What I noticed

[JMassie11 1,610]

First and foremost you have to give credit to jax state. They played a near perfect game on both sides of the ball and that QB they have is a true leader for that team. That being said there is obvious room for improvement.

1. DBs were in position and contested the majority of passes but their QB made perfect throws and they used their height to an advantage

2. Something is up with JJ. Not sure if he is having vision issues or what but this is not the same qb we have seen before. He is playing with no confidence and no "swag".

3. Don't expect to see much of Roc if he continues to put the ball on the ground.

4. Expect to see more teams crash the middle and taking out the legs of our linemen to stop the inside run game. Kudos to the coaching staff to fixing this at halftime

5. The play calling in these 1st 2 games had been extremely vanilla and we have not gotten our play makers ( duke, smith) the ball enough.

6. Lawson has to stay healthy for us to compete with the big boys

I expect to see a much improved team on Saturday. We came out flat and stayed that way the entire game yesterday and it almost cost us and that won't happen again. On a side note I was also very disappointed in the crowd at the game yesterday. This is another reason they hung around for as long as they did.

[cptau 169]

A perfect storm?

A team made up of several players cast off from SEC schools intending to make a point, and they did.

And Auburn has a history of not playing well in games that start before noon.

[JMassie11 1,610]

A perfect storm?

A team made up of several players cast off from SEC schools intending to make a point, and they did.

And Auburn has a history of not playing well in games that start before noon.

Basically my thought yesterday

[Shift 350]

Jack State came into that game expecting to get beat handedly, collect their paycheck and get on the bus back to Jacksonville. As the game progressed, they begin to gain more and more confidence and believe that they might have a chance. If they had played a perfect game, they would have won.

They saw what everyone else saw. Auburn is not a top 10 team (at the moment). They seized the momentum and capitalized on Auburn's shortcomings. That is what happened

What I saw:

1) JJ is simply unable to read coverage and make good decisions. Several times, he had a check down receiver to throw to or could have thrown the ball away. It looks like he panics under pressure. I don't have a solution but I know what isn't working.

2) You are right about the DB's. I think they played pretty well. Just wish they could get their heads around and make a play on the ball. But, overall, I am impressed with the two freshman DBs that got the nod yesterday.

3) Roc's trademark move is the spin and, in high school, he was very shifty and elusive. But he is playing against MUCH better competition that will lay the wood to a RB. I am afraid that spin move of his will result in many more fumbles.

4) Defensive has improved but not by much. LB's continue to either get swallowed up in the play, over the run the play, or get caught out of position way too much. Several times on Saturday, I was asking myself, "Where are the LB's and how did Jac State get that deep into the secondary on the that play/pass? Welp, it was because the LB's were on the opposite side of the field (out of position) or mired somewhere in the defensive front being blocked. I mean, we got a new LB coach, what is the problem here?

5) Play calling has been very vanilla. Offense has become predictable. And, I don't think that the coaches have as much confidence in JJ as they say they do and are intentionally keeping the play calling simple to help JJ gain some confidence.

6) I said it in another thread, and got called out for it but for some reason, some players spend a good part of their collegiate careers injured and/or recovering from surgeries and such. I'm afraid Carl Lawson may just be one of those guys. Hope I am wrong.

7) If we don't get these things fixed, we are a 7-9 win team this season.

WDE

[wdefromtx 3,159]

Jack State came into that game expecting to get beat handedly, collect their paycheck and get on the bus back to Jacksonville. As the game progressed, they begin to gain more and more confidence and believe that they might have a chance. If they had played a perfect game, they would have won.

They saw what everyone else saw. Auburn is not a top 10 team (at the moment). They seized the momentum and capitalized on Auburn's shortcomings. That is what happened

What I saw:

1) JJ is simply unable to read coverage and make good decisions. Several times, he had a check down receiver to throw to or could have thrown the ball away. It looks like he panics under pressure. I don't have a solution but I know what isn't working.

