55th in total offense, 92nd in total defense

[Anubis647 0]

I think Johnson is the right guy to fix our defense and that we're headed in the right direction, but we as fans have been pointing to scoring defense or whatever favorable defensive statistic for the past four years as our D has slowly come to the point where it is today... a lot of work still needs to be done.

[gAUlf 1]

I just don't like what's happening to deteriorate college football. I'm sorry, but give me I-formation offense and solid defense any day over basketball like scores.

Thing is no one cares what you think. You have whined for a couple of years about the spread and hurry up and it's gotten ridiculous. I'm sure some people were against the there point line and shot clock in basketball. Hell probably against the.forward pass too. But games evolve. You either get with it, or get left behind. Deal with it, or go back and watch games from the 60s or something. It in no way deteriorates the game in anyway. It's going away anytime soon. I just don't see how anyone can find a reason to complain about being 3-0 after last year. And the coaches have consistently made great adjustments after the half. That's a pretty good testament to how good they are.

[Altima 200]

Anyone expecting a top-20 defense this season by Auburn was on crack. The defense has improved in so many aspects compared to 2012. If you don't see that, you either have not been paying attention or you don't know much about football. of course if you're on crack, that would explain everything. Auburn still has talent and depth issues, which won't be corrected in one season and certainly not this season. The key this season is whether or not the coaches are getting the most of their personnel.

Why do we continue to have depth issues if we continue to have top 10 recruiting classes?

a) depth issues are due to attrition... coaches giving players the boot, or players leaving the program on their own.

under Chizik, we recruited well on the offensive side of the ball... not so much the D. imo.

c) the highly ranked defensive recruites we signed in years past have been either complete busts, or have yet to truly prove themselves in an AU uniform...

[autiger4life 3]

Anyone expecting a top-20 defense this season by Auburn was on crack. The defense has improved in so many aspects compared to 2012. If you don't see that, you either have not been paying attention or you don't know much about football. of course if you're on crack, that would explain everything. Auburn still has talent and depth issues, which won't be corrected in one season and certainly not this season. The key this season is whether or not the coaches are getting the most of their personnel.

Why do we continue to have depth issues if we continue to have top 10 recruiting classes?

In my uneducated opinion the problem is that really talented high school players need to be developed into really talented college players. We had the former with Chizik and staff for sure, but not the second part. Hopefully we can get both of them under the new staff.

[AU Counsel 64]

Altima, under Chizik, we seemed to recruit very well on the defensive side of the ball...

Lemonier, Whitaker, Blackson, Wright, Holland, Frost, Whitehead, Therezie, Rose, Florence, and others were 4-5 star defensive recruits. Lawson was originally a Chiz commit. Coaching was the issue...not recruiting.

[WarEagle10 77]

Anyone expecting a top-20 defense this season by Auburn was on crack. The defense has improved in so many aspects compared to 2012. If you don't see that, you either have not been paying attention or you don't know much about football. of course if you're on crack, that would explain everything. Auburn still has talent and depth issues, which won't be corrected in one season and certainly not this season. The key this season is whether or not the coaches are getting the most of their personnel.

Why do we continue to have depth issues if we continue to have top 10 recruiting classes?

In my uneducated opinion the problem is that really talented high school players need to be developed into really talented college players. We had the former with Chizik and staff for sure, but not the second part. Hopefully we can get both of them under the new staff.

I agree with you. We also recruited well in certain positions. We recruited poorly at certain positions(LB). The biggest thing is we didn't develop the talent, as you stated, on the field or in the weight room. We are playing catch up at the moment. I do believe we are on a positive path. I also wouldn't trade our staff for any in the country.

[DyeHardAllTheWay 0]

I just don't like what's happening to deteriorate college football. I'm sorry, but give me I-formation offense and solid defense any day over basketball like scores.

Thing is no one cares what you think. You have whined for a couple of years about the spread and hurry up and it's gotten ridiculous. I'm sure some people were against the there point line and shot clock in basketball. Hell probably against the.forward pass too. But games evolve. You either get with it, or get left behind. Deal with it, or go back and watch games from the 60s or something. It in no way deteriorates the game in anyway. It's going away anytime soon. I just don't see how anyone can find a reason to complain about being 3-0 after last year. And the coaches have consistently made great adjustments after the half. That's a pretty good testament to how good they are.

First of all, calm down. No one ran over your dog, so there's no need to be hostile and rude.

Second of all, some of us have enjoyed watching physical football. Auburn has always been known for tough defense and ball control offense since the dawn of its existence. So, it is deteriorating the traditional sense of Auburn football and football in general seeing the dog and pony show offense. Not whining, just very critical.

