Official Postgame thread

[ToraGirl 5,498]

3 minutes ago, WFE12 said:

ANDDDDD for the most Auburn thing ever We beat UGA and Bama in the same season and they both go onto the NC game.

Annnnnd, it makes us look so good for having beat them both, except....not.  Need the Jordan Hare electricity to travel with us...need much more than that.

[shabby 1,958]

postseason begins by watching the two teams I hate most competing in the national championship. there are no words

[leglessdan 1,934]

11 minutes ago, shabby said:

postseason begins by watching the two teams I hate most competing in the national championship. there are no words

And....after watching us play like complete garbage and lose to a non P5 school in a bowl game.  Could the day get any worse. I'll never understand the Gus lovers.

[tigerrules 517]

24 minutes ago, leglessdan said:

And....after watching us play like complete garbage and lose to a non P5 school in a bowl game.  Could the day get any worse. I'll never understand the Gus lovers.

But we beat arky!!

[aubiefifty 16,791]

i can take a loss if we play hard but the fact they talked smack and we did not make them eat their words bothers me. petty i know. personally i think they did not take the knights as serious as they should. Maybe they partied too much the night before thinking we would out talent them.and gus called them out pretty hard at half which the announcer said was not like gus?remember they say we are only as good as our last game which was pretty rough so maybe the kids just could not get up. who knows? And not many want to give the knights credit but they played a whale of a game,period.

anyone know was up with the shoes?

[Auburnfan91 1,407]

3 hours ago, Brad_ATX said:

Well we won one and played for a second this year.

And I'm not a "Malzahn supporter" as you put it.  I watch football and realize that overall, our program is on a good trajectory.  6 wins, to 8 wins, to 10 wins + a division title over the last three years in the regular season.  I'll take that kind of growth all day.

Go look at Dabo at Clemson and imagine if they fired him as early as some wanted.  And admittedly, I don't think people give Malzahn enough credit for pulling this program back from the depths of 3-9.  There was a lot of house cleaning that needed to be done after the Chizik years.  We're finally on solid ground and I'd like to see where this goes.  If he fails over the next couple of years to win the conference, then we should absolutely be concerned as a fan base.

First off, we had no QB in 2012 and no offense to go along with an already sub par defense. We still didn't have a good defense in 2013 but our offense was exceptional. Nick Marshall's athleticism and ability to run the zone read made the offense work better than it has since and helped bail the sub par defense out. We won a lot of close games in 2013, it's not like we rolled over everyone. We needed miraculous type plays in order to beat UGA and Alabama in 2013. With most of the offense coming back in 2014, we slumped to 8-5. Underachieving in 2014 was really when the program slipped back down under Gus. There was no excuse to go from 12-2 to 8-5. 

Secondly, Dabo had only been the HC at Clemson for 3 years after 2010. Dabo made changes and hired Chad Morris. Heck, Dabo fired Kevin Steele after they lost in the Orange Bowl to West Virginia despite them going 10-4 and winning the ACC in 2011. Clemson hasn't lost a bowl game since the 2012 Orange Bowl to West Virginia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dabo_Swinney

10-4 wasn't "good enough" for Dabo. He wanted more for Clemson and look where they are now. They hired Brent Venables away from Oklahoma and Clemson's defense has been much better since. Clemson has won at least 10+ games each year since 2011. 

Finally, Gus hasn't proven he can sustain success. Anything less than 10+ wins in 2018 will be viewed as a step backwards/regression. As it should be. Gus is now making $7 million a year..... Going 9-3 shouldn't be "good enough" anymore. Gus's pay scale is that of an elite coach, so we should expect elite results from now on. 

I'll somewhat agree with your earlier point that bowl games aren't that important in the big scheme of things, but also look at the perspective that this isn't a good look for Gus now that he's gotten a raise and new contract.. You can't dismiss the fans for being upset about losing a bowl game to a less talented team right after losing the SEC Championship all the while getting a new contract and a $2 million raise. There are several fans, including me who didn't think Gus deserved $7 million. The bowl games should count more now that Gus has been rewarded with $7 million.

[WFE12 9,191]

4 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

i can take a loss if we play hard but the fact they talked smack and we did not make them eat their words bothers me. petty i know. personally i think they did not take the knights as serious as they should. Maybe they partied too much the night before thinking we would out talent them.and gus called them out pretty hard at half which the announcer said was not like gus?remember they say we are only as good as our last game which was pretty rough so maybe the kids just could not get up. who knows? And not many want to give the knights credit but they played a whale of a game,period.

anyone know was up with the shoes?

Again I'm saying I watched some player's Instagram posts from the night before and they were singing and dancing outside their rooms late at night like they didn't have a bowl game in the morning. The seniors should have stepped up and told everybody to go to bed idc if it was New Year's Eve. They didn't take it as serious as they should have.

