What's our personality?

[easnoddy 0]

I'm a bit confused as to the personality and what the coaches are trying to do this year.  Are we trying to really win games with a pretty youthful team or are we building for 2012 and 2013 and beyond?  The reason I ask is because we have juniors and seniors in there making big mistakes while we have freshmen and sophomores on the bench who will have just as little game experience in 2012. 

There are several positions where we are playing whom we have to and the young guys are getting the reps they need.  TE/HB (Fulse, Phillips), DT (Whitaker, Carter, Sigler, Blackson, Wright), DE (Eguae, Lemonier, Ford, Owens, Sanders), RB (Mason...but not in THIS game?), and DB (Davis, Mincy, Whitehead, Therezie, McNeal, White, Smith, Rose, Florence).

Instead of our starting OL playing the WHOLE game against FAU, why didn't we see a line that included Robinson, Westerman, Slade, and Mack?  We are losing 3 seniors off this OL and will have just one next year in Sullen.  Why aren't the younger guys getting a shot at some game reps before the meat of the schedule?  These guys need the reps, they may be thrown in the game at any point against SEC competition.  The worst thing we could do is have these younger guys completely unprepared for 2012.

Aside from Blake, WR is IMO the weakest position in this offense.  Stallworth and Benton are not holding up their end.  Reed, Denson and Bray need a LOT of passes thrown their way.

Trotter getting reps in the 4th quarter when we were still up by 16 was a bit puzzling to me.  That was the perfect spot to put in Frazier and let him try to run the offense.  Or even Clint.  Trotter took a couple bad hits in the 4th quarter that he should not have.  Barrett was not going to learn a whole lot handing the ball off late in that game.  The last 2 series probably should have been run by Moseley and Frazier in that order.  Maybe 16 points was too close for the comfort level of our coaches?

Lastly, the one position on defense that is the most glaring weakness is the one we are playing the young guys witht the least reps: LB.  Why are the coaches living with the glaring bad play of upperclassmen when we have young guys (White, Gaston, Garrett, Landrum).  We have juniors and seniors that play almost the entire game and while better the past couple of weeks they are making mistakes I'd rather see a freshman make.  I do see Gaston and White in there, but not the true freshmen.  The upside of the older guys is limited and would rather see them as role-players.  At least Holland is a sophomore and gets a ton of reps so he will get better and be better prepared for 2012/2013.  I'm afraid we are going to be nearly as weak at LB in 2012 as we are in 2011.  If so, you can only blame that on coaching.

Lastly, OMac is a great perimeter runner, but not a primary running back.  The sooner Gus realizes this, the better our offense will get.  That...and he's got to lower the shoulder and run into a tackle for a couple extra yards rather than running out of bounds.  There was a 3rd and 2 where he kept stretching the play out  to the sideline when he could have cut and fallen forward for the 1st down.

[gpharper 0]

Soft

[Guest Apraser99]

Schizophrenic!!

[NickySantoro 0]

One problem I have with Trotter is his lack of ability to spread the ball around. It seems as though he checks his number one guy then proceeds to the back with that going through the progressions. The ball isn't getting spread around much at all.

[walker77 0]

Still too early to know...

[1auburn1 1,120]

We're about to find out.

[walleyau22 0]

"Great to sh!tty"

Ouch!!

[Rickys Rants 0]

"Great to sh!tty"

Ouch!!

But I will have to add there there is still time to turn this season around!  The downside is if we continue to play like we have been the good SEC teams on our schedule will 'stomp us into a mudhole'.  Spurrier would love nothing more than to beat us by 40+ after the SEC Championship game.  I would not be surprised to see Garcia in there throwing the ball up by 30......

[catch8185 4]

I think it is obvious.  We don't have one yet.  If we did, it would be inexperienced.  Plus, I couldn't agree with you more about the McCalebb comment.  Duck your shoulder and push upfield for two or three yards!  Son!!  Seriously.  And whoever said soft.  I tend to agree a little.  We're definitely getting knocked around some ... and I don't like it much.

