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Supposedly Louisville has the best defensive front 7 in the ACC


gr82b4au

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and 2 transfers from UGA in the starting defensive backfield. This is according to many of the people that cover UL... they think this may be the best defense they have had in many, many years.

While people have been talking about our defense (and rightfully so - it has been terrible for 8 years), I think this season is actually going to come down to our offense. This is a perfect game to see how we are going to stack up against other SEC teams when it comes to our offense. How is JJ going to respond to being the starter? Will our OL gel the first game? Can the WRs create space?

I think we pass with flying colors. I think this team is hungry.

Can't wait!

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I assume UL is the proud owner of a whole parking lot of Ford Pintos that plan to race against one proud eagle that can fly circles around any old Pinto!

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Dude, I'd be careful with statements like that, I'm not so sure why most people think we're going to walk all over Louisville.

And frankly, I think a top 6 ranking and people picking us to be a playoff team are smoking something. I hope they are correct but we still have a lot to prove in my opinion.

The way I see it:

-New starting QB without a lot of experience

-Having to replace a 4-year starter at center; this might be more important than the change at QB

-None of our RB's have much experience

-Our top producing WR is gone

-Not much depth on defense; how many DB's transferred? None of them were starters or had done enough to miss them, but depth is lacking.

-Continually underperforming LB's

Don't get me wrong,I think we'll be better than last year, but this team is mostly potential at the moment. The potential, though, is exciting and has me ready.

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You have got to have confidence in this team from the get go. All of us pretty much know that this will be a hard fought game no doubt. I think we will pull away enough by mid fourth quarter to salt the victory.

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I understand the worry but I think we're a bit more proven than you give credit for. The QB is a slight unknown - we know what JJ is capable of physically and he has looked as good and solid as any new starter at QB we've ever had in his limited time beforehand. I think it's a fair bet that he's at least going to be solid. The center is admittedly a concern, just from the standpoint of experience but talent wise, I think Golson definitely has Dismukes beat. RB experience doesn't really matter - indeed if there's one position on the field where a true freshman could make the easiest transition to college, it would be RB. Thomas played a lot last year, Robinson is physically ready to play in the SEC, and Barber has been on the team for 2 years now, physically prepared and with some limited experience. There shouldn't be a worry there at all.

Top producing WR isn't that much of a concern since it was always about a 50/50 proposition of Coates actually catching the pass vs. dropping it. He was an impact player, no doubt, but only an impact player when he could be consistent enough to catch the ball. Williams is much more consistent, Ray is solid but just hasn't gotten a lot of opportunity yet, and both Marcus Davis and Ricardo Louis have loads of talent. There'll be plenty of production there. The depth on defense is a concern in the secondary, not the front 7. The D line, barring catastrophic injuries, is in really good shape to be awesome. The linebackers are a concern because of inconsistency but they're all very talented and should be an overall better group than the last few years. The starters at corner and safety are going to be good, it's the backups that are a little concerning.

I'm worried about Louisville being THAT good, not Auburn being somehow less than what we've hoped. All indications are that this is going to be a solid football team, better than last year, with a chance to do what we weren't able to down the stretch in 2014. First game jitters and mistakes are GOING to happen and that is my only real worry about Louisville - that they're good enough to make us pay for it and beat us. If we played them later in the year after we've had a chance to improve, I wouldn't worry nearly as much. Guess we'll find out soon.

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They played 3 top 50 offenses last year and gave up 36 pts per game in those contests. Only ONE offense was Top 25. Just one example:

Kentucky in 2014 scored...

20 pts vs Ohio

17 pts vs Vandy

3 pts vs LSU

10 pts vs Missouri

16 pts vs Tennessee

and....

hung 40 points on Louisville.

That's why you can't just look at defensive stats and draw conclusions. Do I think they are well-coached? Yes. Have they found some hidden gems amongst the 3-stars? Yeah. But you can't have recruiting classes the last 5 years ranked 28th, 51st, 37th, 45th and 32nd and really believe that those defensive numbers against subpar competition are that meaningful.