[Weagle94 0]

Anyone expecting a top-20 defense this season by Auburn was on crack. The defense has improved in so many aspects compared to 2012. If you don't see that, you either have not been paying attention or you don't know much about football. of course if you're on crack, that would explain everything. Auburn still has talent and depth issues, which won't be corrected in one season and certainly not this season. The key this season is whether or not the coaches are getting the most of their personnel.

Why do we continue to have depth issues if we continue to have top 10 recruiting classes?

In my uneducated opinion the problem is that really talented high school players need to be developed into really talented college players. We had the former with Chizik and staff for sure, but not the second part. Hopefully we can get both of them under the new staff.

I agree with you. We also recruited well in certain positions. We recruited poorly at certain positions(LB). The biggest thing is we didn't develop the talent, as you stated, on the field or in the weight room. We are playing catch up at the moment. I do believe we are on a positive path. I also wouldn't trade our staff for any in the country.

Our depth issues come from the unreal attrition we've had the last few years. Guys like Rose, J White, McNeil, Florence, J Robinson etc. Then factor in the kids who don't qualify (Hutcherson, Aycock, J Smith, E Robinson) and the fact then when we bring in JUCOs to take over and create depth behind them (Flowers, King) they haven't shown up as planned. We've had an unusual time with attrition, I think I've even seen people on here figuring out we've lost around 30% of our last few classes. It takes years to get back even and then ahead of that kind of depth problem.

[AURex 2,033]

The numbers I'm seeing are a little different. These stats are from games between FBS opponents ONLY.

http://www.teamrankings.com/college-football/team-stat/scoring-offense-category

Scoring Defense (i.e., points allowed)

Auburn - 25th

LSU - 27th

Scoring Offense (i.e., points scored)

LSU - 9th

Auburn - 53rd

[PCBAuburnaFan 1]

I agree we need to improve but honestly the only number i can see right now is (3-0)

[DyeHardAllTheWay 0]

Just FYI, for thgose who aree curious....

Scoring Defense (i.e., points allowed)

Auburn - 25th

LSU - 27th

Scoring Offense (i.e., points scored)

LSU - 9th

Auburn - 53rd

I think the game will end up being something like 31-7 LSU, honestly.

[Altima 200]

Altima, under Chizik, we seemed to recruit very well on the defensive side of the ball...

Lemonier, Whitaker, Blackson, Wright, Holland, Frost, Whitehead, Therezie, Rose, Florence, and others were 4-5 star defensive recruits. Lawson was originally a Chiz commit. Coaching was the issue...not recruiting.

Not so much... Chiz really didn't recruit that well on the defensive side. He recruited a lot of projects, but failed to sign true position players...

Lemonier was our best defensive prospect by far! But, jury was out on a lot of our signees back then, and to be honest, the jury's still out now! Chizik most definitely struggled bringing in elite defensive talent.

•Chizik Recruites on the 2013 AU Defense•

D Ford - undersized DE, 3 star

L Owens - great athlete, but DE to LB to DE

K Carter - 3 star DT

J Whitaker - look like Tarzan, play like Jane

A Blackson - 3 star DT

K Frost - WR turned LB

R Therezie - not a true Safety, but not a true CB

C Davis - 3 star athlete

G Wright - still hasn't lost his baby fat

J Mitchell - high school DT turned college LB/S

J Holland - 3 star LB

J Mincy - 3 star CB

C McKinzy - high school DL turned college LB

J Garrett - 185lb 3 star LB turned Safety

J Whitehead - last minute replacement

A Swain - Safety turned LB

N Egua - 3 star DE

C Sanders - good athlete LB/DE hybrid

J Holsey - CB turned Safety

R Smith - last minute addition

R White - QB turned CB

I'm not knocking our team by any means, but there sure are a lot of projects on our roster. And thats nowhere near what LSU and bammer were(are) bringin in... The good news is, our projects are playing well under CEJ, and they're 3-0!

[bikeriderga 134]

Our defense is able to make excellent adjustments at half and allow our offense to do "just enough" to win the game. That alone is a HUGE improvement from last season. I'm hoping by mid season our first half defense will be like our second half defense in terms of performance.

Last year is well LAST YEAR!!

Actually, I would like to forget LAST YEAR!!

I am not measuring us by LAST YEAR, since the only resemblance to LAST YEAR are the players. I want us to be measured as a typical AU team, not the Chizik horror show!

New coaching staff, new strenght and conditioning coach. Let LAST YEAR be buried in the AU horror movies burial ground.

