Expectation Management

[Guest WarEagleSteve]

Or Does anyone realize how young this team really is??

My fellow Auburn fans,

I have come to the conclusion that things aren't nearly as bad as we think they are. Yes, we expected to compete for the playoffs this year. Yes, we have yet to win an SEC game and the prospects for winning one at all this year aren't especially promising. Finally, yes, our supposed wunderkind of a head coach has not lived up to his billing this year. As a result, we the fanbase have freaked right the heck out, myself included. However, after giving it some thought, I have decided that this is not the appropriate reaction. I have decided that I'm actually excited to watch this team going forward even after last night's debacle. I decided this because I think that, given the players that are actually on the roster, we may have set our sights too high this year. Consider this:

1. We replaced three starters from last years' offensive line as well as the starting H-Back/Tight End. Four of those players were seniors!! Sure we had some experience coming back but NONE of our starters at those positions this year are seniors and FOUR of them are true freshman or sophomores. Quality offensive lines take time to build. Assuming that ours would gel immediately and play at a high level despite so much turnover was unrealistic.

2. Jovon Robinson is the only running back we have that isn't a RS Sophomore or younger. Peyton Barber-RS Sophomore. Roc Thomas-Sophomore. Kerryon Johnson-Freshman. Experience isn't a huge deal for running backs but it does play a factor and our guys have VERY little. In my opinion they've played admirably despite this.

3. Davonte Lambert is the ONLY senior on the defensive line two-deep. Monty Adams and Devaroe Lawrence are the only Juniors with truly significant playing time. In 2004, 2010, and 2013 the defensive line was loaded with juniors and seniors with either plenty of starting experience or a ton of playing time. We have neither this year. Much like offensive lines, experience is one of the key factors for determining D-line success. We have almost none. Once again, the loss of Carl Lawson has hurt because our dearth of experience at the position means we don't have many experienced playmakers to step up in his place.

4. Has anyone looked at the secondary depth chart? Anyone? For those of you who haven't, Jonathan Jones, Rudy Ford, and Blake Countess are the only upperclassmen. Seriously. The only ones.

5. The only positions where there is more than one senior starter are linebacker and wide receiver.

What I'm trying to say is that if we were really honest with ourselves as fans, we should've figured out that realistically, the only way that this Auburn team was going to contend for the playoffs was if all of these young players grew up IN A HURRY and Jeremy played absolutely lights out. So, when it turns out that Jeremy is the opposite of who we thought he would be and the younger players had their requisite growing pains, the product on the field turned out accordingly. Now, this is not to say that the lack of effort at LSU was anything short of egregious or that the game against Jacksonville State was anything but an unmitigated disaster. However, what I saw last night was a defense that is getting its feet under it and an offense that is slowly righting the ship. Our schedule is favorable over the next few weeks and I think you'll see this team improve quite a bit between now and the end of the season. 6-6 is about the worst finish I think possible and I think we'll surprise a team or two late in the year. Next year though? Look out.

All of this is to say that we should tailor our expectations to the team that is actually on the field, not the one we thought they'd be. Rant Over.

[Weegle777 78]

Nice post!

[FoundationEagle 637]

Good post. Should lock it and leave it as a good post before the pitchfork crowd turns it south.

[KcPg14 24]

Exactly! Very well said.

We need to use next week to get the offense gelling and put some TDs on the board. And hopefully continue that success on defense and work out all the kinks in communication errors.

Our next two SEC opponents are road games that are manageable. UK is going to be tough on Thursday night, but we have a week to prepare and if we win that game, I think that will spark us for the rest of the season. We just need that first SEC win. I wouldn't expect a horrible season. I think it'll be a lot like LSU last year... They had a lot of young talent as well. They got embarrassed by us last year but came up with a big win against Ole Miss and went into OT with Bama. They had the same type QB issues that we are dealing with now and the same OL issues. They developed their talent, and now look where they are sitting... 2-0 in the SEC and a RB that is leading the Heisman race. Developing talent: we need a season to do that. So many young guys. This freshman class is going to be special.

