*Official Auburn vs. Mercer Post-Game Discussion Thread*

[bigbird 60,368]

1 hour ago, DAG said:

I see the foundation building

Exactly.  We aren't there. We aren't necessarily close. We are, however, clearly moving in the right direction and building towards something.  It was beautiful to see a continuation from last year's team rather than having to start each year brand new and waiting 4 games for an identity.

[Mikey 16,550]

1 minute ago, aubiefifty said:

do we have a QB controversy? i love tj and how hard he has worked but robby has some wheels and what little i saw he seems to be a better passer than we wer led to believe.

I don't think a competition is necessarily a controversy. Ashford will be the fan favorite unless/until he wins the starting job. Then as soon as he screws up, TJ will be the favorite.

[slyinsocal 831]

It was refreshing to see a QB make the short, quick throws look crisp and routine. The recipients were consistently given a good ball to catch and run with. Execution in this area of the offense was a huge improvement. Can't emphasize that enough. The playmakers having more opportunities in space while forcing the opposing D to play more honest and cover more of the field. The 2 ints are great opportunities to learn from.

[W.E.D 11,070]

49 minutes ago, DAG said:

Yep. Shenker.

Very uncharacteristic of him. Was a great back shoulder pass

I thought JSS looked a little slimmer/faster

Edited September 4, 2022 by W.E.D

[SaltyTiger 7,764]

19 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

do we have a QB controversy? i love tj and how hard he has worked but robby has some wheels and what little i saw he seems to be a better passer than we wer led to believe.

Controversy probably not the right word. IMO got to get a Robby in the game. Hopefully the QB’s compliment one another in style.

[sevenlee36 1,654]

Can’t wait to see Holden play, hope he gets time this year

[woodford 3,655]

1 minute ago, sevenlee36 said:

Can’t wait to see Holden play, hope he gets time this year

Can’t wait for the future. He will be the guy. 

[MaxCohen216 514]

4 minutes ago, woodford said:

Can’t wait for the future. He will be the guy. 

Yes, I think he will be our QB the next time we win the SEC West.

But I don't see him playing much this year, with Calzada also waiting to show what he can do.

[GoAU 1,599]

Can't say it any better than @Tigerpro2A said in his earlier post.

 

Just want to add, I don't think you can really assess the OL in this game - just not enough on the Mercer DL to test them like they'll get tested later this season.   That being said, I didn't see any clear misses on assignments, so I guess there is that.

 

I'm still smiling after that pitch option play with TJ & Robby - so cool to be completely surprised like that!

Edited September 4, 2022 by GoAU

[fredst 9,064]

25 minutes ago, W.E.D said:

I thought JSS looked a little slimmer/faster

I thought the same thing about Jarquez Hunter- the cutback he made on his first TD was very nice, showed quickness I don’t remember seeing last year

[maryland tiger 611]

1. Tate Johnson at center will be good. I think we are better this year at that position. He will get better. 

2. I like Kam Stutts but Keiondre Jones should be starting and playing the entire game. Maybe replace Council with Stutts. Jones is too good to be swapping in and out.

3. Hall and Leota played to much last night. They can't continue that the entire season. 

4. Keionte Scott is to good to not have on the field. The dude is a baller! 

5. TJ is 6'7". Shouldn't he be able to see the field clearly? I still want to see Calzada play some even with Robbie coming on. 

[AUx 3,001]

Are we done with one opening, scripted drive that works, and everything after being a bust? Looked like most play calling was truly dynamic, appropriate for the situation, and either executable by the personnel on field or the required talent subbed-in without mass confusion. I like.

[AUApostle 7,648]

Started out with a good, safe, creative offensive game plan that established the running game and built confidence on offense.  Didn’t require the QBs to make many hard throws all night…very few 3rd and longs.

Edited September 4, 2022 by AUDevil

[AuMarine 1,372]

I like the way we looked prepared and I thought the play calling was great. Gonna ride with my man TJ.. I thought he looked really good and did some very good things and made some very good passes. The two INTs were bad but nothing that can not be fixed. Ashford is electric and his play brought a lot of energy. I am excited for his future. I thought the pass blocking was great and the run blocking was better. The D looked good.. cam Riley was impressive to say the least. Expecting to see mistakes corrected next week. I like this team! 

[WFE12 9,191]

51 minutes ago, maryland tiger said:

1. Tate Johnson at center will be good. I think we are better this year at that position. He will get better. 

2. I like Kam Stutts but Keiondre Jones should be starting and playing the entire game. Maybe replace Council with Stutts. Jones is too good to be swapping in and out.

