Post Cal Game Reset. Don’t Panic.

[Gowebb11 9,384]

On a positive note, it was nice to see the flash from Fairweather. He’s every bit as good as advertised and I think he can be a great weapon for our offense going forward. And J Cobb needs more perimeter plays. I didn’t realize how fast he was. Also pleasantly surprised how talented Asante is and McCleod looked really solid off the edge. This team can, and I believe will get better. 

[Auburn Tiger 1,340]

Had to go to bed at half time. Woke up around 3 a.m. and saw we won. Yay! Saw the score. Ew. I’m honestly just happy we beat a trash talking team on the road. Game was tough, and I hope our guys learn from it. Maybe things will start to click for them. Happy to get a W. 

[aubiefifty 16,920]

now the folks who play us will look at the cal game and say ok maybe we can slow them down like cal did. we are still young and figuring out what we can do well. i did not see a single game yesterday where a team was totally dominated. coaches are saying the "O" in football has passed the "D". freeze said if we can hold a team to 24 points we have a chance to win ballgames and we did that against cal. cal played hard and we held them to way less than 24 so this is why coach is happy with the "D".

[aubiefifty 16,920]

13 minutes ago, Auburn Tiger said:

Had to go to bed at half time. Woke up around 3 a.m. and saw we won. Yay! Saw the score. Ew. I’m honestly just happy we beat a trash talking team on the road. Game was tough, and I hope our guys learn from it. Maybe things will start to click for them. Happy to get a W. 

to be honest i an not sure ott and company believed the hype they were putting out anyway. and i looked for a while for post game ott comments to see what he had to say about auburn being just a name. young man that team you called just a name beat you at home on as bad a game  we have played  in a while so what the hell does that make you?. i never thought i would say it but i feel good the hippies lost.........grins

Edited September 10, 2023 by aubiefifty

[Old fan 47 775]

4 hours ago, Mr Bad Example said:

Damn I swear Gus was calling the plays tonight lol

We have another former high school coach as HC. 

[toddc 13,194]

Went to bed without watching a play. Waking up was like Christmas morning and not knowing if I was good or bad enough this year to get what I wanted. Then you go look under the tree and it’s not the shiny bike you wanted but it’s not clothes either.

I will take a win in these circumstances any day!

War Eagle 🦅 CHF needs to give out some tough love this week!

[tbone4jc 2,241]

The defense was outstanding! Special teams was average. The offense was ugly. 4 turnovers( could have been at least 6) I am going to say this with all the respect I can. That was an awful offensive game plan from beginning to end. There were a few good plays here and there, Fairweather is a beast, but way too many bad calls, mistakes, etc… Cal lost that game because of 3 missed field goals and a fortunate whistle that prevented that first TD by Cal.(13 points left on the field) and our defense stopping them on 4th down in the red zone. That defense was outstanding!! Need some serious evaluation on everything offense, including coaches

[Zamps1976 28]

With the clock no longer stopping after first down, using a revolving QB system is just not as feasible as it once was . 

[bigbird 60,580]

6 hours ago, DAG said:

They better quickly identify a qb next week that they trust can throw the ball down the field. 

I'd roll with HG as QB2 during the Samford game and get him some live game reps 

 

5 hours ago, AUDynasty said:

He didn't throw any picks in this game.

No but he did try.  The late throw towards the MoF certainly should've been picked and will be against SEC DBs. Fair or not, I'm terrified when Robbie runs because I think he's going to fumble but I'm equally scared when he attempts a pass. 

[Sizzle 3,920]

12 minutes ago, bigbird said:

 

No because he didn't try.  The late throw towards the MoF certainly should've been picked and will be against SEC DBs. Fair or not, I'm terrified when Robbie runs because I think he's going to fumble but I'm equally scared when he attempts a pass. 

At this point I’m scared when anybody from Auburn is running the ball because I’m scared they’re going to fumble, because that’s what  happened last night to Thorne and 2 different RB’s

[fishepa 1,911]

Is it possible CHF feels he has to play Robby some or it will create drama and possible toxic locker room environment?

[Zeek 16,660]

Some of y’all need to look at how a lot of the SEC looked this week. Easy week 1, ugly week 2, and a soft game week 3 to bounce back is not a bad place to be. 
 

Thorne looked like a totally different person on that last drive or two. Have to get him in a rhythm without Robby popping in randomly. CHF had mentioned it before but you can tell he’s pressing and being too uncertain. It might not be popular but I’d love to see him air it out 20+ times next week just to get going.

My biggest frustration was how we used Quez. He had some beautiful runs and could have gone for 200+ if we had any balance. The number of times we crammed him up the middle 3+ plays in a row was sad. Have to utilize play action.

Robby is a zone read QB who can’t throw consistently. Thorne is a pro-style play action passer. Neither have really shown an aptitude for the RPO. Last night looked like a square peg and triangle peg being forced into a round hole.

