CEJ Did anyone hear this???

[meh130 1,043]

Part of it was playing stupid in the first half. Against that trap/counter, the DTs were just running themselves out of the play. Once they started holding the gap, that play disappeared. We were playing really I disciplined football in the first half, not just the two busted coverage TDs (which were awful). We were sloppy in every level. Until we weren't.

Part of it was playing stupid in the first half. Against that trap/counter, the DTs were just running themselves out of the play. Once they started holding the gap, that play disappeared. We were playing really I disciplined football in the first half, not just the two busted coverage TDs (which were awful). We were sloppy in every level. Until we weren't.

^^^This^^^

In the first half, our defensive aggressiveness was killing us, as Arky had nearly the perfect plays called.

I think our D was out coached by Bert's O the first half.

[AUbritt 611]

I think we played better than any SEC team that played Saturday, I'll say that.

I wouldn't say that!!! Did you see what Georgia did to Clemson? What A&M did to South Carolina?

Georgia seems destined this year to win the east!!! A&M looks strong again as well.

Georgia looked great. aTm played on Thursday.

[WarEagle84 0]

I think we played better than any SEC team that played Saturday, I'll say that.

I wouldn't say that!!! Did you see what Georgia did to Clemson? What A&M did to South Carolina?

Georgia seems destined this year to win the east!!! A&M looks strong again as well.

Georgia looked great. aTm played on Thursday.

Anyone else notice the similarity between our game and UGA's, at least score-wise? Tied 21-21 at half, final 45-21. I don't know that it means anything, other than both teams made good halftime adjustments, but it's an odd coincidence.

[juscAUse 1]

The bad D play in the first half was definitely due to the DL running up the field and out if the play. They were trapping us to death and we didn't adjust till the 2nd half. We also had some really bad blown coverages in the secondary because they were running so good. But we regrouped well in the 2nd half and started clogging the line of scrimmage. It hurt our pass rush but arky still can't throw and catch too well when at all covered. I do wonder how the pass rush will go moving forward. Not bad for 1st game of the season IMO.

. I was working at the start of the game and asked my son via text how the linebackers were playing. I was assuming they were bad because we were getting gashed by the run. He played LB in college and he said they were getting killed because the d-line was playing stupid- way too aggressive, and getting too far upfield, allowing the big O linemen to get to Cass and Frost. Sounds like they just dialed it back a little and got it fixed.

[AUbritt 611]

I think we played better than any SEC team that played Saturday, I'll say that.

I wouldn't say that!!! Did you see what Georgia did to Clemson? What A&M did to South Carolina?

Georgia seems destined this year to win the east!!! A&M looks strong again as well.

Georgia looked great. aTm played on Thursday.

Anyone else notice the similarity between our game and UGA's, at least score-wise? Tied 21-21 at half, final 45-21. I don't know that it means anything, other than both teams made good halftime adjustments, but it's an odd coincidence.

I noticed, too. Then I started to wonder how good Clemson is compared to Arky. I think Arkansas is much improved; but I don't know whether they'd beat Celmson. Maybe.

Suffice it to say that aTm, Georgia, and Auburn looked the best (though did anyone see Kentucky?).

[aujeff11 6,243]

Sometimes I think Ca

I think we played better than any SEC team that played Saturday, I'll say that.

I wouldn't say that!!! Did you see what Georgia did to Clemson? What A&M did to South Carolina?

Georgia seems destined this year to win the east!!! A&M looks strong again as well.

Georgia looked great. aTm played on Thursday.

;)/>

Anyone else notice the similarity between our game and UGA's, at least score-wise? Tied 21-21 at half, final 45-21. I don't know that it means anything, other than both teams made good halftime adjustments, but it's an odd coincidence.

I noticed, too. Then I started to wonder how good Clemson is compared to Arky. I think Arkansas is much improved; but I don't know whether they'd beat Celmson. Maybe.

Suffice it to say that aTm, Georgia, and Auburn looked the best (though did anyone see Kentucky?).

Herbstreit named Georgia top team in the nation this morning, followed by FSU, Oregon and TAM

And yes, Kentucky did well against the little red headed step sisters

[AUinMS 0]

Part of it was playing stupid in the first half. Against that trap/counter, the DTs were just running themselves out of the play. Once they started holding the gap, that play disappeared. We were playing really I disciplined football in the first half, not just the two busted coverage TDs (which were awful). We were sloppy in every level. Until we weren't.

I did not hear CEJ talk about not very physical practices, but I did hear him say that Arkansas was doing a good job of using our aggression against us and we were over-running the plays. He also talked about they used some blocking schemes different than what they were expecting based on the formations. Looks like AU corrected these things for the second half and we shut them down.

