Post Cal Game Reset. Don’t Panic.

[Sizzle 3,920]

16 minutes ago, shabby said:

Tĥe good news is many of the offensive problems were a result of terrible play calls.

Tĥe bad news is many of the offensive problems were a result of terrible play calls.

 

Wasn’t just play calls, it was terrible execution too. There were multiple times where Thorne looked scared to throw the ball and his accuracy was shaky.
That interception he threw was an ugly throw and our receiver actually had separation on his route. The offense was all around terrible 

[aubaseball 2,660]

Just a few things and thoughts I saw;

Return game - love the enthusiasm, but three yards deep in the end zone, please take the touchback.   Too many negative things can happen.  
Offensively- need more play action on 1st down.   Number 22 needs more touches without the fumbles.   Sorry, but Ashford needs a different role.   Everyone knows what plays are going to be called when he is in.   Just when something positive would happen, something negative would follow.   
Defense - was surprisingly strong 
 

[creed 1,653]

1 hour ago, Mikey said:

This game reminded me of the 1989 Florida game. In that one we got kicked around for 59 minutes but only trailed by 7-3. Then on 4th down and 10 at the UF 40 yard line with around a minute left, Reggie Slack threw a 40-yard TD pass to Shayne Wasden in the end zone and Auburn wins 10-7. When this one ended I had exactly the same feeling. When the '89 game ended my wife came into the room and asked why I was standing there cussing. "Didn't we win?" I says yes but I've got to blow off a bunch of tension! Last night nobody else was awake to hear me cuss but I cussed a bunch all the same.

Now that it's over it was fun and I never gripe about a win. Obviously, we've got a bunch to work on.

Yep...I cussed some last night myself. Mostly when the offense was on the field and it looked like as if we didn't practice this week. 

I believe what's going on is Hugh's passing offense is predicated on receivers and qbs making reads and adjusting their routes on the fly. Currently, this group is not on the same page. Once it clicks I think the improvement will be dramatic. Until then is going to be a chit show.

[gr82b4au 5,568]

3 minutes ago, Sizzle said:

Wasn’t just play calls, it was terrible execution too. There were multiple times where Thorne looked scared to throw the ball and his accuracy was shaky.
That interception he threw was an ugly throw and our receiver actually had separation on his route. The offense was all around terrible 

Thorne was a huge disappointment, but when was the interception? I am going off of a little sleep, so I don’t remember. Haha

I thought we had four fumbles. 
I do remember Robby throwing into quadruple coverage. 

[PowerOfDixieland 3,226]

1 hour ago, Mikey said:

 Last night nobody else was awake to hear me cuss but I cussed a bunch all the same.

I'm with you, was in full blown Roy Kent mode last night. 

Just could not believe how much this offense looked like the one's from the previous ten years or so.

[japantiger 4,051]

Can we just finally end the "Robbie needs a package" BS.  Holy crap...as expected, when he was in the defense loaded up to crush his predictable QB sweep lamely disguised as a RO and he cannot throw...made a beautiful rollout and then threw back across his body smack into the hands of a defender...who thankfully, dropped it.  

Stick with Thorne or not; put HG in; but just stop the madness.  Ashford should not be taking away playing time from a real QB. 

[passthebiscuits 6,874]

I understand that we aren’t world-beaters. I guess I’m just still shook that so many of our fam base are writing us off or worse, going to sabotage the recruiting efforts we have going right now. Look, our focus is next year already. We just want to field a competitive team this year. The roster we had would have been boatraced yesterday. 

 

can’t believe even my locked on guys are losing their minds over this game. We need to have some patience. 

[LeonardAU 237]

43 minutes ago, shabby said:

Tĥe good news is many of the offensive problems were a result of terrible play calls.

Tĥe bad news is many of the offensive problems were a result of terrible play calls.

 

The coaches seemed lost on offense too.  I mean what was the actual game plan here?

It was striking right before the fade pass TD - run Robby in late but apparently didn’t tell him the play or the coaches didn’t know what play to call other than “put Robby in” so we had to burn a timeout.   It was like watching a fever dream where Gus & Harsin had melded their minds together to call predictable plays in the red zone.

And i was nodding off here and there in the third but did Freeze pick up a play call sheet in the 4th quarter?  I don’t remember him having one early in the game so wasn’t sure if he just decided to take over the play calling late.  Anyway, much better to improve on things after an ugly win than loss.  And nice to see the defense step up time and time again - that was definitely unexpected and gave me some hope for later games if they can stay healthy

Edited September 10, 2023 by LeonardAU

[gr82b4au 5,568]

17 minutes ago, japantiger said:

Stick with Thorne or not; put HG in; but just stop the madness.  Ashford should not be taking away playing time from a real QB. 

I am with you. I just don’t get it. 

[NWALA Tiger 3,535]

2 hours ago, Dom1ni0n said:

I think the Pac12 is largely responsible for negotiating that horrible time slot for its teams' home games.

