mcgufcm 4,104 Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 I'm not sure we were "unable" to find an experienced coordinator after the 2002 season. I think Tuberville placed a higher value on continuity and got the guy(s) he wanted. He was just wrong about their ability to mimic Petrino's offense. It was a terrible decision, but I don't think it had anything to do with Auburn's inability to find a different guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey 16,622 Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 We are returning a national championship offense,,,, minus the nation's top O-lineman, minus a Heisman finalist running back and minus the nation's top fullback. On defense, we've lost our top D-end to graduation and his obvious replacement is injured. The rest of it is in the "I know we are gonna' be better because..." category. I see a lot of chicken counting here and no eggs hatched yet. It may all come true and I'll be delighted if it does but it's yet to be put to the test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gravejd 3,270 Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 So Mikey, you going on record saying that you don't expect us to be improved this year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dual-Threat Rigby 8,674 Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 If we lose to Arkansas, there's nothing to look forward to for the rest of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dual-Threat Rigby 8,674 Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 We are returning a national championship offense,,,, minus the nation's top O-lineman, minus a Heisman finalist running back and minus the nation's top fullback. On defense, we've lost our top D-end to graduation and his obvious replacement is injured. The rest of it is in the "I know we are gonna' be better because..." category. I see a lot of chicken counting here and no eggs hatched yet. It may all come true and I'll be delighted if it does but it's yet to be put to the test. Its called reloading, something Malzahn does well. I'm not saying the system made Tre look good, but it can turn ANYONE into a top running back as long as the pieces are in place. With Gus, the pieces are always in place. Tre can be replaced, and if Elijah Daniel lives up to his 4 star rating, Carl Lawson's production could hopefully be replaced. A ton of what he was expected to do this season was SPECULATION based on last season, you could speculate just the same with Daniel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quietfan 233 Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 We should be better than Arky, but not THAT much better. Please provide specifics. We are vastly better coached. We are at an incalculable schematic advantage. We are significantly more talented. We are returning a national championship offense almost completely intact. We were 3 touchdowns better than them last year on the road. We are playing at home. On paper, I'd agree with all of this, but I'm not counting any chickens. I generally take a "relax after the final horn sounds" approach to games more than a "we got this" pre-game attitude. But if I had to bet (and I'm of the "don't gamble on your own team" philosophy), I'd put my money on Auburn and feel pretty comfortable about it. Plus, they went 3-9 last year (0-8 in the conference). What are the odds of such a team following up with a good season and a win over a previous season BCSCG team? ...oh wait. Okay, what are the odds of a team NOT coached by Gus Malzahn doing that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Threedog79 0 Posted July 30, 2014 Author Share Posted July 30, 2014 I'm okay with the offense. The defense is what has me worried (again) this year. I have not been comfortable with the defense since CTT's years. I do think there is validity to replacing a lot on the offensive side of the ball, BUT I think the mad scientist has that under control...I mean, Chris Todd set records with CGM's offense. The defense, ESPECIALLY with the loss of Lawson has me very concerned. Also, the secondary hasn't been lock down in years. I'm glad that we open with Fat Boy because it is an SEC west opponent and we can go ahead and get hit one good time and then settle in. I just hope the good hit is not a knock out punch. I believe in our superior coaching. I believe in our superior talent. I believe in the home field advantage. I just want to believe that we don't leave off from where we were last year...which is just hard to do. WDE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quietfan 233 Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 I'm not at all worried about losses on offense. No doubt Tre Mason, Jay Prosch, and Greg Robinson were superstars in their positions, but I think we have the talent to take up that slack. And I think better receivers and a second year for Nick Marshall will make the passing game a bigger factor, taking some of the load off the running game and adding another dangerous element in "Gusball" for opposing defenses to worry about. I think we should be better on defense--second year in Ellis Johnson's system and good young talent. I admit losing Carl Lawson is big, as well as having Dee Ford, Nosa Eguae, & some others move on, so I'm more apprehensive about our defense than our offense. But for the most part, I think our defensive recruiting and talent is getting better and the players will have a better grasp of CEJ's scheme. The main things I worry this year about are our road schedule (and SEC-east schedule, which is probably the hardest of any SEC-west team), plus losing some of the element of surprise we had last year. Obviously, Arky isn't a road game, and I don't think surprise is needed to beat the Hogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerbrotha12 2,362 Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 I'm not at all worried about losses on offense. No doubt Tre Mason, Jay Prosch, and Greg Robinson were superstars in their positions, but I think we have the talent to take up that slack. And I think better receivers and a second year for Nick Marshall will make the passing game a bigger factor, taking some of the load off the running game and adding another dangerous element in "Gusball" for opposing defenses to worry about. I think we should be better on defense--second year in Ellis Johnson's system and good young talent. I admit losing Carl Lawson is big, as well as having Dee Ford, Nosa Eguae, & some others move on, so I'm more apprehensive about our defense than our offense. But for the most part, I think our defensive recruiting and talent is getting better and the players will have a better grasp of CEJ's scheme. The main things I worry this year about are our road schedule (and SEC-east schedule, which is probably the hardest of any SEC-west team), plus losing some of the element of surprise we had last year. Obviously, Arky isn't a road game, and I don't think surprise is needed to beat the Hogs. We had the element of surprise all the way until the end of the Texas A&M game; everyone in the country knew what we were going to do next year just about on every play and it couldn't be stopped; didn't seem like we needed surprise against some of the Marion's best teams last year. Remember, we rushed for almost 300 yards on the #1 (or at least very highly rated, correct me if I'm wrong) rush defense in the country... That's