AU-HANDLEY-TIGER 205 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 My thoughts are this game reminds me of Northwestern 09- could set the stage for next year. Second the chic-fil-a cow marketing idea is so old-hat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WDavE 332 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Not to be a negative Nelly but the O-Line play improved when Greene went down and Slade moved to the outside and Mack came in. Points to a big improvement coming on the whole line come this spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUBigCat 17 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Crowd/Atmosphere: The Chick-Fil-A Bowl put on a great time this weekend. Everything from the parade down Peachtree in the morning to the bowl celebration after the game was fantastic. It gave the feel of a big-time bowl game and was very well thought out. The Virginia fans were all very nice and I enjoyed their company more than any other opposing team in recent memory. Their tradition and cheers are very strange though. Overall, Chick-Fil-A knows how to put on a bowl game. Offensively: Losing Dyer might have been the best thing that happened to our offense. It seemed that without Dyer, Malzahn was forced to open his playbook and become creative like we saw in 2009. Trotter was fantastic and his 11-18 could've been 13-18 or 14-18 if Lutzenkirchen hadn't dropped a pass and same with Blake. McCalebb absolutely put on a show. It's been stated how well he played so I'll just leave it at that. Hope he stays on with us next year but if he goes I wish him luck. The only negative I could really harp on would be the play of the OL. I was hoping for a large improvement from them and didn't really get it. I feel like next year we'll be much better on the OL with Robinson and Westerman coming off their redshirt year. One positive on blocking though is how the WR's blocked down field last night. It reminded me of the 2010 WR corp. Defensively: I thought we played better defensively. How much better? Not much but I think a lot of it has to do with confidence and youth. I'm proud of them for continuing to play hard even though the results weren't always there. Special Teams: How about Garrett Harper?!? When we needed a momentum swing the most, a freshman walk-on provided it. That blocked punt along with Blackson's punt block later on really sealed the outcome of this game. Parkey was as solid last night as he had been all year long. His onside kick was perfectly executed. Boulware has done a great job with this group and has our young guys motivated to make plays on special teams. It goes to show that special teams can determine the outcome of games. In the End: This game gave Auburn lots to look forward to in 2012. Great win for the program. Glad you mentioned the First punt block Mc. Very little talk about this surprisingly. Maybe because Harper is an unknown walk-on and with so much praise going to bigger names McCaleb, Bray, Mason, Blake, Wright, Frazier, Trotter, Parkey, etc. he becomes the forgotten hero. But in my opinion Harper's play was the single biggest play of the game. It completed reversed the momentum of the game. Hope Garrett makes many more big plays for Auburn. But I would expect him to follow CGM to ASU. Gus was quoted as saying he spent more time recruiting a walkon (Harper) to AU than he did for most schollie guys. At ASU GH would be a scholarship player and probably their go to speed receiver eventually. Talented kid but not likely to get that chance at Auburn. Hope KF talk his good friend into staying here with the Good Guys. Harper's play is actually bigger than I realized. i read an article where the special teams coach for UVA said that block is what made him try the rugby kick in the endzone that lead to the Blackson block/safety. He said that the first block (Harper's) made him nervous because of the almost straight path Harper took to the ball. He thought the rugby kick would offset that...doh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronald McDonald 0 Posted January 2, 2012 Author Share Posted January 2, 2012 I actually thought the O-line was improved, McW. The biggest surprise is your switch from RMcD to the Round Mound of Rebound! Plus your love for Chick-Fil-A. Those cows must've gotten to you! I guess you could say they improved but Trotter was running for his life most of the 2nd half. They hardly ever developed a solid pocket for him. Did they play their best game all year on the OL? Nah I'd give that to the South Carolina game. As far as the changing of the avatar.. Round Mound is the man. ChickfilA cows may be next Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUbritt 611 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 I actually thought the O-line was improved, McW. The biggest surprise is your switch from RMcD to the Round Mound of Rebound! Plus your love for Chick-Fil-A. Those cows must've gotten to you! I guess you could say they improved but Trotter was running for his life most of the 2nd half. They hardly ever developed a solid pocket for him. Did they play their best game all year on the OL? Nah I'd give that to the South Carolina game. As far as the changing of the avatar.. Round Mound is the man. ChickfilA cows may be next :laugh: Have you seen his weight watchers commercial? Calls himself the Round Mound of Slim Down. Classic. True, Trotter was scrambling around a lot. But he did it successfully, for the most part, and that's at least in part due to the o-line being much more effective than they were against LSU, for instance. And, yes, I know LSU's defense is way better than UVA's -- but UVA had a solid D. I think this was our best-played game of the season, including the o-line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronald McDonald 0 Posted January 2, 2012 Author Share Posted January 2, 2012 Yep best weight watchers commercial ever (That's not saying too much though) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUbritt 611 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Yep best weight watchers commercial ever (That's not saying too much though) :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
