Opining all things Gus (Merged)

[Tigercj 242]

7 hours ago, lionheartkc said:

He could be good in an air raid, but he would have to get the long ball down.  Air Raid relies on it. Sean is, as many have stated, a game manager.  He's the guy who can make the passes that need to be made in order to keep the ball moving, and pick up necessary yards on the ground occasionally as well. That's his strength. I don't know that he will ever be a highlight reel type of QB.  The good thing is, with a high functioning ground game, which is what we are known for, a game manager is all you need a QB. You just need someone back there who can reliably pick-up a 3rd and long, on occasion, and keep the D honest. it's not flashy, but it's effective.

You still need a QB that can go over the top and complete the long passes in order to keep a defense honest. With Shaun we just don't have that threat. Given his durability issues him running the ball is really not the best of game plans. If you want a game manager then Shaun is your type of QB but in this circus that we have as an offense it just will not work.

[Eagle-1 3,821]

4 hours ago, johnnyAU said:

I really enjoyed watching Tre follow Prosch into the hole and his interaction with Marshall, but Tre was no game changer at RB. He was pretty good, and had great balance, but not elite.

The trio of Prosch, Tre and Marshall was fun to watch when they had it going. It was nice to have Sammie Coates and Uzomah in the passing game too. 

Don't know what games you were watching man, but I have been watching Auburn football since the late sixties. Tre Mason in 2013 was easily the 3rd best RB I have seen in an Auburn Jersey. Bo,  Caddy, Tre. 

[augolf1716 21,301]

41 minutes ago, Eagle-1 said:

Don't know what games you were watching man, but I have been watching Auburn football since the late sixties. Tre Mason in 2013 was easily the 3rd best RB I have seen in an Auburn Jersey. Bo,  Caddy, Tre. 

three letters SEC championship game

[Eagle-1 3,821]

32 minutes ago, augolf1716 said:

three letters SEC championship game

That was definitely something!  That guy was one hell of a back. He would gain 3-4 yards when there was actually nothing there repeatedly.  Gus could run the same play with him over, and over, and Tre would pick up positive yardage nearly every time. We have not had a back since that could do that. His small stature probably contributed to him being able to slip through the smallest of holes. He had good speed, great vision, and balance, and was incredibly strong for his size. 

[Maverick.AU 13,281]

If the 2017 O is not successful then no excuses can be made for the O staff. This will  arguably be the most talented and complete offense in terms of skill set that Gus has had as an HC at AU. Talented QB, Experienced RBs, Explosive WRs, Athletic TE, and should be a decent OL returning 3 starters. If this O isn't successful then you have to look at coaching IMO, though I'm already looking that direction personally.

On a side note, since we like to run the fake reverse play action so often, I really wish we would make JF3 the reverse guy and hand it to him some and give him an RPO with Stove or NCM running deep. If it's covered let JF3 run it, if it's open throw it deep. We need new wrinkles and more things to keep the defense honest, we have gotten stagnant in that regard IMO. I give this play example because, while I do not care for this play, especially at the volume we run it, I know this is one of those plays that Gus will never put deeper down into the playbook. On these signature Gus plays, my hope is that he will add new wrinkles to them to help them to be less predictable.

[Charhair 345]

14 hours ago, Eagle-1 said:

That was definitely something!  That guy was one hell of a back. He would gain 3-4 yards when there was actually nothing there repeatedly.  Gus could run the same play with him over, and over, and Tre would pick up positive yardage nearly every time. We have not had a back since that could do that. His small stature probably contributed to him being able to slip through the smallest of holes. He had good speed, great vision, and balance, and was incredibly strong for his size. 

Not knocking Tre because he and Marshall were one of my favorite combos, personally but I do believe Kam entered the Iron Bowl only having been tackled for a loss two times the entire season (pre injury). 

I would take Rudi, Ronnie and Kenny over Tre though in terms of a skill set for a RB.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

15 hours ago, Tigercj said:

You still need a QB that can go over the top and complete the long passes in order to keep a defense honest. With Shaun we just don't have that threat. Given his durability issues him running the ball is really not the best of game plans. If you want a game manager then Shaun is your type of QB but in this circus that we have as an offense it just will not work.

