Alarming Stat

[StatTiger 3,188]

Of the SEC members present since 1992, Auburn has the second most conference losses by 17 or more points over the past 4 seasons with 12. Kentucky had the most with 13 and Alabama had zero. Mississippi State and Ole Miss both had 11 such losses and Vanderbilt had 10.

[japantiger 4,077]

We've obviously forgotten how to play defense. We used to rule defense...Shug, Dye and Tubs all played VERY tough defense. We need to get that back.

[AUDub 11,424]

The sooner we get this era behind us, with the exception of 2010, the better.

[StatTiger 3,188]

Just to show Alabama's dominance over the past 5 seasons. Here are the total number of conference victories by 17 or more points and losses of 17 or more points.

Alabama ............ 26 to 0

Arkansas ........... 10 to 10

Auburn ............... 6 to 13

Florida ................ 16 to 5

Georgia .............. 8 to 5

Kentucky ............. 2 to 15

LSU ..................... 10 to 3

Miss State ........... 3 to 14

Ole Miss .............. 5 to 11

Tennessee .......... 6 to 12

S. Carolina .......... 8 to 6

Vanderbilt ............ 4 to 11

[japantiger 4,077]

Ouch...it just gets more painful...please stop. I hate it when what I know to be true is presented to me in living color and I find out that we are worse than Vanderbilt...

[cptau 169]

Our let down can't be explained away by the boosters of West Vance providing cars, clothes and free family housing..... we did it to ourselves.

I think we actually had a decent defense the last year of CTT in 2008. The experimenting with a new offense kept the defense on the field constantly and destroyed the defense that year

[WhiteTiger 2]

Very sad.

[WarEagleAU 0]

Dont want to see this but CEJ will fix our defense.

[JamesG 0]

I just hope our D can force turnovers and be opportunistic. With the style of offense we have, I just don't see us having the kind of dominant D we used to have. I don't think it's possible. Our O is so fast paced, the D just has to play so many freaking series. And as we all know from past experience, Gus's O can be feast or famine at times. They will either go 3 and out in 45 seconds or score In 2 minutes. Defense never has time to catch its breath. We are going to have to out score people most games IMO. Same way Oregon and A&M do.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

A lot of the blame goes to Chizik, but a lot also goes to Jacobs for hiring Chizik. We had 1 great year of 4 with Gene.

[IronMan70 3,315]

Yah, other than 2010, Chizik wasn't too good against other SEC teams. But alarmed, no, because he is no longer running the team.

[cooltigger21 0]

Our let down can't be explained away by the boosters of West Vance providing cars, clothes and free family housing..... we did it to ourselves.

I think we actually had a decent defense the last year of CTT in 2008. The experimenting with a new offense kept the defense on the field constantly and destroyed the defense that year

I think everyone is quite painfully aware that these last three years were a big let down and that Auburn just didn't get it done on defense. Even in the NC year there were a few games we likely would have lost had it not been for that magnificent offense.

[gAUlf 1]

I just hope our D can force turnovers and be opportunistic. With the style of offense we have, I just don't see us having the kind of dominant D we used to have. I don't think it's possible. Our O is so fast paced, the D just has to play so many freaking series. And as we all know from past experience, Gus's O can be feast or famine at times. They will either go 3 and out in 45 seconds or score In 2 minutes. Defense never has time to catch its breath. We are going to have to out score people most games IMO. Same way Oregon and A&M do.

Oregon only gave up an average of 18.69 ppg in '10, 24.64 in '11, and 21.6 in '12. Not terrific, but not a bad figure either. And they had the backups in most of those games by the 4th quarter. It's not impossible to have a good defense in a hurry up offense. The game is 60 minutes for both teams, and both sides of the ball.

[StatTiger 3,188]

Our O is so fast paced, the D just has to play so many freaking series.

Since 1992, the average number of possessions defended by the Auburn defense is 12.8.

