Linayus

True, I said that partly in jest. I highly enjoyed watching those guys play and I've missed having a trio that solid.

Even if the first two dropped just as many as they caught. CT was such an asset to our team, I honestly don't know why he didn't have a bigger stint in the NFL.

That fake was a thing of beauty too. I was already shaking my head in frustration at the call when I realized Sean kept it! LOL

Remember when people were worried about Auburn not being a run-oriented team when Gus was hired?

One of the most satisfying games to watch in a LONG time. If we can do the same to Georgia in a few weeks, that'd be GREAT. lol But.. I'm going to bring up one negative since everyone else is so high on a "complete" Auburn team. We are struggling pretty bad in one phase but luckily it hasn't been as big a factor as it could be: Special Teams. Specifically punting and the return game (punts and kickoffs both). Coverage has been fine but we've only had like, what, one decent return all season? Is our blocking that poor these days?

Austin Allen's emergence this season has to have put a big smile on Bielema's face. In his backup duties, I never saw anything that impressed me and I wasn't particularly worried about this matchup prior to the season with the departure of Brandon Allen. But now I have cause for concern again. lol I do think we pressure him enough to make mistakes - and that means we limit their ability to make the big throws on us. But if they let him scramble/roll out like A&M does with Knight (though Allen is no where near the runner Knight is), we might have problems with allowing the short passes to eat up yardage on us. Hopefully that won't be the case. Our secondary has done well this season but aside from Clemson and A&M (who is more balanced this year), we really haven't face a true passing attack like we'll see this week and especially next week against Ole Miss. Time to see if our boys can enforce that "no fly zone" against the better QBs in the league!

It's probably been said hundreds of times already - but this defense with the offense we had in 2013/14 would have been a dream. Maybe even enough for back to back SEC titles and NC titles. But.. wish in one hand and sh-t in the other, right? lol Still - love the numbers (most of them anyway) and love the future of this team. Gus has definitely saved his butt so far. Let's hope that continues as we really hit the meat of the SEC play!

Great post - as usual. We missed a couple of deep balls (one overthrow and the other was weird turn-around by Kyle Davis) and the Pettway fumble killed the offensive momentum. Other than that, I was happy with what I saw this weekend. With the BYE week, we might just come out fast against a likely "on their heels" Arkansas after they lost to Bama and very likely to Ole Miss as well (or at least a hard fought game if they manage the win). Keep building each week and this team will be something special by the Iron Bowl. I know several smart Bama fans that are now eyeing Auburn as a likely upset game for the Tide.

Last year's loss to MSU was one that really ticked me off. We outplayed MSU for most of that game, Dak or no Dak. He looked pedestrian against us. But for the love of all things Auburn, we couldn't play offense. And that ended up being the lingering issue the rest of the season. For what it's worth, I think the Auburn offense clicks this week and we beat MS State 34-14. You'll see some new wrinkles in the offense (not too many) and we'll get a much needed boost in confidence with our BYE week to help prepare us for a huge revenge game against Arkansas. (You can bet money Sean has had that game circled since getting hurt last season) War Eagle!

Considering the quality of the defenses we've played this season so far - I'm pretty happy with that. Especially when you take into consideration how well the defenses know our offensive schemes.

Appreciate the reply! I just think if we let JF3 run to the far side, he can beat most defenders there. At least it would add another wrinkle to the offense.

Okay, so my question on Tiger Talk this week was kind of glossed over by Gus so I'll propose the question here since it was focused on red zone plays and specifically the Wildcat with Kerryon instead of JFIII. Is anyone else sensing hesitation from the coaches in playing JFIII or am I just imagining it? Defenses know Kerryon is running the ball when he's in Wildcat. With JF3 you're getting the same thing but his speed and elusiveness might be more effective than Kerryon's sometimes hard running (when the o-line doesn't fail him anyway). You could always have him do the read option with Kerryon and make the defense actually account for both runners. We need more help and options in the red zone so this seems like a sensible choice to me. Maybe he'll actually answer my question against ULM tomorrow.

The return game has been somewhat of a surprise to me. Are we facing good coverage teams and just not getting the chances at returns? Or are we just blocking that badly? I noticed on kickoffs at least that we aren't really running along a crease (if one is even there) and they tend to take the sideline when there is more field (and therefore more opportunity for a missed tackle) to be had without having to run from sideline to sideline.

Ha! I'd like to. Life just gets in my way.

Just my thoughts on the red zone offense - we don't even try to hit the corners with jump balls (we tried maybe 3 times last season?) and Sean White doesn't have that sharp quick release to get the ball in to tight coverage in that short of a field. That also seems to be a problem (along with perimeter blocking) with our lack of yards on the WR screens we love doing. Of course, we don't really know much about Sean in the red zone since we love to pull him out and never throw so he could prove me totally incorrect in my assessment!

Really liking what I've seen of the defense as a whole, minus the few broken plays that result in some bigger gains. It's great seeing those young men playing with fire and knowing they can compete with anyone on that side of the ball. I hate to criticize Chandler Cox but yeah, he's been very spotty as a blocker in space. He has even missed some blocks while trying to make holes in the defense. He has plenty of drive and is probably harder on himself than his coaches are, but it'd be nice to see him adjust and correct his issues. He's a difference maker on the offense and we need him desperately. Glad to have that W though. The LSU game is my second biggest rivalry game outside the Iron Bowl. War Eagle!