Looking on to 2017 (Merged)

[WDE_OxPx_2010 5,304]

"Behind Pettway, who's our #2 RB... very disappointed in Kerryon this year.   Kerryon' vision and 1 cut ability isn't very good.  There are some run plays that could be designed for him though to bring his explosivesness out."

 

I have to adamantly disagree here. KJ was a bright spot this year. He had an ankle injury which is hard to come back from 100% but he nearly had 1000 yards this season.

 

[weagl1 1,785]

6 hours ago, LittleTrain said:

I was around for the end of barfield and the start of PFD and that quote makes me queezy...

We play more games now than in the Barfield era. 

[Gowebb11 9,328]

2017 will be no different. Peyton Barber got 8-10 touches as a freshman and 2 years later is good enough to start in the NFL. Pettway got Zero touches versus Clemson. A year ago, Craig-Myers was one of the nations top players and he caught 4 passes this year. Kyle Davis was the best high school WR in Georgia and caught a dozen passes in 13 games. Our evaluation of JF3 was watching him play the first half of a JUCO blowout game. Gus doesn't know what he is doing. Period. 

[tombigbeetiger 223]

18 minutes ago, Gowebb11 said:

2017 will be no different. Peyton Barber got 8-10 touches as a freshman and 2 years later is good enough to start in the NFL. Pettway got Zero touches versus Clemson. A year ago, Craig-Myers was one of the nations top players and he caught 4 passes this year. Kyle Davis was the best high school WR in Georgia and caught a dozen passes in 13 games. Our evaluation of JF3 was watching him play the first half of a JUCO blowout game. Gus doesn't know what he is doing. Period. 

now you get it!!!!.....if we had a competent  AD, which is anyone besides jethro jacobs, there would be a serious meeting take place this morning that would outline what is expected for next season concerning results, with no excuses

[AUApostle 7,651]

1 hour ago, WDE_OxPx_2010 said:

"Behind Pettway, who's our #2 RB... very disappointed in Kerryon this year.   Kerryon' vision and 1 cut ability isn't very good.  There are some run plays that could be designed for him though to bring his explosivesness out."

 

I have to adamantly disagree here. KJ was a bright spot this year. He had an ankle injury which is hard to come back from 100% but he nearly had 1000 yards this season.

 

Kerryon doesn't run like a normal (effective) RB...he looks like a hurdling swiss army knife in traffic...arms and legs flailing in every direction.  Sometimes it's a bit much and prevents him from getting the big run.  He's a creative runner though, I'll give him that.

[abw0004 10,125]

Good morning everyone.  As I tend to do after games, I wanted to share my thoughts for what is worth, if anything.  I will share what I was disappointed in as well as proud of.  And I am shooting to be impartial, although everyone knows I tend to always be upbeat about Auburn's program.

I first wanted to thank our senior players.  It truly was an honor to watch you guys play and I am thankful you returned for another season.  Carl Lawson will go down as one of my favorite players of all time, if not my most favorite player.  Same for Holsey, considering what he went through just to be on the field.  I hope none of the seniors are strangers, and come visit us at games in the future.  I can't wait to see most of them play at the next level.

I am also sad that we could not give them a win in their last game as Auburn football players.  My heart really went out to them watching them out there in the fourth quarter knowing exactly was going through their heads.

I can't fault our coaches for how things went as far as play calling was concerned.  We had a good game plan until Sean White broke his arm.  But that seemed to be the theme of our season as we did not have a capable back-up.  The coaches did not throw an unhealthy Sean White out there, and when Sean got injured, it was his forearm that was hurt, not his shoulder.  After Sean went out, Oklahoma did what Vanderbilt did and stacked the box.  Not much we could do there as JFIII couldn't throw after the first drive.  Defensively we did really good in my opinion, just got tired as they were out there the majority of the game with a stalling offense.

I do not know how to feel about Sean White and his decision on the play where he broke his arm.  I commend him for risking himself to help the team win, but after hurting his shoulder earlier in the season and seeing how important he was to the team, he should have slid to fight another day.  Or if he was going to dive, don't dive throwing shoulder/arm first.  His character stood out to me when he was really trying to hang in there after that play, and tried to come back in after he saw the damage to his arm.

We really need quality depth at quarterback.  No one saw JJ having an emotional breakdown coming, so you cannot fault the coaches.  No one knew Tyler Queen was injury prone.  I think with JFIII, the coaches were being heavily pressured in 2015 to find a dual threat QB so they made an "impulse buy" to make everyone happy.  But we have Jarrett Stidham now so lets see how he does with Sean White/Woody Barrett  backing him up.