2) You are right about the DB's. I think they played pretty well. Just wish they could get their heads around and make a play on the ball. But, overall, I am impressed with the two freshman DBs that got the nod yesterday.

3) Roc's trademark move is the spin and, in high school, he was very shifty and elusive. But he is playing against MUCH better competition that will lay the wood to a RB. I am afraid that spin move of his will result in many more fumbles.

4) Defensive has improved but not by much. LB's continue to either get swallowed up in the play, over the run the play, or get caught out of position way too much. Several times on Saturday, I was asking myself, "Where are the LB's and how did Jac State get that deep into the secondary on the that play/pass? Welp, it was because the LB's were on the opposite side of the field (out of position) or mired somewhere in the defensive front being blocked. I mean, we got a new LB coach, what is the problem here?

5) Play calling has been very vanilla. Offense has become predictable. And, I don't think that the coaches have as much confidence in JJ as they say they do and are intentionally keeping the play calling simple to help JJ gain some confidence.

6) I said it in another thread, and got called out for it but for some reason, some players spend a good part of their collegiate careers injured and/or recovering from surgeries and such. I'm afraid Carl Lawson may just be one of those guys. Hope I am wrong.

7) If we don't get these things fixed, we are a 7-9 win team this season.

WDE

A 7 to 9 win season is quite optimistic from what we've seen so far.

[fasttimes 356]

i disagree about JJ. i think he is doing what he has done when ever he plays, its just we ran the ball so much more that his receivers were more open. its why he looked so good agains arky last year.

[JWShewmake 78]

After the game was over, they shifted back to a panel discussion that included Tony Barnhart, former AJC Sportswriter and now with the SEC Network. The other two guys were really giving it to Auburn for winning in such a poor fashion. Barnhart seemed to be trying to say that there were some issues that were affecting the Auburn team. The main one being that the players did not want to play because of the way Duke Williams was allowed to get back on the team. I have never heard a comentator say anything like that with regard to what was going on insided of a program. My first thought was that even if true, it was very unprofessional of him. I thought Gus handled the Duke situation about as well as it could be handled. I mean leaving him at home for the bowl game and essentially kicking him off the team and allowing him to work his way back into the rotation I thought was the best way to handle the situation. On the other hand, you can't have a group of players running your team and making decisions on who to play and when. Anyone else heard this rumor? Barnhart is a Georgia grad and I wouldn't put it past him to try to start something, but on the other hand, we all agree that there is something wrong.

JW Shewmake

[OnthePlains 2,014]

After the game was over, they shifted back to a panel discussion that included Tony Barnhart, former AJC Sportswriter and now with the SEC Network. The other two guys were really giving it to Auburn for winning in such a poor fashion. Barnhart seemed to be trying to say that there were some issues that were affecting the Auburn team. The main one being that the players did not want to play because of the way Duke Williams was allowed to get back on the team. I have never heard a comentator say anything like that with regard to what was going on insided of a program. My first thought was that even if true, it was very unprofessional of him. I thought Gus handled the Duke situation about as well as it could be handled. I mean leaving him at home for the bowl game and essentially kicking him off the team and allowing him to work his way back into the rotation I thought was the best way to handle the situation. On the other hand, you can't have a group of players running your team and making decisions on who to play and when. Anyone else heard this rumor? Barnhart is a Georgia grad and I wouldn't put it past him to try to start something, but on the other hand, we all agree that there is something wrong.

JW Shewmake

I think Barnhart is blowing smoke. If what h is saying is true then whats the implication? That other players are not trying as a protest? I find it hard to believe players would waste their playing time on purpose and for some hurt their NFL chances just to protest Gus's handling of discipline. I have seen good effort from the players just not good execution.

[JMassie11 1,610]

I didn't catch it but I can't stand the guy. There's a reason he is no longer on the radio in Atlanta anymore.

