Why is Gus so bad in bowl games?

[gctiger 937]

I can't remember a game that went really well when Gus had a lot of time to prepare.  For some reason he's unable to take advantage of the extra time  

While it's not my intent to tee off on him, I'd be willing to bet my paycheck that there will be more games just like whar we saw today.  

[AUDynasty 585]

Just now, GwillMac6 said:

absolutely I run on emotion. But that also means I am reactionary. I am reacting to what happened. Being a fan of sports is not about being even keel. We are not players. I react with my warranted over the top extreme positivity when we win and I think how I react when we lose is warranted to especially with the WAY WE KEEP LOSING with gus.

To be fair, I don't think I'd be that thrilled to beat UCF in a nailbiter. I thought we'd take command of the game from the coin flip. 

[GwillMac6 20,689]

Just now, AUDynasty said:

To be fair, I don't think I'd be that thrilled to beat UCF in a nailbiter. I thought we'd take command of the game from the coin flip. 

lol def not. I was just referencing how I was after amen corner. I honestly thought this would be a lot like the memphis gam and we would eventually dominate. Maybe we would of if there head coach had gone to his new job like fuente did in 15.

[AUDynasty 585]

Just now, GwillMac6 said:

lol def not. I was just referencing how I was after amen corner. I honestly thought this would be a lot like the memphis gam and we would eventually dominate. Maybe we would of if there head coach had gone to his new job like fuente did in 15.

I really thought we flipped the switch after we scored two touchdowns in two possessions in second half. 

[GwillMac6 20,689]

1 minute ago, AUDynasty said:

I really thought we flipped the switch after we scored two touchdowns in two possessions in second half. 

same here brother. Usually the third is where gustav struggles. As soon as we went up and got the ball back he went in to tubbershell. It is like he lives to get a lead so he can sit on it and be conservative. It is maddening.

[DAG 33,997]

32 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

go away sunshine pumper this is not the thread for you. You knew what you were getting in to when you got in this thread. You going to run away for a couple of months again because of the negativity? Sorry I do not constantly pump out positivity when Gus gives me no reason to do so.

Whoa Gwill, Homie, this is my schtick. 

[AUDynasty 585]

Just now, GwillMac6 said:

same here brother. Usually the third is where gustav struggles. As soon as we went up and got the ball back he went in to tubbershell. It is like he lives to get a lead so he can sit on it and be conservative. It is maddening.

Again, it's infuriating to see that a lot of games that we lost are more that we just did not take it. We rarely get whipped straight up. 

[ikubak 4]

Looked to me like UCF came in with a game plan to win the game.  AU looked like they were there to play a football game but didn't have a plan to win.  Looked like the old Gus I remember, unfortunately.

[OnthePlains 2,014]

This game is what’s maddening about Auburn football in general whether it’s Gus or Tubs or Chiz or whoever. We just can’t handle prosperity . After the Iron bowl we had an opportunity to make a leap but injuries and fatigue and having to beat a rival twice in three weeks was too much. So then at least we have a chance to win a bowl and get 11 wins.  But alas no we wet the bed again. I guess we just are what we are. A program that was always one step behind us historically is now leaps ahead. (Clemson). Is it just coaching? is it more than that? Even in a season where we beat both our rivals we end up with four losses. I just want some consistency is all.

[GwillMac6 20,689]

2 minutes ago, OnthePlains said:

This game is what’s maddening about Auburn football in general whether it’s Gus or Tubs or Chiz or whoever. We just can’t handle prosperity . After the Iron bowl we had an opportunity to make a leap but injuries and fatigue and having to beat a rival twice in three weeks was too much. So then at least we have a chance to win a bowl and get 11 wins.  But alas no we wet the bed again. I guess we just are what we are. A program that was always one step behind us historically is now leaps ahead. (Clemson). Is it just coaching? is it more than that? Even in a season where we beat both our rivals we end up with four losses. I just want some consistency is all.

Yes. Clemson has dabo we do not. He is their all time great coach we do not have. Dye was close. So was shug but they were not great. Dabo has this thing ROLLING. Clemson. FREAKING CLEMSON?! Now I probaly will be jinxing them by saying this but remember their history and even early in dabo's tenure it was all about choking in big games. Now all they do is win the big games.

