CodeRocket

39 minutes ago, steeleagle said:

We think the defense will keep us in games enough to be competitve, but it's the offense, other than we know we have a top level RB, that will be the 'new offense on the block' in the SEC trying to overcome an inept offense we put out there 4 out the 5 last years..

Good thoughts, but I fear that the offense will leave our defense on the field for too many snaps over the course of the season.

Tank is an outstanding back. He might be better than most of the great backs that have played at Auburn, but he is running behind a less than elite o-line.

I think the biggest problem the team will have will be executing the passing game and not entirely because of the offensive line. My guess is the receivers are going to have difficulty knowing how to adjust their routes based on coverages. The receivers are mostly young and inexperienced with only spring and fall practice as opportunities to learn their dynamic route trees. They will get better but it will take time. I expect a lot of check downs and short passes. It will be analogous to playing guitar; knowing which fingers go on which strings on which frets and which strings to strum is one thing, executing it in real time is another.

Coach Harsin and Coach Bobo will put the guy out there that they think gives Auburn the best chance to win. I hope we all believe that at this point anyway. That will decide the issue. Maybe this thread has run its course.

I think Harold Joiner is the biggest loss for AU on the transfer list. I thought he showed a lot of determination the few opportunities he got, and I didn't see any evidence of him shying away from anyone. When thinking of the situation we have at RB, I definitely think he is the biggest loss. Next season will tell us how big of a loss.

55 minutes ago, Malcolm_FleX48 said:

Our DL is fairly undersized against most SEC OLs and isn't necessarily even proficient in pass rush in exchange, which means most times the DL gets driven off the ball and into the undersized LBs laps

I think when KJ got hurt he was trying to arm tackle a running back going full speed while fighting off an offensive lineman at his waist.

I remember watching the linebackers trying to make tackles on running backs before KJ got hurt and thinking, "Those backs are really moving fast and bringing a lot of kinetic energy to the point of impact with the linebackers and that somebody was going to get injured", and that is what happened.

I'll take #22, Harold Joiner. I think he looks like an SEC back. He could prosper in Chad Morris's offense.

12 minutes ago, triangletiger said:

That's the struggle with Malzahn.  He's not necessarily a 'bad coach'.  He has shown signs of being a good coach at times and does a lot of things right, but it's not consistent.  We get games like MSU that make us think he's turned the corner,  and then games like last Saturday that leave us scratching our head.  He's good enough that it leaves us uncertain.  It's nerve-wracking.

I don't think he is a bad coach either, but he has made some really bad decisions:

• Incorrect assessment of JJ's potential as the starting QB. This has been one I haven't been able to forget
• Poor RB and O-line recruiting. I find this one especially odd since he has stated frequently that "We are a downhill power running football team". How do you do that without a  good offensive line and a stable of SEC backs?
• The entire OC debacle that we have witnessed over the last few seasons
• Tendency to become myopic in game situations, like running on first down an inordinate number of times and mostly without success

He has also made some good decisions:

• Keeping CRG as the defensive line coach
• Hiring CTW as the line backers coach 
• Hiring Cadillac to coach running backs
• Re-assuming OC responsibilities as well as being head coach (up until the FL game)

I think he is beginning to understand that a coach must be both a great recruiter and a good developer of talent

He reminds me of a person trying to put out a brush fire with a broom. While he is beating down one hot spot, another is popping up behind him. He has to have assistants that are willing and able to handle a broom also.

I don't know what his future is at AU, but I do feel like he can be successful somewhere.

15 hours ago, ChltteTiger said:

Barfield

I think we might have been the worst third and long defensive team I have ever seen. I would always hope for third and manageable because I thought we would have a better chance of getting a stop if the other team had three yards or less to gain! I suspect if all Auburn fans had to endure that tenure again we might have a different outlook on the current situation. I won't name the DC out of respect for the deceased.

On 10/6/2019 at 3:42 PM, JMR said:

I can't emphasize enough how poorly Bo Nix played in this game.  Missed throws, overthrows, terrible interceptions.  Just one or two less of any of those, and the game likely would have had a different outcome.  I think Bo is going to be great and unfortunately, part of getting to that point is enduring painful lessons and not repeating them.

I have observed his footwork getting worse over the last couple of games, even on some throws he completed. Very surprising considering how much training he has had to this point in his career. Not sure what to think about it except maybe it is a by product of the defense not respecting our running game. CGM's passing offense has historically only worked when he had a very effective running game forcing the defense to think "stop the run" first. The best example of this I can remember was late in the 2013 Alabama game with us trailing 28-21. We got the ball back and CGM called three straight running plays barely getting a first down. The clock was running down and I was furious with CGM. What was he thinking? Then Nick Marshall pulled the ball on the hand-off fake and ran to his left showing the Alabama corner back exactly what he was looking for, Nick Marshall to keep the ball and run down field. The cornerback released his coverage and came up to get Marshall except it wasn't a QB run, it was a pass to Sammy Coates that went for a touchdown and tied the game. Most people remember the Kick-6 play but to me this was the play of the game.

I am old enough to remember some bad games or portions of games that Pat Sullivan had but I honestly don't remember him getting worse as the game progressed. The thing I find most disturbing about the Florida loss was our young QB playing worse late in the game.

Thanks for writing these articles. They help guys like me understand more about the game.

1 hour ago, RunInRed said:

I'm not a big fan of Gary Danielson but he said something during the broadcast that really resonated with me last week ... Gus Malzahn does all this motion, jet sweeps, WR screens, etc., to enable being able to smash it between the tackles with the running game. 

