wouldn't be thrilled to go to Birmingham, garden spot of Dixie?

[Maverick.AU 13,279]

44 minutes ago, AUbritt said:

Doing just fine, Mav, you?

 

Doing well, can't complain, good to see ya!

[Old fan 47 769]

56 minutes ago, AUBwins said:

I don't think they should have made the playoff with the one loss, after the way they lost to Bama. 

I have to disagree here. If it was reversed and Bama lost their first, then they get in 99% of the time. I agree, UGA doesn’t go thru the gauntlet of the SEC west, but until last night, they pretty much destroyed everyone. I think Michigan beats them and for all Kirby has done, his seat gets warm, because he can’t win the last game of the season. 

[SumterAubie 3,031]

10 hours ago, penguin149 said:

Please!!!!  NOT BIRMINGHAM!!  Our team needs to travel more than a couple of hours to play!

If a couple more plays had been made in those four losses...

Edited December 6, 2021 by SumterAubie

[Hank2020 3,196]

10 minutes ago, Old fan 47 said:

I have to disagree here. If it was reversed and Bama lost their first, then they get in 99% of the time. I agree, UGA doesn’t go thru the gauntlet of the SEC west, but until last night, they pretty much destroyed everyone. I think Michigan beats them and for all Kirby has done, his seat gets warm, because he can’t win the last game of the season. 

I think they beat Michigan.

[Taco 617]

59 minutes ago, cole256 said:

I disagree. I judge qb on being able to throw more than anything

That’s fine. But Levis isn’t good any Kentucky fans will tell you this much. That’s all I’m saying. He can spin it and run, but horrible decision maker and has 0, I mean ZERO touch. He’s not any more different TJ outside of mobility. 
 

But yes, I agree, Kentucky had a better season than us, and I’d argue program wise, they’re better right now as well. 

[Taco 617]

2 minutes ago, Hank2020 said:

I think they beat Michigan.

I think they whip Michigan like a red-headed step child. This is a great match-up for UGA.

[AuburnTiger4Life 2,225]

How do some of y’all get out of bed in the mornings? I realize the Birmingham Bowl is the last thing we wanted but at least we have one more game to watch this season. I’m still gonna support them regardless 

[CCTAU 3,294]

1 minute ago, AuburnTiger4Life said:

How do some of y’all get out of bed in the mornings? I realize the Birmingham Bowl is the last thing we wanted but at least we have one more game to watch this season. I’m still gonna support them regardless 

Keep in mind, most of the whiners are usually the folks that never experienced a higher level in the sport. 

Having extra practice time and a bowl game that many fans can realistically attend is a gift for a first year coach. 

 

[gr82be 14,421]

9 minutes ago, AuburnTiger4Life said:

How do some of y’all get out of bed in the mornings? I realize the Birmingham Bowl is the last thing we wanted but at least we have one more game to watch this season. I’m still gonna support them regardless 

It's the bowl that we earned with our season performance. It's not the bowl that excited the masses but Bham isn't a bad place. The season was a disappointment but I bet everyone that cares enough to be on here daily, voicing their support or criticism, will be watching or going. I don't think anyone is really saying they won't support them though.