Has it started?

[AUsince72 11,084]

1 hour ago, WFE12 said:

He will make you look foolish for thinking he can even figure things out. I know as fans we just feel obligated to hold out hope that things will change but yall gotta let that go. Just ride the season out until he gets kicked out finally. *Dodges tomatoes*

That's my philosophy now.

Just piggyback a post here or there...Make some jokes...

"We can live beside the ocean
Leave the fire behind
Swim out past the breakers
Watch the world die"

That's how we do AU Football in SW Florida!

I ain't even mad this year.  No nasty surprises because he's doing exactly as expected. 

War Eagle Y'all!

[McLoofus 35,182]

3 minutes ago, tigerbrotha12 said:

1.) I don't feel as if he was any worse.

They say you improve the most from game 1 to game 2. Regardless, the word "exponential" seems pretty optimistic.

4 minutes ago, tigerbrotha12 said:

2.) Schwartz has game changing speed. Nothing wrong with taking a shot with him. If Nix doesn't overthrow it just a tad, it drops into his arms and he walks in for the score.

But why didn't we send a healthy guy from our stable down the field?

4 minutes ago, tigerbrotha12 said:

3.) Think the offense will get better, due to Nix getting better as well as play-calling getting less vanilla as we move into SEC play.

So you think the offense will improve as the defenses we face get exponentially better? 

5 minutes ago, tigerbrotha12 said:

4.) He's less than 2 years removed from an SEC Western Division Title. We've seen him do it, don't know why I shouldn't be hopeful he could do it again.

Shall we go down the rosters of this team and that one and discuss?

 

 

[AUEngineer2016 407]

11 hours ago, AUFriction said:

Pass blocking was very good last night. They had no sacks, and only two hurried (which were both from corner blitzes). We had no holding penalties and only like 1 false start. Run blocking was inconsistent, but not as bad as everyone is making it out to be. Some of that was number 77 for Tulane, who quite frankly is a beast. Some of it was play calling. We barely ran the ball inside in the first half. When we did, it was right into 77. We made an adjustment in the second half, and we ran the ball very well. Total yards and points were a little misleading because we got conservative in the fourth quarter, just trying to finish out the game with no more injuries. The last drive was almost 9 minutes long. If we had kept the foot on the pedal, we probably would have scored 2 or 3 more times. If we had kept our foot on the pedal, the final score would have been closer to 41-6, which is a solid win. But, considering our injuries, they smartly just ran out the clock. Also, the offensive game plan yesterday was VERY vanilla. The “creative” plays were the same plays we ran against Oregon. Why show anything unique against Tulane? Keep it vanilla so you can save some of the creative stuff for SEC play.

41-6 (which is what I think the score would have been if we had kept our foot on the pedal in the 4th) against a higher quality group of 5 is a solid win. So, no, I don’t think the panic is justified. But the panic stricken aren’t going to listen to facts and reason, so I might as well be saying this to a brick wall.

QB Hurry from DE on a stunt (LT Tega whiffs, no communication between T and G):

C Kaleb Kim getting blown off the ball (though LT and LG did pickup the stunt better):

RT Driscoll and RG Harrell blow a stunt, C Kim whiffs on the help:

Tega whiffs on a straight speed rush. Rest of the OL gets pushed 4 yards back:

And those are just the ones I saw in our own highlight video:

Plain and simple, the OL is not good, and it's not just the interior guys. We're not communicating like we need to, we consistently fail to pick up stunts, and our guys are getting pushed 2-3 yards back on almost every play. 

[DAG 33,983]

4 minutes ago, tigerbrotha12 said:

1.) I don't feel as if he was any worse.

2.) Schwartz has game changing speed. Nothing wrong with taking a shot with him. If Nix doesn't overthrow it just a tad, it drops into his arms and he walks in for the score. 

3.) Think the offense will get better, due to Nix getting better as well as play-calling getting less vanilla as we move into SEC play. 

4.) He's less than 2 years removed from an SEC Western Division Title. We've seen him do it, don't know why I shouldn't be hopeful he could do it again.

