DyeCampAlum

We are who we are. Pretty good, not good enough. I will say, I loved how the defense played overall. With the offense doing so little, most defenses crumble at some point. Auburn's did not.

I guess I just posted, but Auburn can only win by what Coach Jordan said: blocking and tackling. We don’t have the recruiting advantages our rivals do, but when Auburn runs and plays fierce defense, it wins. And when it combines that with some offensive stars, it competes for national championships.

It’s clear the team is improving week to week and they love playing together. They’re disciplined and tough: only disciplined, tough Auburn teams win. I’m loving all that, and he deserves the credit. It still matters to me about his take on Covid. But I’m not gonna let that keep me from appreciating what he’s doing.

Of course it does. It does not PREVENT me from getting infected, but it makes it less likely, especially when more of my neighbors are vaccinated. (Compare one state to another.) And it makes me far less likely to develop Covid-19.

I’m not here to argue, simply to “vote.” IMO it’s a massive failure of leadership on Harsin’s part. I don’t know why. Maybe he doesn’t think he should take the vaccine. But Auburn’s head coach should protect the university and the players, if not Alabama. A clear statement is necessary. The vaccine protects us from getting infected, drastically lowers the chance of our being hospitalized or dying, and protects our communities. Just look at the case, hospitalization, and death rates of states where vaccination rates are low. Serious side effects are extremely rare, while serious side effects of Covid are not. I’m not going negative on Harsin because of this mistake. But I am disgusted.

Splendid, Coach! A few thoughts I had. In addition to agreeing with or learning from everything you said. When Cox lined up wide, I told my wife to expect a quick pass there. Bama killed our receivers in those one on one blocking matchups on the quick WR screen, so that play was big. Just the same, it's a tell -- unless we have a complementary play. (Bama deserves credit for the quality of their corner play all night. Dang, they were tough.) Our coaches really helped the OL by keeping 7 in to pass protect and by throwing those crossing routes. We've been calling for those things all season. We'll need them this Saturday too. I've hated the Wildcat this year, even when it's worked. Johnson has never handed off. Well, he jump passed AND handed off. When you multiply the threat, the Wildcat is all the more deadly. I nearly wet myself when Roberts made that tackle. You could tell Scarborough thought he'd go right through it and was surprised to go down.

Thanks again, Coach.

Thanks again for a terrific post. I'm delighted by the win, and I share the sentiment that beating a good A&M team on the road always counts as good. One thing I notice about A&M. If they have the QB for it, their offense is incredibly sophisticated. Kinda makes ours look, um, less sophisticated. Those huge plays were good examples -- things that fit their scheme but in quirky ways. Same goes for their pass routes. But hey! We ran some pass routes! Even a slant. And I want to credit our WRs and OL for blocking those tunnel screens. Loving the young guys playing up front on D. I don't think we can replace Matthews at safety next year -- he's an intimidator. But we have lots, and lots, of young guys raising hell all over the defense, especially in the line. Moultry is a revelation, and Coe is too. And Lord, we need some offensive linemen to get healthy this week. We really could not block A&M early in the game. Georgia is far more fierce.

You know, I check my feed a couple of times a day hoping to find this thread. Every week. Thanks, Coach. I wonder about the TE/HBs in the passing game, too. And for the life of me, I can't figure out why we don't throw slants. The way we line up, other teams tend to creep up on our X and Z receivers. But whenever we have 3rd and whatever, we go deep, thrown the WR screen (which is pretty dang effective), or throw to the sideline. You'd think old-fashioned slants, hooks, and ins would help Stidham out. Or layered routes, which we have our own troubles defending. But it sure is nice to see Pettway looking aggressive. And I'm very happy to hear positive reports on our backup OL. We have two weeks to get healthy and get our back 7 up to snuff. I still have my reservations, but this is a good team that can improve and get really good. One small thing. Surely by God's grace we can hand off out of the wildcat. Did y'all see what Penn State did by putting their QB next to the RB in the wildcat? Imagine Willis sitting there beside KJ.

