NOW THAT WE HAVE SEEN THEM PLAY

[BuckeyeTiger 0]

Did we even have any DTs in the game? The LBs still seem to be unable to communicate. Rush defense? What's that?

We don't look good on defense at all. Got pushed all over the field Saturday night. I am concerned.

[maxwere 82]

This new offense is not a "September" offense like the Malzahn system. Chiz only had 1 loss in 3 years in september... to another CGM system. Like to see us adjust more on PSRs and audibles.

[Stripe 5]

Norcuron your always so negative.

I'm not so sure the team u described was the same one we watched. It's always a "learn in progress:, every year regardless of how returns or goes. this year is no different. we lost 1 game, a decent game, probably the best game to watch all weekend. I should know I watched most of them. Was it pretty? no, but when has a 1st game against a worthy opponent ever been pretty in week one?

You spirit is admirable, but your plea comes off as if you have thrown in the towel and are expecting a 2-10 season.

relax little buddy it will be better.

[norcuron 35]

We will get better prob faster than avg. because its not talent prob. its just learning the new gig.

They just need to believe in hard work! Alot of it being mental.

[CJ Bas 0]

Personally I don't think Clemson was really all that good. Had we been facint LSU or uat or Ga we'd have gotten beat just as bad as last year. Our D can't tackle. That's the long and short of it. Arm tackling all night long, to no avail. And our lines are both undersized for SEC play, as we'll see this weekend. And we've known all along we are weak at LB.

The O was better thought out than last year. Praise Malzahn all you like, but our O last year was as predictable as you can get.

Going into the season I was hoping for a 9-3 reg season. Scratch that now. If we lost to Miss St then a winning season could be very difficult to come by. A loss this Sat and we have a 1-3 Sept, with Ark, Tex A&M, Ga and uat still in front of us. Right now I'm thinking we're looking at another 7-5 reg season at best.

Unfortunately what I saw as our weaknesses can't be overcome or learned away. We're small in the lines when compared to the resst of the SEC and we simply don't have the talent at LB. This Auburn team is likely to be blown out by LSY, Ga and uat again. If 2012 turns out to be a repeat of 2011 then I think Chizik's job will be ont he line in 2013. An NC in 2010 won't save him ifblowouts at the hands of our biggest rivals are becoming something the norm.

[norcuron 35]

Chiz has been there for 4 yrs and has had some of the best classes in the nation over those years. These are HIS men. This is HIS baby. We will see how HIS hires and recruits pan out.

Trust me I hope for the best!

[Rednilla 5,401]

Chiz has been there for 4 yrs and has had some of the best classes in the nation over those years. These are HIS men. This is HIS baby. We will see how HIS hires and recruits pan out.

Trust me I hope for the best!

Actually, this is the beginning of his fourth season. The first recruiting class was one he salvaged from recruits Tubs had and picked up in a month and a half before signing day. Some of the players from his first full season of recruits redshirted, so they are still sophomores, meaning the vast majority of the players he has recruited are underclassmen.

[Rednilla 5,401]

Personally I don't think Clemson was really all that good. Had we been facint LSU or uat or Ga we'd have gotten beat just as bad as last year. Our D can't tackle. That's the long and short of it. Arm tackling all night long, to no avail. And our lines are both undersized for SEC play, as we'll see this weekend. And we've known all along we are weak at LB.

The O was better thought out than last year. Praise Malzahn all you like, but our O last year was as predictable as you can get.

Going into the season I was hoping for a 9-3 reg season. Scratch that now. If we lost to Miss St then a winning season could be very difficult to come by. A loss this Sat and we have a 1-3 Sept, with Ark, Tex A&M, Ga and uat still in front of us. Right now I'm thinking we're looking at another 7-5 reg season at best.

Unfortunately what I saw as our weaknesses can't be overcome or learned away. We're small in the lines when compared to the resst of the SEC and we simply don't have the talent at LB. This Auburn team is likely to be blown out by LSY, Ga and uat again. If 2012 turns out to be a repeat of 2011 then I think Chizik's job will be ont he line in 2013. An NC in 2010 won't save him ifblowouts at the hands of our biggest rivals are becoming something the norm.