[AUDynasty 585]

3 minutes ago, OnthePlains said:

This game is what’s maddening about Auburn football in general whether it’s Gus or Tubs or Chiz or whoever. We just can’t handle prosperity . After the Iron bowl we had an opportunity to make a leap but injuries and fatigue and having to beat a rival twice in three weeks was too much. So then at least we have a chance to win a bowl and get 11 wins.  But alas no we wet the bed again. I guess we just are what we are. A program that was always one step behind us historically is now leaps ahead. (Clemson). Is it just coaching? is it more than that? Even in a season where we beat both our rivals we end up with four losses. I just want some consistency is all.

[GwillMac6 20,689]

6 minutes ago, DAG said:

Whoa Gwill, Homie, this is my schtick. 

I am a method actor! I have been studying you for months! lol

[GwillMac6 20,689]

6 minutes ago, AUDynasty said:

Again, it's infuriating to see that a lot of games that we lost are more that we just did not take it. We rarely get whipped straight up. 

This! so this! whenever saban gets beat they just get BEAT because the other team played great. I feel like most of the losses under gus is because we were poorly coached and prepared.

[gr82b4au 5,568]

Not just bowls... Big games against top 15 teams away from JH seems to be his issue. Hopefully we turn this around in 2018. We will have uga and al on the road. 

[auburnphan 6,050]

The UCF defense gave up 49 points to USF and 55 to Memphis in the 2 games prior to this game.  No excuse for the game plan that was put out there on the field.  Our offensive plan was to nibble and not attack

[1913-14 263]

44 minutes ago, lionheartkc said:

Because he had a QB who threw the ball away twice and put it on the ground once (only the fumble can be attributed to good D), and a right tackle who frequently played like he had money on the other team, but yea... it was all coaching/play calling.

I'll leave you to you standard, post loss "Gus sucks" thread.

in 36 years coaching this game ...my teams prep and performance were my responsibility...for far less money...and I didn't recruit my kids...

[lionheartkc 6,150]

3 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

You lose any objectivity anytime you defend Gus. I will take a knee on the D craig thing and take a L on that 1 if you admit defending gus all the time is a mistake as well. Deal?

Here's the thing, though... you only think I always defend Gus because you don't see the posts where I don't. I laid LSU squarely at his feet, because it was almost entirely coaching. I defend our coaching when people default to blaming them instead of looking at what actually happened in the game.

What people here can't seem to get their head around is players can lose games and it's not always on the coaches. If we had a stellar, deep O-line, and a game changing QB or a stable of top running backs, I'd totally buy into losses all be on coaching, but we have a very shallow O-line with 2 great players and several OK to good players, a young QB who is still developing his game, and one great running back with injury issues.

Look at today's game. Our offense and our defense owned the first half, but every time we got in scoring position, our QB would slip (Stidham sacked himself 2, maybe 3 times), our O-line would collapse, or worst of all, we would lay the ball on the turf. Then the second half, we change up the game plan (we actually adjusted... I was shocked) and score two unanswered touchdowns. After that we have drives killed by an awful interception and more O-line breakdowns. Finally, we change it up again with the 2 minute offense and Hastings, have momentum, and can close it out, but a combination of miscommunication (either QB or receiver had the wrong play) and a young QB making a bad call under pressure, cost us.

If you want to lay anything on coaching, you can say that they failed to get the guys excited about this game like they did for Georgia 1 and the Iron Bowl.

[AUDynasty 585]

5 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

This! so this! whenever saban gets beat they just get BEAT because the other team played great. I feel like most of the losses under gus is because we were poorly coached and prepared.

Spot on. Heck, I can think of few games top of my head to name. Georgia 2016. Texas A&M 2014. Clemson 2016 and 2017.

[DAG 33,997]

1 minute ago, lionheartkc said:

Here's the thing, though... you only think I always defend Gus because you don't see the posts where I don't. I laid LSU squarely at his feet, because it was almost entirely coaching. I defend our coaching when people default to blaming them instead of looking at what actually happened in the game.

What people here can't seem to get their head around is players can lose games and it's not always on the coaches. If we had a stellar, deep O-line, and a game changing QB or a stable of top running backs, I'd totally buy into losses all be on coaching, but we have a very shallow O-line with 2 great players and several OK to good players, a young QB who is still developing his game, and one great running back with injury issues.

Look at today's game. Our offense and our defense owned the first half, but every time we got in scoring position, our QB would slip (Stidham sacked himself 2, maybe 3 times), our O-line would collapse, or worst of all, we would lay the ball on the turf. Then the second half, we change up the game plan (we actually adjusted... I was shocked) and score two unanswered touchdowns. After that we have drives killed by an awful interception and more O-line breakdowns. Finally, we change it up again with the 2 minute offense and Hastings, have momentum, and can close it out, but a combination of miscommunication (either QB or receiver had the wrong play) and a young QB making a bad call under pressure, cost us.