It looks like we're just trying to get them before they're set. As y'all observe, it ain't as effective as it used to be.

Great post again, Coach. I'm beginning to feel more optimistic. But I still want to see us block a tough D-line. I also hope Horton's ok, because it seems we may have found ourselves with that current five.

https://twitter.com/colecubelic/status/914837369639055360

Glad to see you're optimistic about the OL improvement. With Golson at LT, we're certainly more sound with the play action passing. Still concerned we can't knock people off the ball. Even more so with our top two backs severely limited.

We sure will!

I so appreciate these posts, Coach. My big worry all along has been run blocking and receivers getting open. Well, we got receivers open. But the run blocking still leaves me thinking we have some tough matchups ahead. What do y'all think?

I've been on the road and haven't read through the thread, but I can say this. A lot of the things we said we wanted, this guy does.

I made a chart of significant out of conference wins and losses. The gap isn't huge, but there's no question the B1G had a better season than the SEC. Even with four B1G teams who all would have finished #15 in the SEC. Ain't it all about coaching? Right now, things haven't solidified at LSU, Florida, Georgia, or South Carolina. Even A&M and Auburn had hot seat moments this year. There's some very fine coaching going on at Minnesota, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, and even Indiana. I expect Illinois will get better.

Just ran across a story linking the chances of Stidham's transfer to where Baylor OC Kendal Briles winds up. I was 100% fiercely opposed to any Art Briles talk, and to a lesser degree I feel the same about his son. Some of you countered that evidence would come out vindicating Art, but the exact opposite happened. We learned that he had actually known about the gang rape and not reported it, among other specifics Baylor leaked. Obviously, it's unfair to blame a son for his father's deeds. But the Baylor assistants made public statements defending Art, and I assume Kendal had to be on board. That's a problem -- and a very bad message. It's also tough to blame a son for not having his father's back. In the end, I wouldn't jump off a cliff if Kendal came to Auburn, but I'd have to hold my nose.

Such good stuff. Bama is not invincible, but they are exceptionally good. I felt great about Taylor and J Davis, and I feel great about next year's D. It's clear we have work to do in our offensive backfield, but I'm hopeful. One question: why does it seem Bama runs such sophisticated pass patterns? Louisville does too. You'd think other teams would copy.

I love these posts. Thank you. We used to run draws, didn't we? OMac would just kill you on the draw.

Edit: I found a new, slower motion video of the Wilson hit, and it should have been called. That one happened at lightning speed, but he definitely struck with the crown of his helmet. Not as blatant as Davis, who had the chance to set up his hit, but you're risking your own life when you put your head down like that. Easily? First, are you talking about Wilson and not Foster? Wilson definitely hit Noil in the face, but both guys were running at full speed -- and Wilson got his head in front of Noil. I agree he lowered his helmet, but he did not strike with the crown of it. I just watched it in slow motion, and I'll agree it's a close call. Our guy had an easy target and nailed him in the shoulder (fine) but definitely lowered his head and struck with the crown of his helmet in doing so.

The rule has two parts. One is targeting. The other is striking with the crown of the head. DD did not target, but he struck with the crown of his helmet. Either one will get you ejected.

Thanks again, Coach! By the end of the game, I felt like Atkinson and Neal were revelations. That was really sweet to see. On the D Davis hit, it was obvious the moment it happened. You just cannot drop your head. In the big picture, that hit was more dangerous to him than it was to the receiver.

It's a statistic that can reflect other factors, including luck. But look at the top of the chart, and you see winning teams. So there must be some correlation with winning.

I always look forward to this post -- thanks so much, Coach. I love White as a player: he has guts. I do wish he'd settle down with his throwing, though. And I sure am glad Ole Miss was hurting on the OL. That game didn't have to end well.