1. Guys should be progressing from game 1 to game 2. Not just speaking about Bo. The team as a whole

2. Not a huge debating point

3. If you can’t execute vanilla playcalling against Tulane, what makes you think we are just going to magically be able to handle more against stronger competition then we have ever faced this season? 

4. That’s your prerogative, but the other side is the seasons where we looked incredibly mediocre. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 minute ago, AUsince72 said:

I ain't even mad this year.  No nasty surprises because he's doing exactly as expected. 

Yup. And the added relief of no fall guy on whom to displace the blame. No more Lashlee or Lindsey or Hand or Horton. 

Everything we see is 100% of Gus's doing. It has been all along, of course, but now there's no facade- no matter how flimsy- behind which he can hide. 

[AUFriction 1,179]

9 minutes ago, AUEngineer2016 said:

QB Hurry from DE on a stunt (LT Tega whiffs, no communication between T and G):

C Kaleb Kim getting blown off the ball (though LT and LG did pickup the stunt better):

RT Driscoll and RG Harrell blow a stunt, C Kim whiffs on the help:

Tega whiffs on a straight speed rush. Rest of the OL gets pushed 4 yards back:

And those are just the ones I saw in our own highlight video:

Plain and simple, the OL is not good, and it's not just the interior guys. We're not communicating like we need to, we consistently fail to pick up stunts, and our guys are getting pushed 2-3 yards back on almost every play. 

FYI... most of your examples went for positive yards, and one went for a TD. 

Also, a couple of examples doesn’t equate to a full game of problems...

Finally, I heard an interview with Cole Cubelic, who has been especially hard on our OL play. Even he said pass blocking looked substantially better against Tulane.

[Tiger 8,826]

I swear there are some posters on here that would forgive a cheating girlfriend or boyfriend 6 or 7 times

[Hay Field 101 630]

Im going to grab a beer. Can I get you guys one?

[around4ever 4,139]

44 minutes ago, tigerbrotha12 said:

You guys get negative real quick. Didn't see too many posts from a lot of you after beating a top 15 team at a neutral site last week. All the sudden we don't beat an upper-tier AAC team by 80 and everyone has something to say. Anybody have a number on how many SEC teams are 2-0? 

7

That's only half of the SEC. 

 

Anybody wanna take a guess on how many of those 7 teams have a win over a top 15 opponent this season? 

2. Auburn and now LSU. 

 

I'm as frustrated with the offensive line as anyone, but we've got a freshman QB who will only get exponentially better every time he touches the field, we've got a stable full of receivers that we can plug in for injuries, especially with Schwartz returning to full strength soon, and we've got a defense that will rival almost anyone in the country in their ability to stop teams from scoring points.

I vote we chill out for a while

 

I had several posts about Gus's play calling and personnel decisions last week.  I saw many more. 

[AUFriction 1,179]

6 minutes ago, Tiger said:

I swear there are some posters on here that would forgive a cheating girlfriend or boyfriend 6 or 7 times

And there are some posters on here that would leave their wife if their bitter enemy accused her of cheating.

Theres just too much overreaction. The Tulane game was sloppy, and the offense has to improve before SEC play or the year isn’t going to go well. OL has to play more consistently. Play calling has to be better. Special teams needs to get it together. 

On the other hand, we’re 2-0, having played no cupcake teams. The team we beat in week 1 annihilated their opponent this week. Both the teams we’ve beat will likely win their conferences. The problems we’ve had in games 1 and 2 are correctable. 

Both the Gus lovers and the Gus haters need to calm down. We won’t really know much about this team until A&M. We’ve come out of the gate sluggish on offense before, and, in some of those years, finished with excellent offenses. Gus lovers... that was a sloppy win. Admit it. We should have played better against Tulane. Gus haters... the sky is not falling. This could have been a let down against an emotional win. The offense may yet find an identity. This season could still go really well.

[Tiger 8,826]

1 minute ago, AUFriction said:

And there are some posters on here that would leave their wife if their bitter enemy accused her of cheating.

