***Auburn vs. Arkansas Post Game Thread***

[Slammer1 409]

If I had to find a negative, I would say it was our lack of pass rush. Also, I think, Duke will outshine Sammy.

As much as i hate to say it, i think its good for AU if duke outshines sammie. Im torn, but this is one time i have to say, id prefer to have 2 1st rnd recievers in this years draft, than have them split up. I want them both to tear it up this year and move on up

Out of curiosity, has AU ever had two WRs taken in the 1st round of the draft? b

This is probably not known by the majority of folks on this board because it was so long ago but Jimmy "Red" Philips was taken in the first round by the Los Angeles Rams in 1958. Being ancient does have its advantages.

[AUbritt 611]

If I had to find a negative, I would say it was our lack of pass rush. Also, I think, Duke will outshine Sammy.

As much as i hate to say it, i think its good for AU if duke outshines sammie. Im torn, but this is one time i have to say, id prefer to have 2 1st rnd recievers in this years draft, than have them split up. I want them both to tear it up this year and move on up

Out of curiosity, has AU ever had two WRs taken in the 1st round of the draft? b

This is probably not known by the majority of folks on this board because it was so long ago but Jimmy "Red" Philips was taken in the first round by the Los Angeles Rams in 1958. Being ancient does have its advantages.

Nice!

[TeBoneAU 89]

Just now getting a chance to see a few clips of the game...being in the middle east really sucks right now. Its good to hear and see JJ did well in his starting debut NM still doing his thing. Sounds like the D adjusted well and dominated the second half. The WR core is going to make the offense so balance its scary.

[AUbritt 611]

Just now getting a chance to see a few clips of the game...being in the middle east really sucks right now. Its good to hear and see JJ did well in his starting debut NM still doing his thing. Sounds like the D adjusted well and dominated the second half. The WR core is going to make the offense so balance its scary.

JJ played well. I am anxious to see how Nick plays over the course of an entire game. It's clear we have the weapons to have an excellent passing attack. Can Nick take advantage of that once teams try to take away the run? That's what I want to see.

The first and second half D were night and day. We stopped nothing in the first half, everything in the second. I hope Bird is right and that we see the second half D for most of the rest of the season!

[WarEagle84 0]

This is probably not known by the majority of folks on this board because it was so long ago but Jimmy "Red" Philips was taken in the first round by the Los Angeles Rams in 1958. Being ancient does have its advantages.

Being ancient and having the memory this sharp is definitely an advantage. War Eagle!

[TitanTiger 20,481]

I was at the game. Arkansas seemed to kill us on a variation of an inside trap play in the first half. They more or less just "ole'd" one of our DTs into the backfield then a pulling guard sealed him off which created a huge hole where he was in the line for the RB to run through. The 2nd half we stopped taking the bait and the DTs seemed to hold their position more instead of forcing penetration. That clogged up the lanes and let the LBs and safeties come up to make more plays in the running game.

Ellis mentioned that Arkansas did a lot of that in the 1st half...showed us the same formations as last year but changed up the blocking schemes. Once we adjusted for that, and he felt played more physical in the 2nd, they were toast.

I will say it could have been closer if the Hog WRs didn't drop a handful of passes right in the hands. They didn't do much to help Allen out.

Also, it was hot as balls out there.

[Dom1ni0n 51]

This is probably not known by the majority of folks on this board because it was so long ago but Jimmy "Red" Philips was taken in the first round by the Los Angeles Rams in 1958. Being ancient does have its advantages.

Interesting....And thanks for spreading the knowledge O' Ancient One!

War Eagle!

[Slammer1 409]

This is probably not known by the majority of folks on this board because it was so long ago but Jimmy "Red" Philips was taken in the first round by the Los Angeles Rams in 1958. Being ancient does have its advantages.

Interesting....And thanks for spreading the knowledge O' Ancient One!

War Eagle!

Glad to bring a little bit of AU greatness that gets lost in the shuffle in these modern times. WDE!!!

[McLoofus 35,182]

I find it odd that some people are still complaining about the first half D, and saying things like, "They better get that fixed." Um... they very clearly fixed it already. We might see a similar situation with a dissimilar offense later in the season. If the halftime adjustments don't happen, then by all means, flame away.

As for offense... not sure we've had this many NFL-caliber players on one side of the ball since our defenses of the mid-aughts, and maybe never on offense. And it was so great to see that talent living up to potential. We'll face much better defenses than we did last night, but 38 offensive points with 2 different starting QBs on a rainy night in August.... I'm not mad at that. Not at all.

[AUBwins 10,075]

I think it is safe to say Ray is back to his WR self. Took awhile to get back after playing baseball. The NC game last year was serving notice. He is going to be huge this year.

[CleCoTiger 1,957]

I want to give props to Melvin Ray. He made two huge plays. The first was a great pace setter with the opening touch down. But even more important I feel was his amazing one handed catch to start the 3rd quarter. Nick threw it too high and we needed to score as Arkansas had the momentum at that point. We punt if he doesn't make that grab and Nick's opening possession doesn't look so good. To me, that was one of the biggest and most important plays of the game.