He actually hit about 50% of his long passes, which did the job. I agree that his durability is a big issue, though most of the time he did slide when he ran. A bigger issue is that, on 3rd down, he throws caution to the wind to get a first. Anyway you look at it, as soon as they started calling the game to play more to his ability, as long as he stayed healthy, the offense moved and we won.

Auburn can be very successful with a healthy game manager at QB... it's just not as fun to watch.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

14 hours ago, Maverick.AU said:

If the 2017 O is not successful then no excuses can be made for the O staff. This will  arguably be the most talented and complete offense in terms of skill set that Gus has had as an HC at AU. Talented QB, Experienced RBs, Explosive WRs, Athletic TE, and should be a decent OL returning 3 starters.

The key is going to be the O-Line.  If they are good, we should have a very successful O. If they are great, we should be top 10. If they struggle, we will struggle.

[aujeff11 6,243]

12 minutes ago, lionheartkc said:

He actually hit about 50% of his long passes, which did the job.

Link it if you can.

"Which did the job"...bet you cannot link this because he didn't. DBs always hung around the line because they knew SW was a weak deep threat QB. 

[Eagle-1 3,821]

42 minutes ago, Charhair said:

Not knocking Tre because he and Marshall were one of my favorite combos, personally but I do believe Kam entered the Iron Bowl only having been tackled for a loss two times the entire season (pre injury). 

I would take Rudi, Ronnie and Kenny over Tre though in terms of a skill set for a RB.

That stat on Kam maybe so, however three straight runs by Kam and you can see he is winded, and a step slower. Tre could run 5-6 straight times without a drop off. Tre, also was a much better home run threat than Kam. As for the other ones you mentioned, they were all good backs. I guess everyone has their own opinion, but I would take Tre over those guys any day, and twice on Sunday.

[johnnyAU 3,645]

2 hours ago, Charhair said:

Not knocking Tre because he and Marshall were one of my favorite combos, personally but I do believe Kam entered the Iron Bowl only having been tackled for a loss two times the entire season (pre injury). 

I would take Rudi, Ronnie and Kenny over Tre though in terms of a skill set for a RB.

I'd also add Dyer to that list. What a shame he struggled so mightily off the field. 

[AU70 23]

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[doc4aday 1,887]

I would like to know how the mechanics of Gus' plays. It seems that there are only 3-4 plays that Gus runs throughout any game. I would like to know what they are, and how Gus determines which one to run. It seems simple to the point to where any decent QB should be able to have success running. The same goes for pass plays. It all seems so simple to manage.

I do think that DCs of opponents have figured out how to stop most plays Gus calls. I would like to hear from some of you that understand how Gus' spread offense works or does not work.

[corchjay 5,311]

Why do people think Auburn's playbook is so small.  There are about 8-10 rushing plays in all offenses.  We have different alignments to go with those running plays.  

We also have about 8-10 basic pass plays some incorporate more pass plays using running backs and tight ends but for the most part all offenses have a base of about 20 plays.  Then you add the certain package plays for 3rd/4th/goal line plays and redzone plays and you have an offense.  

Number of plays isn't the problem, execution and timing are.  Also putting yourself into predictable passing downs.  

Main thing we did on offense this year is not commit a lot of penalties and after the 3rd game we really reduced the number of negative plays. 

I think some of you forget headed into the UGA game we were the statistical offensive leaders in the conference.

 

[imaolgatiger 523]

23 minutes ago, doc4aday said:

I would like to know how the mechanics of Gus' plays. It seems that there are only 3-4 plays that Gus runs throughout any game. I would like to know what they are, and how Gus determines which one to run. It seems simple to the point to where any decent QB should be able to have success running. The same goes for pass plays. It all seems so simple to manage.

I do think that DCs of opponents have figured out how to stop most plays Gus calls. I would like to hear from some of you that understand how Gus' spread offense works or does not work.

