AuburnGrad97

As much as I hate to say it, if I'm JFIII, I would be looking to transfer elsewhere.  I love the loyalty, and generally never advocate ditching your team, but what the coaches told him on Saturday was "you will never be our QB.  We would rather play SW who is about 40% healthy, than let you take a snap."  I was in Athens, watching this clown-show of an offense, running the same three plays over, and over, and over.  I looked down and say JFIII throwing on the sideline and thought "good, let's give UGA something different to defend, and maybe he can break one".  That opportunity never came, even though SW couldn't throw the ball 5 yards without spinning out of his shoes and falling down (awesome mechanics, btw).  We never tried anything remotely different in the 2nd half.  UGA sat back and just licked their chops, watching a gimpy Kerryon Johnson run off tackle again and again, for no gain. 

The thing that hurts the worst about this game is because it was a must win for Auburn.  At a time when our season started off slow, then got better, and then got really good, we needed a great year to erase the past couple.  This would have had the entire fanbase pumped, the players pumped, and all the momentum going into the warm up game against A&M before facing our hated rival for the SEC West.  Unfortunately, it appears our offensive coaches opted for the "oh well, maybe next year" approach.  I personally feel our offensive coaches threw in the towel at halftime. They quit on this team, and now I don't see how they are going to expect our players not to quit on them the next two weeks, especially JFIII and Kam Martin. 

I'm not for firing Gus just yet, but I have a hard time backing a coach that lays down and plays dead against a huge rival, when the SEC West in on the line.  If anyone can help me change my mind about them quitting on the game at halftime, please tell me.  Someone who was on the sidelines, tell me Gus and Rhett were doing everything they could to get some momentum, because from the stands, it was pathetic looking. 

War Eagle always, but I hate that we pissed away this incredible defense on what we saw Saturday.  Kevin Steele, you deserve every cent of your paycheck, and half of Gus and Rhett's this week!  Coach Steele, you are the main reason I hope we do not get rid of Gus this season, as I would hate to see you leave!  That is, unless you are promoted and you bring in the younger Briles as OC, but that is a different thread all together.

Excellent post!!  I agree that Auburn-UGA is going to be a good one.  I am making the trip to Athens this year, and I hope to leave with a smile on my face.  The D. Davis targeting hit was, in my opinion, a bad call.  Even though the receiver didn't catch the ball, it popped up in the air, and was still "catchable".  The thing that made this hit so difficult to call was the angle of the two players.  The WR was slanting in at a 45 degree angle, and D. Davis was approaching from the opposite 45 degree angle.  Davis' shoulder pads made contact with the receiver first (although it was a split second before) his head made contact with the body.  It was a tough call, but one I did not think should warrant an ejection.  A very similar hit happened on Marcus Davis on the 3rd and 15 pass he dropped later in the game.  Although not as brutal looking, it was very similar.  C. Cox is a blocking machine, but his one costly mistake was on the JF3 fumble.  He was the lead blocker, and should have engaged the Vandy DB who knocked the ball loose from JF3.  He chose to block another player, leaving the true threat a free shot at full speed on JF3.  Hard to blame JF3 for that lost fumble.  He had the ball secured, but that hit was right on the ball.  Officials, per the norm, were horrible.  Choke holds on Adams and Laswon all day, our Dlinemen being tackled from behind.  Not sure what Auburn has done to get on the bad side of every officiating crew in the country, but it's getting a little old.  At one point, I was like "Gus should tell the Oline that on the next snap, they should all reach up and rip the helmet off the vandy dlinemen across from them, and throw it over to the sideline".  Then go to the refs and say "start calling it fair, of the next time, the helmets are coming at you".  

11 minutes ago, AU_Engineer said:

Why don't we use Jason Smith for the speed sweep role. He is fast and can get things done. I was hoping he would have a great year, but he got buried on the depth chart.

I was wondering about him.  I don't recall hearing his name mentioned much this season.  

11 hours ago, IronMan70 said:

Yep, that's the downside but the upside can be explosive. risk/reward 

If nothing else, this gets him on the field and allows him to gain experience with the speed of the game.  It's difficult for a QB to come in the middle of a game, and have to throw passes against an SEC defense.  This could only help him get more comfortable, in my opinion.

15 hours ago, RunInRed said:

Braden Smith ...

Yet this type of play was completely abandoned in the 2nd half.....WTF, Gus?????

17 minutes ago, aubaseball said:

My take: I see an offense that has some ability but not near the talent that everyone thinks we have. Our QB (any of them) would not start for any other team in the SEC, except vandy.  Oline is average.  Receivers are an unknown because our staff does not know how to use receivers. 

Defense has some ability.   They can keep auburn in games but will never win the game.   It falls on player development.   This staff cannot develop players.   Carl Lawson is a legit player but has regressed in his time at auburn

All of this adds up to one thing......COACHING CHANGE!  I hate to see us go through that yet again, Gus and Rhett are in over their heads, and are lost at every turn. We never make adjustments, we just keep doing the same thing, hoping the other team blows an assignment that allows us to move the ball.  You cannot coach like that in the SEC.  Every team is loaded with talent, and most of that talent is developed (except in our case, apparently) into a solid football team.  Teams will make a mistake or two, but the coaches identify the mistake, make adjustments, and fix the problem.  Not Gus!  Auburn deserves better than what we are getting.  At this point, we're probably 2-3 years from being relevant again, and that's only if we make changes now.  Until then, punchline of the SEC is where we live.  If you have any bammer or UGA friends, you might want to distance yourselves from them this season.  bammer is going to win it all again, and UGA will keep squeaking out wins and finish with 9 wins, and we'll be sitting there with our 4-5 wins, mostly non-conference.   

17 hours ago, api1957 said:

We said that last year too.

It's kind of become our mantra every season, lately!

17 hours ago, Win4AU said:

A team improves the most from week one to week two so lets see how much better we look against an inferior opponent. 

After what I saw this weekend, we may not have too many "inferior" opponents this season. At least not offensively, that is!