Ten Passes? This is not progress!

[metafour 4,969]

Come on, man! Was a bad pass. It happens.

A WR who has beat his man deep should never steer his route towards the middle of the field (towards the Safety). While the ball was in the air Smith was still swerving inwards for some reason.

[AUbritt 611]

Come on, man! Was a bad pass. It happens.

A WR who has beat his man deep should never steer his route towards the middle of the field (towards the Safety). While the ball was in the air Smith was still swerving inwards for some reason.

Well, if you say so. I honestly haven't watched a replay. Live, it looked as if the pass was thrown to the wrong shoulder. Obviously, if the receiver zigs when he should have zagged, it can make the pass look bad. I'm not condemning Sean for it. But I'll defer to your judgment if you watched the play more than was shown on live TV.

[alexava 6,973]

Come on, man! Was a bad pass. It happens.

A WR who has beat his man deep should never steer his route towards the middle of the field (towards the Safety). While the ball was in the air Smith was still swerving inwards for some reason.

he had the safety beat too, badly. The ball is easier to throw and catch to the inside. He still should have caught it though.

[kingfish 73]

Today was not the time to "work on things".

Right, the time to "work on things" is against our upcoming SEC opponents who will throttle us. We will be glad we spent this entire game running up the middle repeatedly when we're all of a sudden asking Sean White to complete 3rd and longs against SEC defenses blitzing his ass.

This...ALL of this! Today was the perfect time to work on things.

You first secure the victory which did not happen until late in the game. Your "working on things" could have cost us the game. You don't gamble with a win. To do so is flawed logic.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,676]

An observation is that the WR group is not helping Sean out. As several have mentioned, Duke is not giving "all in" effort. Not sure why he's still in there to be honest.

Dropped passes continue. IF Jason catches that pass, it's six pts; it's also a much needed & long awaited boost of confidence and energy for Sean and the offense.

Route running and play calling seem to be mysterious at times.....but I'm not a SEC coach ...just a confused AU fan.

There's no receiver that's doing anything, do you guys really want to take Duke out and have opposing coaches get the opportunity to focus even more so on the rest of this receiver group? Because at that point, they just might stack 9 in the box and not even give a damn about the passing game.

Duke's presence, whether effective in your opinion or not, is more necessary than any other receiver's except Ricardo.

[Auburnguy101 325]

I posted this on another thread, but do not be shocked if JJ starts against UK. There's a reason that the offensive staff has been non-committal to SW, saying it's a week-by-week situation. Also, I don't get the bashing of the offensive line. Are they great? No. But, I also don't think they have been bad. I think they've been average-to-good honestly. Before SW, JJ had all day to throw, and only was sacked 1-2 times in 3 games, and nothing was really mentioned about them. SW starts, and he gets sacked 5-6 times in 2 games, and it's now their fault? Yea, I know they have been inconsistent, but I honestly don't think they've been playing that bad...

[wdefromtx 3,159]

They need to go live this week in practice 1st team vs 1st team scrimmage every practice this week. Let steel sharpen steel.

Know it's not possible with injuries and stuff....but they just need to go old school.

[Win4AU 4,054]

I've always been of the opinion that if you're a wide reciever and you can get both hands on the ball then you should catch it. Thats your only job. The whole wrong shoulder argument is flawed to me because the ball still hit him in the hands. Duke is no different. He should have been able to out jump the SJSU guy and catch it. Ricardo caught the same pass later in the ball game for a first and goal. Ricardo also caught a ball a couple years ago that was thrown to the wrong team but still landed in his hands. I feel like its fair to ask a redshirt freshman to get the ball to the WR's to make the play.

[wdefromtx 3,159]

I agree....sometimes the WR need to bail the QB out. If the ball is close you have to catch it. mike Evans made Manziel look pretty good on some plays.

[Auburnguy101 325]

JJ will be starting against UK, bank on it. The coaches benched him these last two games, realizing that he needed to clear his mind. It's why they have been non-committal with SW in naming him "our" QB for the rest of the season. The coaches want JJ to figure it out and become the QB they think he can be. They also know that SW has a limited ceiling, hence the 5-8 yard passes and 80% run game. Anyone with football knowledge can tell that JJ and SW were running 2 completely different offenses. I think JJ would be better in the offense SW has been running, and I think the coaches realize that. We need a running threat at QB, and JJ does have some wheels, just needs confidence. SW is not a running threat, and since everyone harped on JJ about turnovers, what about SW? Yes, none were recovered by the opposition, but it appears that he has issues holding on to the ball, but alas, SW can do no wrong...