[CameronCrazy 1,062]

Turnovers were huge. We have struggled the last few years to create them on defense and they usually come at crucial times for us on offense. After 4 straight games of Stidham fumbling the ball to end the season, we still couldn’t figure out how to correct that over the long layoff. 

DL - Where was Holland? These guys failed to control the line of scrimmage against an inferior opponent after they have been billed as an elite DL all year. 

Defensive game plan - Why didn’t we blitz in the 2nd half when their QB starting getting in a rhythm? Why didn’t we put a spy LB to stop the QB scrambles after the 1st Quarter? 

OL - There are no words to describe how unbelievably frustrating it was to watch a veteran OL with 4 seniors get man-handled by a non-Power 5 opponent during their final game in an Auburn uniform. It was absolutely horrific & embarrassing. IMO Herb Hand needs to go. This veteran OL was inconsistent all year and some linemen appeared to regress at times.

RB - It’s hard to fault Kerryon when he had no blocking, but it appeared that Kam Martin was the much more effective back against this defense. And yet, we refused to give him significant touches AGAIN!

Offensive game plan - UCF controlled the game on defense because we failed to create a new game plan. Instead we were satisfied with the same ole playbook - WR screens, jet sweeps, wildcat, & runs up the middle. We MUST develop our passing game to have any hope next season. 

Special Teams - I can’t stress enough the importance of hiring a proven ST coach in the off-season. I believed that Fountain was a weak link last year, but we clearly found weaker. 

[milehighfan 1,240]

The coaches as well as the senior leadership of this team need to make the players quit reading their press clippings, believing everything written and said about them in the media and play the game.

[kevon67 2,368]

Well when all said and done we will have beaten next weeks national champ.........hope this helps

 

[Allen_D 72]

15 hours ago, bmartin3228 said:

Fantastic day throwing straight to a linebacker for a pick 6 and floating ball up to end the game with Hasting open over the middle one on one . 

You can disagree but guess it doesn't to much to impress you . 

 

Think JS has potential, but has yet to learn to keep his head up when the bullets are flying.  Someone in the coaching staff please figure out a hot read.  JS, job #1 is to protect the football: three turnovers that shouldn’t have happened will get you beaten.

Maybe JS should spend the spring semester with a qb whisperer - that guy George W or someone (em, no not Michael Vick).

[ArgoEagle 1,788]

5 hours ago, CameronCrazy said:

Turnovers were huge. We have struggled the last few years to create them on defense and they usually come at crucial times for us on offense. After 4 straight games of Stidham fumbling the ball to end the season, we still couldn’t figure out how to correct that over the long layoff. 

DL - Where was Holland? These guys failed to control the line of scrimmage against an inferior opponent after they have been billed as an elite DL all year. 

Defensive game plan - Why didn’t we blitz in the 2nd half when their QB starting getting in a rhythm? Why didn’t we put a spy LB to stop the QB scrambles after the 1st Quarter? 

OL - There are no words to describe how unbelievably frustrating it was to watch a veteran OL with 4 seniors get man-handled by a non-Power 5 opponent during their final game in an Auburn uniform. It was absolutely horrific & embarrassing. IMO Herb Hand needs to go. This veteran OL was inconsistent all year and some linemen appeared to regress at times.

RB - It’s hard to fault Kerryon when he had no blocking, but it appeared that Kam Martin was the much more effective back against this defense. And yet, we refused to give him significant touches AGAIN!

Offensive game plan - UCF controlled the game on defense because we failed to create a new game plan. Instead we were satisfied with the same ole playbook - WR screens, jet sweeps, wildcat, & runs up the middle. We MUST develop our passing game to have any hope next season. 

Special Teams - I can’t stress enough the importance of hiring a proven ST coach in the off-season. I believed that Fountain was a weak link last year, but we clearly found weaker. 

Amen to everything you brought out, but especially to the why didn't we blitz? I know KS does not like to blitz, but sometimes you have to get outside your comfort zone and do whatever it takes to win. I was yelling blitz at the tv screen the whole 2nd half. In my opinion this is the biggest weakness Gus' entire staff has is the refusal to make critical in-game adjustments.

[leglessdan 1,934]

1 hour ago, kevon67 said:

Well when all said and done we will have beaten next weeks national champ.........hope this helps

 

That's the toughest pill to swallow.