3. Hall and Leota played to much last night. They can't continue that the entire season. 

4. Keionte Scott is to good to not have on the field. The dude is a baller! 

5. TJ is 6'7". Shouldn't he be able to see the field clearly? I still want to see Calzada play some even with Robbie coming on. 

Scott is taking someone’s spot

[WFE12 9,191]

Missed this after the delay. Trash talked him also. 

[aubearcat 2,132]

My crush. 

[Gulf Breeze Tiger 5]

1 hour ago, W.E.D said:

Very uncharacteristic of him. Was a great back shoulder pass

I thought JSS looked a little slimmer/faster

Must be the new number!

[gr82b4au 5,568]

I was just glad to see AU on the field. Saturdays in the fall Are my favorite time of year. 
I saw enough to be pretty sure we will be able to compete in most games we play this year. I have my own opinion on the quarterback situation but I am going to wait until after next week’s game to see how it plays out.

War Eagle! 

[Gowebb11 9,309]

It’s easy this time of the year to be too happy or too mad, but here’s my take: 
*I saw a well prepared and well conditioned team that played a very clean game.
*Great substitutions by our coaches: Not afraid to get new guys in early. *Minus the obvious picks TJ looked improved with his touch and command of the offense.
*Ashford is electric. Threw a beautiful deep ball and got away with a bad one via pass interference.
*Receivers caught the ball, and caught them while running. 
*Pritchett and Kaufman can play and Scott needs to play more. Other DBs need work. 
*Riley improved more than anyone in the team, and Steiner played well too. 
 

*Disappointed we didn’t close the game better defensively. You could tell CBH was too. 

[sevenlee36 1,654]

I feel like to be successful we are going to need a running threat at qb. A running qb who can run read option and triple option can help our run game because defenses can’t T-off against the run because they don’t know where the play is going. It will help keep defenses honest and if the over pursue, in theory, we can take advantage of it.

[au302 2,669]

Hard to take away much, but a few things.

- Tate looks really athletic out there. Too early to tell how he'll turn out, but he's got more upside than Brahms.

- After sleeping on it, TJ does look better in his accuracy, but it's gonna be hard, understandably, for Hars/Keys to stomach those decisions. Competition is good.

- Sideline ops were a lot smoother. Ike was intense and running the WR ship tight. Last year we had massive issues with having the right receivers, or even enough, in the game at one time. Bedell is also an intense dude and I love it.

- Kiesau showed me that he is a student of the game. Will he be a good OC? Not sure, as our personnel is still bad on offense, but you can tell he's worked under a diverse tree of coaches. In other words, he's not really a disciple of any tree. He's worked for pro-style coaches, spread coaches, etc. His play design on some plays was fantastic. Way more dynamic in the run game too than last year.

- Cam Riley can be that dude. Was not expecting that from him, even vs Mercer. Still impressed. Willing to say that he may be better than OP.

WR's- Aside from Ike running a tight ship, they played faster. Can't take away much about certain guys not getting touches, etc since Hars/Keys were trying to work it in slowly. Not much to go around with how the game flowed. They'll be tested a lot more in the coming weeks. Var Johnson is really good though.

- Defense was fine. Feel better about LB's. They were tweaking with the secondary with all the new bodies. A lot of young bodies that took some rookie lumps. I expect to see these units continue to improve. We have the bodies and athleticism. Scott and James are good and will give Pritchett a big run for his money here.

-Overall it was well-organized, albeit not a great test. The team looks more in sync than last year. I think Harsin and Kiesau are good X/O coaches. It's really just a matter on if they can survive long enough to get their personnel fully stabilized imo.

 

[woodford 3,655]

Advanced Box Score Mercer vs Auburn

RA brought more predicted points per play than TJ. I wish our up front havoc rate was a little higher.

Overall success rate looks good, especially on standard downs, but not on passing downs. Explosiveness will have to increase next week.

[trinidad tiger 107]

I did learn that from now on, if our quarterback is ever in danger of a sack, all he has to do is kick the ball and it is automatically roughing the kicker.....

[Hank2020 3,195]

1 hour ago, Gowebb11 said:

It’s easy this time of the year to be too happy or too mad, but here’s my take: 
*I saw a well prepared and well conditioned team that played a very clean game.
*Great substitutions by our coaches: Not afraid to get new guys in early. *Minus the obvious picks TJ looked improved with his touch and command of the offense.
*Ashford is electric. Threw a beautiful deep ball and got away with a bad one via pass interference.
*Receivers caught the ball, and caught them while running. 
*Pritchett and Kaufman can play and Scott needs to play more. Other DBs need work. 
*Riley improved more than anyone in the team, and Steiner played well too. 
 

*Disappointed we didn’t close the game better defensively. You could tell CBH was too. 

I think I saw OP only had 1 tackle. That was surprising but maybe a scheme thing.