[around4ever 4,139]

After the game was over, they shifted back to a panel discussion that included Tony Barnhart, former AJC Sportswriter and now with the SEC Network. The other two guys were really giving it to Auburn for winning in such a poor fashion. Barnhart seemed to be trying to say that there were some issues that were affecting the Auburn team. The main one being that the players did not want to play because of the way Duke Williams was allowed to get back on the team. I have never heard a comentator say anything like that with regard to what was going on insided of a program. My first thought was that even if true, it was very unprofessional of him. I thought Gus handled the Duke situation about as well as it could be handled. I mean leaving him at home for the bowl game and essentially kicking him off the team and allowing him to work his way back into the rotation I thought was the best way to handle the situation. On the other hand, you can't have a group of players running your team and making decisions on who to play and when. Anyone else heard this rumor? Barnhart is a Georgia grad and I wouldn't put it past him to try to start something, but on the other hand, we all agree that there is something wrong.

JW Shewmake

I think Barnhart is blowing smoke. If what h is saying is true then whats the implication? That other players are not trying as a protest? I find it hard to believe players would waste their playing time on purpose and for some hurt their NFL chances just to protest Gus's handling of discipline. I have seen good effort from the players just not good execution.

This^

[TexasTiger 12,831]

After the game was over, they shifted back to a panel discussion that included Tony Barnhart, former AJC Sportswriter and now with the SEC Network. The other two guys were really giving it to Auburn for winning in such a poor fashion. Barnhart seemed to be trying to say that there were some issues that were affecting the Auburn team. The main one being that the players did not want to play because of the way Duke Williams was allowed to get back on the team. I have never heard a comentator say anything like that with regard to what was going on insided of a program. My first thought was that even if true, it was very unprofessional of him. I thought Gus handled the Duke situation about as well as it could be handled. I mean leaving him at home for the bowl game and essentially kicking him off the team and allowing him to work his way back into the rotation I thought was the best way to handle the situation. On the other hand, you can't have a group of players running your team and making decisions on who to play and when. Anyone else heard this rumor? Barnhart is a Georgia grad and I wouldn't put it past him to try to start something, but on the other hand, we all agree that there is something wrong.

JW Shewmake

I think Barnhart is blowing smoke. If what h is saying is true then whats the implication? That other players are not trying as a protest? I find it hard to believe players would waste their playing time on purpose and for some hurt their NFL chances just to protest Gus's handling of discipline. I have seen good effort from the players just not good execution.

This^

Barnhart's a blowhard.

[im4au 44]

I disagree with the comment about the crowd in the OP. I agree with Gus that the crowd was a major reason Auburn was able to win:

1. Showed up on time for a morning game

2. Made noise. Crowd noise forced JSU to burn a TO on their fourth and two (Barger was visibly frustrated - he knew he had a play). Had to burn at least one other for the same reason. JSU QB had to walk the line to call audibles.

3. Because JSU put AU on offense OT was played in front of the Auburn students, who made crazy noise.

4. The crowd stayed until the end of the game.

4. And maybe the largest compliment of all to the Auburn crowd - I didn't hear anyone boo the team or any of the players. That makes me proud of Auburn.

[juscAUse 1]

I disagree with the comment about the crowd in the OP. I agree with Gus that the crowd was a major reason Auburn was able to win:

1. Showed up on time for a morning game

2. Made noise. Crowd noise forced JSU to burn a TO on their fourth and two (Barger was visibly frustrated - he knew he had a play). Had to burn at least one other for the same reason. JSU QB had to walk the line to call audibles.

3. Because JSU put AU on offense OT was played in front of the Auburn students, who made crazy noise.

4. The crowd stayed until the end of the game.

4. And maybe the largest compliment of all to the Auburn crowd - I didn't hear anyone boo the team or any of the players. That makes me proud of Auburn.

Amen. I would never boo the players. I may have been so pissed I left early. But ....