JFIII is not fit for quarterbacking.  It was originally an uphill battle for him as he was too small to play at the next level.  He almost fumbled the ball again last night and after his first drive did not throw well.  He hand was cramping severely, so I will give him credit, but his future is not at QB.  In his interview last night, JFIII finally said he was open to playing another position and will return next year.  His willingness to switch positions is great news, not only for us, but for his future as well.

We need to give Oklahoma credit.  They played a great game.  Their defense played the best game of the season and had an offense to keep them rested.  I really wanted to beat them, but someone had to walk out of that stadium with a loss.

I can proudly say Westbrook and Mixon would not have been on our team with their abusive pasts.  One thing I think everyone can agree on is Gus' zero tolerance for any kind of abuse on women.  That was evident when Landon Rice was kicked off of the team this year when he was accused of sexual assault.  I am proud of Auburn's stance on that, and they will not sacrifice their morals to win a game.

Speaking of Mixon, Brent Musberger annoyed the crap out of me when he declared his love for Mixon with his rant of why Mixon should play.  Some things do not deserve second chances, and Mixon's actions do not.  If his victim's recovery time was longer than Mixon's suspension was, that is a problem.

Lastly, we have a lot to look forward to this 2017 season.  This may be the most talented team Auburn has had in a long time.  Tray Matthews and Carlton Davis both confirmed everyone (on defense at least) is returning that can declare early except Lawson.  The only people on offense we lose is Alex Kozan, Marcus Davis, and Tony Stevens.  Braden Smith will most likely stay, but nothing confirmed.  Kevin Steele will have one year under his belt, along with every coordinator we hired with him (except Mcgriff).  We also finally have the quarterback our offense needs, so we need to go into 2017 with an open mind.  2016 is behind us so lets move forward, learn from our mistakes, and become a better team next year.

I understand everyone handles defeat in different ways, and on here I may be the only one that feels this way.  I am fully prepared to give Gus and his team my full confidence and support for 2017 like I always do, even if most disagree with me.  I look forward to 2017 with everyone, and I hope to continue to learn from everyone and learn from those who see things from different perspectives than mine.  War Eagle!

[DAG 33,995]

Brethren do not take the bait 

[corchjay 5,311]

57 minutes ago, AUDevil said:

Kerryon doesn't run like a normal (effective) RB...he looks like a hurdling swiss army knife in traffic...arms and legs flailing in every direction.  Sometimes it's a bit much and prevents him from getting the big run.  He's a creative runner though, I'll give him that.

lol I couldn't have described his running style any better.  You nailed it my friend.  

[Eagle-1 3,821]

30 minutes ago, abw0004 said:

Good morning everyone.  As I tend to do after games, I wanted to share my thoughts for what is worth, if anything.  I will share what I was disappointed in as well as proud of.  And I am shooting to be impartial, although everyone knows I tend to always be upbeat about Auburn's program.

I first wanted to thank our senior players.  It truly was an honor to watch you guys play and I am thankful you returned for another season.  Carl Lawson will go down as one of my favorite players of all time, if not my most favorite player.  Same for Holsey, considering what he went through just to be on the field.  I hope none of the seniors are strangers, and come visit us at games in the future.  I can't wait to see most of them play at the next level.

I am also sad that we could not give them a win in their last game as Auburn football players.  My heart really went out to them watching them out there in the fourth quarter knowing exactly was going through their heads.

I can't fault our coaches for how things went as far as play calling was concerned.  We had a good game plan until Sean White broke his arm.  But that seemed to be the theme of our season as we did not have a capable back-up.  The coaches did not throw an unhealthy Sean White out there, and when Sean got injured, it was his forearm that was hurt, not his shoulder.  After Sean went out, Oklahoma did what Vanderbilt did and stacked the box.  Not much we could do there as JFIII couldn't throw after the first drive.  Defensively we did really good in my opinion, just got tired as they were out there the majority of the game with a stalling offense.

I do not know how to feel about Sean White and his decision on the play where he broke his arm.  I commend him for risking himself to help the team win, but after hurting his shoulder earlier in the season and seeing how important he was to the team, he should have slid to fight another day.  Or if he was going to dive, don't dive throwing shoulder/arm first.  His character stood out to me when he was really trying to hang in there after that play, and tried to come back in after he saw the damage to his arm.

