I know it's only been two games but...

[I_M4_AU 7,856]

@McLoofus thanks for your response.

[AUsince72 11,084]

25 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

I believe that LSU's defense is faster, stronger and deeper than Washington's. Their front 7 are almost certainly going to be more athletic than Washington's. You just don't get DLs on the West Coast like we have here, not on average. But if you put LSU's starting DBs up against Washington's, I'd be surprised if they are significantly better. And I know Aranda is a really good coach, but Washington's D is well-coached and disciplined, too. 

I think we might perform better for various reasons but I believe that LSU will have a better defense than Washington. 

 

 

Agree.

I think the key will be AU's defense against LSU's offense.  That's where Auburn has the edge. 

Assuming the same growth we've been fortunate enough to witness in the first 2 games continue, Auburn doesn't have to score much.  Just be stingy with the ball and don't constantly have 3 and outs and play field position football and I don't see LSU scoring many points.

Offensively, play CREATIVITY is key.  Keep their D off balance *COUGH* don't run the same play over and over *COUGH* and this game will not be high scoring but it won't be close.  I still believe AU are the vastly superior Tigers overall.

[keesler 5,924]

25 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

I believe that LSU's defense is faster, stronger and deeper than Washington's. Their front 7 are almost certainly going to be more athletic than Washington's. You just don't get DLs on the West Coast like we have here, not on average. But if you put LSU's starting DBs up against Washington's, I'd be surprised if they are significantly better. And I know Aranda is a really good coach, but Washington's D is well-coached and disciplined, too. 

I think we might perform better for various reasons but I believe that LSU will have a better defense than Washington. 

 

 

I feel good about this game.  LSU's defense will pose a challenge, more so than Washington's - but AU's D will dominate LSU much more than they were able to shake up Washington's offense.  Steele will have our guys all up in Burrow's business all day long, shake him up, force some mistakes, force a few 3 & outs and put our O back on the field often. 

LSU's QB has never seen an SEC level defense, he hasn't been pressured like he will be on Saturday, he hasn't played in a raucous stadium with the fans thumping loud the entire time he's on the field.  Burrow will wilt - our defense will feast.

AU wins this one and sends the cajun's home with an L.  

[AUsince72 11,084]

2 minutes ago, keesler said:

I feel good about this game.  LSU's defense will pose a challenge, more so than Washington's - but AU's D will dominate LSU much more than they were able to shake up Washington's offense.  Steele will have our guys all up in Burrow's business all day long, shake him up, force some mistakes, force a few 3 & outs and put our O back on the field often. 

LSU's QB has never seen an SEC level defense, he hasn't been pressured like he will be on Saturday, he hasn't played in a raucous stadium with the fans thumping loud the entire time he's on the field.  Burrow will wilt - our defense will feast.

AU wins this one and sends the cajun's home with an L.  

DANG Keesler, I got FIRED UP reading your post!!!!

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

34 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

I believe that LSU's defense is faster, stronger and deeper than Washington's. Their front 7 are almost certainly going to be more athletic than Washington's. You just don't get DLs on the West Coast like we have here, not on average. But if you put LSU's starting DBs up against Washington's, I'd be surprised if they are significantly better. And I know Aranda is a really good coach, but Washington's D is well-coached and disciplined, too. 

I think we might perform better for various reasons but I believe that LSU will have a better defense than Washington. 

 

 

I actually think we match up OK with LSU.  You mentioned the D-lineman out west, but Greg Gaines is going to be playing on Sundays and gave our line fits at times during the kickoff game.  And yes, I believe the UW secondary is definitely better than LSU.

Overall though I see a similar game plan as the one we ran against UW.  Lots of quick passes early, utilizing Ryan Davis, etc and doing just enough in the run game to keep LSU honest.

