Linayus

These aren't just bad.. they are terrible. Do we know yet if we extended Hand's contract? I really hope not.

A couple of things I've thought about today that are pretty darn amazing for this year's team: 1. Our scoring defense was GREAT. We only allowed an average of 17 points a game which is exactly the same as last year except the most points any team has scored on us this year was 28 and that was Georgia taking advantage of a tired defense. Compare that to last year allowing aTm and Ole Miss to score 29, Bama 30, and Oklahoma 35. Kevin Steele deserves his pay. Hell, Gus should probably give him another $500k from his own salary as a bonus. 2. Not only do we have another 1000 yard rusher with KJ (even missing 2 games) and who could hit 1500 if healthy against UCF, we also have a QB who has thrown for over 2800 yards and will very likely pass 3000 against UCF. The last Auburn QB with stats that good? Cam Newton. ( @StatTiger can correct me if I'm wrong! ) We may have botched the early game against Clemson and threw away a win against LSU, but this team deserves a lot of credit for the way they responded and finished the year. I'm excited to see what we do going forward!

I wouldn't consider that game being a blowout. We had scoring drives ruined with fumbles (Kerryon's first fumble this entire season, btw) and a blocked FG (please Gus, hire a Special Teams coach!). Take away the one big TD run they got and it's still 21-7 late. The final score makes it seem lopsided but it really wasn't. Basically we had the same issues that Georgia and Bama both had playing against us the previous weeks. The guys were banged up and exhausted and just got out-physicaled. Sucks but it is what it is. A lot of people still have issues with Gus - but with the coaching carousel going on right now, losing him would have put us in a bad position and destroys the stability we're finally having with our staff. If I had to give Gus a little raise to make sure Steele and Lindsey stay - so be it. He won't be here in 5 years most likely.

Looked to me like Stidham got a solid hit to the back of his head on one of his runs. After that he was completely ineffective. Probably didn't even check him for a concussion. I'm with a lot of you. The only blame I put on the coaches is playing an injured KJ. Georgia attacked him and Stidham all night, unnecessarily aggressive, drawing a few flags but doing it regardless. Still, we had a hell of a run. It'll be nice to ruin another team's undefeated season in a few weeks. ;)

I haven't been around the recruiting board in quite some time. What's up with Nix? Is he out? Edit: Never mind - forgot he's 2019. I'm losing my marbles!

Holds on Holland and Davidson (back judge sees but does not throw the flag). That little TE got manhandled though. Excellent job by Holland forcing him backwards into Jalen.

It's frustrating to watch Bama's offense get away with hold after hold after hold. But it's also satisfying that it didn't help them in the least bit. I had to laugh when a Bama fan actually complained about the officiating in that game. Some people...

It wasn't pretty at all. ULM should've been shut out or held to 3 points at the most but those penalties (usually on our DBs) are extremely costly on 3rd downs. The tackling bug was back too - though mostly with the reserves. ULM was just playing more physical than we were. And turnovers in games like these are inexcusable. I was having Mercer flashbacks and nearly left at halftime. Ugh.

I know the defense isn't listening to it. They've got good leadership on that side of the ball to tune that noise out. They believe they can stop anybody and they don't need affirmation from the media to make it true. They want to beat the best and BE the best.

Having to watch this game on TV gave me an opportunity to notice specific individuals more so than from in the stadium and I have to say Braden Smith was a pure dominating force in this game, as I'm sure he has been often in his career). We are going to miss him!!

He's usually decent. Not sure what happened there. It's like he meant to use our guy as a setup block but couldn't adjust quick enough to avoid him. Too fast for his own decision making? lmao

Sitting in the student section (behind the goal post), I tend to watch the warm-ups a lot and I field a lot of the FGs kicked our way (except for Carlson cause it's almost always over my head or in the tunnel). This weekend, I wasn't paying too much attention until a particular BOOM from a punter grabbed my attention as the ball went up with some serious hang time. I was immediately like "Who the hell kicked that??!!" and spotted Marshall (whom I was not familiar with at all) and proceeded to keep an eye on him. He has a great leg and I told my fiancee to watch for him to get the start from now on - and he did (and likely will). It'll be nice to have that position battle over with for now without having to resort to using Carlson. I really hope we are working hard to bring our young RBs up to speed with the offense. Kerryon is patient and smart with the football, even effective in the Wildcat when the defense knows what's coming, but we really need a fully healthy and explosive player to carry the ball between the 20s. When KJ broke into the secondary I got excited for about half a second until I realized I probably could've outrun him to the end zone myself and he knew it too as he immediately started looking back to try and fend off the coming tackle. Kam Martin was supposedly banged up (but was he really?) so Malik and Devan need to be getting a LOT of reps in practice and hopefully a lot more carries in garbage time against our upcoming foes. We need them!