[Ronald McDonald 0]

Bi-polar... oh wait you're talking about the football team. Thought you were talking about AE for a sec

[styxfan34 0]

Dane Cook

[StatTiger 3,188]

I'm a bit confused as to the personality and what the coaches are trying to do this year.  Are we trying to really win games with a pretty youthful team or are we building for 2012 and 2013 and beyond?  The reason I ask is because we have juniors and seniors in there making big mistakes while we have freshmen and sophomores on the bench who will have just as little game experience in 2012. 

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If the Auburn coaches are coaching for 2012 with a 3-1 record, they all need to be fired. Obviously, I don't believe this is the case. Again, for the millionth time, this is a rebuilding year, not a reloading year. We had to replace 18 of 24 starters, not counting special teams players other than the kickers.

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There are several positions where we are playing whom we have to and the young guys are getting the reps they need.  TE/HB (Fulse, Phillips), DT (Whitaker, Carter, Sigler, Blackson, Wright), DE (Eguae, Lemonier, Ford, Owens, Sanders), RB (Mason...but not in THIS game?), and DB (Davis, Mincy, Whitehead, Therezie, McNeal, White, Smith, Rose, Florence).

Instead of our starting OL playing the WHOLE game against FAU, why didn't we see a line that included Robinson, Westerman, Slade, and Mack?  We are losing 3 seniors off this OL and will have just one next year in Sullen.  Why aren't the younger guys getting a shot at some game reps before the meat of the schedule?  These guys need the reps, they may be thrown in the game at any point against SEC competition.  The worst thing we could do is have these younger guys completely unprepared for 2012.

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You can afford to rotate more OL when you have an ESTABLISHED OL to start with. This is not the case and the more reps the starting OL can get, the better. By the way, the starting OL did not play the entire FAU game.

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Aside from Blake, WR is IMO the weakest position in this offense.  Stallworth and Benton are not holding up their end.  Reed, Denson and Bray need a LOT of passes thrown their way.

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Stallworth has been fine but Reed has struggled with his route running and blocking. This is why you seen him primarily utilized on screens. He will get better. It's his first year playing. Bray is still learning his position so I would not expect much from him in terms of being a receiver down field. I still have high hopes for Carr, Benton and Denson in that order.

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Trotter getting reps in the 4th quarter when we were still up by 16 was a bit puzzling to me.  That was the perfect spot to put in Frazier and let him try to run the offense.  Or even Clint.  Trotter took a couple bad hits in the 4th quarter that he should not have.  Barrett was not going to learn a whole lot handing the ball off late in that game.  The last 2 series probably should have been run by Moseley and Frazier in that order.  Maybe 16 points was too close for the comfort level of our coaches?

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I agree on this one. You might be right about the coaches worried that 16 wasn't enough. Certainly on AU's last possession, another QB could have come in. My wish would be Frazier.

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Lastly, the one position on defense that is the most glaring weakness is the one we are playing the young guys witht the least reps: LB.  Why are the coaches living with the glaring bad play of upperclassmen when we have young guys (White, Gaston, Garrett, Landrum).  We have juniors and seniors that play almost the entire game and while better the past couple of weeks they are making mistakes I'd rather see a freshman make.  I do see Gaston and White in there, but not the true freshmen.  The upside of the older guys is limited and would rather see them as role-players.  At least Holland is a sophomore and gets a ton of reps so he will get better and be better prepared for 2012/2013.  I'm afraid we are going to be nearly as weak at LB in 2012 as we are in 2011.  If so, you can only blame that on coaching.

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Gaston and Garrett have been taking a lot of reps as of late and White will be too. We need Evans back and we also have been playing a lot of 4-2-5 this year.

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Lastly, OMac is a great perimeter runner, but not a primary running back.  The sooner Gus realizes this, the better our offense will get.  That...and he's got to lower the shoulder and run into a tackle for a couple extra yards rather than running out of bounds.  There was a 3rd and 2 where he kept stretching the play out  to the sideline when he could have cut and fallen forward for the 1st down.

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He is our most complete back in terms of his knowledge of the offense and pass-protection. He has worked his rear end off and the coaches are playing him as a featured back because he has EARNED it. The OL has been below average at best through 4 games. Bottom line, McCalebb averages 6.6 yards per offensive touch. When the OL improves, everything else will too.

2 cents