Opining all things Gus (Merged)

[autan 755]

I don't know of another coach that would have punted in that situation. All the fans in our house were disappointed in the decision but not surprised.   That decision pretty much sealed our fate.  If we can't make a yard at that point in the game we really don't deserve to win, so justice was served.  Sometimes just showing confidence in your team fires everyone up even if you don't make it. 

[Tigger1985 818]

Thought we should have went for it. They were gaining momentum. Their offensive coordinator changed up, ours didn't. I thought we should have tried Tyler Queen at Qb

[autigeremt 6,786]

47 minutes ago, AU64 said:

It is hard to believe that the Gus Malzahn experiment is not coming to an end.   The program is just not making any progress......that's about all there is to it.  

So here we are now with all our hopes for the 2017 season based almost solely on a transfer QB who has only played in half a dozen college games.  

If the guy slips getting out of the shower and breaks something, the season is lost.  On the other hand, we /Gus might get lucky if JS turns out to be as hoped for....but all that responsibility placed on the right arm of one guy?     That's just not right.....

$$$$$$$ and JJ. Time will tell if this time next year change is afoot.

[Tigercj 242]

It's not if you like or do not like Gus anymore, it's about the program and more importantly about these young men. Gus and his staff have proven that you can recruit well but have no clue on how to develop a player. He has always relied on a Juco QB in order for his offense to work. None of this part really matters it is plainly the direction of the program and what was promised to these young men. Gus has had four years to prove he was raising star as a head coach instead all we gotten is cup cake dreams. 

I for one am exhausted of hearing that next year is going to be better only to see the same confused coaching we have seen the past few years. Gus has shown everyone that he is in above his head and we should not have hired a head coach in training. Whatever the powers maybe decide to do we will have to live with it more importantly these young men will have to live with it. And above all we have to stand behind these young men and hope for the best and continue to yell WDE for them every game. Believe me I am in no way pleased with the progress of this program but I will stand behind our team. War Eagle guys and let's hope and pray next year we are better as a team.

[SumterAubie 3,033]

3 hours ago, alexava said:

this messed me up. i was going to the restroom. end of 1st, beginning of 2nd is when this happened. i thought we had declined the penalty and stopped them on 3rd. I was waiting in long line to bathroom so i stepped in the tunnel to watch till the line shortened. when it appeared we held i went back to the restroom and here roars. when i get back i see them at the other end of the field. still confused.

IIRC it was 2nd and 25. Mayfield runs for 2 yards. Holding was called. And accepted. So instead of 3rd and 23 yards, it is again 2nd and 35. Then Lawson offsides on the second down incomplete pass making it 2nd down again and 30 to go. A three yard Mixon run on this second down. Now it is third and 27. A Lawson penalty on a 3rd down 3 yard pass completion makes it 3rd down again and 22 to go. A 32 yard Mayfield completion gives OU a first down.

A horrible sequence.

[autan 755]

15 hours ago, Gowebb11 said:

My thoughts:

I love # 55 but when all is said and done, will drop to the third or fourth round and is not nearly as quick and athletic as he looked as a freshman. 

Our coaches were outschemed all night. On offense we tried to block 8 with 5 or 6. On defense we tried to stop 8 with 5 or 6. Winning the numbers game is basic stuff and we failed to adjust. 

Our DBs are generally a step slow and too short. Compared to those at Bama, LSU, UGA, UF, etc.we are not in the same neighborhood physically and athletically.

 

#57 plays with great effort but misses way too many tackles.

Stoops oozes confidence in his scheme and players and his team reflects it (goes for it on fourth and 4 and easily executes. Average 10 wins a year over 2 decades) Gus oozes Insecurity and his scheme and players reflect it. (Punts on fourth and inches and averages 5 losses a year).

I hate what we have become in football but still love my Tigers and Auburn. War Eagle anyway. 

Can't disagree with any of this. Normally I don't like to single out individual players but I agree that defense was over rated this year. DL was the strength and did a pretty good job of stopping the run until late in the year. LBs were not good in coverage, missed too many tackles, and were a step slow or took bad angles. Had a couple of strong games but same old same old for most of season.  DBs continue to play too loose so they miss tackles after catch.  Defense could not create turnovers for whatever reason. Offense did not play well last night but defense was embarrassed at times.

[milehighfan 1,240]

10 hours ago, AU64 said:

Well if you look back at the Peach Bowl Game....seems that $6,094,000 doesn't get much either.....

Well, the team with the six million dollar coach is playing for the national championship....again.

[aubaseball 2,688]

In my opinion, AU needs several changes to the staff.   New OC.   New D line coach.   Move garner to special teams or have Gus coach special teams and bring in someone to assist garner.   

[Charleston Tiger 134]

Something I haven't seen mentioned about our defense is this: they were on the field the majority of the game. While they missed some things early on when our offense was performing, eventually even with our defensive depth, it's going to start to gas them. Our offense consistently went 3 and out and put the defense back on the field within 4-5 minutes of them getting off of it. Even the most conditioned of defenses can't handle that for the better part of a half, much less a whole game.

I don't fault our offense entirely - it was performing with Sean in there. I think this game was another example of what many have been saying for a while now: this offense lives and dies by the QB. Before people jump on Gus about that, it should also be pointed out that our offensive style is far from the only one in CFB to have this be the case. Someone posted above pointing out a very often overlooked fact as well: very few college programs have backups that are anything more than a "fill in the gap and don't lose this thing" type of player. This isn't the NFL, where the backup is expected to be of the caliber to be able to come in at a moments notice and win the game.