[metafour 4,969]

They also know that SW has a limited ceiling, hence the 5-8 yard passes and 80% run game.

They KNOW he has a limited ceiling? You can't decipher that without actually letting the kid, you know, PLAY THE GAME. Gus has yet to prove that he has any idea how to actually judge QB ability (see: Kiehl Frazier, Jeremy Johnson), so please save me that argument.

Tom Brady gets drafted 6th round because he supposedly had a limited ceiling and an average arm.

[FoundationEagle 637]

JJ will be starting against UK, bank on it. The coaches benched him these last two games, realizing that he needed to clear his mind. It's why they have been non-committal with SW in naming him "our" QB for the rest of the season. The coaches want JJ to figure it out and become the QB they think he can be. They also know that SW has a limited ceiling, hence the 5-8 yard passes and 80% run game. Anyone with football knowledge can tell that JJ and SW were running 2 completely different offenses. I think JJ would be better in the offense SW has been running, and I think the coaches realize that. We need a running threat at QB, and JJ does have some wheels, just needs confidence. SW is not a running threat, and since everyone harped on JJ about turnovers, what about SW? Yes, none were recovered by the opposition, but it appears that he has issues holding on to the ball, but alas, SW can do no wrong...

So much wrong in 1 post.

[WarTiger 3,909]

I've always been of the opinion that if you're a wide reciever and you can get both hands on the ball then you should catch it. Thats your only job.

Sounds like someone that has never been on the field before or even actually watched a game. It's not that simple.

The whole wrong shoulder argument is flawed to me because the ball still hit him in the hands.

Again, not that simple and no its not flawed at all, you just don't understand why someone can't completely alter his body at a split second to make a catch that wasn't where it was supposed to be. Again, not how it works. Most of the rest of us realize the receiver expects it in a certain place, he turns the ball is already within a few feet of him if not closer and its not where it needs to be and you expect because he got his hands on the ball that he should have caught it even though he had to make a massive adjustment to even just get his hands on it? Spoken again like someone that's never been on the field before or watched a game.

Duke is no different. He should have been able to out jump the SJSU guy and catch it. Ricardo caught the same pass later in the ball game for a first and goal.

If you are referring to the deep ball on the right hash, NO it wasn't the same pass. Jason Smith had his back to the line of scrimmage. Ricardo had turned and was able to go up and get the ball. Absolutely TOTALLY DIFFERENT. Not even remotely close to the same thing. How is Jason Smith going to out jump somebody when his back was to the pass? What a ridiculous comparison.

Ricardo also caught a ball a couple years ago that was thrown to the wrong team but still landed in his hands. I feel like its fair to ask a redshirt freshman to get the ball to the WR's to make the play.

Yet another totally unrelated and ridiculous comparison. That ball had already been tipped and thus was slowed down enough for Ricardo to locate the ball. Still not even remotely close to the jason smith play saturday. Might be wise to take a year or two off the board and actually watch a game or 2. You could use it.

[Mikey 16,634]

JJ will be starting against UK, bank on it. The coaches benched him these last two games, realizing that he needed to clear his mind. It's why they have been non-committal with SW in naming him "our" QB for the rest of the season. The coaches want JJ to figure it out and become the QB they think he can be. They also know that SW has a limited ceiling, hence the 5-8 yard passes and 80% run game. Anyone with football knowledge can tell that JJ and SW were running 2 completely different offenses. I think JJ would be better in the offense SW has been running, and I think the coaches realize that. We need a running threat at QB, and JJ does have some wheels, just needs confidence. SW is not a running threat, and since everyone harped on JJ about turnovers, what about SW? Yes, none were recovered by the opposition, but it appears that he has issues holding on to the ball, but alas, SW can do no wrong...

Link? Or do you have coffee with Gus every morning and discuss the QB situation?

About the pass to J. Smith: After watching a replay on my DVR, it should have been caught. Had he caught it, we would have deemed it a routine catch. The ball was there. Maybe the "wrong shoulder" idea is valid on a short, hard pass. That was a long pass with air under it. Dropping that ball was the abnormal on the play, catching it would have been normal.

