#PMARSHONAU: Where is Auburn football today?

[aubiefifty 16,695]

#PMARSHONAU: Where is Auburn football today? Where can it go?

Phillip Marshall

3-4 minutes

---

 

Is this Auburn team good by SEC standards? I don’t know. Can this Auburn team improve? Yes, and I believe it will. Can it improve enough to make some noise in the West Division? Maybe.

Since the end of last season, I have not been able establish a strong feeling about where this team is headed. And I still don’t have one. There is so much to be decided. I don’t anticipate that being changed by what happens against what should be an overmatched San Jose State team.

Saturday will be the last day for experimenting. There are no gimmes left after that game, and that even includes Western Kentucky late in the seaso

I will be curious to see if there will be more rotation on the defensive front, if wide receivers are a larger part of the game, if the defense can get more pressure on the passer, if the secondary will play tighter coverage, if the offensive line will be dominant against much stronger defensive front than it saw last Saturday. But curiosity is really all it will be. If all those things happen, that doesn’t mean they will happen a week later when Penn State comes to town.

That brings us to the position that has dominated Auburn football discussion before the season and since the victory over Mercer. What is happening at quarterback?

I certainly don’t believe Saturday’s game is some kind of test to see whether T.J. Finley or Robby Ashford starts against Penn State. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ashford, the backup, plays a bunch of snaps. Last Saturday was his first football game in two years and his first live college football action. He needs snaps.

Ashford is going to have a role, probably in every game. Who knows? There might even be a Zach Calzada sighting Saturday. Calzada’s situation remains murky and puzzling, but if there is anything to it beyond him getting beat out, it’s a well-kept secret.

Like most quarterbacks, Finley will have to play consistently well to hang on to the starting job for the long term. Whatever the quarterback plan is going to be, it must be in place before playing Penn State.

3COMMENTS

What Auburn can get out of this game is to improve in areas that were shaky against Mercer, put the game away early so younger players can get into the game. A strong finish would helpful, too, for a team that has struggled with that.

The key for this Auburn team this week and every week will be to be better than the week before. If that happens, it will have a chance to do good things. If that doesn’t happen, it will be a long and trying season.

">247Sports

[Eagle-1 3,821]

That's a lot of words to say, " I don't know a damned thing, but I'll write about it anyway." 

[woodford 3,655]

52 minutes ago, Eagle-1 said:

That's a lot of words to say, " I don't know a damned thing, but I'll write about it anyway." 

Sometimes you just have to publish something lol

[icanthearyou 4,462]

I strongly believe our starting quarterback for the PSU game will be someone.

 

[Rednilla 5,383]

2 hours ago, Eagle-1 said:

That's a lot of words to say, " I don't know a damned thing, but I'll write about it anyway." 

That's what he gets paid for. And he's not the only one in the situation of not knowing a damned thing about how the season is going to go or what this team is made of.

[aubiefifty 16,695]

i enjoyed marshall back in the day so if i run across him i give him some love. does he have a pay site as well?

[Rednilla 5,383]

31 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

i enjoyed marshall back in the day so if i run across him i give him some love. does he have a pay site as well?

Pretty sure he's on 247 now, actually.

[api1957 1,783]

insert infamous gif here

[IronMan70 3,277]

I can't stand it when people ask themselves questions. He could have just said, "I dunno,  ." 

[Rednilla 5,383]

40 minutes ago, IronMan70 said:

I can't stand it when people ask themselves questions. He could have just said, "I dunno,  ." 

Again, he has a job to do. At this point, there's just nothing more groundbreaking he can say.

[Tiger Refuge 6,660]

2 hours ago, api1957 said:

insert infamous gif here

I like that one.

 

*gif

 

How about this ☝

Edited September 9, 2022 by Tiger Refuge

[AuburnNTexas 7,127]

7 hours ago, Eagle-1 said:

That's a lot of words to say, " I don't know a damned thing, but I'll write about it anyway." 

Most of the time I would agree but the reality is everything he said is true. He doesn't know anything because nobody knows anything. The Mercer game was a mixed bag we dominated but we didn't always look good against an inferior opponent. The plus to that is we still dominated and took care of business. The O-line at times looked really good but at other times there were missed assignments. It was a 1st game and 1st time this group had played as a unit on the O-line.

What I am looking for is fewer to no missed assignments from O-Line,  both QB's to have a good game (makes harder for Penn State to game plan defense), Tighter coverage by DB's and a dominant D-Line. I am a great believer in confidence. It improves performance so we want to be confident going into Penn State game.

