AUinfusion

After running off half of our talent and failing wildly in recruiting, the excuse was that Harsin only wanted “tough nosed, blue collar kids”. I don’t even see that. He has failed in every measurable aspect, and set this program back who knows how far.

It almost feels like you guys are arguing two different points. Steele: Calzada is better than Finley. This is true. WED: Calzada is definitely not an upgrade at QB from last year (Nix), and we reeeeally need an upgrade at QB to be a better team. This is also true.

Ok, you got me.

I'm pretty ready for that to happen, honestly. College football needs a seismic event like that so that we can *really* re-evaluate the entire system.

Are you serious, Clark?

Yup. In an environment where it feels like a few schools have built unassailable fortresses around paying players, this feels the kind of disruption that will let aggressive participants level the playing field. We're crazy not to be leaning into NIL, hard.

I am actually, oddly, a bit glad that we struggled some on offense in the second half. The struggles were not bad, more mechanical, and they give us some tangible areas to work on improving. Hopefully that keeps the team focused on the idea that "We aren't there, yet. We need to keep grinding".

I'm pretty sure that the key to beating UGA is making sure that Jarquez ties his shoe correctly.

I want to see a fired up, disciplined, four-quarters team. If we play with heart and discipline we can make this a game. I want to have a strong enough performance that the fans are cheering their heads off for the entire game, and even after the game, win or lose.

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.

That seems like something that could change if we have a decent season and if coach Harsin gets a lot of buy-in from the players. I can see getting vastly different answers between asking senior OL whose coming back two months after a coaching change and asking that same group that same question after a solid year of steady improvement under that new coach.

Felt like a lot of growing up happened during the course of this game, for players and for coaches. What a big step forward!

Bo is the only reason we have any points in this game.

We tried to use him. He was getting hit in the backfield on every run. We’ve found a bit of a passing scheme that will work for us, no we need that for the run game. Also heard that Tank has been playing hurt. That’s straight internet gossip. I have no sources.

Err... AU also has a history of making backup QBs look like Heisman contenders, so...

Why would you put that second paragraph out in the universe, or, more importantly, in my head?

Eh, I get what you are saying, but this, to me, is average-ness. I'm an optimist, so every game I believe I'll see better out of our players. Maybe he's turned a page.

To date, neither QB has shown greatness. I don't think one ranks above the other, I think that they have different strengths and weakness. Bo: Excellent athlete who is dangerous running the ball Inconsistent accuracy on intermediate throws, sometime making easy catches harder Really not very good long ball accuracy Tendency to leave the pocket early Tendency to try and force plays which can lead to turnovers Finley (based past play, not just 4-1/2 minutes last week): Bigger QB, but less mobile Throws a beautiful ball Puts too much heat on the ball, sometimes, making easy catches tougher Tendency to stay in the pocket too long (I was happily surprised to see his improvement here last Sat) Just doesn't see coverage sometimes and throws to the wrong team, regardless of pressure, which can lead to turnovers I'm sure people could argue with any given point, or add others, but that's generally how I feel. Both QBs missed some throws they should make, and the WRs didn't help. I would say that Finley is more of a threat to connect on the long ball, Bo is more of a threat to burn a team with his feet. Which helps AU more against LSU? 🤷‍♂️

That was a very solid explanation by a couple of guys who know what they are talking about. I don't see a lot of quick answers, either. We simply do not have the "Joes". At this point, I'm OK with Harsin going full-on hard-ass with players and with coaches. Either he wins some needed recruiting battles, or he doesn't (in which case, his tenure will be short), but either way we need him to actually install that tough-nosed, detail-orientated style of playing and coaching that he keeps talking about. Side note: both Cole and McElroy seem to think that our TEs are just average talent, in which case I give a lot of credit to those players mentality and to their position coach. I feel like the production from that group has been a bright spot.

From Cole Cubelic:

There is a good post on another board that breaks down his game. Take away the WR drops and the throw aways and it’s not a bad game. He also has about half the time in the pocket that the PSU QB had. The OL did not have a great game and that impacted Bo and the run game. As for the rainbow balls, that had to be by design. I don’t remember seeing that kind of exaggerated throw from him, at all, before last night. Those were put in by a coach, probably as a preparation for not being able to slow the pass rush. Bo played well enough last night. Our OL was not good, IMHO, and our WRs were not good. I was also surprised at our DLs lack of impact in the passing game. That has to improve.

Wish I trusted the OL more. I just don’t have faith that we can pickup one yard, even with Tank and Hunter.

Are we SURE that Gus didn’t find a way to call that play?

Did our WR… trip over his own feet… on what would have been a massive big play..?

Are we winning in the “who has the worst OL” competition?