They might present some challenges early on. First game jitters could keep it close. Until we show it on defense, there's always the potential to be in a shootout with them given how good of an offensive mind Petrino is. But this notion that they're going to shut us down because they are some collegiate combination of the '85 Bears and 2000 Ravens on defense is just silly. Unless we turn the ball over, we're going to score. A lot.

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and 2 transfers from UGA in the starting defensive backfield. This is according to many of the people that cover UL... they think this may be the best defense they have had in many, many years.

While people have been talking about our defense (and rightfully so - it has been terrible for 8 years), I think this season is actually going to come down to our offense. This is a perfect game to see how we are going to stack up against other SEC teams when it comes to our offense. How is JJ going to respond to being the starter? Will our OL gel the first game? Can the WRs create space?

I think we pass with flying colors. I think this team is hungry.

Can't wait!

While UL might have a good D, AU offense has smoked better defenses, i.e. Bama last year.

I disagree about the Offense, I think this years offense is as poised as ever to be stellar and could possibly end up being CGMs best in college. JJ comes in with two solid years under his belt, geared to take over since the end of last season. I believe JJ is a more polished passer than NM was and I think JJ can run, he was just not the playmaker last year like NM was. Although there are new starters on the OL, these starters are NOT without experience, which is most important. Golson beat out an OL who had been backing up Dismukes for the past couple of years, so he knew the offense. I think that shows Golson's talent and intellect. Same with the rest of the OL, these guys have been around each other for at least a year, since B. Smith is in year two on the Plains, the other guys have been around for two or more. I think AU is pretty solid at WR and RB, now HB has two new guys so there is lack of experience there.

I agree with others about the depth in secondary. I think AU is solid on DL and at LB. I think the LBs will show improvement just b/c of the coaching from CWM.

It will be a close game for first 2-2.5 quarters but I think AU wins 37-20.

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They do have a great front 7 - all I've been reading as well. As far as the secondary goes, I know they have Josh Harvey-Clemons (the other half of the Prayer at Jordan-Hare, we have Trigga Tray). He's fast and experienced, so he'll be lurking back there. As Dye mentioned above, they have fantastic DEs, so I wouldn't expect us to come out just firing away. I think we pull away, but it's harder fought than many of us expect.

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Every team is potential at this time, but other than that your excuses fall short, JJ has started a couple of games including against an SEC West team, he had a 73% completion rate. Every OL lineman has starts under their belts. While our RBs might be new 3 were 5 star recruits. You mention they have two transfers from uga . but we also have two that are better in Mathews and Countess and that is not debatable. I think Williams,Ray and Louis put up the major yardage last year. The fact that Sammie led had to do with Marshall's throwing than anything else. JJ will spread it around more and is a much better passer. As for LBs, we have two very experienced one and a 5 star waiting in the wind, While some so called experts on here think otherwise, the true experts think both have NFL draft potential. So lets reflect on facts instead of rehashing what updikes are putting out WDE

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That's what they said about the bama front 7 in '13 (we rushed for 300 yards) and in '14 (we put up 44 points). The point being, we've had very good O-lines to counter these good front 7s and will again this year.

I think the question should be, who on the Louisville O-line is going to stop Lawson, Adams, Lambert, Russell and Cowart ? The Louisville LT has 6 starts and the rest have zero starts. Their passing game will be reduced to quick hits because they won't have time for much else.

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That's what they said about the bama front 7 in '13 (we rushed for 300 yards) and in '14 (we put up 44 points). The point being, we've had very good O-lines to counter these good front 7s and will again this year.

I think the question should be, who on the Louisville O-line is going to stop Lawson, Adams, Lambert, Russell and Cowart ? The Louisville LT has 6 starts and the rest have zero starts. Their passing game will be reduced to quick hits because they won't have time for much else.

I was worried that they might kill us with exactly that, so I just went and watched their highlights against Kentucky last year. I see a lot of slow-developing passes. Maybe they used that because UK didn't have much of a pass rush and maybe they'll have a different package for us, but these highlights alone don't scare me.

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They played 3 top 50 offenses last year and gave up 36 pts per game in those contests. Only ONE offense was Top 25. Just one example:

Kentucky in 2014 scored...