[WDG 109]

“We kind of came out sleepwalking, throwing the ball in the air. I don't know if it was the big lights or the big jumbotron," Milton said. "Coaches were calling good plays and utilizing my legs, and the O-line dominated the game today. I don't think anybody expected them to do that." http://www.oanow.com/sports/college/auburn/football/ucf-quarterback-mckenzie-milton-beats-auburn-with-his-legs/article_f55f0c1e-ef52-11e7-9949-8b8ea92b6a4d.html

[Allen_D 72]

12 hours ago, GwillMac6 said:

all summer we should FIND SOME DANG CLEATS THAT WORK ON THAT SURFACE!!!! we were slipping all day!!! COME ON UA HOOK US UP! we are one of your flagship schools!! We were slipping all over tempe in 2010 as well!

Bowl game not necessarily the best time to try out new shoes...

[kevon67 2,368]

tigers should have been ready to play......knowing ucf had statement to make

 

[chimes 442]

5 hours ago, Allen_D said:

Bowl game not necessarily the best time to try out new shoes...

But they were so flashy. Ballers gotta ball out

[AU64 10,122]

6 hours ago, ArgoEagle said:

Amen to everything you brought out, but especially to the why didn't we blitz? I know KS does not like to blitz, but sometimes you have to get outside your comfort zone and do whatever it takes to win. I was yelling blitz at the tv screen the whole 2nd half. In my opinion this is the biggest weakness Gus' entire staff has is the refusal to make critical in-game adjustments.

Guess maybe if you are AU and you have to blitz to get the rush on a QB that's a sign of defeat.   I usually respect our defense but when we barely touched their QB all game and let him scramble for ...what?   100 yards or so.....that's poor planning.    Putting a lot of that loss on Steele for not finding a way to put that little guy on his butt....and for allowing him to run around our DEs.   

[aufan57 922]

Confirmation 

 

[aubaseball 2,613]

6 minutes ago, AU64 said:

Guess maybe if you are AU and you have to blitz to get the rush on a QB that's a sign of defeat.   I usually respect our defense but when we barely touched their QB all game and let him scramble for ...what?   100 yards or so.....that's poor planning.    Putting a lot of that loss on Steele for not finding a way to put that little guy on his butt....and for allowing him to run around our DEs.   

Amen to this.     This and our o line lost the game.    

[ArgoEagle 1,788]

9 minutes ago, AU64 said:

Guess maybe if you are AU and you have to blitz to get the rush on a QB that's a sign of defeat.   I usually respect our defense but when we barely touched their QB all game and let him scramble for ...what?   100 yards or so.....that's poor planning.    Putting a lot of that loss on Steele for not finding a way to put that little guy on his butt....and for allowing him to run around our DEs.   

Yeah, we basically got beat by 1 person of offense (the qb) and one person on defense (#18). Complete failure by the DC and the OC on our part. There is just no plan B with our coaches. Either plan A works and we win, or plan A doesn't work and we rack up another L!

[aubaseball 2,613]

I don’t know his name but I think his number was 16.   They showed a camera shot of him on the bench late in the game and AU was down just seven points and UCF had the ball.   He was sitting by himself and just looked liked he didn’t care what so ever about what was happening on the field.    I thought this shot was how auburn played throughout the game     Hope everyone else caught the shot as well 

[CCTAU 3,327]

13 minutes ago, aubaseball said:

I don’t know his name but I think his number was 16.   They showed a camera shot of him on the bench late in the game and AU was down just seven points and UCF had the ball.   He was sitting by himself and just looked liked he didn’t care what so ever about what was happening on the field.    I thought this shot was how auburn played throughout the game     Hope everyone else caught the shot as well 

Actually he was watching the game on the overhead. He did look relaxed though.

 

I think it was a FR DB. For the guys that will not play, it was supposed to be a fun trip. A reward for hanging in there all season.

Maybe they were told to stay out of the way. You never know.

[AU64 10,122]

4 minutes ago, aubaseball said:

I don’t know his name but I think his number was 16.   They showed a camera shot of him on the bench late in the game and AU was down just seven points and UCF had the ball.   He was sitting by himself and just looked liked he didn’t care what so ever about what was happening on the field.    I thought this shot was how auburn played throughout the game     Hope everyone else caught the shot as well 

I did not specifically notice the incident you mention but about any time during the game you probably could have found half the team in the same posture.  If they were wearing watches or  had their smart phones,  I suspect many of the players would have been checking the time to see when the game would be over so they could get  out of there.    Contrast that to Mayfield in the faces of his team mates, urging them to play hard.....being a leader.   Difference was night and day compared to whoever is supposed to be the emotional leader for AU. 

I guess you can blame the lack of leadership on the coaches but generally coaches can's appoint leaders, they have to emerge.....and that does not seem to have happened this year....especially from the players who are in position to inspire the rest of the team. 

[AURealist 2,185]

22 minutes ago, aufan57 said:

Confirmation 

 

Good grief.