Theres just too much overreaction. The Tulane game was sloppy, and the offense has to improve before SEC play or the year isn’t going to go well. But the sky is also not falling.

On the other hand, we’re 2-0, having played no cupcake teams. The team we beat in week 1 annihilated their opponent this week. Both the teams we’ve beat will likely win their conferences. The problems we’ve had in games 1 and 2 are correctable. 

Both the Gus lovers and the Gus haters need to calm down. We won’t really know much about this team until A&M. We’ve come out of the gate sluggish on offense before, and, in some of those years finished with excellent offenses. Gus lovers... that was a sloppy win. Gus haters... the sky is not falling. 

This isn't about this past Saturday. This is about years of the same BS occurring over and over. Saturday was only a product of the situation we are in with this coach.

 

Our rivals wanting us to keep Gus forever is all you need to know about the state of our program. He is our Mike Shula. Yes, a bit more accomplished but still our Shula.

[Zeek 16,650]

2 hours ago, 1auburn1 said:

how about directing anger toward the administration and board that gave Gus an absurd contract?

I think the Leath hate train ended when he got booted. Agreed, it's not Gus' fault that a reactionary administration gave him a big contract because he beat two rivals before failing in the SECCG.

[AUsince72 11,084]

4 minutes ago, Hay Field 101 said:

Im going to grab a beer. Can I get you guys one?

Yes, please!

 

[AUFriction 1,179]

4 minutes ago, Tiger said:

This isn't about this past Saturday. This is about years of the same BS occurring over and over. Saturday was only a product of the situation we are in with this coach.

 

Our rivals wanting us to keep Gus forever is all you need to know about the state of our program. He is our Mike Shula. Yes, a bit more accomplished but still our Shula.

Since Gus has started as head coach, Auburn is the only other team in the SEC west to play for an SEC championship. He’s done so twice. He’s the only other coach in the SEC West to play for a national championship in that time. Since Gus came to Auburn originally, we’re the only other SEC team to win a national championship. We’ve played for one twice. Only Alabama and Auburn has two or more national championship appearances in the last decade. We should have been better last year and in 2014. The rest of the years, we finished right about where we should have. 

Gus is at least an above average coach.

[DAG 33,983]

8 minutes ago, AUFriction said:

FYI... most of your examples went for positive yards, and one went for a TD. 

Also, a couple of examples doesn’t equate to a full game of problems...

Finally, I heard an interview with Cole Cubelic, who has been especially hard on our OL play. Even he said pass blocking looked substantially better against Tulane.

So I guess my frustration lies at the fact that pass blocking against Tulane being substantially better is a kudos moment. We should be and expect to be better in the trenches against Tulane , no problem. In fact guys should be on to the next one, as Tulane should be considered easy work at all facets of blocking. Our guys have size and some of them have individual talent, but me personally, question the toughness in general. I  not calling them weak student athletes. They do all the right things off the field. What I am saying is there are guys who just stand around the pile. They don’t seem to finish plays. I was watching OU vs Houston and the o-line for OU was just nasty. I remember one of them even got a flag for 15 yards due to annihilating a player out of bounds. Now, you don’t want to always see that, but I would almost eat that penalty to see out guys with that much aggression. 

[AUEngineer2016 407]

3 minutes ago, AUFriction said:

FYI... most of your examples went for positive yards, and one went for a TD. 

Also, a couple of examples doesn’t equate to a full game of problems...

Finally, I heard an interview with Cole Cubelic, who has been especially hard on our OL play. Even he said pass blocking looked substantially better against Tulane.

They went for positive yards and a TD in spite of the OL, not because of it. Also- they all were "successful" plays because I pulled them all from Auburn's highlight video. 

The point of my post was to illustrate that Tulane was able to consistently get pressure when bringing 4-5 in pressure, not just "2 hurries on corner blitzes" like you stated. It's not that the plays weren't successful, it's pointing out a deficiency that other teams on our schedule will be able to exploit. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 minute ago, AUEngineer2016 said:

It's not that the plays weren't successful, it's pointing out a deficiency that other teams on our schedule will be able to exploit. 