1. Pettway IS slower - whatever the reason - and apparently thinks he can run over anyone and everyone even though the defenses have been smart enough to take him on at his knees. Why we have singled him out to be our only ball carrier at the position is beyond my reasoning. 2. Receivers have been running poor routes (with the exception of Hastings). They seem to think their talent alone is enough to win match ups. I've even seen them run into defenders, like run square into them not shouldering past to get open. At other times I've seen defenders full on grab our receivers 10-15 yards downfield which is apparently not going to be called this year. 3. Stidham is still too slow on making decisions but a lot of times this is due to these longer routes we're asking our receivers to run which I think is ridiculous considering the issues we're having with our o-line. He has a beautiful arm though when he does commit to the throw. Just needs to work on seeing more of the field and getting rid of the ball faster. The interception was more on NCM, I agree. I'm not sure he even realized the defender was closing in on the ball.

I've never been a kicker but for whatever reason Carlson is pulling his kicks to the left on a fairly consistent basis even during warm-ups. Seems like it should be easily correctable though. Not sure if it's just in his head now after missing a few but man is it weird hearing the entire stadium audibly gasp when we miss a FG (even one over 50 which should honestly be amusing considering what some teams would do for a kicker like ours). I was happy to see Stidham throwing the ball well but he had a lot of time back there to let deeper routes open up like his shot downfield to Hastings. Even then, he was a little slow to pull the trigger. He's also still not seeing when receivers are getting open. Sal was open on a couple of plays that could have been bigger gains. We still didn't work the shorter routes like we should be considering our offensive line issues. Mizzou might not be a huge challenge but you can bet State will be in our backfield early and often if we don't make them open up with quick throws.

Some consider ST (returns at least) to be part of the offense so not that big of a mistake. Either way, it's an abysmal start.

If Stidham is not the starter, it will be because of injury (or suspension if he breaks a team rule or something). He just looks too comfortable already to say he'd be behind Sean on the depth chart. I know Sean didn't play but he did come out and warm up with the QBs and looked good throwing the ball. I don't think there will be any doubts he can fill in as needed during the season, barring further injuries. As for who is behind Sean at the #3 spot.. well, Woody, I guess? Malik looks better but I hope they redshirt him to preserve his eligibility. Just from what I observed, Woody may never step on the field except in blowout games. I won't be surprised to hear of him applying for a transfer after this season (especially if we land the QB recruits we want for 2018).

As long as we don't have a major shakeup in coaching, I think Bo is as good as ours. Already like what I've seen of his highlights and he should only get better before coming to Auburn (and hopefully continues getting better while here! lol).

While I would like to agree, Bama did pretty well with that short passing game this season. When they were forced to go deep, well, you saw the results in the playoffs. The biggest difference between us and them was the mobility and speed of the QB (and physicality of their playmakers). The Clemson game was discounted because of the insane QB rotation that kills the stat comparison. It was less of Sean's performance and more to do with being yanked out for someone else to come in and kill the drives. If they had stuck with Sean, it would certainly have been included.

I think it has mostly been a QB height issue. Even Nick Marshall wasn't that tall so his options over the middle were limited. There are too many bigger LBs in the league that can go up and snag a football now. lol

Yeah, I never bought in to it either. He was just on an undefeated team. I'd go as far as saying that he's not even as good as Blake Sims or Jacob Coker. I stand by my assessment that Tua will take over as the QB next season and Hurts will be a great backup.

I'm excited to see what our offense can do with Stidham. He looked really good at Baylor and he is actually tall enough for us to start hitting the middle of the field again!

The teams that hurt us the most were those efficient through the air - Clemson, A&M, Ole Miss (before turnovers sealed it), Oklahoma.. and to an extent Alabama (though to me it's misleading when those passes were mostly dump offs or screens that netted bigger yards than they should've). If we see improvement in the secondary coverage for next year, our defense should easily land in the top 25. A side note - 3 of those teams were conference champs with Heisman hopefuls (Watson, Hurts, Westbrook, Mayfield, and even Kelly for Ole Miss). It's not like Auburn was getting beat by mediocre teams (excluding Georgia because that was just an aberration of a football game). lol

What @lionheartkc said. But losing Stidham would hurt us no matter who he goes to (especially if we can't get another serviceable QB).

That was just an assumption. lol But I'm sure they're dying to get a new OC with their offensive woes. Clever!!

Disaster scenario - KB to FL. I'm all for hiring KB if RL leaves to take a HC job. Especially if that solidifies getting JS here.