If you want to lay anything on coaching, you can say that they failed to get the guys excited about this game like they did for Georgia 1 and the Iron Bowl.

Not just O-Line and a bad,  bad, bad interception. Also, A couple series of conservative play calling. We went 16 minutes without a 1st down in the second half after going up a touchdown. That is absolutely insane. You can accidentally get a freaking first down. 

[Beaker 2,457]

Big picture here - it is obvious we do not care about our own tendencies.   Why is that?  Real question.

We have one of the best defensive coaches in the country on our staff.   Does Gus not talk to Steele?  Steele could easily explain that Auburn is easy to prep for, right?   I truly wonder what it is like inside our prep rooms.

We got out coached today, that I know.   We have been outcoached by Dabo but then again we had some unremarkable coaching performances against Clem.  Why can't we figure out who our QB should be (2016) or that we need some short, outlet routes (2017) before we lose big games?  Real question.  

I am an idiot, but can see these as problems. 

 

[DAG 33,997]

Just now, Beaker said:

Big picture here - it is obvious we do not care about our own tendencies.   Why is that?  Real question.

We have one of the best defensive coaches in the country on our staff.   Does Gus not talk to Steele?  Steele could easily explain that Auburn is easy to prep for, right?   I truly wonder what it is like inside our prep rooms.

We got out coached today, that I know.   We have been outcoached by Dabo but then again we had some unremarkable coaching performances against Clem.  Why can't we figure out who our QB should be (2016) or that we need some short, outlet routes (2017) before we lose big games?  Real question.  

I am an idiot, but can see these as problems. 

 

Did you see when the announcer picked up on the trend of knowing when AU would run based on KJ and JS alignment....wow. So, finally we adjust to that and then they counter adjust...we can't to no avail. I was waiting for a double move screen pass all game..

[Beaker 2,457]

2 minutes ago, DAG said:

Did you see when the announcer picked up on the trend of knowing when AU would run based on KJ and JS alignment....wow. So, finally we adjust to that and then they counter adjust...we can't to no avail. I was waiting for a double move screen pass all game..

Yeah, I think Huard played like 15 yrs ago.   If he can pick up on that stuff, any paid staff can.    Does Gus run roughshod over the staff or is out staff a bunch of mealy mouthed mammals? 

[lionheartkc 6,150]

5 minutes ago, 1913-14 said:

in 36 years coaching this game ...my teams prep and performance were my responsibility...for far less money...and I didn't recruit my kids...

And did you win every game against good opponents? Did your QB execute everything the way you told him to?

The thing that makes the "Gus is the problem" argument so hard to understand is it is based on the unfounded belief that Auburn not could, but should win every game they play. Pre-season, there were a large number of fans who anointed Stidham the next great thing... when he proved to be a young, talented QB who needed seasoning, they blamed it on Gus. They expected the 1-2 punch of Johnson and Pettaway to be unstoppable. When they both went down early with injuries, they blamed it on Gus. Many of us were concerned about our O-line, because they had holes and unknowns. When they struggled, people blamed it on Gus (to me, the jury is still out on Hand).

Can you, objectively, as a former coach, other than the LSU game, lay out how any coach could have done better under the circumstances. The only obvious thing to me is recruiting more/better linemen, but we are still working to build depth, across the board, to compete with our very deep rivals, one of whom structures their recruiting to leave us with a weak spot?

[Guest]

1 hour ago, lionheartkc said:

Because he had a QB who threw the ball away twice and put it on the ground once (only the fumble can be attributed to good D), and a right tackle who frequently played like he had money on the other team, but yea... it was all coaching/play calling.

I'll leave you to you standard, post loss "Gus sucks" thread.

Lion, of all people, I'm not, nor have I been a Gus fan since last year's  Clemson game; I dont believe this loss is on Guss's shoulders completely. AU got out played and UCF  wanted this game more.  

However, can you or anyone explain to me where adjustments were made in the 2d half or at ANY point in this game to account for pressure or anything else? I am seriously asking because I want to give Gus every benefit of the doubt as a HC.  

[lionheartkc 6,150]

13 minutes ago, DAG said:

Did you see when the announcer picked up on the trend of knowing when AU would run based on KJ and JS alignment....wow. So, finally we adjust to that and then they counter adjust...we can't to no avail. I was waiting for a double move screen pass all game..

That's always been Gus's offensive style... show them the same thing over and over and then switch it up to get a big play. I was waiting for the flea flicker all game.