Finally, my last opinion is around Lawson. I think anyone who looks at his body of work and says he's overrated/not going to go until the 3-4 round/needs to come back to work on things is incorrect. Everyone has a bad play/bad game. But he was a first team All-American this year, was a Freshman All-American, and is definitely the most well-rounded player on that defensive line. Sure, he overran some of his rushes in this game, but he's still someone that will definitely go first round. I would love for him to stay as much as anyone for Auburn's sake. But the man WILL make money in the NFL, and with his history of injury, it seems foolish not to go.

Anyway, just my $0.02. On to basketball. Welcome to the Jungle!

[AURandy56 148]

12 hours ago, tombigbeetiger said:

he has had plenty of time to figure it out....tooooooo much time

Sadly, it looks like Gus is going to get another year to figure it out. 

[AUApostle 7,663]

I'm not sure our secondary should be blamed too harshly for an inability to cover receivers that long.  Our DL was not ready for Mayfield.  Might have been worthwhile to pay Nick Mashall to come emulate him in practice.  Apparently Johnson played the part of Mayfield on the scout team, but he doesn't have enough slipperiness.

[ArgoEagle 1,846]

I think playing is an overstatement. Would change to participating, but that may be an overstatement also. How about attending  the game?

[ronau57 12]

As a coach of mine told me, "You can't teach (coach) what you don't know."  How do you expect a bunch of high school coaches to be able to teach high school players to be top flight college players.  The people that think that it is possible are on their way now to Ford Motor Company Headquarters to buy a new Corvette.

[Eagle Eye 7 2,535]

just for what it's worth comment: As bad as the 16 point loss to a #7 Oklahoma team a 16 points to remember to put it in perspective. uat lost to #10 Oklahoma in the Sugar bowl in 2014 by 14 points,. Not only that saban has lost all 3 Sugar Bowls that his team has played in including a 14 point loss to Utah in 2009 and OSU by 5 points in 2015. And during all that time people claim he was the best ever. While I am not happy I do want folks that things are never as bad or good as they look at a certain moment in time. Maybe the writer from AL.com ought to have written his hit piece against saban back then also.  WDE

[alexava 6,974]

1 hour ago, AURandy56 said:

Sadly, it looks like Gus is going to get another year to figure it out. 

The only thing he needs to figure out is getting qb depth or keeping one healthy. It has been frustrating. Hopefully with JT, SW, and one or both of Woody.  and the freshman Marshall clone we can be set. 

[Aucater 152]

When they didn't go for it I felt like they had given up on winning the game period. 

[JDUBB4AU 5,138]

Looking at AU since Gus has been part of the program there have been some serious changes in the way he coached as an OC and as an HC. As an oc he was loose and appeared to have fun. Trick plays. Beating teams silly. Now the vibe is just awful. No fire and no killer instinct. Gus has built this team around 3 point wins and let's get to the 4th quarter. We are a 4th quarter or second half team.  Not a full game team. Bla bla.. after plan A fails. There is no plan B... preparation is what wins not well let's hope for the best. He has became complacent. The song Living on a prayer is what sums the team up. I hate that song, but that has been the team motto since Gus arrived. 2017 or bust. >>>> sorry for typos and Grammer. 

[AUsince72 11,084]

19 hours ago, auburn4ever said:

Well damn. I guess that means his buyout just went higher.

A4E bringin' some game!!!

[AuburnNTexas 7,202]

When he has had a QB that gave him options he used them.  When the QB talent did not allow him to play loose he played to not lose. He probably overcompensated to the safe side. I think his play calling is a reflection of his QB talent not what he would like to do. SW is very accurate on short and mid-range passes on the 1st drive in OU game before he got hurt Gus mixed in enough of the passing game to keep the OU front 7 honest and the running game worked well.

Once SW got hurt other QB's could not pass enough to keep front 7 honest.  JF3 game in completed a couple passes we moved the ball as we had a couple of pass completions then his arm tightened up OU Front 7 was able to not worry about the pass so the running game was impacted also.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

Auburn lost 3 of their last 4 games this year.

Lost to Georgia 13-7
Beat Alabama A&M 55-0
Lost to Alabama 30-12
Lost to Oklahoma 35-19

 

In Malzahn's 4 years at Auburn, he's ended the season at 8-5 twice.
 

[auburn4ever 1,266]

Gus was a heck of an OC for Auburn, but he's not a good SEC head coach. Maybe in Conference USA. After all, he went 10-3 in his only year (2012) as head coach for Arkansas State.

[AUsince72 11,084]

I remember back during the Ray Goff era at thUga, while still living in Georgia at the time, listening to all the sports talk radio people (hosts and callers) constantly whining about each season and actually WANTING thUga to lose enough games for their dumb*** PTB to see the light and fire Ray Goff and just thinking how awful that must feel to NEED your beloved team to do poorly enough for stupid people to make the right move.

Well....I now feel awful.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

mdp5150, do you really love seeing Auburn go 8-5? I hope that was a joke or a slam at Gus.

[AUsince72 11,084]

19 hours ago, Tiger said:

Didn't Lawson come close to getting Nick Fairley's sack record? Maybe I was blinded by bliss but Nick Fairley's season seemed far more dominant than Lawson's this year

It seems that Lawson is EXCELLENT at getting to the QB quickly (in most cases) but he's less than stellar at actually bringing the QB down.

My perception could be off but it seems he's actually missed a lot of tackles in his time at AU.  He causes disruption, yes.  But actually ending the play, no.

[abw0004 10,134]

I think 2017 will be a good test to say if he is the coach we were all hoping for since he finally has the QB since Nick Marshall that can run his offense.  2017 will be a very talented team, so let's see what is made of it.  But to the OP, an OC job is different than an HC job.  I would expect there to be differences.  As a HC, you have a whole team depending on you.  You have your coordinators, their wives, and their families that also depend on you.  It can be a lot more stressful.  There is more outside pressure as well.