2007: 12.7

2008: 13.5

2009: 13.7

2010: 11.8

2011: 12.3

2012: 12.2

During the 3 seasons with Malzahn's offense, the defense defended less possessions in 2 of 3 seasons compared to the average of 12.8 since 1992.

Since 1992, the Auburn offense has gone "3 & out" 29.2% of the time. During the 3 seasons under Malzahn, the offense went "3 & out" less than the average since 1992 in 2 of 3 seasons.

Since 1992, Auburn has defended an average of 67 snaps per game. During the 3 seasons under Malzahn, the defense defended an average of 71 snaps per game, basically 4 more snaps per game or 1 extra play per quarter.

Bottom line, the defense has a responsibility to get the opposition off the field.

[AUSWEN 0]

AMEN. We've blamed the bad defense on the speed of the offense way too much. In hindsight, the real issue was probably always Chizik. He did some great things here but defense was surprisingly not one of them.

[Dixie1860 27]

I hate laying it all at the feet of FCGC as he did hire Gus and stood up for AU during all the NCAA mess of 2010/11/12. Who else do you blame it on though?

[Mikey 16,781]

I hate laying it all at the feet of FCGC as he did hire Gus and stood up for AU during all the NCAA mess of 2010/11/12. Who else do you blame it on though?

It's Ok to blame the bad stuff on Chizik as long as we also credit him for our first national championship in 53 years. We cannot discredit Chizik's contribution there, without him 2010 doesn't happen.

[bigbird 60,701]

I hate laying it all at the feet of FCGC as he did hire Gus and stood up for AU during all the NCAA mess of 2010/11/12. Who else do you blame it on though?

I blame Golf!

[TheBlueVue 177]

What does playing the blame game accomplish? I mean seriously? Quite a few things occurred under the former staff but they're not here anymore. The reality is, establishing blame does not erase the fact that those things did happen. The cliche' IS..."It's a new day." I'm ready to move past the undesirable aspects of the past staff's performance and on the possibilities that the future presents. The past is carved in stone..the future is a fresh opportunity to put it all behind us...moving on is an idea whose time has come IMO!

[AUpreacherman22 3,910]

Just to show Alabama's dominance over the past 5 seasons. Here are the total number of conference victories by 17 or more points and losses of 17 or more points.

Alabama ............ 26 to 0

Arkansas ........... 10 to 10

Auburn ............... 6 to 13

Florida ................ 16 to 5

Georgia .............. 8 to 5

Kentucky ............. 2 to 15

LSU ..................... 10 to 3

Miss State ........... 3 to 14

Ole Miss .............. 5 to 11

Tennessee .......... 6 to 12

S. Carolina .......... 8 to 6

Vanderbilt ............ 4 to 11

This is very alarming! I hate seeing the archenemy dominate like that.

This also shows that poor defensive play leads to blowouts. The best defenses may lose a game from time to time, but they are always within striking distance. We got blown out as many times as bama, LSU, UGA, and UF COMBINED!

I am sooooooo ready to see good defense again! Good D + Gus' O = Lots of Success

[AUbritt 611]

I hate laying it all at the feet of FCGC as he did hire Gus and stood up for AU during all the NCAA mess of 2010/11/12. Who else do you blame it on though?

I blame Golf!

[ShugMan55 0]

What does playing the blame game accomplish? I mean seriously? Quite a few things occurred under the former staff but they're not here anymore. The reality is, establishing blame does not erase the fact that those things did happen. The cliche' IS..."It's a new day." I'm ready to move past the undesirable aspects of the past staff's performance and on the possibilities that the future presents. The past is carved in stone..the future is a fresh opportunity to put it all behind us...moving on is an idea whose time has come IMO!

Yes.

In the words of Crosby, Stills, and Nash - "Don't let the past remind us of what we are not now"

On the other hand after last year I blame no one for continuing to hammer on the millionaire Chizik who laid in bed while private security firms did bed checks and coached the worst SEC football team I have ever seen.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,852]

If Auburn or LSU had a sustainable defense in 2010 or 2013 they would've had them

If you gave South Carolina another qtr in 2010 they would've had them