[TitanTiger 20,513]

I’ve said, at least a couple of times that this is a team that’s gonna take a few games to get in sync with each other, particularly on offense. Lots of new faces, new, QB, new offense.  I underestimated Cal’s defense (and ours) and expected a close high scoring game last night, but other than that things are going about like I expected. I still say this is a team that’s going to look a lot better a month from now and could be quite difficult for anyone to take out by the end of the season. 

I’m not panicking yet, but I’m concerned about Thorne. Don’t know whether the RPO aspects of this offense aren’t clicking yet, or if he’s just prone to bounce of self doubt, or the yips. But he needs to get it figured out or we’re going to need to see what Holden can do. 

But I will caution everyone against reading too much into two games with all the off-season changes we’ve had. And frankly, my answer would be the same if we had come out looking like gangbusters these first two games.  

[NWALA Tiger 3,535]

6 hours ago, Didba said:

I’ll say I’m very concerned with offensive gameplay and play calling. If they had no idea Thorne was gonna get the yips… 

Where u been? Haven't heard from u in a while

[NWALA Tiger 3,535]

13 minutes ago, Zeek said:

Some of y’all need to look at how a lot of the SEC looked this week. Easy week 1, ugly week 2, and a soft game week 3 to bounce back is not a bad place to be. 
 

Thorne looked like a totally different person on that last drive or two. Have to get him in a rhythm without Robby popping in randomly. CHF had mentioned it before but you can tell he’s pressing and being too uncertain. It might not be popular but I’d love to see him air it out 20+ times next week just to get going.

My biggest frustration was how we used Quez. He had some beautiful runs and could have gone for 200+ if we had any balance. The number of times we crammed him up the middle 3+ plays in a row was sad. Have to utilize play action.

Robby is a zone read QB who can’t throw consistently. Thorne is a pro-style play action passer. Neither have really shown an aptitude for the RPO. Last night looked like a square peg and triangle peg being forced into a round hole.

Thorne didn't go thru spring ball and it shows. Has been on campus, what, 3 months. Still developing chemistry with receivers. I was frustrated with him to, but sometimes u gotta put things in perspective. 

[jj3jordan 2,061]

I’m still trying to figure out how PT fumbled that first drive. Was he trying to extend the ball with left hand to reach the sticks? Or trying a backhanded toss last second to JH? I’m worried that whatever caused that poor decision will potentially return with tragic consequences.

[Zeek 16,660]

2 minutes ago, jj3jordan said:

I’m still trying to figure out how PT fumbled that first drive. Was he trying to extend the ball with left hand to reach the sticks? Or trying a backhanded toss last second to JH? I’m worried that whatever caused that poor decision will potentially return with tragic consequences.

The first option. 

[CR 2,446]

This game showed exactly why last week they shouldve turned Thorne loose and threw the damn ball before going on the road. He looked scared to death tonight. After playing at Mich St I didnt expect him to look so ovwerwhelmed. And Id be happy if Alston was RB1 over Hunter. The talk on Alston being much improved looks legit.

[maryland tiger 616]

6 hours ago, ScotsAU said:

Play calling was bad tonight though. Didn’t give him a chance to throw it really. 

This x1000

[FreezeWarning 11]

Here’s a wild stat for you guys….

2020: Bo Nix (357 ATT / 12 TD)

2021: Bo Nix (323 ATT / 11 TD)

2022: Robby Ashford (250 ATT / 7 TD)

2023: Payton Thorne (31 ATT / 3 TD) 

 

 

I think it’s clear Auburn needs to just stick with 1 QB since playing 2 QBs will just minimize the chance of our QBs getting into a rhythm.
I think it’s also clear by like at those stats that we have to balance out the offense and to get the pass game more involved. Thorne is the QB for that and not Ashford. 

[Gowebb11 9,384]

Hugh needs to plant a flag on one offensive identity and live with it. Are we an RPO based offense, up tempo, play action pass, balanced, power run, pass first, 2 QB system? Players can adjust to the system to a point but only if they know the identity of the system. What we saw last night was akin to the Nallsminger mess from the CTT days. This week vs Samford is a perfect time to define the offensive identity. 

[JDUBB4AU 5,126]

Is the game over yet? Did we win? I went to bed at 3 am right at kickoff 

[WFE12 9,191]

Woke up to a pleasant surprise...Asante is HIM. So happy for him.. And a fade TD for the win with a pick to cap it off.. 

[AUApostle 7,659]

14 minutes ago, JDUBB4AU said:

Is the game over yet? Did we win? I went to bed at 3 am right at kickoff 

Fred Talley says Cal just missed another field goal.

[Auburn Tiger 1,340]

Just now, AUDevil said:

Fred Talley says Cal just missed another field goal.

Yep, and Auburn just fumbled again on the ensuing drive. Sigh.