THE post-game analysis

[chimesAU 89]

Welp...glad that one's over. Everyone's already pointed out all the turrible things I saw so I'll try to add a little sunshine to the party...

Holsey is about as sure a tackler as I've seen in our secondary in quite some time.

Frost seems to have woken up and is playing with some speed and aggression.

That is all.

[alabamabrown14 9]

As far as the refs are concerned. KSU penalties against ISU 10 for 77 yards. Against Auburn, 0-0. In one week they went from 10 to perfect.

Really?

...and the 1 (ONE) penalty they DID call against KSU, they made sure to make up for it by calling T.Reed on a bogus PI/Def Holding call. When I heard that big12 officials were calling the game in a big12 stadium I was like "huh,what?" but this was just adding to the "weird factor" that this game held.

I can say the refs were definitely letting them play last night...i've never seen a game where a team has no penalties at all...how is that even possible? well 1 penalty...they have to be the most sound team in history

[NoALtiger 3,849]

Looks like we've got some things to work on this week and I'm sure Gus will be on it. We definitely didn't bring our A game but still beat a quality team on the road and that is never a bad thing. Yes, like all teams we have some weaknesses that we can work on, simple as that. Moving on.

[YaBoyMaxWeezy 0]

Nick looked great throwing the ball. His incompletions (most of them) were DIRECTLY the WR fault!! I hope one of our "first rounder" WR who has stone for hands can get his act together,

cuz he's been completely ineffective this season.

So happy to see Trovon play well! The team loves that guy!

Frost was a beast and I hope things continue to come together for him!

I was pretty disappointed with the OL and maybe it's just me, but Marshall doesn't look as "electric" on his runs this year.

The DL balled out tho!!

[chimesAU 89]

Nick looked great throwing the ball. His incompletions (most of them) were DIRECTLY the WR fault!! I hope one of our "first rounder" WR who has stone for hands can get his act together,

cuz he's been completely ineffective this season.

So happy to see Trovon play well! The team loves that guy!

Frost was a beast and I hope things continue to come together for him!

I was pretty disappointed with the OL and maybe it's just me, but Marshall doesn't look as "electric" on his runs this year.

The DL balled out tho!!

The Dline couldn't get to the QB to save their lives. Had to blitz all night...that'll bite us in the a$$ eventually.

[Tampa Tiger 30]

Did it seem like there was a lot of players slipping and nobody could really cute East/West very well?

[AUsince72 11,084]

Did it seem like there was a lot of players slipping and nobody could really cute East/West very well?

I believe that was part of the weird factor. AU's offensive skill players never seemed sure of their footing. Eveything just felt timid during the game.

[trout54 55]

it is a shame to see Sammie's inability to pull down long passes that are overthrown by ten yards (dripping with sarcasm). accuracy is still a huge concern. the inability to hit a receiver in stride is a huge deficit. watch the game, and passes again. NM is compensating for his inability to hit a player in stride by trying to laser a pass directly at them. the receivers are having to make far too many adjustments to get to the ball (or wait for it, or go back to it, or make circus catches). timing is a big issue. not to mention how many passes were batted down all night. this is an adjustment the qb needs to account for. you can't put all of this on the receivers. they have made errors too, but its not all on them.

[bg5 536]

Our punt coverage last night was terrible but it was aided by at least two blocks in the back ( I guess that was home cooking since they didn't have any penalties). Some of Gus's play calling was a little odd in the redzone. I don't understand putting Bray in as the wildcat when we had them on their heals. Marshal is as good at running the ball as anyone so why have a wildcat come in. I thought the recievers made Marshal look worse than he was but we have to work on the short passes. Nick is probably going to have to drop back at least one more step on his short passes so the Dline doesn't knock them down. I know Gus didn't want to start a QB controversy but I would have liked to see what JJ could do, he is a little taller and more accurate so he might have been more effective. I think Roc might have done better than CAP in this situation since they just decided they were going to bottle up the run. I also think that KS has been working on this game for a while and they are a good team so it stands to reason that they would make it close on their home feild. I just think we needd to adjust to what they were doing a little sooner. It's a win against a top 20 team which is always good. I can't beleive it has been 30 years since we beat a top 20 non-conference team on the road. Also except for not doing a better job of shutting down that on receiver I thought the D playing really well. everyone was so worried about their QB running and we totally stopped that.

[alabamabrown14 9]

Nick looked great throwing the ball. His incompletions (most of them) were DIRECTLY the WR fault!! I hope one of our "first rounder" WR who has stone for hands can get his act together,

cuz he's been completely ineffective this season.

So happy to see Trovon play well! The team loves that guy!

Frost was a beast and I hope things continue to come together for him!

I was pretty disappointed with the OL and maybe it's just me, but Marshall doesn't look as "electric" on his runs this year.

The DL balled out tho!!