[augolf1716 21,109]

After the game was over, they shifted back to a panel discussion that included Tony Barnhart, former AJC Sportswriter and now with the SEC Network. The other two guys were really giving it to Auburn for winning in such a poor fashion. Barnhart seemed to be trying to say that there were some issues that were affecting the Auburn team. The main one being that the players did not want to play because of the way Duke Williams was allowed to get back on the team. I have never heard a comentator say anything like that with regard to what was going on insided of a program. My first thought was that even if true, it was very unprofessional of him. I thought Gus handled the Duke situation about as well as it could be handled. I mean leaving him at home for the bowl game and essentially kicking him off the team and allowing him to work his way back into the rotation I thought was the best way to handle the situation. On the other hand, you can't have a group of players running your team and making decisions on who to play and when. Anyone else heard this rumor? Barnhart is a Georgia grad and I wouldn't put it past him to try to start something, but on the other hand, we all agree that there is something wrong.

JW Shewmake

This is complete hogwash I know for a fact the players have no such thought or feelings. As a matter of fact its the complete opposite of his statement. I like Tony as a person but his wrong on this.

[keesler 5,924]

Barnhart can't be telling the truth. Gus watched player discord while coaching for Nutt at Arky. Gus also watched player discord at AU while coaching for Chizik. Gus knows what happens to team chemistry if one or two players start calling the shots. I don't think Gus would allow his players to lay off and not put forth 100% in protest.

[JMassie11 1,610]

I disagree with the comment about the crowd in the OP. I agree with Gus that the crowd was a major reason Auburn was able to win:

1. Showed up on time for a morning game

2. Made noise. Crowd noise forced JSU to burn a TO on their fourth and two (Barger was visibly frustrated - he knew he had a play). Had to burn at least one other for the same reason. JSU QB had to walk the line to call audibles.

3. Because JSU put AU on offense OT was played in front of the Auburn students, who made crazy noise.

4. The crowd stayed until the end of the game.

4. And maybe the largest compliment of all to the Auburn crowd - I didn't hear anyone boo the team or any of the players. That makes me proud of Auburn.

Yes they were there in the 4th and OT. My point is what happened the rest of the game. There was no life in that stadium or on the field until it was almost too late.

[AURealist 2,185]

Barnhart seemed to be trying to say that there were some issues that were affecting the Auburn team. The main one being that the players did not want to play because of the way Duke Williams was allowed to get back on the team.

My God, what total BS. Why would he even say something so stupid?

[Tiger Scout 92]

there seemed to be no energy out of the offensive players. we never play well on early games

[3rdgeneration 6,469]

I should have known it was going to be a rough game. We drove 2 1/2 hours on Friday, spent the night with our daughter, and only realized we forgot our tickets when we were getting ready to leave her house. The whole early start threw us off our game. I am sure it threw everyone else off their game too!

[augolf1716 21,109]

Well that was awful to start the day

[milehighfan 1,240]

J.J. can't read defenses. He has been in the program going on 3 years and the coaches are just now finding out. What does that tell you?

[JMassie11 1,610]

J.J. can't read defenses. He has been in the program going on 3 years and the coaches are just now finding out. What does that tell you?

Tells me you haven't watched games from last year which he started

[FoundationEagle 637]

Barnhart can't be telling the truth. Gus watched player discord while coaching for Nutt at Arky. Gus also watched player discord at AU while coaching for Chizik. Gus knows what happens to team chemistry if one or two players start calling the shots. I don't think Gus would allow his players to lay off and not put forth 100% in protest.

Just playing devils advocate here, but do you see a trend?

[cfltiger 0]

I don't think Auburn plays well when they slow the offense and whether it was to keep the defense off the field due to injuries/freshmen or for some other reason, it is not the way they practice and it doesn't work.

[Bosco 0]

Barnhart can't be telling the truth. Gus watched player discord while coaching for Nutt at Arky. Gus also watched player discord at AU while coaching for Chizik. Gus knows what happens to team chemistry if one or two players start calling the shots. I don't think Gus would allow his players to lay off and not put forth 100% in protest.

Just playing devils advocate here, but do you see a trend?

No