20 pts vs Ohio

17 pts vs Vandy

3 pts vs LSU

10 pts vs Missouri

16 pts vs Tennessee

and....

hung 40 points on Louisville.

That's why you can't just look at defensive stats and draw conclusions. Do I think they are well-coached? Yes. Have they found some hidden gems amongst the 3-stars? Yeah. But you can't have recruiting classes the last 5 years ranked 28th, 51st, 37th, 45th and 32nd and really believe that those defensive numbers against subpar competition are that meaningful.

They might present some challenges early on. First game jitters could keep it close. Until we show it on defense, there's always the potential to be in a shootout with them given how good of an offensive mind Petrino is. But this notion that they're going to shut us down because they are some collegiate combination of the '85 Bears and 2000 Ravens on defense is just silly. Unless we turn the ball over, we're going to score. A lot.

I think I read that most of their defense this year is new, including the big transfer from the Big 12 on the DL and the 2 transfers from UGA. That is why they think they will be so good. It will be a good test but i agree with you... we should have a lot of success.

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I think I read that most of their defense this year is new, including the big transfer from the Big 12 on the DL and the 2 transfers from UGA. That is why they think they will be so good. It will be a good test but i agree with you... we should have a lot of success.

Sounds a lot like many of our fans.

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I rewatched the UGA/UL Belk bowl. Chubb is a monster and he pretty much stole the show. UGA's QB play wasn't great, but he did manage the game well. I would expect JJ to be more effective in passing and managing the game this Saturday. Moreover, I think he's going to play the zone read a lot more than people are suggesting he will and that will keep the UL defense in check.

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Dude, I'd be careful with statements like that, I'm not so sure why most people think we're going to walk all over Louisville.

And frankly, I think a top 6 ranking and people picking us to be a playoff team are smoking something. I hope they are correct but we still have a lot to prove in my opinion.

The way I see it:

-New starting QB without a lot of experience

-Having to replace a 4-year starter at center; this might be more important than the change at QB

-None of our RB's have much experience

-Our top producing WR is gone

-Not much depth on defense; how many DB's transferred? None of them were starters or had done enough to miss them, but depth is lacking.

-Continually underperforming LB's

Don't get me wrong,I think we'll be better than last year, but this team is mostly potential at the moment. The potential, though, is exciting and has me ready.

I like this guy.

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That's what they said about the bama front 7 in '13 (we rushed for 300 yards) and in '14 (we put up 44 points). The point being, we've had very good O-lines to counter these good front 7s and will again this year.

I think the question should be, who on the Louisville O-line is going to stop Lawson, Adams, Lambert, Russell and Cowart ? The Louisville LT has 6 starts and the rest have zero starts. Their passing game will be reduced to quick hits because they won't have time for much else.

I was worried that they might kill us with exactly that, so I just went and watched their highlights against Kentucky last year. I see a lot of slow-developing passes. Maybe they used that because UK didn't have much of a pass rush and maybe they'll have a different package for us, but these highlights alone don't scare me.

If we are prepared for Petrino's quick slants and WR screens, I think we will be just fine. Boom will be do that unlike Ellis Johnson against Washington State. I suspect this year there will be hard checking on the line, throwing the timing and pattern off on short routes, along with some hard hitting.

If we get up on Louisville and they are forced to score with deep patterns which take time to develop, then Lawson et al should have a field day. That Louisville O-line, with a total of 6 starts, is going to have to play WAY above their heads.

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FSU has the best D front 7 in the ACC followed by GT, IMO. The UL D is way down the list of concerns, if we must have them. OUR D dealing with a dual-threat QB is #1 IMO. Another is our early season secondary vs their 6'4" + receivers. Kansas State last year is a comparable situation re QBs, IMO.

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UL has a monster on the DL. I just cannot think of his name right now. Outside of that I dont believe they have enough talent to pose a real threat. Our offense will have to turn the ball over 3+ times for them to make this one scary. With both sides working out the bugs in the first half I could see this close by halftime. After halftime adjustments I think it is all AU.

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