Pat Miller is the weak link on that line...if Braden Smith could catch on quicker with the offense i would rather see him man that tackle spot

[WarEagle84 0]

For those trying to make comparisons to 2010 or 2013, remember this was supposed to be Gus with a 2nd year QB for the first time. Both of those seasons, we didn't know what we had the first 3-4 games. I can only conclude that this is part of Gus's brilliant master plan. He has been telling anyone who interviews him that we will not sneak up on anyone this year, then he gets his team to sleepwalk through a game against a decent opponent so that all our SEC rivals will relax a little ... then, BOOM!

[McLoofus 35,182]

The questions I had coming out if the game is whether we have a WR2. Coates looks like Aromashodu as a sophomore. Completely disappearing. Whether our OL can impose its will. So far, mixed results. Last whether we can find the right pieces on the defensive backfield. If we can, it'll allow us to continue bringing pressure with numbers.

I was thinking last night about the analysis you provided the other day explaining why you thought certain guys on this team are better receivers than others with superior athletic ability. It was almost like they set out to demonstrate your point for you.

[WarEagle123 28]

it is a shame to see Sammie's inability to pull down long passes that are overthrown by ten yards (dripping with sarcasm). accuracy is still a huge concern. the inability to hit a receiver in stride is a huge deficit. watch the game, and passes again. NM is compensating for his inability to hit a player in stride by trying to laser a pass directly at them. the receivers are having to make far too many adjustments to get to the ball (or wait for it, or go back to it, or make circus catches). timing is a big issue. not to mention how many passes were batted down all night. this is an adjustment the qb needs to account for. you can't put all of this on the receivers. they have made errors too, but its not all on them.

What completion percentage from him would make you happy

[Barnacle 9,064]

Realize that Coates is drawing a lot of attention, which is giving other guys opportunities.

[mcgufcm 4,096]

Pat Miller wasn't our problem last night. All five guys got schooled. Slade looked horrible on the pull. Dismukes couldn't get a push for most of the night. Both OTs looked average. Worst performance by our OL in the last two years. They got undressed by 6 and 7 man fronts last night.

As for the defense of Coates, my biggest beef with him was the ball on the first drive. That was lazy. Nick put the pass on the money. It's a hitch route, but that doesn't mean the WR is supposed to run ten yards, hitch and stand still, which is what Sammie did. He's supposed to work back toward the ball. There's no possible way the DB should've had an angle on that throw, but he was lazy, which opened the door. That's hanging your QB out to dry.

On the deep balls, the first was 4 inches off. I don't know if that's the QB or if Sammie's not 100% so their timing is off or what. The second was just a throw away. It's not the end of the world. The bigger issue is on Sammie running lazy routes and dropping another pass in the second half. He's very talented, but right now, he looks like a guy that's thinking too much and playing too little.

[mcgufcm 4,096]

On the batted balls, two came on three step drops. That's on the OL. They know it's a quick drop. Their job is to get engaged and keep hands down. They didn't do it. Horrible game from the OL last night. One of the batted balls was a line drive from Nick. That's one him, but the OL has to engage or cut people to open passing lanes.

[NoALtiger 3,849]

Holsey, Rudy, and Frost were lights out. Really impressed by Josh for stepping in and playing a whale of a game. He truly defined the "next man up" mantra that likes to get thrown around. It was obvious too that the 4-6 scheme used by Ellis was perfect to stop the KSU running game. That was no small feat and played a huge part in the W.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

Nick was over throwing guys that were wide open. Gus should have played Jeremy a lot.

[mcgufcm 4,096]

KState was averaging 236 yards rushing per game with 5.1 ypc this season. Last year, they average 4.5 ypc.

Against us, 30 carries for 40 yards. Hat tip to the entire defense. You can't do that against a very good running team without 11 guys playing their part and making tackles. Longest run of the night was 13 yards, and it came on the second possession. It was the only run they had over 10 yards the entire game.

Holsey looked good. Rudy looked really good. Cass looked good. Frost looked really good, and again, the DL dominated the LOS against a good running team. Clean up the third down defense (which had been a team strength), and we're onto something.

[AUsince72 11,084]

I'm running with a theory that the early part of the schedule is an issue with this team.

What I mean by that is that football is a VERY emotional game. You gotta be talented, you gotta be well coached and you gotta be fired up. Teams that "go through the motions" usually get beat unless they're playing vastly inferior teams.

They start the season with a day game vs a formidable SEC opponent and they have to do it w/out their starting QB for the first half.

In the midst of the game they have a lengthy weather delay.

After playing said emotionally draining game, they play an inferior opponent in a night game. The type of game that should be the 1st game of the year.

They dominate the scoreboard, as they should, but to me it had an air of going through the motions to it. AU was just THAT much better.

Then an off week....after 2 games.

Then a Thursday night game...always a monkey wrench into the "routine" of a college football team.

And that brings us to last night. Again, to my eyes, the offense (not necessarily the defense) looked like they were almost sleep walking. Dropping passes, missing blocks etc. Add to that that they were playing a top 20 team, on their home field, PLUS playing against KSU's "12th man" which were the big12 officials and AU was very fortunate to come out of this game with the W. But the DID come out with the W, which is the only thing that matters.