I think this goes back to the fact that they started working on their game plan for AU way back in the spring and all through fall camp. The comment about blocking schemes based on formations confirms this. They looked a lot better than last year in the first half, but they sold out to beat AU and it will hurt them the rest of the season. Everybody has film of those blocking schemes now, and they won't catch anybody by surprise. The most encouraging thing is that our coaches and players were able to adjust to the change and dominate the second half.

[AU64 10,122]

Part of it was playing stupid in the first half. Against that trap/counter, the DTs were just running themselves out of the play. Once they started holding the gap, that play disappeared. We were playing really I disciplined football in the first half, not just the two busted coverage TDs (which were awful). We were sloppy in every level. Until we weren't.

I did not hear CEJ talk about not very physical practices, but I did hear him say that Arkansas was doing a good job of using our aggression against us and we were over-running the plays. He also talked about they used some blocking schemes different than what they were expecting based on the formations. Looks like AU corrected these things for the second half and we shut them down.

I think this goes back to the fact that they started working on their game plan for AU way back in the spring and all through fall camp. The comment about blocking schemes based on formations confirms this. They looked a lot better than last year in the first half, but they sold out to beat AU and it will hurt them the rest of the season. Everybody has film of those blocking schemes now, and they won't catch anybody by surprise. The most encouraging thing is that our coaches and players were able to adjust to the change and dominate the second half.

Yes...first game, new coaches for the opposition...you never know what you are going to see....what matters is how you adjust.

As noted by jusc above, early in the game our guys were too aggressive and over running the hand-offs and getting trapped inside .....but gradually adjusted even in the first half...and after the break, they dominated the same Arky offensive scheme that gave them so much trouble a half hour earlier. Good job by CEJ ...and the players.

[wdefromtx 3,159]

If we were man handled physically, we would not have been able to adjust, flip the switch and hold their offense to nothing the second half.

Arkansas had this game circled all year.

[auburnpride99 6]

I think the coaches plan for this year is more focused on the defense. They know they have all the pieces for the offense to be just as good if not better than last season. The D just took awhile to get into the game.

[japantiger 4,051]

I've seen one comment on coverages in the 1H. Anyone have a strong POV on how we let people get so open in the 1H? Several passes there wasn't even a defender in the camera frame...especially their two passing TD's. It was hard to tell who's was at fault; the way it played out it made it look like Whitehead was completely lost...now that can be because someone else blew the coverage and he was just the one left holding the bag....but at one point it looked like we had a secondary that was going to lead the league in tackles after touchdown again.

We were definitely different in the 2H with pressure; also, is Therezie that much of a difference maker? We sure seemed different with him on the field....not taking anything away from anyone else...he just seemed to have another gear yesterday.

[cole256 17,079]

I'm still waiting on the video or the article

[lala 327]

The DL has been our weak link for two yrs. We needed Lawson, Monty and Daniels to play bigger roles and the loss of Lawson really hurt in that we are putting guys in positions they should not be playing.

It is good to play a team like arky this early before we play LSU and Miss St.

[TastesLikeChicken 0]

Well the D line got a good first test. I think they said Arky's o-line is bigger than most NFL teams.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

We have to be a lot more physical and cut out this crap that we saw I that 1st half. Because we don't, well all be at home watching other teams playing in bowl games and the NC.

[fredst 9,064]

Frustrating first half watching the DL & LB run themselves out of plays. Second half looked great- I'm encouraged that our defense may begin to be championship caliber for the first time since 2008. Watched the whole game and just couldn't tell- how did Jeff Whitaker look? Really like that young man, want him to live up to playing expectations finally.

[BornAU76 398]

I would dare to say that Arky's OLine are one of the biggest we'll face all year, that group was impressive in the first half and intimidating to go up against. We had penetration in the 1st half but their RB's made good corrections and adjustments away from pressure. I was as disappointed as everyone else but we really stepped up the 2nd half. Not to mention, we moved 2 tackles to the DE positions. I'm sure they felt a little out of place. All in all, we only gave up 2 rushing yards in the 2nd half and forced them to throw so I think the D stepped up and made those adjustments that win games...and we got tougher!

[Strychnine 1,802]

We have to be a lot more physical and cut out this crap that we saw I that 1st half. Because we don't, well all be at home watching other teams playing in bowl games and the NC.

Give them a few games before passing judgment. They showed what they are capable of in the 2nd half when Arkansas was completely shut down.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

ESPN always ranks Georgia really high. That's why I'm not surprised to hear that Herbstreit has picked ugly for his #1 team.

