Gus has the way forward, he just needs to look to the past.

[Guest WarEagleSteve]

The personnel Gus has on the current Auburn offense match up very similarly to the personnel Gus had in 2009. I think that's your template for how to proceed going forward. Think about it:

Jeremy Johnson - Chris Todd

Peyton Barber - Ben Tate

Roc Thomas - Onterrio McCalebb

Jovon Robinson/Kerryon Johnson - Mario Fannin

Duke Williams - Darvin Adams

Ricardo Louis - Terrell Zachary

Jason Smith - Kodi Burns

Gus could very easily use a similar play-calling scheme as 2009 but this time around he has arguably way more talent.

[AU Counsel 64]

Gus has forgotten how good of a schemer and play caller he once was...

[TexasTiger 12,828]

At this point, JJ has a much better arm than Todd, but not near the judgement. Todd never dazzled, but made few mistakes.

[aujeff11 6,243]

I could do ten pushups in anticipation of Chris Todd's rainbow ball to land. I don't see the similarities between the two

[Guest WarEagleSteve]

I could do ten pushups in anticipation of Chris Todd's rainbow ball to land. I don't see the similarities between the two

They're not similar in terms of ability. The similarity is in how they should be utilized within the offense. Chris Todd couldn't run very well. Jeremy can run but seems very reluctant to. Chris Todd's limited arm strength forced Gus to be more creative in terms of how he called pass plays. Jeremy's problematic decision making should force similar adjustments. I made the JJ-Chris Todd comparison primarily to highlight that Gus has run an offense where the quarterback was not the primary weapon or focal point of the offense and been successful. I think he should adopt a similar approach now given JJ's subpar performance thus far.

[alexava 6,973]

At this point, JJ has a much better arm than Todd, but not near the judgement. Todd never dazzled, but made few mistakes.

Todd threw a few INTs because of a bad arm. Never did he throw into triple coverage. JJ has done it 5,6 maybe 7 times in two games.

[aujeff11 6,243]

I could do ten pushups in anticipation of Chris Todd's rainbow ball to land. I don't see the similarities between the two

They're not similar in terms of ability. The similarity is in how they should be utilized within the offense. Chris Todd couldn't run very well. Jeremy can run but seems very reluctant to. Chris Todd's limited arm strength forced Gus to be more creative in terms of how he called pass plays. Jeremy's problematic decision making should force similar adjustments. I made the JJ-Chris Todd comparison primarily to highlight that Gus has run an offense where the quarterback was not the primary weapon or focal point of the offense and been successful. I think he should adopt a similar approach now given JJ's subpar performance thus far.

If Gus has to truly discard some of the playbook because of JJ's deficiencies, I'd have to say we are going to have a long season.

[Randman5000 4,226]

At this point, JJ has a much better arm than Todd, but not near the judgement. Todd never dazzled, but made few mistakes.

Todd threw a few INTs because of a bad arm. Never did he throw into triple coverage. JJ has done it 5,6 maybe 7 times in two games.

Hey and you can't fix a bad arm.

[RunInRed 16,383]

So now we've resorted to comparing Jeremy Johnson to Chris Todd? Really?

[Guest WarEagleSteve]

So now we've resorted to comparing Jeremy Johnson to Chris Todd? Really?

Chris Todd threw for 2,600 yards and 22 touchdowns despite having a wet spaghetti noodle for an arm so I don't think it's an inherently insulting comparison. I made the comparison more to highlight how Gus might structure the offense around a pocket passing quarterback with a demonstrated performance limitation (Chris Todd's lack of arm strength being analogous to JJ's poor decision making/apparent lack of field vision).

[uncommonfan 3]

So now we've resorted to comparing Jeremy Johnson to Chris Todd? Really?

You make a good point.......right now that is insulting to Chris Todd!

Here's to hoping the light comes on for JJ on the way to or in Baton Rouge....similar to how the coaches and Nick Marshall figured out a working combination in 2013 during the 2nd half of the LSU game.

[aubaseball 2,591]

At this point, Todd played better than how JJ has played so far. I know what bad qb play looks like, i watched myself on tape for two years in HS. I would throw to a designated spot with the hope that the receiver would be there and no one else. If you watch his INT's, he is just throwing the ball to a spot. A big high school mistake, if he doesnt correct this it will be a long year. I dont understand why not give a series to White and let JJ see what is happening from the sidelines.

[StatTiger 3,188]

I agree with having the personnel grouping to make plays but he needs to break tendencies in play-calling to truly help Jeremy Johnson. Lots of tape on Malzahn's offense, which reveal his tendencies by personnel groupings, formations and down & distance. The first two opponents have been well prepared for what Auburn likes to do and are sitting on everything. The only way to change this is to introduce new plays or plays not often called. It would also help to introduce a couple of new players in a situational role. We saw a little of that with Kerryon Johnson but that was 2 touches. How difficult would it be for the LSU defense if K. Johnson, S. Truiit and J. Smith combined for 12-15 touches in plays we don't normally see?

My biggest fear is LSU plaing all 11 defenders within 10-yards of the line of scrimmage with the intent of taking away the running game and high percentage passes we saw early on against Jax State.

[Barnacle 9,064]

I agree with having the personnel grouping to make plays but he needs to break tendencies in play-calling to truly help Jeremy Johnson. Lots of tape on Malzahn's offense, which reveal his tendencies by personnel groupings, formations and down & distance. The first two opponents have been well prepared for what Auburn likes to do and are sitting on everything. The only way to change this is to introduce new plays or plays not often called. It would also help to introduce a couple of new players in a situational role. We saw a little of that with Kerryon Johnson but that was 2 touches. How difficult would it be for the LSU defense if K. Johnson, S. Truiit and J. Smith combined for 12-15 touches in plays we don't normally see?

My biggest fear is LSU plaing all 11 defenders within 10-yards of the line of scrimmage with the intent of taking away the running game and high percentage passes we saw early on against Jax State.

Right. We can't expect to keep throwing those 5 yard hitches all day. LSU's corners are going to be sitting on our short routes. I think the coaches have seen enough of KJ in the first two games to have confidence in getting him involved more often. Like always, our success will be predicated upon our run game. If they move everyone up like you are suggesting, I'd like to see us try and stretch the field early. Jason Smith and KJ are two players who can help us do that.

[mustache eagle 2,397]

I agree with having the personnel grouping to make plays but he needs to break tendencies in play-calling to truly help Jeremy Johnson. Lots of tape on Malzahn's offense, which reveal his tendencies by personnel groupings, formations and down & distance. The first two opponents have been well prepared for what Auburn likes to do and are sitting on everything. The only way to change this is to introduce new plays or plays not often called. It would also help to introduce a couple of new players in a situational role. We saw a little of that with Kerryon Johnson but that was 2 touches. How difficult would it be for the LSU defense if K. Johnson, S. Truiit and J. Smith combined for 12-15 touches in plays we don't normally see?

My biggest fear is LSU plaing all 11 defenders within 10-yards of the line of scrimmage with the intent of taking away the running game and high percentage passes we saw early on against Jax State.

one example of a play that i do not recall us running before was the fake sweep to truitt and down field pass to Roc. Nice play with a nice twist and called at the right time.

to me, the play calling in jax state screams of exactly what you state. dare them to play up. gus stated after the UL game he wanted to use jason smith more but did not yesterday. i believe we go over the top against lsu. we threw mostly to the flats and ran mostly between the tackles. we did some other stuff, but not alot. we dared jax state to step up. i think we are daring lsu to step up.

scares me to death and i hate it. i wish we ran our whole offense yesterday.