[Rednilla 5,397]

Wow. You know, three games into the 2013 season, and we already have as many wins as the entire 2012 season...yet the complaints keep rolling in. DyeHard, I realize that you want to party like it's 1988, but you need to get real. The defense has improved, and will continue to improve as the studs we signed on the defensive line last year mature. Yes, I admit that I haven't been happy with how much opposing offenses have been able to move the ball, but as the field has gotten shorter and the spaces got narrower, the defense has stepped up.

As for the offense, contrary to your snide comment about how you want to see the I-formation, we've been playing power football. The O-line has been pretty dominant thus far, and we're averaging close to 250 rushing yards per game. Just because he runs the 2 minute drill the whole time doesn't mean Malzahn is coming up with anything particularly new.

[autig90 67]

I just don't like what's happening to deteriorate college football. I'm sorry, but give me I-formation offense and solid defense any day over basketball like scores.

Thing is no one cares what you think. You have whined for a couple of years about the spread and hurry up and it's gotten ridiculous. I'm sure some people were against the there point line and shot clock in basketball. Hell probably against the.forward pass too. But games evolve. You either get with it, or get left behind. Deal with it, or go back and watch games from the 60s or something. It in no way deteriorates the game in anyway. It's going away anytime soon. I just don't see how anyone can find a reason to complain about being 3-0 after last year. And the coaches have consistently made great adjustments after the half. That's a pretty good testament to how good they are.

First of all, calm down. No one ran over your dog, so there's no need to be hostile and rude.

Second of all, some of us have enjoyed watching physical football. Auburn has always been known for tough defense and ball control offense since the dawn of its existence. So, it is deteriorating the traditional sense of Auburn football and football in general seeing the dog and pony show offense. Not whining, just very critical.

Good grief - it's not deteriorating, it's just change. You must still use dial-up internet service, black and white tv, a bag phone and have only 3 TV channels. Get over yourself.

[wdefromtx 3,159]

I just don't like what's happening to deteriorate college football. I'm sorry, but give me I-formation offense and solid defense any day over basketball like scores.

Thing is no one cares what you think. You have whined for a couple of years about the spread and hurry up and it's gotten ridiculous. I'm sure some people were against the there point line and shot clock in basketball. Hell probably against the.forward pass too. But games evolve. You either get with it, or get left behind. Deal with it, or go back and watch games from the 60s or something. It in no way deteriorates the game in anyway. It's going away anytime soon. I just don't see how anyone can find a reason to complain about being 3-0 after last year. And the coaches have consistently made great adjustments after the half. That's a pretty good testament to how good they are.

First of all, calm down. No one ran over your dog, so there's no need to be hostile and rude.

Second of all, some of us have enjoyed watching physical football. Auburn has always been known for tough defense and ball control offense since the dawn of its existence. So, it is deteriorating the traditional sense of Auburn football and football in general seeing the dog and pony show offense. Not whining, just very critical.

Good grief - it's not deteriorating, it's just change. You must still use dial-up internet service, black and white tv, a bag phone and have only 3 TV channels. Get over yourself.

Good lord, a bag phone......LOL. 28.8K modems......man we have come a long way.

[aucanucktiger 1,798]

I knew there'd be howls on this board if our D was criticized after finally showing up in the 4th quarter. It's funny how stats....like "big plays" given up by the D...were rolled out last year as critical, unacceptable, etc (which they are) but this year that data should be shrugged off because all that matters 3 games into the season (before we've played anybody near the top 25) is "did we get the W?!? Well okay then!?!"

[AU64 10,122]

I knew there'd be howls on this board if our D was criticized after finally showing up in the 4th quarter. It's funny how stats....like "big plays" given up by the D...were rolled out last year as critical, unacceptable, etc (which they are) but this year that data should be shrugged off because all that matters 3 games into the season (before we've played anybody near the top 25) is "did we get the W?!? Well okay then!?!"

You are right....no one but AU gives up first downs on third and long, or allows a pass receiver to run free at some critical moment or even misses a one-on-one tackle....or overthrows a wide open receiver. All these other schools out there...big and small play perfect coverages, stop every pass attempt, never allow a run of more than 3 yards, and certainly they always stop their opponent on third down ....and force three and outs on most defensive possession.....and of course their receivers never drop a pass.

Auburn's players just don't have that same perfection and thus it is our duty to carp and harp at AU's players and coaches....to let them know that we demand perfection. We are the parents we see at Little League who belittle their own children for a mistake....and we know we doing it for the benefit of the kid who will end up a miserable failure in life unless the parent keeps reminding them what a failure they are on the baseball (or football) field. Gotta keep the pressure on, never act pleased or satisfied....just keep the pressure on.....that's for sure.

[AUEngineer2016 407]

I just don't like what's happening to deteriorate college football. I'm sorry, but give me I-formation offense and solid defense any day over basketball like scores.