thrashing them. Although we don't retune Tre, we return almost that entire offensive line. Tre was a good enough back to get 3 yards without an offensive line, but ripped off more runs longer than that against a great defense because of the OL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McLoofus 35,182 Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 We are returning a national championship offense,,,, minus the nation's top O-lineman, minus a Heisman finalist running back and minus the nation's top fullback. On defense, we've lost our top D-end to graduation and his obvious replacement is injured. You mean the Heisman finalist who didn't win the job outright until the 4th game of the season? I guess adding Duke Williams, as well as our QB and 8 other starters returning, doesn't make up for the losses at all? And another year in CEJ's system won't help the remaining defensive players at all, any more than our LBs being "light years ahead" of where they were this time last year? Just coach speak? What are the odds of such a team following up with a good season and a win over a previous season BCSCG team? ...oh wait. Okay, what are the odds of a team NOT coached by Gus Malzahn doing that? Exactly. People comparing 2013/2014 Arkansas to 2012/2013 Auburn is one of the low points of thoughtful examination on this forum. We fired the guy who took us to 3-9. It was a different guy who turned it around with a roster consisting of multiple consecutive top 10 recruiting classes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Threedog79 0 Posted July 30, 2014 Author Share Posted July 30, 2014 ^ making me feel better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auburn4Winners 0 Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 QBs: Massive advantage AU RBs: Slight lean AU WRs: Massive advantage AU Oline: Big advantage AU Dline: Big advantage AU LBs: Slight lean AU Secondary: Moderate advantage AU Punter: Possible lean Arky PK: Toss-up (Won't matter because they won't get close enough to kick one and we'll be in the endzone every time) You're welcome. War Damn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cole256 17,084 Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Why would we have an advantage to them on hb on paper? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFDTiger80 790 Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 They say you win in the trenches and AU has much more experience returning in the trenches that Arky does. We have better overall skill position players including the receivers. This should not be a good game for Arky. We should score pretty much every time we have the ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hunter021003 0 Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 I don't understand why anyone on the Auburn side should be nervous. We listen to all the hype about why other teams will be better this year but some of us don't look at why we will be better. This Auburn team is gonna be scary good if we did what we needed to do in the off season. The other reason I'm not nervous is the Arkansas coach turned this in to a rivalry game and I'm sure not only the players, but the coaches have this game circled Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarEagle84 0 Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 If we lose to Arkansas, there's nothing to look forward to for the rest of the season. If we lose to Arky, this board will implode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUbritt 611 Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 If we lose to Arkansas, there's nothing to look forward to for the rest of the season. If we lose to Arky, this board will implode. I look forward to every game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger96 127 Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 They won't be able to stop our offense. Too many weapons, plus its Jordan-Hare. Simple as that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTiger 12,948 Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 We are returning a national championship offense,,,, minus the nation's top O-lineman, minus a Heisman finalist running back and minus the nation's top fullback. On defense, we've lost our top D-end to graduation and his obvious replacement is injured. The rest of it is in the "I know we are gonna' be better because..." category. I see a lot of chicken counting here and no eggs hatched yet. It may all come true and I'll be delighted if it does but it's yet to be put to the test. Its called reloading, something Malzahn does well. I'm not saying the system made Tre look good, but it can turn ANYONE into a top running back as long as the pieces are in place. With Gus, the pieces are always in place. Tre can be replaced, and if Elijah Daniel lives up to his 4 star rating, Carl Lawson's production could hopefully be replaced. A ton of what he was expected to do this season was SPECULATION based on last season, you could speculate just the same with Daniel. In fairness to Tre, a slightly lesser back would have only gotten 1,500 yards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dom1ni0n 51 Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Why would we have an advantage to them on hb on paper? Who else behind Collins is a proven reserve HB that can help ease the load for Collins? CAP and Corey have the experience and production. I elect advantage AU as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey 16,622 Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 So Mikey, you going on record saying that you don't expect us to be improved this year? I think we'll finish the regular season at a very solid 9-3 or 10-2. If that means we won't be improved I guess I don't think we'll be improved. That's not my daydream but that is what I think will happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weegle777 78 Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Who do we lose to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doc4aday 1,887 Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 I think one of the big hamburger chains will offer a bacon suey-pig half pounder. It will have at least 6 strips of bacon, 1/2 pound ground-round select beef. I am getting hungry, and will hop in the golf cart and go into town with a 10 spot to indulge in fine cuisine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cole256 17,084 Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Why would we have an advantage to them on hb on paper? Who else behind Collins is a proven reserve HB that can help ease the load for Collins? CAP and Corey have the experience and production. I elect advantage AU as well. The guy who ran all over us....how do they have the experience? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeBags7277 734 Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 The ONLY concern I have is one that hasn't been proven wrong yet. The notion that the team will be slow out of the gates every year due to difficulty grasping the playbook. Two years as a HC, one at the highest level in college football doesn't provide enough evidence either way. Season openers agains SEC competition is also a concern, no matter who the opponent is. That being said, for all the reasons already mentioned, I'm not sweating it too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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