[AU64 10,122]

JJ will be starting against UK, bank on it. The coaches benched him these last two games, realizing that he needed to clear his mind. It's why they have been non-committal with SW in naming him "our" QB for the rest of the season. The coaches want JJ to figure it out and become the QB they think he can be. They also know that SW has a limited ceiling, hence the 5-8 yard passes and 80% run game. Anyone with football knowledge can tell that JJ and SW were running 2 completely different offenses. I think JJ would be better in the offense SW has been running, and I think the coaches realize that. We need a running threat at QB, and JJ does have some wheels, just needs confidence. SW is not a running threat, and since everyone harped on JJ about turnovers, what about SW? Yes, none were recovered by the opposition, but it appears that he has issues holding on to the ball, but alas, SW can do no wrong...

Link? Or do you have coffee with Gus every morning and discuss the QB situation?

About the pass to J. Smith: After watching a replay on my DVR, it should have been caught. Had he caught it, we would have deemed it a routine catch. The ball was there. Maybe the "wrong shoulder" idea is valid on a short, hard pass. That was a long pass with air under it. Dropping that ball was the abnormal on the play, catching it would have been normal.

Agree.....and watching some of the route-running lately, who knows whether the ball...or the WR was in the wrong place at the intended point of intersection? Might not have been the perfect pass but I expect JS catches that pass about 80% of the time.

[WarDamnEagleWDE 12,737]

Gus/R were all in with Johnson and now neither have a clue what to do. They have White running Johnson's, Cam's & Marshall's O. Which is going to get White killed. Poor planning by two people who are making over 5m a year at AU and are supposed to be offensive "genius". Gus is standing on the sidelines looking like a deer in the head lights and the players are feeding off this. Plus looks like the passing plays are predetermined on who to throw to and only one wideout is running a real route while the other just go threw the motions. RL sucks at recruiting & Gus seems to lack the closing ability than most other SEC head guys have.

Gus and RL aren't the only ones who are need to be called out. DC needs to get off his ass. His wideouts are bad. Can't run good routes and drop the ball way too much. Plus they don't or can't block. DC's recruiting isn't any better than RG's.

Grimes OL is soft and slow. Recruiting is iffy.

Horton is doing ok. PB is running hard but Roc is Mr. Spin & Fumble. One good thing is Horton is recruiting his ass off.

FWIW & IMO anyways.

[imaolgatiger 523]

Gus/R were all in with Johnson and now neither have a clue what to do. They have White running Johnson's, Cam's & Marshall's O. Which is going to get White killed. Poor planning by two people who are making over 5m a year at AU and are supposed to be offensive "genius". Gus is standing on the sidelines looking like a deer in the head lights and the players are feeding off this. Plus looks like the passing plays are predetermined on who to throw to and only one wideout is running a real route while the other just go threw the motions. RL sucks at recruiting & Gus seems to lack the closing ability than most other SEC head guys have.

Gus and RL aren't the only ones who are need to be called out. DC needs to get off his ass. His wideouts are bad. Can't run good routes and drop the ball way too much. Plus they don't or can't block. DC's recruiting isn't any better than RG's.

Grimes OL is soft and slow. Recruiting is iffy.

Horton is doing ok. PB is running hard but Roc is Mr. Spin & Fumble. One good thing is Horton is recruiting his ass off.

FWIW & IMO anyways.

How did it get to this and can it be turned around?

[I_M4_AU 7,863]

Come on, man! Was a bad pass. It happens.

A WR who has beat his man deep should never steer his route towards the middle of the field (towards the Safety). While the ball was in the air Smith was still swerving inwards for some reason.

he had the safety beat too, badly. The ball is easier to throw and catch to the inside. He still should have caught it though.

IMO the long ball to JS was perfect in terms of trajectory and distance. The WR seemed to try to will the ball to the inside and did not adjust to the throw until the last possible second and could not fininsh the play. The WR should have adjusted to the ball soon after the ball was thrown and caught the ball, the defender was to the outside but was beat and with the way the ball was thrown the WR catches the ball in stride and the rest is history.

The WR's inexperience at the position coupled with the QB's slight directional error played into the incompletion. Both can take a litttle responsiblity for the incompletion, but a WR has to have the mentality to go get the ball when it is in the air. With the exception of RL, it seems our WR's don't have that trait.

