Things I Think I Saw (AU vs LSU).....

[BornAU76 398]

44 minutes ago, Sizzle said:

Our playcalling has to get more creative with Tank, defenses loading up the box and we just letting him run into a brick wall hoping he makes something happen. On that long run by Hunter, they ran a misdirection that fooled the defense and Hunter made them pay. It was also blocked well.

We need that type of creativity for Tank too. A little More zone read runs and misdirections instead of simply handing it off and hope something happens 

Would love to see some 2 back looks ala Caddy & Ronnie.  Yes, the D will stack the box but an extra blocker, splits and misdirection could help gain the advantage.

[auelvis87 96]

I always enjoy reading your posts.  Thanks and please keep them coming!  WDE!

[Sizzle 3,917]

15 minutes ago, BornAU76 said:

Would love to see some 2 back looks ala Caddy & Ronnie.  Yes, the D will stack the box but an extra blocker, splits and misdirection could help gain the advantage.

We’ve done it and it’s worked but we only use it like twice a game 

[W.E.D 11,070]

16 minutes ago, BornAU76 said:

Would love to see some 2 back looks ala Caddy & Ronnie.  Yes, the D will stack the box but an extra blocker, splits and misdirection could help gain the advantage.

We had one play vs Penn State with them together.  Hunter sealed the edge and Tank had a pretty nice 10ish yard gain

[BornAU76 398]

2 minutes ago, Sizzle said:

We’ve done it and it’s worked but we only use it like twice a game 

Sounds like we need more then.  Feel free to wire that info over to Bobo for me…

[BigBlueWDE 1,136]

Here's my list of drops. Tank supposedly had a second one but I didn't see it on the first rewatch. Shed *could* have caught the 3rd down pass in the 4th, but I don't think it should be counted as a drop. Anyway, 6 total

1st Q:
None

2nd Quarter:
(1) - Shenker on 1st-10, 8min...makes first down catch on next play
(2) - Kobe Hudson on 2nd-4, 6 min.
(3) - Shenker 1st-10, 3min
(4) - Kobe 2nd-10, 3min

3rd Quarter:
None

4th Quarter:
(5) - Demetrius Robertson , 1st-10, 9min
(6) - Tank, 1st-10, 7min

 

[JDUBB4AU 5,121]

2 minutes ago, BigBlueWDE said:

Here's my list of drops. Tank supposedly had a second one but I didn't see it on the first rewatch. Shed *could* have caught the 3rd down pass in the 4th, but I don't think it should be counted as a drop. Anyway, 6 total

1st Q:
None

2nd Quarter:
(1) - Shenker on 1st-10, 8min...makes first down catch on next play
(2) - Kobe Hudson on 2nd-4, 6 min.
(3) - Shenker 1st-10, 3min
(4) - Kobe 2nd-10, 3min

3rd Quarter:
None

4th Quarter:
(5) - Demetrius Robertson , 1st-10, 9min
(6) - Tank, 1st-10, 7min

 

can’t like a post about drops ,  but thank you for posting.

Can’t stand drops , gotta clean it up. Can’t make one mistake against GA. Make every play and beat GA

[BigBlueWDE 1,136]

1 minute ago, JDUBB4AU said:

can’t like a post about drops ,  but thank you for posting.

Can’t stand drops , gotta clean it up. Can’t make one mistake against GA. Make every play and beat GA

I was wondering why I got a thumbs down lol! I may go back and watch the other games too. The official list seems to always be lower than the actual #

Officially 5 in this game vs. 6 actual. It is egregious and has to stop

[Quietmaninthecorner 1,945]

7 minutes ago, BigBlueWDE said:

I was wondering why I got a thumbs down lol! I may go back and watch the other games too. The official list seems to always be lower than the actual #

Officially 5 in this game vs. 6 actual. It is egregious and has to stop

I  thought I saw 7 total,  but I am not sure.  I wasn't counting during the game.  Some may have been  reversed for a penalty or something. 

I'm  pretty sure I remember 2  drops from a player on that list  and list  has him at 1.    Not sure at all but I think another   had 3 but the list has him at 2.    Not going to put names to it cause I am not even close to 100% sure.    

[alexava 6,973]

I remember the multiple drops by #5 and # 47. I think they both made good on them. 

[alexava 6,973]

1 hour ago, Sizzle said:

We’ve done it and it’s worked but we only use it like twice a game 

I think Hunter’s long run late was with Tank getting the fake?

[Sizzle 3,917]

1 minute ago, alexava said:

I think Hunter’s long run late was with Tank getting the fake?