We really need quality depth at quarterback.  No one saw JJ having an emotional breakdown coming, so you cannot fault the coaches.  No one knew Tyler Queen was injury prone.  I think with JFIII, the coaches were being heavily pressured in 2015 to find a dual threat QB so they made an "impulse buy" to make everyone happy.  But we have Jarrett Stidham now so lets see how he does with Sean White/Woody Barrett  backing him up.

JFIII is not fit for quarterbacking.  It was originally an uphill battle for him as he was too small to play at the next level.  He almost fumbled the ball again last night and after his first drive did not throw well.  He hand was cramping severely, so I will give him credit, but his future is not at QB.  In his interview last night, JFIII finally said he was open to playing another position and will return next year.  His willingness to switch positions is great news, not only for us, but for his future as well.

We need to give Oklahoma credit.  They played a great game.  Their defense played the best game of the season and had an offense to keep them rested.  I really wanted to beat them, but someone had to walk out of that stadium with a loss.

I can proudly say Westbrook and Mixon would not have been on our team with their abusive pasts.  One thing I think everyone can agree on is Gus' zero tolerance for any kind of abuse on women.  That was evident when Landon Rice was kicked off of the team this year when he was accused of sexual assault.  I am proud of Auburn's stance on that, and they will not sacrifice their morals to win a game.

Speaking of Mixon, Brent Musberger annoyed the crap out of me when he declared his love for Mixon with his rant of why Mixon should play.  Some things do not deserve second chances, and Mixon's actions do not.  If his victim's recovery time was longer than Mixon's suspension was, that is a problem.

Lastly, we have a lot to look forward to this 2017 season.  This may be the most talented team Auburn has had in a long time.  Tray Matthews and Carlton Davis both confirmed everyone (on defense at least) is returning that can declare early except Lawson.  The only people on offense we lose is Alex Kozan, Marcus Davis, and Tony Stevens.  Braden Smith will most likely stay, but nothing confirmed.  Kevin Steele will have one year under his belt, along with every coordinator we hired with him (except Mcgriff).  We also finally have the quarterback our offense needs, so we need to go into 2017 with an open mind.  2016 is behind us so lets move forward, learn from our mistakes, and become a better team next year.

I understand everyone handles defeat in different ways, and on here I may be the only one that feels this way.  I am fully prepared to give Gus and his team my full confidence and support for 2017 like I always do, even if most disagree with me.  I look forward to 2017 with everyone, and I hope to continue to learn from everyone and learn from those who see things from different perspectives than mine.  War Eagle!

No offense man, but this post is so full of unicorn pee, and fairy dust, I don't even know where to begin a response.

[abw0004 10,125]

30 minutes ago, DAG said:

Brethren do not take the bait 

Not trying to bait anyone to anything.  You of all people should know that's not what I do.  When I have been wrong, I have acknowledged that and thanked you for the correction.  You may not agree with my post and I knew you most likely wouldn't.  But that's okay.  Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I respect that.  Hope you are having a good start to your year.

[aubiefifty 16,805]

A new era and new hope emerge for Auburn after Sugar Bowl loss

Joseph Goodman | jgoodman@al.com

The Jeremy Johnson Era is finally over, and everyone still has a job at Auburn.

Amid the insane existence coaches must live in the Southeastern Conference, optimists would call that an incredible success. Others, the delusional among us, would call it an enormous disappointment. Then there's Les Miles, who's probably still trying to make a call with time running out on his career at LSU.

Gus Malzahn probably saved his job the night he beat Miles and LSU this season, but Auburn's 35-19 loss to Oklahoma on Monday in the Sugar Bowl demonstrated just how closely everything came to going incredibly bad for the 8-5 Tigers in 2016. The game was a microcosm of the season -- not awful with quarterback Sean White healthy, but pretty unwatchable with him injured on the sideline.

"It was a lot of gray hairs this season for everybody, including myself," said Auburn sophomore fullback Chandler Cox, who scored his first collegiate touchdown in the Tigers' loss.

Stress induced gray hair has been the story of Auburn football for most of the last two seasons, but there are reasons to be hopeful things will improve next year. In just getting there, though, assuming nothing crazy happens between now and then, Malzahn deserves some recognition. All things considered, the coach and his staff should be commended for saving the season and putting Auburn in a position to be selected for a New Year's Six bowl game.

