2021 win total

[McLoofus 35,182]

Just now, augolf1716 said:

The defense could be top SEC caliber........................ offense maybe not so much just going to have to wait and see. The defense will keeep us in a lot of games imo

Agreed. I think this secondary might be able to force more turnovers than we typically got under Steele, especially given the lineup of QBs we face in league play. Brennan is probably the only guy who won't be new or who doesn't typically throw half as many picks as TDs. Although it doesn't really matter who's starting for bama. He'll be a Heisman contender by the time we play them. 

[autiger88 3,777]

6 or 7 if we are lucky maybe 8 but I think a 6 or 7 win season for Harsin in his first year will be damn good but that may be just me.

[Win4AU 4,055]

The whole SEC outside of Georgia is a complete crapshoot this year.  Ole Miss could be a 8,9, maybe 10 win team.  Miss State’s freshmen Qb played well down the stretch.  I could see them giving teams trouble.  Arkansas plays over their head and will only be getting better.  Even with all the talent I’m not sure Alabama has the Qb that will lead that team to the promised land.  I’m not sure Emory Jones is going to get the job done at Florida.  Texas A&M is loaded with talent but another young Qb.  LSU will either be pretty good or close to being Chizik’d.  I think Huepel could be pretty good at UT.  Mizzou could be sneak good.  Zero clue on USCe and Vandy.

8 wins, top 15 recruiting class, and a trip to Tampa or Nashville would probably be considered a good year 1

[Mikey 16,777]

Should get 10 wins, 9 if we catch an inordinate number of bad bounces/calls here and there. The returning talent is fully adequate and assuming the NCAA lets the current transfer melee stand we came out ahead there.

[W.E.D 11,070]

1 hour ago, augolf1716 said:

The defense could be top SEC caliber........................ offense maybe not so much just going to have to wait and see. The defense will keeep us in a lot of games imo

With offenses of today, I don't see our defense keeping us in much if our offense can't score.  I'd be shocked if we were under 20pts a game (only 3 last year).  Those will get better with 3 shutout OOC games, but LSU/UGA/Bama/Ole Miss and maybe A&M will all have very good to elite offenses.

[W.E.D 11,070]

13 minutes ago, Mikey said:

assuming the NCAA lets the current transfer melee stand

🤣

[W.E.D 11,070]

19 minutes ago, Win4AU said:

Miss State’s freshmen Qb played well down the stretch.  I could see them giving teams trouble

I'm not buying them.  We had nothing to play for and were a back 1/3 defense in the SEC and he went 30 of 50 for only 220 and 1td/2int.

I don't buy anyone thinking State will be that good.

[Win4AU 4,055]

31 minutes ago, W.E.D said:

I'm not buying them.  We had nothing to play for and were a back 1/3 defense in the SEC and he went 30 of 50 for only 220 and 1td/2int.

I don't buy anyone thinking State will be that good.

I don't think they'll be good but I thought the QB played well for a true freshman on a team that was down to like 55 players.  The weeks before Auburn they played well against a couple teams including Georgia I believe.  I don't think Leach is a good fit in the SEC but I could see them having a good season in the next year or two as Leach's teams tend to do from time to time.  

[countoff 331]

2 hours ago, W.E.D said:

While I agree with you, I think an actual competent offensive philosophy will help make things better.  We were 75th out of 120ish teams.  that had a lot to do with bad game plans, weak mentally teams, than it had to do with raw talent.

Well I will admit this... If the team can get a win at Penn St., it would be a big boost to confidence and momentum.  That alone could help them win another game or two.  So my predicted 5-6 win season could become a 7-8 win season.  But if we lose to Penn St., then I think my 5-6 win prediction is more likely.

Gonna be an interesting Fall.  Not just the wins-losses.  But watching the change in team culture, recruiting successes, which young players step up, etc.

[Hank2020 3,225]

3 hours ago, countoff said:

I really don't think talent wise this team is better than last year.  Especially on the offensive side of the ball.  It's the same underperforming  OL personnel, they are not of SEC level talent, and the OL bench is thin.  Plus we definitely took a step backwards at the receiver positions.

The Mississippi teams will be much more competitive this season.  Both Penn St. and LSU were bad teams last year and I'm not really sure how they are positioned for improvement this season.  So I consider both of those games with us this year to be "toss ups" on a neutral field.  But since they are both played in their home stadiums, I give the nod to both of them (when was the last time we won in Baton Rouge?). 

So yeah.... I'm calling for only 5 wins.  6 if they can pull off a win against one of the Miss schools or win an away game at Penn St. or LSU.

But as I have said in other posts... I don't think a 5-6 win season is necessarily a negative reflection of Harsin.  It just means the timing of his hiring, the poor Malzahn recruiting last year, and the transfers have left the cupboard thin.  It happened with Saban and Dye and Bowden and Paterno.  It's not a big deal.  We just have to be patient.  It's fun to watch the development of a powerful football program and that usually requires a few years.

Surprising to me that you think Mississippi schools talent level is better than ours. I also believe if our team was the same as last year present coaching staff/systems would equate to a better outcome. I also believe we are stronger at all position groups except maybe WR ( questions there as I believe we are just as talented just inexperienced). IMO

[W.E.D 11,070]

49 minutes ago, countoff said:

Well I will admit this... If the team can get a win at Penn St., it would be a big boost to confidence and momentum.  That alone could help them win another game or two.  So my predicted 5-6 win season could become a 7-8 win season.  But if we lose to Penn St., then I think my 5-6 win prediction is more likely.