I think the root cause of all of our offensive woes are due to only adequate interior offensive line play and not play calling. They pass block adequately but struggle to move defensive lineman on running plays. When we have had o-lines that could move SEC defensive lineman, the zone read was successful and the passing game became adequate. We don't have it now and we almost certainly won't have it next year. I don't see any quick fix for this issue, and for the life of me, I can't understand why CGM has not made o-line recruiting the very highest priority. If that meant hiring a different position coach or hiring an o-line coach that was a better recruiter than teacher then that is what he should have done. I fear now that the opportunity to do that has left the station. 

1 hour ago, StatTiger said:

Ask yourself this question. Malzahn coached one of the greatest college QB’s ever that made him a super star as an OC and led him to a National Title and Heisman. Cam’s abilities made his job easier and made most plays called golden. If Gatewood was half the QB Cam was, do you really believe he would not start him?

@StatTiger. You do remember the confidence CGM once had in JJ, and the disaster that turned out to be. I personally do not have confidence in CGM's ability to evaluate, recruit, recognize, and develop players. I suspect he knows that he is not good at these things and that is why only (18) players got into the game on offense against Florida. I am hopeful that he made the correct choice between Bo and JG, but I do not have great faith that he did so.

I would like to listen to the entire podcast right now @JMR but my wife has me booked until at least Sunday afternoon. She is on a campaign as I write to get ready

for a very early start to Stone Mountain for the Yellow Daisy Festival . Saturday morning we are off again to some place south of Atlanta and Sunday morning we will be off

to church. She hasn't had time to plan for Sunday afternoon just yet. Thank goodness I am retired and can recover several days during the week.

On 9/1/2019 at 7:49 PM, Rednilla said:

How easy is it to run when the blocking isn't there?

It appeared to me, watching the game on TV, that Whitlow was getting a lot of yards after and during heavy contact. He was probably taking a beating for his effort.

Martin seemed to be picking a soft spot and getting through it pretty quickly. I also thought he ran with determination.

Shivers, I just don't know. I don't think he had very many good opportunities.

I suspect it was like, as Terry Henly once said, "It was like running in a syrup bucket".

I read @StatTiger post before the game comparing Auburn and Oregon national player rankings by position group. The Auburn defensive line was far superior

to the Oregon offensive line. On the other hand, the Auburn offensive line was slightly inferior to the Oregon defensive line. The game, after the first quarter or so, unfolded according to those two comparisons. We had a very difficult time getting push on their defensive line and they could not run on ours (AU).

Thank you @StatTiger for doing this analysis work and letting all of us benefit from it. 

I do get the feeling that there might be some animosity between DC and at least some people in the football program. I don't have any inside information it's just the perception that I get.

I do know that he did an awful lot for Auburn University, and for that I will always be grateful. He will forever be an Auburn Tiger.

9 hours ago, StatTiger said:

·        Auburn's offense turned the ball over once every 74.5 snaps, the best ratio by an Auburn offense during the past 36 seasons. This has been a trademark of a Malzahn offense, which has seven of Auburn's top-8 ratios from 1983-2018

·        Last season Auburn lost 66.7 percent of their fumbles. This season the Tigers improved their "lost fumbles percentage" to 30.8 percent. It was the second lowest percentage by an Auburn team the past 29 seasons (1990-2018).

The dramatic improvement in fumbles lost might be a statistical anomaly due to a relatively small sample size (thankfully). 

On 11/20/2018 at 11:42 AM, JMR said:

I thought Willis was much more unselfish with the ball than earlier in the year. His reads were spot on, and he threw the ball better. Not great, but better. Just needs more experience/confidence. 

Well coach, I am stating the obvious here, but the guy has to play to get both of those.

6 hours ago, StatTiger said:

Auburn has now recovered 13 of their last 14 fumbles. 

This is a curious statistic. A (93%) possession recovery rate cannot just be luck. The coaches must have made this a point of emphasis during practice.  

3 hours ago, ChltteTiger said:

It's an entirely different game if he makes that simple throw. For a team with shaky confidence, you have to be perfect. There were too many little mistakes last night, and while I won't blame the loss on Stidham, as soon as it happened I turned to someone and said "That's ballgame. That will ruin the mojo, and we will not score again." And I was right.

My son said to me just before this possession started that if Auburn didn't score we would likely lose the game. When I saw the over throw to Whitlow I couldn't believe such poor execution at such at critical point in the game.  I noticed Whitlow expressing his on displeasure / frustration / disappointment  after that play. That one play certainly seemed to be the turning point in the game. 

21 minutes ago, StatTiger said:

Midway into his sixth season as head coach, Gus Malzahn has a team that cannot run the football and cannot protect the quarterback. His best running back is a converted quarterback with a bad shoulder, and there isn't a reliable and prepared backup at quarterback to take over for Jarrett Stidham. The offensive line lacks experience and is playing hurt with very little depth to tap into. One of the starters transferred in from U-Mass and quickly became a starter. It is a nightmare scenario for a first-year head coach rebuilding a program, so how did Auburn arrive here after six years?

I believe the answer is poor recruiting at O-line and running back. I don't see a quick remedy for these areas of weakness and or lack of depth. It appears on the surface that we are going to have to watch a long slow tragedy unfold to a throughly decent man and possibly a brillant  offensive play caller that happens to not be a very good HC or recruiter.

The third down defensive performance reminds of the tenure of P.W. Underwood as DC. I can remember dreading third and long situations when the defense was on  the field.