Then do some research. It's easily found.  We run more than 3 or 4 plays...I suggest you watch Cole Cubelic's film room. Gus's offense works when he has a full compliment of players. It is obvious that we have had 1 QB the last couple of years and he has been injured. We also lost 7 RB's at various points since the 2015 season and most after spring. Most offenses work when you have a QB. Look at the Atlanta Falcons and their lack of success when Mike Vick got into trouble. It's not as simplistic as most of you want to dream.

[doc4aday 1,887]

5 minutes ago, corchjay said:

Why do people think Auburn's playbook is so small.  There are about 8-10 rushing plays in all offenses.  We have different alignments to go with those running plays.  

We also have about 8-10 basic pass plays some incorporate more pass plays using running backs and tight ends but for the most part all offenses have a base of about 20 plays.  Then you add the certain package plays for 3rd/4th/goal line plays and redzone plays and you have an offense.  

Number of plays isn't the problem, execution and timing are.  Also putting yourself into predictable passing downs.  

Main thing we did on offense this year is not commit a lot of penalties and after the 3rd game we really reduced the number of negative plays. 

I think some of you forget headed into the UGA game we were the statistical offensive leaders in the conference.

 

Thanks for the information. This is what I was looking for. Can you breakdown some of the plays on what should happen to make the play work. I know defensive alignments have a lot to do with the success of the plays.

[GwillMac6 20,712]

Gus has been in the SEC as a OC or Head Coach for 8 seasons. 7 of those with Auburn. He has never had a 3k yard passer. He has never had a 1k WR.  A lot of the times most of his passing stats (like Chris Todds 2009 season) is against inferior non conference opponents. Just curious to see what everyone thinks on why Gus struggles on building a capable passing offense against sec opponents? Its clear that tulsa was the exception and not anything close to the rule for what we can expect in a malzahn offense.

[oracle79 3,569]

He had both a 3K passer and 1k receiver in 2012...what? Wait...ok, I'm seeing a pattern...lol.

[doc4aday 1,887]

I have done this time to time. I just wanted to see if anyone out there can break this down to the point to where folks like me can get a better understanding of play calling. No need to treat me in the way I am detecting. I, and others just want a bit of information presented in a way that does not try to put me and any other loyal fan down whatsoever. Just a friendly post that needs addressing in a better way!

 

WDE & WDC

 

Doc

[PoetTiger 1,899]

No one here knows...I know a few games..I mean in several the running game was so potent it was really no need to throw it 30 times. But to do so you need an elite passer and Gus has really just had Nick, who was not the best but could execute. On paper alone Stidham looks like the best passer Gus will have at Auburn....therefore book is still open in my opinion

[AUIH1 1,515]

All that matters is wins and losses.  Gus has been mediocre in that regard since 2013.  AU should expect better.

 

wde

[auburn4ever 1,266]

We only threw for 154 yards using 3 QB against Oklahoma. That was a new low for the Sugar bowl. That is awful.

[AUloggerhead 2,253]

1 hour ago, PoetTiger said:

No one here knows...I know a few games..I mean in several the running game was so potent it was really no need to throw it 30 times. But to do so you need an elite passer and Gus has really just had Nick, who was not the best but could execute. On paper alone Stidham looks like the best passer Gus will have at Auburn....therefore book is still open in my opinion

Until AU proves it with a credible passing attack, they can expect to see top-25 opponents stack the box & stuff the run.  2016 was notable for AU having 3 QBs:  one too brittle, one too rattled and one too inaccurate to pass.  That has to change next season. 

[corchjay 5,311]

Doc search for some of Stat Tigers old posts.  He includes pictures of different moments during certain plays and why they were successful.

[corchjay 5,311]

Gus has shown lately to only pass when he has to.  That's my biggest problem with his play calling.  He doesn't allow his QB to get into the game throwing the ball until he absolutely has to.  I'm all for smash mouth football but sometimes the defense is going to take the run game away just from a numbers games.