Yeah. Turn those Tulane DLs into SEC DLs and some of those plays become far from positive. 

[AUFriction 1,179]

2 minutes ago, AUEngineer2016 said:

They went for positive yards and a TD in spite of the OL, not because of it. Also- they all were "successful" plays because I pulled them all from Auburn's highlight video. 

The point of my post was to illustrate that Tulane was able to consistently get pressure when bringing 4-5 in pressure, not just "2 hurries on corner blitzes" like you stated. It's not that the plays weren't successful, it's pointing out a deficiency that other teams on our schedule will be able to exploit. 

I’m obviously not going to move you, and you aren’t going to move me. I watched the game twice since Saturday, and I’ve reviewed our stats carefully. I think people are just looking for something to blame, and the offensive line is low hanging fruit because they were a little underwhelming. Agree to disagree.

[Zeek 16,650]

I really just hope we move on sooner rather than later. Would absolutely love to see Gus move on to some Group of 5 team and have a ball winning at a smaller level of competition. Truly I wish him well it's just been long enough to see what he is made of. Some people here talk about Gus in a manner that would make sense if it were his 2nd or even 3rd year here; unfortunately it's been a lot longer than that and we've seen he's a roughly 8 win coach. If you take out his record with transfer quarterbacks it just gets uglier. 

What's unfortunate is that we'll lose some solid assistants in the process. Whoever is next I hope we don't have the "must have an Auburn connection" rule that plagues us. Really want somebody with a little bit of a fire in their belly and less bland during an interview. Bruce Pearl type would be so much fun.

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

29 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

They say you improve the most from game 1 to game 2. Regardless, the word "exponential" seems pretty optimistic.

But why didn't we send a healthy guy from our stable down the field?

So you think the offense will improve as the defenses we face get exponentially better? 

Shall we go down the rosters of this team and that one and discuss?

 

 

I'll retract my use of "exponentially" as I agree that's over the top. Was just typing a response and that word sounded good. 

I don't have a problem with taking a shot with Schwartz because he's faster than anyone else on the field. If Nix drops it in his arms it's a TD. 

I think the offense will improve according to where they are now which will allow us to continue to compete against good defenses. 

Sure, I see a great running back and a pretty good offensive line. I think Whitlow is a good running back. I don't think the offensive line is good. I think they have the potential to improve. I don't see many differences elsewhere. In fact I think the defense is even better than 2017. 

 

I am merely being optimistic with a 2-0 team and two more weeks until another big time game. I will retract my use of the word "exponentially" but I don't see the issue with being a little optimistic after the first two games have gone our way. 

[Tiger 8,826]

31 minutes ago, AUFriction said:

Since Gus has started as head coach, Auburn is the only other team in the SEC west to play for an SEC championship. He’s done so twice. He’s the only other coach in the SEC West to play for a national championship in that time. We should have been better last year and in 2014. The rest of the years, we finished right about where we should have. 

Do you think that stat makes him some source of sustainable success at AU? Those 2 seasons you mention should be building blocks for consistency at the top of the division. Instead we see the same remedial coaching mistakes time and time again that provide 4-5 losses per season.

You have confidence in the guy that has turned in 25 losses in 5 years with 1 division championship in that time. I don't. We can agree to disagree.

 

I totally disagree with your edited point of Gus being an above average coach. He is in the mediocre-average range IMO. An above average coach doesn't go .500 against Miss State over 6 years with Auburn talent.

[triangletiger 1,599]

[triangletiger 1,599]

2 minutes ago, triangletiger said:

[fasttimes 356]

 the folks on this board who look at things with zero context really crack me up.

you can like gus, want him to do well, hope he does well, and still see and call out his glaring deficiencies. 

it doesn't have to be all or nothing.

[Zeek 16,650]

As an aside, I've been to many other message boards and if you think this one is nasty or negative than you're out of the loop. AUFamily is legitimately the best community I've interacted with. There's not all this name calling, nastiness, and ignorance compared to other boards. Truly I enjoy the majority of my conversations here.