The one from Saturday? No I think that was Demetris Robinson who we faked it to

[Sizzle 3,917]

1 hour ago, BornAU76 said:

Sounds like we need more then.  Feel free to wire that info over to Bobo for me…

I wish I could. Our longest run against GSU I think cane from a misdirection play with Shivers and our longest run cane from another misdirection. 
 

But tbh I think Harsin was calling some of those plays imo. Looks like he had a play sheet in his hand and was relaying the info to the team

[AUloggerhead 2,238]

6 hours ago, JMR said:

Talking with my friend Doug Saturday morning, I found myself calling the LSU game “pivotal” for Auburn and Coach Harsin. It was just a casual conversation about the upcoming game, but once the game was over, I felt even more strongly that this game was something of a milestone in Harsin’s rebuilding of the program. Auburn passed that milestone in rather splendid fashion.

No, we are certainly not “there” by any means, but we aren’t where we started, either. To go to Baton Rouge on a Saturday night and take down a desperate LSU and 90,000 of their fans is no small accomplishment.

Had Auburn lost that game, it would certainly not mean Harsin’s process had failed, or even that it was behind schedule. But a win would mean the process was moving along as planned.

There is pretty much NEVER a football game where some things could have been done better. But there are certainly games where there is more good than bad, and more often than not, those games end up in the win column. This one, as most are, was a test, and Auburn passed the test.

Led by Bo Nix in possibly his best game as an Auburn quarterback, the AUBURN Tigers met every challenge with confidence and tenacity. There were some disappointments for sure, but nobody folded his tent and accepted a loss.

We’ve all heard the phrase “A football team reflects the personality of its coach.” I believe we are seeing that with Bryan Harsin. Harsin seems to be as focused as any coach I can remember, and focus is HUGE in football. I think it’s important, as we watch the team grow from game to game, to keep in mind that Harsin is constantly “coaching.” Not just the players, but the coaches as well. If we look closely at the offense and the defense, changes from the Penn State game to the LSU game are obvious. In play calls on both sides, and, of course, in players themselves. Look closely. If you’re not seeing it, you’re missing something very important.

I’m sure it’s obvious by now that I’m happy with what I saw Saturday night. I hope you are too. There are extreme challenges ahead in the coming weeks, and there will be disappointments in terms of wins and losses. But what matters at this point in the process is that we get better every day and every week. So far, that is happening. With “progress” in mind, here are some things I think I saw in the LSU game……
 

• Bo Nix was as sound in his fundamentals as I have seen him since he’s been at AU. Despite a strong pass rush from an LSU team leading the nation in sacks, he set his feet most of the time, and delivered a catchable pass. The tendency to overthrow everything was gone. His body language both on the field and on the sideline showed confidence and determination. It was a pleasure to watch.

• The offensive line is still a work in progress, but as a whole, they are getting better. There were some missed blocks, and there were some “blocks” that were actually WORSE than “missed”. But there were far more successes than failures, which I think is progress. Nix was under pressure often, and pulled off some miracle escapes, but a good bit of the time, he actually had a clean pocket. Although the stats don’t show it, I thought the run blocking was the best it’s been this season. LSU came into the game determined to stop the run, and they did that with numbers until they wore down late in the game.

• I don’t know what is going on with Tank Bigsby. He is running hard, and does not appear to be injured, but he hasn’t been quite as effective recently as earlier. Hopefully he will get back on track soon.

• Special teams took a step back this week, maybe a couple of steps. Anders Carlson was not as reliable as usual, and failed to put “touch” on the onside kick attempt.  For what it’s worth, I thought the onside kick was a good call, and I liked the plan. Unfortunately, the execution failed. The “overly casual” handling of the kickoff in the end zone by Donovan Kauffman was almost very costly, but will provide a great teaching point going forward. Lastly, we had a field goal attempt blocked. LSU’s plan for that was excellent. They overloaded the offensive left side, meaning every AU blocker on that side had to step down to block the defender to his inside. That left the outside guy unblocked, he timed his rush perfectly, and got there easily. That happens now and then. More frightening to me was the fact that Austin Troxell failed to step down, and had LSU’s outside guy not gotten a hand on the ball, the LSU lineman who beat Troxell inside would have blocked the kick anyway. Time for Coach Harsin to apply some of that laser focus to special teams and the coaches who “own” those.

• Dropped passes continue to plague the passing game. I counted at least six. As the competition ramps up each week, those seemingly small things matter more and more.

• Auburn DC Derek Mason continues to play very conservatively. Lots of cushion afforded the LSU receivers through most of the game, then press man on fourth and long. Strange stuff. Mason did get more pass rush this week than in past games, typically lining up five or six defenders in the box, but sending mostly three and occasionally four. Colby Wooden played a tremendous game, both in pass rush and in defending the run. Lots of effort by the DL, and that effort affected the outcome of the game. Derek Hall seems to be quickly growing into his potential as a pass rusher.