Where are you getting that the lines are small? IIRC, the only O-lineman under 300 is Young, and he's not far from it. Our interior D-linemen are around that size, as well, and defensive ends are usually not that big.

[3rdgeneration 6,471]

Love the concept, TheSpellingBee. I must be extra vigilant!!!

[CJ Bas 0]

Personally I don't think Clemson was really all that good. Had we been facint LSU or uat or Ga we'd have gotten beat just as bad as last year. Our D can't tackle. That's the long and short of it. Arm tackling all night long, to no avail. And our lines are both undersized for SEC play, as we'll see this weekend. And we've known all along we are weak at LB.

The O was better thought out than last year. Praise Malzahn all you like, but our O last year was as predictable as you can get.

Going into the season I was hoping for a 9-3 reg season. Scratch that now. If we lost to Miss St then a winning season could be very difficult to come by. A loss this Sat and we have a 1-3 Sept, with Ark, Tex A&M, Ga and uat still in front of us. Right now I'm thinking we're looking at another 7-5 reg season at best.

Unfortunately what I saw as our weaknesses can't be overcome or learned away. We're small in the lines when compared to the resst of the SEC and we simply don't have the talent at LB. This Auburn team is likely to be blown out by LSY, Ga and uat again. If 2012 turns out to be a repeat of 2011 then I think Chizik's job will be ont he line in 2013. An NC in 2010 won't save him ifblowouts at the hands of our biggest rivals are becoming something the norm.

Where are you getting that the lines are small? IIRC, the only O-lineman under 300 is Young, and he's not far from it. Our interior D-linemen are around that size, as well, and defensive ends are usually not that big.

Like I said, "when compared with the rest of SEC teams."

It's tempting to say that I didn't see any improvment in the D at all, but that wouldn't be true. In last year's opener against Utah St our D didn't even know where to line up. They did this year.

[North Alabama Tiger 0]

9 wins, is very possible.

We have home field advantage on most of the tough games.

That doesn't win games, I know. But, it is a small advantage.

[Rednilla 5,401]

Like I said, "when compared with the rest of SEC teams."

It's tempting to say that I didn't see any improvment in the D at all, but that wouldn't be true. In last year's opener against Utah St our D didn't even know where to line up. They did this year.

Yeah, but the thing is, I'd say we're about average in size when compared with the rest of the SEC. Do you have comparison numbers?

I thought the defense played fairly well outside of a couple big plays. You've got to understand that Clemson has a pretty danged good offense; they dropped 40+ on us last year, even though the contest was a few games in rather than the first of the season, and it's not as if Sammie Coates is their only weapon. The D didn't play as well as I had hoped, no, but that's not to say that they weren't leaps and bounds ahead of where they were last year.

[bigbird 60,580]

stip awry from the cliph

[autigeremt 6,776]

Personally I don't think Clemson was really all that good. Had we been facint LSU or uat or Ga we'd have gotten beat just as bad as last year. Our D can't tackle. That's the long and short of it. Arm tackling all night long, to no avail. And our lines are both undersized for SEC play, as we'll see this weekend. And we've known all along we are weak at LB.

The O was better thought out than last year. Praise Malzahn all you like, but our O last year was as predictable as you can get.

Going into the season I was hoping for a 9-3 reg season. Scratch that now. If we lost to Miss St then a winning season could be very difficult to come by. A loss this Sat and we have a 1-3 Sept, with Ark, Tex A&M, Ga and uat still in front of us. Right now I'm thinking we're looking at another 7-5 reg season at best.

Unfortunately what I saw as our weaknesses can't be overcome or learned away. We're small in the lines when compared to the resst of the SEC and we simply don't have the talent at LB. This Auburn team is likely to be blown out by LSY, Ga and uat again. If 2012 turns out to be a repeat of 2011 then I think Chizik's job will be ont he line in 2013. An NC in 2010 won't save him ifblowouts at the hands of our biggest rivals are becoming something the norm.

Too early to say. Not sure why we jump off cliffs before we get to the edge. We were never in the mix for an SEC or National Title this year, and I do not think we will get blown out like last season. Give it a few games before going hot seat on Chizik.