Edited September 9, 2022 by AuburnNTexas

[api1957 1,783]

1 hour ago, Tiger Refuge said:

I like that one.

 

*gif

 

How about this ☝

Always funny!

[DAG 33,955]

8 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

Since the end of last season, I have not been able establish a strong feeling about where this team is headed. And I still don’t have one. There is so much to be decided. I don’t anticipate that being changed by what happens against what should be an overmatched San Jose State team.

The end 

[Hank2020 3,195]

1 hour ago, AuburnNTexas said:

Most of the time I would agree but the reality is everything he said is true. He doesn't know anything because nobody knows anything. The Mercer game was a mixed bag we dominated but we didn't always look good against an inferior opponent. The plus to that is we still dominated and took care of business. The O-line at times looked really good but at other times there were missed assignments. It was a 1st game and 1st time this group had played as a unit on the O-line.

What I am looking for is fewer to no missed assignments from O-Line,  both QB's to have a good game (makes harder for Penn State to game plan defense), Tighter coverage by DB's and a dominant D-Line. I am a great believer in confidence. It improves performance so we want to be confident going into Penn State game.

I agree with fewer missed assignments but zero missed is a steep expectation. Would be great though.

[jAUSon 2,836]

7 hours ago, icanthearyou said:

I strongly believe our starting quarterback for the PSU game will be someone.

 

Dude I went around sharing this with people today. Geniune laughter. Thank you.

[AUx 3,000]

5 hours ago, api1957 said:

insert infamous gif here

[Old fan 47 765]

58 minutes ago, Hank2020 said:

I agree with fewer missed assignments but zero missed is a steep expectation. Would be great though.

I agree. I mean did we not blow out our first two opponents last year and then only managed four more wins the remainder of the year. I would like to believe that putting big points on the board means nothing until it is against worthy teams. Tomorrow should be about working through any issues. 

[IronMan70 3,277]

23 hours ago, Rednilla said:

Again, he has a job to do. At this point, there's just nothing more groundbreaking he can say.

Again, he could have just said nothing. Instead he asks himself questions (pet peeve of mine) and THEN says nothing. At least he didn't start any rumors this time, so there is that.

[Rednilla 5,383]

1 hour ago, IronMan70 said:

Again, he could have just said nothing. Instead he asks himself questions (pet peeve of mine) and THEN says nothing. At least he didn't start any rumors this time, so there is that.

No, he couldn't have just said nothing. He gets paid to write stuff. That's his job. It's how he puts food on the table. There's nothing groundbreaking to be said, but he's got to say something. 

[JDUBB4AU 5,102]

As always thanks Phillip . 

[aubiefifty 16,695]

man this country is either depressed or angry. i am not going to tear the man down. i will laugh at his picture wid da stash with his mouth hanging wide open. maybe it is just me but it seems this country wants to throw more negatives out there than positive and that just cannot be healthy. i often wonder if it has bled over from politics.

[IronMan70 3,277]

1 hour ago, Rednilla said:

No, he couldn't have just said nothing. He gets paid to write stuff. That's his job. It's how he puts food on the table. There's nothing groundbreaking to be said, but he's got to say something. 

Wait, you mean he gets paid to put out that pablum ? As you can tell, I don't think very much of PM. But yes he could and he should have picked a topic where he knows some actual information instead of  a "something about nothing" article. Maybe he could write for Seinfeld.  

[IronMan70 3,277]

1 minute ago, aubiefifty said:

man this country is either depressed or angry. i am not going to tear the man down. i will laugh at his picture wid da stash with his mouth hanging wide open. maybe it is just me but it seems this country wants to throw more negatives out there than positive and that just cannot be healthy. i often wonder if it has bled over from politics.

I visited the politics board a couple years ago for a bit just to see what it was all about. I soon realized it was a cesspool and waste of time.  

[Rednilla 5,383]

3 minutes ago, IronMan70 said:

Wait, you mean he gets paid to put out that pablum ? As you can tell, I don't think very much of PM. But yes he could and he should have picked a topic where he knows some actual information instead of  a "something about nothing" article. Maybe he could write for Seinfeld.  

It's filler, to be sure, but unless you've earned a living as a beat writer, or maybe a sports editor, it seems a bit droll to criticize a filler article that he writes because his editor tells him he needs 500 words by 2 AM. Sometimes you have to create out of thin air. That's part of the job.