So, with that said, even though next weeks opponent is, again, an inferior opponent, hopefully some "normalcy" to the schedule will benefit this team when it comes to being emotionally ready to play football.

I feel like moving forward we are going to begin to see the AU football team that we all know and love....and it begins against this La Tech team!

Just my 2 cents.

[gravejd 3,270]

So here's my analysis of the game which is probably similar to most on here. Hard to find a whole lot positive on offense after a game like that. I don't think anyone can be singled out as THE problem on that side of the ball. OL didn't block great, WRs dropped balls, and Marshall missed passes. There were some good plays in there for sure but for the most part pretty sloppy. I don't think the troubles last night were all on Marshall so this next statement isn't a bench Marshall statement. Why didn't we play Jeremy at all (except for that stupid wildcat play)? It was obvious Kstate was selling out on stopping Marshall from getting to the edge. When you have a team that is selling out to do that it opens up the passing game and the passing game was there all night long. So why not put in your QB that is the better passer? If nothing else it gives Kstate another look and makes teams in the future prepare for both QBs. Maybe Gus thinks we need to build Marshal up to get through the SEC so that's why he left him out there the entire game. But I find it hard to understand why you don't use that weapon you have the sideline. I did think CAP had a pretty good game running the ball. There wasn't a whole lot of room between the tackles but if he ever got a crease he seemed to hit it and run hard. I would like to see the other tailbacks gets some touches though. Keep guys fresh and you never know when someone is just going to play crazy and have the game of their life. But that won't happen if they never play.

Lots of positives on D though! Who was that guy who was so adamant about TReed not playing meaningful snaps this year? Talk about being wrong! Great game by him imo. Boy I wish he would have moved to D a couple years ago. Also great game by Hosely. You can never have too many swiss army knives on the team and that guy is one. Two days before the game and you switch position? No problem, I'll lead the team in tackles! Also great job by the entire D on stopping the run. 40 yards on 30 carries is pretty crazy. DL, LBs, Safeties. All three levels played lights out in this department. Glad the light came on for Frost. Lets hope it stays on and he doesn't disappear in any more games like he did against arky, but that's 2 games in a row where he has played great football! I'll also say great game by Mincey, I didn't see much of him last night so that means he must have had his side of the field on lockdown. The only bad thing D wise was the pass rush with 4 down lineman. We had to blitz to bring pressure and that is going to be a challenge moving forward. We knew this would probably be the case coming into the season and sure enough it is. We can't get a pass rush with just the DL on most plays. We'll have to dial up a lot of blitzes going forward and I hope Johnson is ready to call them. I also think the secondary played good last tonight. We gave up some 3rd down throws but every time I remember that happen it was because the QB got outside the pocket and the receivers came back to get the ball. That is on the DL not the secondary. They can't run with those guys forever.

On special teams the coverage units were suspect, but some say a couple punts were aided by blocks in the back. I'll look for that in the replay but just looked like poor coverage too me. I do remember one border line block in the back on one punt but didn't see a replay. Same for kick coverage....when I was at the arky game it seemed to me that Carlson could get the ball to the endzone but he had to kick more of a line drive to get it there. Anyone else notice that? It isn't something you can see on TV. SO that may have something to do with it. I also didn't like the squib kick...do those things ever work?? All in all very happy to get a win but we have a lot to work on and I'm sure the boys are already hard at it in the film room!

[keesler 5,924]

This team has a lot of work to do over the next few weeks to get ready for LSU. LSU will put a much better D of the field than KSU and I doubt very seriously that LSU's offense will squander their trips inside the redzone and endzone like KSU did last night. I trust the Gus Bus will get a tuneup and be firing on all cylinders when the bayou tigers hit the Plains.

[TheBlueVue 177]

That game was difficult to enjoy. It seemed right about the time we were getting some breathing room it vanished. I dont have players to criticize but I will say this, I thought the play calling after TReeds INT when Auburn was set up deep in KSU territory with a 1st down inside the 15 yard line was terrible. Gus sends in JJ as a WR and from my vantage point it didn't look like a single player on the field knew what Gus wanted to do.

If having to settle for 3 there instead of a TD had cost Auburn the game that would have been squarely in Gus. He's quick to tell players when their mistakes are on them.....that would have been on Gus. He should have just let Nick run the team in for a TD. He had put together 3 or 4 1st downs in a row and had momentum. I thought we going to put the game away until that crappy series when JJ was set up as a WR. Getting too cute is never a good thing when you're over powering your opponent..its just not necessary.

[looney 794]

The Dline couldn't get to the QB to save their lives. Had to blitz all night...that'll bite us in the a$$ eventually.

Possible they were using a contained rush to limit the QB runs?

I felt like we had a really good combination of QB containment, rush D and pass rush against that particular type of opponent.

[Deckhead 6]

Good analysis. I believe the "pass rush" or lack there of last night was by design due to a very mobile qb. I believe they were told to stay in their lanes and not let him out of the pocket. I could be wrong, but you could see on the running plays that the DL was able to get off of blocks pretty easily.