[Gowebb11 9,328]

46 minutes ago, Eagle-1 said:

None of which to date have been able to crack the starting OL. As I was thinking about this thread last night I asked my self if I could come up with one offensive lineman on our roster that I could drive to Tuscaloosa, or Athens, and have them win a starting spot. I came up with nothing. Now some may say that those are probably the two most loaded rosters in the country, which I would be the first to agree with. They are however who we are going to have to win some recruiting battles for elite offensive linemen against. Last year Georgia went and got signees along the O line who apparently were SEC ready from day one. If I'm not mistaken they started 3 true freshmen on the O- line last season, and arguably have the best O- line in the country this season. I'm not saying we don't have potential, but personally I'm not seeing elite talent along our front. 

We seem to be able to recruit exceptional talent at the WR position, but O-line recruiting has not been very good lately.

We have approximately 15 O lineman on the roster, and more than half of those were 4 or 5 star guys. My point is we have recruited some talent, maybe fewer than UAT and UGA, but more than most others. The development is what’s been lacking. Last year a Jax St. center was able to come in and win the starting center job over some 4 star signees. This year the same thing happened with a UMass transfer. He beat out a 4 star tackle who had a commitable offer from Bama. You and I completely agree with the need to land and develop some better players up front. And soon. 

[keesler 5,924]

4 minutes ago, AUsince72 said:

DANG Keesler, I got FIRED UP reading your post!!!!

It's time to ROCK man!  We've been waiting 8 months for the season to start.......month's and month's of guessing, speculation, prognosticating, analyzing, critiquing, etc.  It's finally here and I really like what I've seen with this team - they'll only get better, stronger, and more confident in their ability to do their job.  WDE!

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,673]

17 hours ago, Brad_ATX said:

10-2 won't get us an SEC West title this year.  That would mean two conference losses.  Bama's not losing more than once.  Only reason 10-2 did last year was because we lost to a non-conference team.

10-2 will get us another NY6 Bowl though (probably Sugar or Fiesta).

Bama can lose to LSU or MSU. Auburn could have one of those losses be to their remaining non conf opponent. It’s not out of the realm of possibility at all 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,673]

17 hours ago, DAG said:

At least not this year. None of the back ups are ready but what is your beef with Cord? Haha

I don’t have beef, I just don’t see anything more than stop gap from him....like in the same way Tyler Queen or Clint Moseley were never meant to be depended on. Also because he’s literally a grown man 

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

28 minutes ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Bama can lose to LSU or MSU. Auburn could have one of those losses be to their remaining non conf opponent. It’s not out of the realm of possibility at all 

I hope you don't think we're losing to Southern Miss or Liberty.

[AUsince72 11,084]

13 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

I hope you don't think we're losing to Southern Miss or Liberty.

I don't know, Liberty's punter is a beast.  Actually got tossed for targeting in the Army game....the PUNTER!  Liberty must be animals!!!  

[Zeek 16,657]

1 hour ago, I_M4_AU said:

And that’s why it is important to develop QBs and RBs during the season with meaningful playing time.  Arky and So. Miss are coming up, I hope we don’t squander these opportunities. 

I was rather upset we didn't see Malik and Cord throw more

[Barnacle 9,064]

1 hour ago, AUsince72 said:

DANG Keesler, I got FIRED UP reading your post!!!!

56 minutes ago, keesler said:

It's time to ROCK man!  We've been waiting 8 months for the season to start.......month's and month's of guessing, speculation, prognosticating, analyzing, critiquing, etc.  It's finally here and I really like what I've seen with this team - they'll only get better, stronger, and more confident in their ability to do their job.  WDE!

 

[AUsince72 11,084]

15 minutes ago, Zeek said:

I was rather upset we didn't see Malik and Cord throw more

I hate to disparage a college player but I suspect Malik cost himself the opportunity to throw with the very poor (selfish??) reads he was making in the R/O runs.  I truly feel he would have played most of the 2nd half with Cord getting some "feet wet" mop up work but pissed CCL off.   

Just my opinion but I feel strongly that's what happened.