[CodeRocket 410]

Absolutely correct.

War Dam Eagle

[Tiger 8,818]

Finally some logic

[autig90 67]

Those are great points. Thanks for the post.

[T cell 5]

So true. This board needs more input from pragmatists and less insight from emotional divas finding the bottom of their 18th can of Bud Heavy.

[aubaseball 2,590]

If you take a different look you will see the opposite of the oringinal post. We have a 5th year senior, senoir and two juniors playing in the secondary. All with at least a year and more playing experince. Two seniors at linebacker that have started for three years. Two junior college transfers that start on the dline and another starter that saw significant action last year.

On offense, a junior starting at quarterback, four offensive linemen that have started and played a whole season as starting linemen. three seniors starting at receiver.

Now the back ups are a different story, most are freshmen or rs freshmen. I beleive people are upset because AU was voted as the team to win the sec. Something is wrong and i dont know what it is, but you cant look at what is happening and not think its more to it than youth.

[T cell 5]

Intriguingly, the Mississippi State starting roster showed 14 Juniors and 8 Seniors combined on O and D. 0 Fresh and 0 Soph.

[KcPg14 24]

If you take a different look you will see the opposite of the oringinal post. We have a 5th year senior, senoir and two juniors playing in the secondary. All with at least a year and more playing experince. Two seniors at linebacker that have started for three years. Two junior college transfers that start on the dline and another starter that saw significant action last year.

On offense, a junior starting at quarterback, four offensive linemen that have started and played a whole season as starting linemen. three seniors starting at receiver.

Now the back ups are a different story, most are freshmen or rs freshmen. I beleive people are upset because AU was voted as the team to win the sec. Something is wrong and i dont know what it is, but you cant look at what is happening and not think its more to it than youth.

Offense I could agree with you, but you can't just plug 3 new guys that didn't start last year on the Oline and expect them to play well right off the bat. It takes time. Golson is still learning how to play center as well. A lot of people don't realize that losing a 4 year starter in Reese hurts the OL the most.

As for the defense, it doesn't matter how much experience these 4th or even 5th year players have, they haven't been coached properly up until this point and have been through 3 completely different schemes. That's why Frost and some of the other guys look lost at times, because they haven't had great coaches that go back and teach the fundamentals. But now they do.

[Tiger 8,818]

If you take a different look you will see the opposite of the oringinal post. We have a 5th year senior, senoir and two juniors playing in the secondary. All with at least a year and more playing experince. Two seniors at linebacker that have started for three years. Two junior college transfers that start on the dline and another starter that saw significant action last year.

On offense, a junior starting at quarterback, four offensive linemen that have started and played a whole season as starting linemen. three seniors starting at receiver.

Now the back ups are a different story, most are freshmen or rs freshmen. I beleive people are upset because AU was voted as the team to win the sec. Something is wrong and i dont know what it is, but you cant look at what is happening and not think its more to it than youth.

Offense I could agree with you, but you can't just plug 3 new guys that didn't start last year on the Oline and expect them to play well right off the bat. It takes time. Golson is still learning how to play center as well. A lot of people don't realize that losing a 4 year starter in Reese hurts the OL the most.

As for the defense, it doesn't matter how much experience these 4th or even 5th year players have, they haven't been coached properly up until this point and have been through 3 completely different schemes. That's why Frost and some of the other guys look lost at times, because they haven't had great coaches that go back and teach the fundamentals. But now they do.

Seriously. He was the damn Rimington Award winner! The best center in the entire nation. And we replaced him with a guy who played tackle two years ago and who had never played center before. And people thought that would be a seamless transition for some reason. Slade also was a 3 or 4 year starter in the SEC. You don't just lose a guy like that and expect to keep chugging along.

When we lose Avery Young next year too we are probably going to take some sort of hit at the RT spot. It's normal.