[minister of music 0]

I was disappointed overall,but was glad we had our chances to win regardless. The defense(as poor as it played at times) kept it close. I was troubled by another game of red zone blues. It was almost like we were in a spread,instead of pro set offense. Kiehl has to settle in and get comfortable with pressure and his decision making. He is too timid and it cost Auburn dearly. And again where was our vaunted DL? Defensive ends kept the pressure but the middle was wide open again(3 rd year straight we have this problem). No presence of the middle linebacker.....Mississippi State will be another game that if we do not play better we will lose.....War Eagle!

[im4au 44]

I think our having had a tough game this week versus MSU's glorified scrimmage is an advantage for us. Mullen is warning his team to expect a faster opponent, and I think they'll have trouble adjusting to the speed of the game. We played a fast team that exposed our problems with tackling and pursuit angles and getting lined up correctly without much time. I'm not sure MSU learned a lot from beating up out-manned JSU.

[Auburn4Winners 0]

I'll be honest, I hated that football game. However, I'm not giving up on a great season just because we lost our opener. It was a tough opponent and they outplayed us big time. Call me a sunshine pumper if you want, but from week 1 to week 2 there should be a massive amount of improvement for these guys. Overall, we are using our offensive weapons more effectively and blocking better than I thought we would. Prosch is everything we thought he could be and more. Mason looked great, minus the fumble. The D gave up 26 points to one of the most explosive offenses they are gonna face this year, and they gave up those 26 points in their FIRST game in a brand new scheme. I totally agree that the DTs were unbelievably undisciplined and just bad overall but I think this team has a ton of potential to recognize the mistakes they made and correct them and walk away from this season with 10 wins.

Also, I'd really appreciate someone's opinion on these things.

[tony-da-tiger 0]

Not sure how some of you go thorugh the day to day of life. It seems that if one little thing goes awry you want to do the freak and claim the sky is falling. How have you survived previous football seasons? I guess we should just forfiet the other 11 games this year and refund the season tickets. If I recall there have been very few SEC division champs with 0 losses. This is still a young team that did show up in the 4th quarter. Unlike last year where we were out of it late in the games that we lost. Two new coordinatiors, numerous new starters, and a complete change in philosphy and many were expecting 750 yds offense and to hold a top ten offense to less than 200 yds and 10 pts. REALLY? They will contiue to fight and claw till the end. They will learn and grow and GET BETTER.

Take a breath or have a drink or what ever you do to calm down and enjoy the football season.

[mckoyjp 0]

Im of the opinion that 7 - 5 is best case scenario. Defense is woeful and offense inconsistent. You gotta be able to stop something and Auburn didn't stop anything ALL night. i dont see where the defense was any better at all. Had Sammie Watkins played they probably would've scored over 40

^^^^ agree. I think the OC needs to come out of the booth. They're inexperienced in some critical areas and need leadership, not the verizon guy on the other end of the phone.

[doc4aday 1,887]

This 2012 version of the Auburn Tigers will only get better & better each game. Clemson is a bonafide quality top 10 team and will contend for the ACC Title no doubt. I, like most of you out there was looking for a nice win over Clemson. In all likelihood, Clemson would likely beat most of the teams in the SEC. I hate CLemson, and do not like the little dodo daboo coach on their sideline. With that being flushed down the toilet, we have a good chance of winning each game we play the rest of the season. I just cannot see it any other way. I will hang my hat on this team and will enjoy the many wins we will post for 2012. This is not a bad team whatsoever.....it is a pretty good team that will only get better each game.

WDE

Doc

[TucsonTiger 29]

The game was disappointing, but I don't feel sick. I was wrong, you were wrong, but unfortunately most critics and coach Dye was right...

The team has a ways to go, so try to be patient. KF looked good at times, the other times he liked like he probably should have in his first start of a SEC OPENING game. I expect great things from him before he leaves AU.

Overall the team hung in there. We missed many opportunities, but really, we were behind the 8 ball all night long. You could sense the game was going to be taken over by Clemson in the end. Our young guys tried, but they didn't have enough. We all have been way too optimistic looking through our orange and blue glasses.