"Obviously right now I've got a locker room full of disappointed players," Malzahn said after the game, "but I think we were picked last or next to last in the SEC. We played a very tough schedule. We had some tough injuries.

"I guess probably the best way [to describe the season], is we overcame a lot of obstacles to get here. We're disappointed we didn't win...but the future is very bright. We're losing some great leadership, but we've got a bunch of talented young guys."

Those talented players put Auburn ahead of Oklahoma early in the game, but the offense fell off considerably when White, the sophomore quarterback, went out with a broken forearm in the first half. Backup quarterback John Franklin III lacked the ability to keep Auburn in the game.

After trailing 14-13 at halftime, Auburn had 21 yards of total offense in the third quarter and the Tigers were outscored 21-6 in the second half. Franklin completed 1-of-3 passes for four yards in the decisive third quarter.

Franklin then left the game due to a forearm injury of his own, according to Malzahn, but by that point in the fourth quarter it was already clear the junior-college transfer wasn't going to be leading a comeback. With the game out of hand, Malzahn put his embattled senior quarterback onto the field for the final minutes of his career. It was a thoughtful gesture, and Johnson finished his time at Auburn by leading a touchdown drive.

It was a nice send off, and no one should fault Malzahn for wanting to score one final touchdown for his seniors at the end of the game.

But watching Johnson finish his career also served as a reminder of just how badly Malzahn either missed on the quarterback prospect or failed to develop him. Johnson was billed as a Heisman-caliber quarterback at the beginning of the 2015 season. Malzahn benched him three games in.

Ever since then, Malzahn has struggled to score points consistently. This season, the offense was exceptional at times (543 rushing yards against Arkansas), and non-existent at others (zero first downs against Georgia in the second half).

With Cox, White, Kamryn Pettway and Kerryon Johnson all juniors next spring, the Tigers' backfield will have a strong base from which to grow. If transfer quarterback Jarrett Stidham slides easily into the depth chart as expected, there is a lot to be excited about. That doesn't mean Malzahn is off the hook, though, for gumming up his offense with quarterbacks unable to run it.

"He can make every throw that you ask him to do, but he's a better runner than people think," Malzahn said famously about Johnson during the 2015 SEC Media Days.

Johnson was a disappointment after so much hype, and Franklin seems like he'd be better served changing positions for his senior season. Malzahn is a great football coach, but he has missed badly on quarterbacks since his stellar runs with Cam Newton and Nick Marshall.

Finding depth at quarterback is the top priority for Auburn this offseason, and returning players are enthusiastic about the Stidham, the transfer from Baylor. Stidham has three years of eligibility remaining, which could, in theory, shore up the quarterback depth chart immediately while also providing a bridge to the future.

Stidham will be a roommate next semester with Cox, the fullback who scored in the first quarter against Oklahoma to give Auburn a 7-0 lead.

"He's just a good kid," Cox said. "He's got a good head on his shoulders, and he's a great football player, but what stands out to me is the person he is, and the way he just connects with everybody. He comes into the locker room, and everyone just loves him already. He's just the kind of a guy who is easy to come in, and he's going to be a good attribute to this team."

Talk in the locker room already has shifted to the new quarterback competition. With White now injured, Stidham will have a chance to emerge as a leader this offseason. No matter how the depth chart shakes out, Malzahn will have more options than this season.

"If Sean somehow loses the battle, we're going to know that we have Sean White as a reserve," Kerryon Johnson said. "The way we have been struck by injuries this year, that's a good feeling. So, we know we're going to have depth at that position, and we just have to have somebody step up and do it consistently."

Joseph Goodman is a senior reporter and columnist for Alabama Media Group. He's on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr.

[tombigbeetiger 223]

"the future is bright"....i am so ****ing sick of hearing that....to be "bright" somebody has to flip the switch to turn it on....the malzahn circuit has been disconnected and no longer works

[thaitopher 807]

With Sean White out, What was Gus supposed to do? You Gus haters are ridiculous..seriously. Everything was looking great last night until SW went down then the wheels fell off... and that's a coaching issue?  So many people on this board have lost the ability to think rationally.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

We don't have to wait to see AU with 5 losses next season, we can see it coming now because we'll still have this same freakin staff.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

You Gus backers are ridiculous. Y'all really must love seeing Gus bringing Auburn down with 12-2, 8-5, 7-6 and 8-5 records in his 4 years.

[ArgoEagle 1,790]

9 hours ago, tigerman1186 said:

We need to throw it to our TE more often....lest see, ew threw to him twice all season and he caught both of them for a TD...with a success rate like that we should have thrown to him at least once a game....