Yup. Good to see Melvin Ray make those plays. That grab of the high Marshall pass was big.

[weagl1 1,784]

Ray, Duke and Coates on the field at the same time has to be a very scary look to an opposing Defensive Coordinator.

[AUbritt 611]

Ray, Duke and Coates on the field at the same time has to be a very scary look to an opposing Defensive Coordinator.

Don't forget about Louis, though (or Davis, for that matter). We are loaded at WR!

[lutzcammed 469]

Stupid question I'm sure, But WHY was the ball boy running along side Ray?

[TastesLikeChicken 0]

The ball boy is one fast white boy lol

[japantiger 4,051]

The ball boy needs to suit up.

Melvin was a beast! I agree that Sammy, Duke and he make a pretty strong trio. I did not see what I expected from Ricardo yesterday. He looked tentative and just did not play well.

[vatz22au 142]

Stupid question I'm sure, But WHY was the ball boy running along side Ray?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acyksWJCIQY

[Ber798297 241]

Stupid question I'm sure, But WHY was the ball boy running along side Ray?

Glad I'm not the only one wondering that. Is it normal of the ball boy to run down the field like that? I know FSU had a guy last year do that. What did they call him, "Red Lightning"? Not sure...

[trout54 55]

because he could

[Taiyushka 0]

This is probably an unpopular opinion, but Duke is by far the best receiver on this team. His routes are flawless and he catches EVERYTHING thrown to him. He was always open and that's no accident. I know we all love Sammie, and he's a physical freak, but Duke seems to be a much more sound receiver. Sammie, Ricardo, Melvin, Quan, Marcus, and Uzomah are good. Duke is great. We're going to have a lot of fun watching him this year before he hops to the NFL.

By far is insane. D'haquille isn't good after the catch, that seems to be the one bad takeaway from his game. Sammie isn't the best but he's better than Williams. I think Williams is the better overall receiver but Sammie will probably get drafted over him

Duke isn't good after the catch? You need to rewatch his TD catch. He was dragging two guys for six yards to get in. Sammie is more impressive physically than Williams, but he's always had problems with drops and showed that those problems are still there by dropping a difficult but totally catchable td pass. Duke caught nine passes for 154 yds. Sammie caught maybe 2 or 3. Given that Duke was always open and never dropped a pass, it seems that saying it's "insane" to say Duke is by far better than any of our other WRs is itself unfounded.

[homersapien 11,371]

because he could

Well it certainly worked out for him.

I just hope he pays attention. A full speed collision with a photographer (for example) would get him a lot more publicity opportunities.

[Strychnine 1,802]

This is probably an unpopular opinion, but Duke is by far the best receiver on this team. His routes are flawless and he catches EVERYTHING thrown to him. He was always open and that's no accident. I know we all love Sammie, and he's a physical freak, but Duke seems to be a much more sound receiver. Sammie, Ricardo, Melvin, Quan, Marcus, and Uzomah are good. Duke is great. We're going to have a lot of fun watching him this year before he hops to the NFL.

By far is insane. D'haquille isn't good after the catch, that seems to be the one bad takeaway from his game. Sammie isn't the best but he's better than Williams. I think Williams is the better overall receiver but Sammie will probably get drafted over him

Duke isn't good after the catch? You need to rewatch his TD catch. He was dragging two guys for six yards to get in. Sammie is more impressive physically than Williams, but he's always had problems with drops and showed that those problems are still there by dropping a difficult but totally catchable td pass. Duke caught nine passes for 154 yds. Sammie caught maybe 2 or 3. Given that Duke was always open and never dropped a pass, it seems that saying it's "insane" to say Duke is by far better than any of our other WRs is itself unfounded.

The only true mistake I saw Duke make was his attempt to break free on a short pass that would have been a 1st down or close to it, where he ended up losing yardage after breaking free from a few groups of tacklers. The effort was outstanding, the error was only moving east-west trying to get somewhere instead of north-south. Ultimately, that is really the sole blemish on an otherwise outstanding debut performance. Personally, I was not even worried about the lost yardage, I was happy to see the fight and effort that he displayed on that play. It lost yardage in that instance, but in another instance it could just as easily turn a normal 1st down play into a huge play.

[CleCoTiger 1,957]

because he could

Well it certainly worked out for him.

I just hope he pays attention. A full speed collision with a photographer (for example) would get him a lot more publicity opportunities.

I'd prefer to see the ball boy hold off on full speed sideline collisions until Finebaum is in (or *close to in*) his path.

[AUBwins 10,075]

Re-watch the Coates TD from the iron bowl and he does it then too. He is just excited and had to expel that excitement some kind of way. So he took off. Maybe he was just running to the endzone to get the ball knowing Ray would score.

[homersapien 11,371]

because he could

Well it certainly worked out for him.

I just hope he pays attention. A full speed collision with a photographer (for example) would get him a lot more publicity opportunities.

I'd prefer to see the ball boy hold off on full speed sideline collisions until Finebaum is in (or *close to in*) his path.

We'd have to add that to our opening video.