[Tiger 8,829]

Gus/R were all in with Johnson and now neither have a clue what to do. They have White running Johnson's, Cam's & Marshall's O. Which is going to get White killed. Poor planning by two people who are making over 5m a year at AU and are supposed to be offensive "genius". Gus is standing on the sidelines looking like a deer in the head lights and the players are feeding off this. Plus looks like the passing plays are predetermined on who to throw to and only one wideout is running a real route while the other just go threw the motions. RL sucks at recruiting & Gus seems to lack the closing ability than most other SEC head guys have.

Gus and RL aren't the only ones who are need to be called out. DC needs to get off his ass. His wideouts are bad. Can't run good routes and drop the ball way too much. Plus they don't or can't block. DC's recruiting isn't any better than RG's.

Grimes OL is soft and slow. Recruiting is iffy.

Horton is doing ok. PB is running hard but Roc is Mr. Spin & Fumble. One good thing is Horton is recruiting his ass off.

FWIW & IMO anyways.

This bolded part especially rubs me the wrong way. That is childish football and infuriating to watch unfold. Even the commentators were like "what the heck are the WRs doing? Only 1 guy is actually running a route"

I am a huge believer in Gus but things like this are actually very alarming IMO. Like unfathomable almost.

[wde1968 262]

JJ will be starting against UK, bank on it. The coaches benched him these last two games, realizing that he needed to clear his mind. It's why they have been non-committal with SW in naming him "our" QB for the rest of the season. The coaches want JJ to figure it out and become the QB they think he can be. They also know that SW has a limited ceiling, hence the 5-8 yard passes and 80% run game. Anyone with football knowledge can tell that JJ and SW were running 2 completely different offenses. I think JJ would be better in the offense SW has been running, and I think the coaches realize that. We need a running threat at QB, and JJ does have some wheels, just needs confidence. SW is not a running threat, and since everyone harped on JJ about turnovers, what about SW? Yes, none were recovered by the opposition, but it appears that he has issues holding on to the ball, but alas, SW can do no wrong...

So much wrong in 1 post.

He may be wrong in some of the accusations but I just have a strong feeling JJ starts at UK.

[AU80cruiser 1,102]

JJ will be starting against UK, bank on it. The coaches benched him these last two games, realizing that he needed to clear his mind. It's why they have been non-committal with SW in naming him "our" QB for the rest of the season. The coaches want JJ to figure it out and become the QB they think he can be. They also know that SW has a limited ceiling, hence the 5-8 yard passes and 80% run game. Anyone with football knowledge can tell that JJ and SW were running 2 completely different offenses. I think JJ would be better in the offense SW has been running, and I think the coaches realize that. We need a running threat at QB, and JJ does have some wheels, just needs confidence. SW is not a running threat, and since everyone harped on JJ about turnovers, what about SW? Yes, none were recovered by the opposition, but it appears that he has issues holding on to the ball, but alas, SW can do no wrong...

So much wrong in 1 post.

He may be wrong in some of the accusations but I just have a strong feeling JJ starts at UK.

I got that feeling too after watching the san Jose state game. It just feels like the right time to bring him back.

[Barnacle 9,064]

I've always been of the opinion that if you're a wide reciever and you can get both hands on the ball then you should catch it. Thats your only job.

Sounds like someone that has never been on the field before or even actually watched a game. It's not that simple.

The whole wrong shoulder argument is flawed to me because the ball still hit him in the hands.

Again, not that simple and no its not flawed at all, you just don't understand why someone can't completely alter his body at a split second to make a catch that wasn't where it was supposed to be. Again, not how it works. Most of the rest of us realize the receiver expects it in a certain place, he turns the ball is already within a few feet of him if not closer and its not where it needs to be and you expect because he got his hands on the ball that he should have caught it even though he had to make a massive adjustment to even just get his hands on it? Spoken again like someone that's never been on the field before or watched a game.

WT is right, at least in what someone who's just watching the game should expect or think. But, as someone who played quarterback, I'll say this: both Sean White and Jason Smith likely came back to the sideline and said "my bad", and both of them probably caught an ear full in the film room, as they should have. Objectively speaking, that throw was Sean White's fault, and he knows that. However, I promise you that DC was letting the whole WR room know on Sunday afternoon that they need to bail their young quarterback out and make that catch. It's fair for DC to have those expectations because he needs to be pushing those guys towards a very high standard, but even DC knows that was a poor throw. Accountability should be dealt to both sides, but it starts with Sean White missing on what should be a routine throw.