[AubTiger14 0]

If we were man handled physically, we would not have been able to adjust, flip the switch and hold their offense to nothing the second half.

Arkansas had this game circled all year.

This.

If we were soft and not physically ready, we wouldn't have held them to 2 second half rushing yards. I think it just took a half for us to get used to game speed and physicality on defense. I'm not worried unless it becomes a trend.

I'm more concerned about our pass rush. Allen had all day to throw if we were only bringing 4 down lineman. We need someone to step up as a pass rusher until Lawson gets back.

[DKW 86 7,424]

The bad D play in the first half was definitely due to the DL running up the field and out if the play. They were trapping us to death and we didn't adjust till the 2nd half. We also had some really bad blown coverages in the secondary because they were running so good. But we regrouped well in the 2nd half and started clogging the line of scrimmage. It hurt our pass rush but arky still can't throw and catch too well when at all covered. I do wonder how the pass rush will go moving forward. Not bad for 1st game of the season IMO.

Well, my take was slightly different. We were over pursuing like we do very often against Arky.

In the second half, we stopped running ourselves out of the play and the whole game shifted to our favor.

[aucanucktiger 1,794]

If we didn't have a physical camp, the second half proved how moot that is since it became apparent our D could handle the physical Arky O...after Ellis put into a no-duh plan (although Arky presented NO surprise formations) and Garner gave the D line a Dye-style chewing out.

[mcgufcm 4,096]

They definitely presented some very, very different formations and blocking schemes from last year. They had an unbalanced two-TE set that I never saw last season. They also utilized trap-blocking schemes for the majority of the first half. I rewatched last year's game two days before this one. I saw that play exactly zero times. It was definitely a well-executed and well-scouted wrinkle that caught us by surprise. When we adjusted at the start of the second half, they stopped running that A-gap counter/draw with the double trap blocks altogether. Never saw it again. Clearly, they knew it was a gimmick play that would work until we started looking for it.

As for the coverage busts, one was on Whitehead. Palmer broke it down quite nicely actually. Whitehead was in man and got caught with his eyes in the backfield, which allowed the TE to press into him and gave the QB an easy throw to the back of the endzone.

The first bust (the throw to Henry) was tougher to read. Mincy looked like he was playing cover-3 with middle third responsibility. He's lined up over Henry, covers him through the shallow zone then drops quickly into the middle of the field (leaving Henry alone). Whitehead and Ford (the Safeties on the field) either both missed the coverage (possible) or Mincy released his man. If Whitehead and Ford missed the coverage, it's tough to say who had responsibility for the left-third. Whitehead covered Derby into the shallow zone on that side then turned to chase after the ball was thrown. Ford covered no one off the line and also chased after the throw. Either guy could've blown the coverage. My guess, Mincy's movement looks out of place with the rest of the defense. He probably blew that play.

[Mikey 16,600]

If we were man handled physically, we would not have been able to adjust, flip the switch and hold their offense to nothing the second half.

Arkansas had this game circled all year.

This.

If we were soft and not physically ready, we wouldn't have held them to 2 second half rushing yards. I think it just took a half for us to get used to game speed and physicality on defense. I'm not worried unless it becomes a trend.

I'm more concerned about our pass rush. Allen had all day to throw if we were only bringing 4 down lineman. We need someone to step up as a pass rusher until Lawson gets back.

I don't think Lawson gets back this year. If he does, it will be a record-fast recovery. Someone else is going to have to step up at the DE position and bring pressure. If we can't get more heat on the opposing QB, we are in for a bunch of shootouts.

[boisnumber1 2,819]

Part of it was playing stupid in the first half. Against that trap/counter, the DTs were just running themselves out of the play. Once they started holding the gap, that play disappeared. We were playing really I disciplined football in the first half, not just the two busted coverage TDs (which were awful). We were sloppy in every level. Until we weren't.

Part of it was playing stupid in the first half. Against that trap/counter, the DTs were just running themselves out of the play. Once they started holding the gap, that play disappeared. We were playing really I disciplined football in the first half, not just the two busted coverage TDs (which were awful). We were sloppy in every level. Until we weren't.

^^^This^^^

In the first half, our defensive aggressiveness was killing us, as Arky had nearly the perfect plays called.

I think our D was out coached by Bert's O the first half.

Being outcoached was not the case at all. Arkansas game planned for us all summer. Because it was a first game,they put in New things that there was no way to prepare for. Musburger and Jesse moron kept harping on the OL of Arkansas dominating, but that wasn't the case. We were out of position and taking ourselves out of the play more times than not. This stopped in the second half. We adjusted. No more surprise factor.