Gonna be an interesting Fall.  Not just the wins-losses.  But watching the change in team culture, recruiting successes, which young players step up, etc.

We haven't played well on the road in a while, especially at QB.  It'll be a big test.  PSU is a tough place to play and I don't think PSU is very good.

If we had Gus I'd say it is a loss.  We'll see under the new regime.

[DAG 34,034]

8 wins is realistic IMO 

[DAG 34,034]

But more than anything I want competent play and tough hard nose football. Not the crap we been accustomed to the last several years .

[countoff 331]

1 hour ago, Hank2020 said:

Surprising to me that you think Mississippi schools talent level is better than ours. I also believe if our team was the same as last year present coaching staff/systems would equate to a better outcome. I also believe we are stronger at all position groups except maybe WR ( questions there as I believe we are just as talented just inexperienced). IMO

This year I think the Mississippi schools have better  more talent and both Leach and Kiffin have a 1 year jump on fitting their players to their system.  Leach is a very good coach that specializes in turning mediocre programs into contenders.  So yeah.... they could beat us this year.

Our OL is the same as last year.  They are mediocre to poor and the bench is thin.  We are going to have another year of watching Bo scramble for his life and then make bad throws.  I think there will be improvement in TE utilization but the WR situation is looking very bad.  Tank is a great back and I think Worm would also be great if given the chance.  But they can't show their abilities if the line in front of them plays poorly.  

There is a lot (overwhelming) support of the defense on this site.  So much so that I can't help wondering what everyone is seeing.  But with all the losses to transfers, I don't see how this year's defense could be better than last year's.  We appear to have some young talent coming in (like Lee Hunter) but they are very raw and, for all we know, they may get red shirted.  But maybe I'm wrong on this and they will be good.  At a minimum, the defense had better be in really good shape....because with our offense, the defense is gonna be on the field for most of the game.   

 

[japantiger 4,052]

6 and 6 or 7 and 5:

Would be great to be wrong.  Think getting a new offensive system installed and  to produce more than 20 ppg will be hard given all around offensive talent (QB and WR's really). Defense won't be able to save the day if we can't score...offenses, well, except ours, are just too good in general these days...looking for tough, hard hitting play by people who want to get better.  Hope that everyone that needed to go are gone by now.  

 

W

Akron

Alabama State

Ga State

Arkansas

Miss State

South Carolina

 

L

Penn State

LSU 

Georgia

TAMU

Alabama

 

Tossup

Ole Miss

[SRBautigerfan 1,040]

I can see us realistically going 6 - 6 or 7 - 5.  Too many question marks going into '21-'22 due to new coaches, schemes and player personnel.  Hoping for the best but preparing for the less than optimal.  #WarEagle

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,819]

23 hours ago, W.E.D said:

11.5 is pretty effing ridiculous win total for Bama/Clemson

Who is Alabama losing to lol 

Rest of the SEC stunk last season and the ones who didn’t got worse 

[AUpreacherman22 3,892]

Like many others, I say 7 or 8.  

[steeleagle 2,945]

2 hours ago, DAG said:

8 wins is realistic IMO 

I likee this guess the best. 

TBH, none of us know what to expect, and we can't know how this new offense will work w/ a coach from the team and conference that changed it's conference name 3 times in 25 years...

We think the defense will keep us in games enough to be competitve, but it's the offense, other than we know we have a top level RB, that will be the 'new offense on the block' in the SEC trying to overcome an inept offense we put out there 4 out the 5 last years..

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

I think 7-5 but hope better.

[W.E.D 11,070]

43 minutes ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Who is Alabama losing to lol 

Rest of the SEC stunk last season and the ones who didn’t got worse 

Just take a new QB on slip up on the road or to have a bad game.  They'll probably be favored in every game

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,819]

1 minute ago, W.E.D said:

Just take a new QB on slip up on the road or to have a bad game.  They'll probably be favored in every game

Then they win by 7 instead of 27 

[CodeRocket 410]

39 minutes ago, steeleagle said:

We think the defense will keep us in games enough to be competitve, but it's the offense, other than we know we have a top level RB, that will be the 'new offense on the block' in the SEC trying to overcome an inept offense we put out there 4 out the 5 last years..

Good thoughts, but I fear that the offense will leave our defense on the field for too many snaps over the course of the season.

Tank is an outstanding back. He might be better than most of the great backs that have played at Auburn, but he is running behind a less than elite o-line.

I think the biggest problem the team will have will be executing the passing game and not entirely because of the offensive line. My guess is the receivers are going to have difficulty knowing how to adjust their routes based on coverages. The receivers are mostly young and inexperienced with only spring and fall practice as opportunities to learn their dynamic route trees. They will get better but it will take time. I expect a lot of check downs and short passes. It will be analogous to playing guitar; knowing which fingers go on which strings on which frets and which strings to strum is one thing, executing it in real time is another.

[DAG 34,034]

I love all of these posts. Can’t wait to come back to these at the tail end of next season 

[Hank2020 3,225]

8 minutes ago, DAG said:

I love all of these posts. Can’t wait to come back to these at the tail end of next season 

We will then see who was correct or at least closest. That should give us at least 12 pages of discount, expect if both Bo and TJ play.