actiger 0 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 I agree for the most part. However, I hate to say it, but I was pretty disappointed in our fans. They were for the most part, very flat and just looked to be bored most of the game. I've noticed it some this season, and I cant for the life of me understand why we have been so flat this season. This was not the case in the section we sat in. The Auburn fans around us were loud and rowdy. It had the feeling of a home game against a decent opponent. This was my first bowl game to attend in person in my 40+ years of following Auburn football. It won't be my last Lord willing! We had a blast. Hats off to the Chick-Fil-A folks and the people at the GA Dome. This is a great venue for football and I look forward to Auburn playing there twice next year (Clemson & SECCG)! ^^^Agree It was very rowdy in the section I was sitting in, which was near the Virginia band. Generally, the people that I see sitting are older and may not be able to stand for long durations of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macauburn 6 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 SIAP I almost fell over dead when Trotter hit that long bomb to Blake. That was the prettiest pass I have ever seen. Perfectly thrown and perfectly caught. Awesome!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuburnEngineer 0 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Fear the Beard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToraGirl 5,498 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Tora's Top Ten! (in no particular order) 10. Seeing Bo Jackson on the sidelines before the game began. Bo knows encouragement! (Does Bo know "coordinator-ment"?) 9. Wondering the effect of the lack of Michael Dyer on the game, seeing none, and hoping/praying he was watching somewhere and absorbing every moment of it... 8. Watching Barrett Trotter look a whole heap like Kodi Burns in ways tangible and non... 7. Oh! My! Gus-ness! The sheer creativity of all the "trick plays" took my breath away! And the fact that the players executed them...my, O-mac, my! 6. Seeing Coach Chiz in glasses. Still smiling about it...it was a sure physical sign of the double-hat-wearing job he was definitely doing. Ya know...a lesser man would have hired quickly, under pressure from all directions ("Killing recruiting!"--"Can't do both!"--"Worst defense stats in the universe!"--yada yada) and saved himself the extra work-and-pressure hours. I don't know whether I was more proud for the players or for CGC. Chris Davis and company were ON IT!! 5. Watching even more freshmen step up and deliver. And honestly, getting wind of some team-non-support for one or two individual penalties that occurred from time to time. There's a lot to be said for positive peer pressure. Mistakes are one thing, but not every penalty is the result of a mistake--or even a bad call. 4. Watching a few VA/AU field scraps remain just that, due to the leadership of teammates reminding each other of the big picture. Way to rise above! 3. Hearing the POSITIVE ESPN commentary for a change. It felt like Christmas was still rocking at our house. 2. Seeing Gus get the Gatorade bath!! I should have predicted it but totally didn't! 1. Restoration of hope...if you follow my too-many posts, mine has always been there, but I've battled the lack of it in others. I like seeing the faces of those who know they have done their best backed up by the support of a fanbase that knows it, too. I finished God and Football: Faith and Fanaticism in the SEC (AUsome job, Chad Gibbs) today and I am still laughing-yet-convicted by the truth of how often and how deeply we are each individually affected by a game meant to entertain played by a group of college kids coached by a group of people who know that fickle fanbases' perceptions do not control their outcomes but can surely add to the misery of their own frustration when things don't go as hoped. In fact, most of the reason we sound like Negative Nancys (or whomever) is because every aspect of this game except our choice to view it and support it is totally out of our control. That is why I want to remember to be wise to the reality that I love and will undyingly support Auburn (and yeah, elevate it as long as it continues to live by the Creed), but neither my worth, my identity, nor my enjoyment of life are in the results of my team. At any rate the Chick-Fil-A Bowl is cemented in my heart and mind as contributing to one of the most incredible New Year's starts ever!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan1962 0 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 I was at the game. I was end zone upper deck of the Dome. I was impressed with BT coming in and playing like he had never missed a game or lost a game. I was also impressed the D-fense. The thing that I hated the most was p foul's called on Auburn. All in All WDE and good win for Auburn CGC now 30 - 10 at Auburn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budapesttiger 2 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Did anyone see the "Eat mor tigurz" and "Eat mor War Eagle" signs? I thought those were quite funny. I know I'm a few days late on the bowl wrap up. The biggest thing is that we got the extra practice time. OMAC = Show time. Boy, do I ever hope Lutz comes back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junebug 0 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 We had a great time at the game. The highlight of my trip was watching my son have a great time at Fanfest. Also, Bo Jackson gave my son a high five during tiger walk, my son just smiled (he is 7) I on the other hand nearly passed out. I was proud of our team, almost every player that walked by us during tiger walk gave my son a high five. It made his day and mine. As for the game I thought it was very exciting and fun to watch, which is exactly what a bowl game should be. I still have concerns of who will be our QB but I have 9 months to worry about that so for now I'm just going to enjoy finishing on a high note. War Eagle!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budapesttiger 2 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Junebug - Our kids have a way of making many of the normal moments great moments. I would pass out too if my son got a high five from Bo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junebug 0 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Probably the funniest part of it all was that when we got home we were in my mancave and pointed to one of the Auburn paintings I have and said this is Bo. He gave me the Ohhh so that is who he was. If he only knew!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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