Thing is no one cares what you think. You have whined for a couple of years about the spread and hurry up and it's gotten ridiculous. I'm sure some people were against the there point line and shot clock in basketball. Hell probably against the.forward pass too. But games evolve. You either get with it, or get left behind. Deal with it, or go back and watch games from the 60s or something. It in no way deteriorates the game in anyway. It's going away anytime soon. I just don't see how anyone can find a reason to complain about being 3-0 after last year. And the coaches have consistently made great adjustments after the half. That's a pretty good testament to how good they are.

First of all, calm down. No one ran over your dog, so there's no need to be hostile and rude.

Second of all, some of us have enjoyed watching physical football. Auburn has always been known for tough defense and ball control offense since the dawn of its existence. So, it is deteriorating the traditional sense of Auburn football and football in general seeing the dog and pony show offense. Not whining, just very critical.

I agree with you on one thing- I have enjoyed watching physical football at Auburn. Thing is, I've only really been watching since 2009 when my brother decided to attend AU. You may think that Gus's offense is just a "dog and pony show", but really, let's examine what it is based off of- the wing T. Gus has said before that in essence, his offense is a wing T offense (which was very popular waaaaaaay back in the day, but is still run at places like my high school) simply run out of the shotgun. It forces the defense to account for different things and makes THEM make decisions. We then have reads off of those decisions to dictate what we do (i.e. quarterback keeps the ball on a read option). 60% of our offensive playbook are running plays, after week 2 we were averaging over 300 yards rushing per game! Not to mention that we were 2-0, and now 3-0 and 1-0 in conference, where as last year with the "traditional Auburn football" we didn't win any SEC games and won 3 games all year against MUCH weaker opponents.

Patience. It is obvious that our offense and our defense is much improved, that much is clear from the score when the clock reads 0:00. This is Gus's first year as Auburn's head coach after taking over a 3-9 team, and he has already equaled the number of games we won last season. Do we still have a ways to go? Yes, out linebackers could be better, and our OL isn't perfect, but good lord, please just be patient.

[NoALtiger 3,873]

Call me old school but I just wanna win games. I don't care if it's pretty or not. It doesn't bother me if there are no highlight reel plays, stupid a$$ uniform changes, shutouts, insanely great stats or we have crappy stats. I don't care. 1 point win? Fine. 40 point win? Fine. Al Davis pretty much nailed it back in the day, "Just win baby".

[gonefhin 8]

I am so happy we are 3-0, we all dreamed of this in the offseason. And one of the best things is we tackle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, we may blow some assignments, we may even get blocked and pushed around and we have, but by damn when there is a tackle to be made we make it this year. I know coach Johnson has complained about our open field tackles and there have been some missed. But remember last year, if you want to, we looked like third graders playing flag football against O. Mac.. Why did we leave the stadium at halftime, because we could not even tackle.

We now tackle the ball carrier, YEA!!!!!!!!!

[keesler 5,928]

Call me old school but I just wanna win games. I don't care if it's pretty or not. It doesn't bother me if there are no highlight reel plays, stupid a$$ uniform changes, shutouts, insanely great stats or we have crappy stats. I don't care. 1 point win? Fine. 40 point win? Fine. Al Davis pretty much nailed it back in the day, "Just win baby".

^^THIS^^

W's are all that matter - if you get a W on Saturday then the rest of the week can be spent tweeking things and making improvements. If you get an L on Saturday, then the coaches have to spend a day or two smoothing the hard feelings, getting the mentality of the players back in order, and re-focusing the players attention. That takes valuable time away from preparing for the next opponent and working on getting BETTER.

So, a WIN is a great thing.

[bwillaub 0]

I'm believing we finish much higher in both. That's what will matter the most to me as far as "coaching" goes. Week to week improvement is what I want to see and so far that is what I've seen.

[JMassie11 1,610]

I'm believing we finish much higher in both. That's what will matter the most to me as far as "coaching" goes. Week to week improvement is what I want to see and so far that is what I've seen.

Exactly. ..the fundamentals of this team are nite and day difference and the players have been in position to make the plays....now they just have to make them...there is still a lot of growing to do and I really think this defense is gonna step up big Saturday

[HSVWarEagle 49]

What I do find hard to accept is the fact our defensive front, Wright, Blackson, and Carter seem to show no progress. Last night our pass rush seemed non-existent.

My biggest issue with the front 7 right now is our non-existent linebacking corp. I can't count how many times I saw our Mike or Strong backer (not sure how it's termed in CEJ's schemes) either running the wrong direction or not even seeing the runner until they were already 4 yards down field.