We have to be patient, but I don't believe greatness will come next year either. We are going to be relying on a lot of great, new, true freshmen. That's right - freshmen and in the SEC, I don't care who they are, freshmen don't usually cut the mustard. Don't give up - I am not, because I honestly believe in Gene Chizik and know that he will get the team there eventually.

[Budapesttiger 2]

Things that will change -

Kiehl Frazier will get more comfortable. He did very well for his first start, showed plenty of athleticism and didn't make too many bone headed mistakes. He will look a bit different even this weekend. But, by game 6-7 he will look completely different. He will settle down and his throws will settle down as well. How did Brandon Cox look in that first game against Georgia Tech? Great at times but threw like 4 INTs. Sound familiar?

WR - Trovon Reed really let Frazier down with the jump when he didn't need to. That was a TD. The other WR will improve and get more into the game.

The bounce of the ball - 5 plays go the other way and we win...easily. The two fumbles 1 for, 1 against; The Reed TD catch; The Lutzenkirchen would be TD; and the Jake Holland near tackle of RB. This game was closer than it appears on paper.

Dline staying in lanes - The D line was all over the shop when has they stayed home a bit more there may have been a bit more pressure on Boyd.

Things that need to change but are up in the air -

DT push - The whole D looked a lot worse because of the DT play. If this doesn't change it will be a very very very long season. The question is, giving up that many yards - can it change?

Nickel D - Because they had so much success against our base 4-3 we went to nickel. Then running against that was easy. So, will we ever have success out tof the 4-3? We need to or it will be a very very very long season.

Things we cannot control -

Dabo Swinney is a very emotional coach and he HATES Auburn. He brings a lot of enthusiasm to preparing his team for us. That's why he loses to NC State because he can't get "Up" for the game. But, against Auburn he relishes the opportunity.

[WarEagleMan 0]

We still had a chance to win this game. I'm expecting to see improvement on both sides of the ball this week. AU 24 MSU 17

[AUPAC 0]

For our sake, I hope Clemson is much better than they were at last year's Orange Bowl. If not, this is going to be a long season for us.

At the end of last season, I was convinced with us bringing in new coordinators that 12 would be a repeat of 11. This year we'd hear promises of guys getting up to speed, the need to bring in the right players for the new system and watch out for 13 or 14 because now, we're young and lack depth, etc.. We're used to hearing this same speech.

Few are willing to ask, or if they do they're lambasted: why do we have such a high attrition rate? or why other schools with less or equally talented recruiting classes have underclassmen contributing sooner? Why other schools' new coaches get more out of their players? We can't blame other schools or media biases, that by the way some talk rival that of the illuminati and the trilateral commission, for our own short comings.

We're Auburn, for whatever set of reasons, we're not going to be a perennial challenger for the BCS crown. Look at the 50 year trend. Every 5-8 years we do, be but for whatever reason, we can't do it every year. I'm ok with that, so long as players stay out of trouble, graduate and contribute to society-in the end that matters more than wins and losses on the field. Why we ever expected to be anything more than ourselves is beyond me.

[Plaric 4]

For our sake, I hope Clemson is much better than they were at last year's Orange Bowl. If not this is going to be a long season for us. At the end of last season, I was convinced with us bringing in new coordinators that 12 would be a repeat of 11. Promises of guys getting up to speed, bringing in the right players for the new system and watch out for 13 or 14. We're Auburn, we're not going to be a perennial challenger for the BCS crown. Look at the 50 year trend. Every 5-8 years we do, be but for whatever reason, we can't do it every year. I'm ok with that so long as players stay out of trouble, graduate and contribute to society-in the end that matters more than wins and losses on the field.

They weren't a bad team last year. Their QB wigged out a bit on the back half of the season and sometimes....teams just play bad football. They were pretty decent when they were 8-0 if I recall. We got beat by a good team that is in the second or third year of their offensive scheme. Their execution was good...ours wasn't....yet we were still within a touchdown of them. If we played them game 3 this year that game would have gone another way, but we didn't so it wont. People need to look at this loss as it is. A hard loss that was competitive and close till the end against a very good football team.