[WarDamnEagleWDE 12,737]

I've always been of the opinion that if you're a wide reciever and you can get both hands on the ball then you should catch it. Thats your only job.

Sounds like someone that has never been on the field before or even actually watched a game. It's not that simple.

The whole wrong shoulder argument is flawed to me because the ball still hit him in the hands.

Again, not that simple and no its not flawed at all, you just don't understand why someone can't completely alter his body at a split second to make a catch that wasn't where it was supposed to be. Again, not how it works. Most of the rest of us realize the receiver expects it in a certain place, he turns the ball is already within a few feet of him if not closer and its not where it needs to be and you expect because he got his hands on the ball that he should have caught it even though he had to make a massive adjustment to even just get his hands on it? Spoken again like someone that's never been on the field before or watched a game.

WT is right, at least in what someone who's just watching the game should expect or think. But, as someone who played quarterback, I'll say this: both Sean White and Jason Smith likely came back to the sideline and said "my bad", and both of them probably caught an ear full in the film room, as they should have. Objectively speaking, that throw was Sean White's fault, and he knows that. However, I promise you that DC was letting the whole WR room know on Sunday afternoon that they need to bail their young quarterback out and make that catch. It's fair for DC to have those expectations because he needs to be pushing those guys towards a very high standard, but even DC knows that was a poor throw. Accountability should be dealt to both sides, but it starts with Sean White missing on what should be a routine throw.

Sad we are even having to discuss this.

[wareagleguy 1,393]

JJ will be starting against UK, bank on it. The coaches benched him these last two games, realizing that he needed to clear his mind. It's why they have been non-committal with SW in naming him "our" QB for the rest of the season. The coaches want JJ to figure it out and become the QB they think he can be. They also know that SW has a limited ceiling, hence the 5-8 yard passes and 80% run game. Anyone with football knowledge can tell that JJ and SW were running 2 completely different offenses. I think JJ would be better in the offense SW has been running, and I think the coaches realize that. We need a running threat at QB, and JJ does have some wheels, just needs confidence. SW is not a running threat, and since everyone harped on JJ about turnovers, what about SW? Yes, none were recovered by the opposition, but it appears that he has issues holding on to the ball, but alas, SW can do no wrong...

So much wrong in 1 post.

He may be wrong in some of the accusations but I just have a strong feeling JJ starts at UK.

I got that feeling too after watching the san Jose state game. It just feels like the right time to bring him back.

The whole non-committal thing has been fairly obvious. When and where they choose to put JJ in is the question. I have a feeling too that both GM and RL want to do it. Maybe with the Bye week, they will feel it will give them some extra time to work JJ in practice . . . I don't know. But I do think they want to get JJ back in there.

[Barnacle 9,064]

I've always been of the opinion that if you're a wide reciever and you can get both hands on the ball then you should catch it. Thats your only job.

Sounds like someone that has never been on the field before or even actually watched a game. It's not that simple.

The whole wrong shoulder argument is flawed to me because the ball still hit him in the hands.

Again, not that simple and no its not flawed at all, you just don't understand why someone can't completely alter his body at a split second to make a catch that wasn't where it was supposed to be. Again, not how it works. Most of the rest of us realize the receiver expects it in a certain place, he turns the ball is already within a few feet of him if not closer and its not where it needs to be and you expect because he got his hands on the ball that he should have caught it even though he had to make a massive adjustment to even just get his hands on it? Spoken again like someone that's never been on the field before or watched a game.

WT is right, at least in what someone who's just watching the game should expect or think. But, as someone who played quarterback, I'll say this: both Sean White and Jason Smith likely came back to the sideline and said "my bad", and both of them probably caught an ear full in the film room, as they should have. Objectively speaking, that throw was Sean White's fault, and he knows that. However, I promise you that DC was letting the whole WR room know on Sunday afternoon that they need to bail their young quarterback out and make that catch. It's fair for DC to have those expectations because he needs to be pushing those guys towards a very high standard, but even DC knows that was a poor throw. Accountability should be dealt to both sides, but it starts with Sean White missing on what should be a routine throw.

Sad we are even having to discuss this.

Why is that? You see NFL quarterbacks make the same mistake from time to time.