[Barnacle 9,064]

11 minutes ago, AUsince72 said:

I hate to disparage a college player but I suspect Malik cost himself the opportunity to throw with the very poor (selfish??) reads he was making in the R/O runs.  I truly feel he would have played most of the 2nd half with Cord getting some "feet wet" mop up work but pissed CCL off.   

Just my opinion but I feel strongly that's what happened.

Probably not far off

[jAUSon 2,836]

2 hours ago, I_M4_AU said:

I hope we don’t squander these opportunities. 

Lol

[LKEEL75 2,566]

2 hours ago, Barnacle said:

Yeah, that's just silly talk. But, expected considering his son is on their staff. I'm probably going to see him this weekend, so I'll be sure to give him a hard time. 

Don't get me wrong I have mad respect for the man.  Like most coaches & ex players, he has probably forgotten more than I will ever know.  But he definitely wears his glasses when it comes to those 2 teams.

(edit) by ex-player I mean college or pro.  Plenty of us played high school ball.

[LKEEL75 2,566]

Now the one thing Wes did say was that he felt like AU OL was even or maybe a little better than LSU OL.  But he said hands down that LSU DL would be the best AU OL has seen including practice.  He also said that LSU will play more man vs Washington playing more zone.  This will make tighter windows for JS.  This could be an issue if the rush is stronger and JS hesitates on throws because of the window.  We will see what JS is made of by end of Saturday!

[aujeff11 6,243]

FWIW,   @GwillMac6 and I have both said that OL is going to be Gus’s downfall this season for a long time now. Glad WDE is fully jumping on the cool kid, not the kool-aid bandwagon. 

[PoetTiger 1,899]

These threads confuse me. Is the offensive line beyond fixing? Can they not get better? Are the hopes of a championship season already lost in September? 

[LKEEL75 2,566]

7 minutes ago, PoetTiger said:

These threads confuse me. Is the offensive line beyond fixing? Can they not get better? Are the hopes of a championship season already lost in September? 

As many have said...  The OL has an uphill battle to get better.  There are some attitudes and work ethics that will need to be pushed in order for us to make a run.  Sat will be a true sign if we have the potential to worry about this being a championship year or 8-4.  Of that test 75-80% of that will be relying on the OL play

[keesler 5,924]

21 minutes ago, PoetTiger said:

These threads confuse me. Is the offensive line beyond fixing? Can they not get better? Are the hopes of a championship season already lost in September? 

Hope floats!  If they aren't seriously injured, then the issues are fixable - they can only improve with PT, experience and solid preparation.  They'll get to see all kinds of defenses as the season progresses, and every game is an opportunity to get better.  I feel a whole lot better about their development with JG cracking the whip than I did with HH.

We have an tough schedule, and a few opponents already looking stronger and better coached than last year (aTm/MSU/maybe LSU) but a championship run is not out of the question while we sit 2-0.

 

[aujeff11 6,243]

18 minutes ago, PoetTiger said:

Is the offensive line beyond fixing

Ticky tac penalties and being unprepared can be fixed.  When it comes to being whipped, nah tbere isn’t much growth of improvement that can be expected given that each game week the team is focusing on game prep. Major gains of improvement (can) be made in the offseason. 

[bigbird 60,564]

33 minutes ago, PoetTiger said:

These threads confuse me. Is the offensive line beyond fixing? Can they not get better? Are the hopes of a championship season already lost in September? 

Can they? There is always the possibility.  Typically, from my experience, most improvement in technique and fundamentals is gained during the off-season.  The chemistry and individual responsibilities should become better during the season with reps and experience.  That said, to me, the biggest issue is a lack of aggressiveness, quickness to the 2nd level, and man on man power.

[kevon67 2,368]

3 hours ago, AUsince72 said:

DANG Keesler, I got FIRED UP reading your post!!!!

I still laugh at Keesler's shrimp boat captain comment on Coach O...........he sooo nailed it?