This, plus we need a totally different passing attack. Look at all our losses this year, and over the past few years. The common denominator in these losses is that we played teams with a defense capable of stopping our running attack and became too 1 dimensional and predictable b/c our passing attack was very weak. This is why I was just very disgusted when I heard Lashlee did not get a HC job somewhere else. He and Gus need to get a divorce from each other and we need a fresh offensive mind in here with a more sophisticated passing attack. We have too many high quality receivers to be wasting their talent running the ball 85% of the time, and we def. need to throw more on 1st down.

[PigskinPat 2,579]

16 minutes ago, thaitopher said:

With Sean White out, What was Gus supposed to do? You Gus haters are ridiculous..seriously. Everything was looking great last night until SW went down then the wheels fell off... and that's a coaching issue?  So many people on this board have lost the ability to think rationally.

It is absolutely not Gus' fault that SW got injured. It is absolutely Gus' fault that he doesn't have a capable backup plan when SW got injured. This far into his tenure, there are no excuses for that.

[Tiger 8,827]

Why do people think Rhett lashlee will get a head coaching job when the entire fan base for whom is employed right now wants him gone? Not everyone can fall up like Lane Kiffin. Our best bet is if RL gets an OC job somewhere IMO as he's not even the real OC for us.  

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

10 hours ago, SCTiger2011 said:

Guys, guys, guys...y'all are talking over all the wrong things...whats the feel-good slogan for next year's team gonna be!!!!????  That's what the real motivator is...

TWO ARMS! TWO ARMS!

 

Some semblance of QB depth go a loooong way to making me "feel-good"

[oracle79 3,569]

11 hours ago, AUwent said:

Is Sean's career done?

I'm guessing he'll be "100%" by spring practice and participating in the whole practice.

Did anyone else hear Brent saying that the practice before the game, GM didn't have SW throw an actual football, just make the motions?  I knew he wasn't close to 100% when it looked like his 8 yard outs to the sideline hung in the air so long it was going to be a pick six, and when he short hopped one to KJ about 8 yards away.  Not to mention the intermediate ball he almost fell down throwing that didn't come close to the receiver.  Gus should really just stop doing press conferences.  There is no point to them.

[oracle79 3,569]

                     

[Eagle-1 3,821]

2 hours ago, thaitopher said:

With Sean White out, What was Gus supposed to do? You Gus haters are ridiculous..seriously. Everything was looking great last night until SW went down then the wheels fell off... and that's a coaching issue?  So many people on this board have lost the ability to think rationally.

C'mon man! Are we supposed to be giddy about only losing 5 games?, or the three straight mediocre seasons? Maybe we should be happy that Gus has managed to win 8 out of his last 20 SEC games. I know, we should be celebrating that we won 5 SEC games this year after our coach had us in the position to be picked to finish 5th in the West in the fourth year of his regime. Maybe we should throw a party because we managed to actually make a few first downs in the first half against that powerhouse UGA defense. With Sean White out Gus was supposed to go to the serviceable backup QB he has recruited, and developed for the situation...... OH wait, never mind. You Gus apologists are actually the ones who need to sit down and rationally evaluate the status of where he has this program.

[thaitopher 807]

9 minutes ago, Eagle-1 said:

C'mon man! Are we supposed to be giddy about only losing 5 games?, or the three straight mediocre seasons? Maybe we should be happy that Gus has managed to win 8 out of his last 20 SEC games. I know, we should be celebrating that we won 5 SEC games this year after our coach had us in the position to be picked to finish 5th in the West in the fourth year of his regime. Maybe we should throw a party because we managed to actually make a few first downs in the first half against that powerhouse UGA defense. With Sean White out Gus was supposed to go to the serviceable backup QB he has recruited, and developed for the situation...... OH wait, never mind. You Gus apologists are actually the ones who need to sit down and rationally evaluate the status of where he has this program.

Sorry, but there is no way in hell even a developed serviceable backup quarterback beats that Oklahoma team.  Not gonna happen, hence my comment on lack of rational thinking on the part of  a lot of posters in here.

[oldman 23]

Maybe by the time CTT has had a year of rest he will come back.

[Eagle-1 3,821]

1 minute ago, oldman said:

Maybe by the time CTT has had a year of rest he will come back.

That ship has sailed. I, however would be shocked to see a defense look that lost under TT.