• Still more foolish penalties than we can afford. Discipline takes time and repetition to learn; I believe we will get there eventually.

• Young Jarquez Hunter continues to impress. Running back is supposedly the easiest position for a young guy to play, but Hunter’s maturity and toughness continues to surprise me week after week.

• Tight ends. Need I say more? Hard to believe we have discovered after all these years that the tight end is actually an eligible receiver.

Huge game this week, with the Dawgs coming to town. Georgia is very good, certainly one of the most talented rosters in college football. I watched most of their game with Arkansas. Arkansas, despite their wins over aTm and Texas, is hardly a great football team. They are well-coached and play hard, but they are not blessed with tons of four and five stars. They dug themselves into a 21-0 hole in the first quarter against Georgia, and the beating was on.

Obviously, Auburn doesn’t match up with Georgia in terms of talent and depth. But I believe we are at least close to the point where we can make it a football game. As I keep saying, the important thing is that we are a little better this week than last week. It will be a good measuring stick to see where we are, and I’m looking forward to it. War Damn!

Sooo nice to read your expert analysis again, Coach!  The TE is (again) an eligible receiver -- love it!  WDE

[JMR 2,118]

Something I left out unintentionally:  I was impressed by the schematics of the little swing passes to Shivers. He had just enough speed to put the safety assigned to cover him in a bad pursuit angle. That was a well thought-out scheme. And credit to Bo for putting the ball on a small target. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

32 minutes ago, JMR said:

And credit to Bo for putting the ball on a small target. 

Sooooo many times those passes miss, even when they're caught. Make a guy have to jump or wait for it and it's a short gain at best. 

[IronMan70 3,277]

20 minutes ago, JMR said:

Something I left out unintentionally:  I was impressed by the schematics of the little swing passes to Shivers. He had just enough speed to put the safety assigned to cover him in a bad pursuit angle. That was a well thought-out scheme. And credit to Bo for putting the ball on a small target. 

That was pinpoint accuracy right there. I thought the game plan of using the RBs and TEs in the short passing game was perfect. Bo was patient and we were able to drive down the field doing that. Bobo called a pretty good game and even the drops were wide open. We didn't try to beat our head against the wall with deep passes that would have taken more time to develop than our OL would be able to protect.

[alexava 6,973]

2 hours ago, Sizzle said:

The one from Saturday? No I think that was Demetris Robinson who we faked it to

I was so excited I forgot. 

[AUMASTERS 555]

• Still more foolish penalties than we can afford. Discipline takes time and repetition to learn; I believe we will get there eventually.
• I believe the worst one to me was the offsides call on Fair on 4th and 2; the quarterback literaly only said "hike" one time & Fair knocked him down. Needless to say , I don't think he played any more after that stupid penalty.

[AUloggerhead 2,238]

11 minutes ago, AUMASTERS said:

• Still more foolish penalties than we can afford. Discipline takes time and repetition to learn; I believe we will get there eventually.
• I believe the worst one to me was the offsides call on Fair on 4th and 2; the quarterback literaly only said "hike" one time & Fair knocked him down. Needless to say , I don't think he played any more after that stupid penalty.

And rightly so.   That's Intro to Football 101 stuff -- you simply can't commit that penalty in a 4th & short situation.    

[mcgufcm 4,107]

That was the last play of the first quarter. I'm pretty sure Tony Fair played after that.

[AUght2win 6,854]

9 hours ago, JMR said:

 I don’t know what is going on with Tank Bigsby. He is running hard, and does not appear to be injured, but he hasn’t been quite as effective recently as earlier. Hopefully he will get back on track soon.

What's going on is we have an abysmal play allergy that only got him 10 touches Saturday. Ten!!! Inexcusable. 

[tbone4jc 2,241]

Thank you coach! I know these posts take time out of your day but, and I believe i speak for most, I really enjoy this forum more when you post "Things I think I saw" even if the reviews of our game are not so good. I am thankful air!

[augolf1716 21,213]

44 minutes ago, AUght2win said:

What's going on is we have an abysmal play allergy that only got him 10 touches Saturday. Ten!!! Inexcusable. 

Tank is only about 70% healthy

[au701948 1,001]

39 minutes ago, augolf1716 said:

Tank is only about 70% healthy

If I had my way, Tank would rest this Saturday and hopefully get 100% ASAP, so we have him for the rest of the season...even though this is Georgia. Let the other backs fill-in and keep from losing Tank for the last 6 games.

Edited October 4, 2021 by au701948