And to think Cal and others are going to the ACC. It's obvious the PTB ain't thinking about the fans. Alot late nites coming  up for Fla St, Clemson,  NC,etc

Edited September 10, 2023 by NWALA Tiger

[TexasTiger 13,039]

8 minutes ago, passthebiscuits said:

I understand that we aren’t world-beaters. I guess I’m just still shook that so many of our fam base are writing us off or worse, going to sabotage the recruiting efforts we have going right now. Look, our focus is next year already. We just want to field a competitive team this year. The roster we had would have been boatraced yesterday. 

 

can’t believe even my locked on guys are losing their minds over this game. We need to have some patience. 

Don’t disagree, but I think the frustration is with coaching decisions, not talent level.

[TexasTiger 13,039]

27 minutes ago, japantiger said:

Can we just finally end the "Robbie needs a package" BS.  Holy crap...as expected, when he was in the defense loaded up to crush his predictable QB sweep lamely disguised as a RO and he cannot throw...made a beautiful rollout and then threw back across his body smack into the hands of a defender...who thankfully, dropped it.  

Stick with Thorne or not; put HG in; but just stop the madness.  Ashford should not be taking away playing time from a real QB. 

If we’re going to play Robbie it needs to be a change of pace series with real options, not him just playing wildcat in the red zone.

[TheDob06 443]

The D played lights out. Not sure they can play at that level in every game, but if they can get even close to it, all the offense has to do is be competent and we can win some games.

What I saw last night from the offensive game plan was complete incompetence and it's becoming too familiar around here.

[bostic up the middle 80]

6 minutes ago, passthebiscuits said:

I understand that we aren’t world-beaters. I guess I’m just still shook that so many of our fam base are writing us off or worse, going to sabotage the recruiting efforts we have going right now. Look, our focus is next year already. We just want to field a competitive team this year. The roster we had would have been boatraced yesterday. 

 

can’t believe even my locked on guys are losing their minds over this game. We need to have some patience. 

I agree @passthebiscuits, this game was a difficult situation for us and we came out with a W. We played a bunch of freshmen, didn't open the play book too much, and got some live experience against a decent team. Cal could end up running the table and this W at their house looks amazing. They could also lose a few more games and this W is about in-game gelling and travel experience.

We should Take the dub, enjoy our Sunday and our families and take pride in the fact that we were only one of two SEC teams to win out-of-conference games this weekend and the only one to win on the road.

WDE

[japantiger 4,051]

The only bright spot for Auburn out of all this is yesterday's game showed if you pressure Texas A&M and stop their run; they can't pass their way out of it...and their defense looked atrocious yesterday.  A good Pop Warner team tackles better than they did against Miami.  It's a down year in the SEC West...is about the only silver lining for Auburn.

[Cardin Drake 1,857]

1 minute ago, TexasTiger said:

If we’re going to play Robbie it needs to be a change of pace series with real options, not him just playing wildcat in the red zone.

There is a role for a wildcat QB on obvious running downs.  But if you are going to put him in on first down, you are always going to face a stacked box.  He has to have the green light to throw on an option play. If the coaches don't trust him to do that, his package should very limited.  The play calling was just not good at all.  That just has to improve.  Even with Thorne in, California was not respecting our passing game. Even an average defense will look good against a one dimensional team.  If we can't pass better than that with Thorne in the game, it's going to be a long season.

[FreezeWarning 11]

1 minute ago, Cardin Drake said:

There is a role for a wildcat QB on obvious running downs.  But if you are going to put him in on first down, you are always going to face a stacked box.  He has to have the green light to throw on an option play. If the coaches don't trust him to do that, his package should very limited.  The play calling was just not good at all.  That just has to improve.  Even with Thorne in, California was not respecting our passing game. Even an average defense will look good against a one dimensional team.  If we can't pass better than that with Thorne in the game, it's going to be a long season.

I wish we had some type of deep threat so we can just let Ashford throw it downfield and let the WR go get it but I don’t think we have the WR to do that

[au701948 1,009]

9 hours ago, ShocksMyBrain said:

At least 1 positive thing about the offense can be taken away, our redzone scoring efficiency was 100%. 

Yes, and despite all his problems, Thorne delivered 2 of 2 in the red zone.

The QB play was skittish at best. BUT, gracious our backs have to hold on to the ball. Thank goodness for one complete drive.

And the D was superb in critical points all night. Hope we get some folks back soon on both sides of the ball.

 

[bostic up the middle 80]

2 minutes ago, FreezeWarning said:

I wish we had some type of deep threat so we can just let Ashford throw it downfield and let the WR go get it but I don’t think we have the WR to do that

I feel like we do, but they aren't comfortable with each other or the offense yet. But, yeah, it would be nice for the WRs and tight ends to be in sync with the QBs - like what Manziel had around him to make him so successful.

[icanthearyou 4,463]

The offensive game plan, the play calling,,, turrrible.  The HC and the OC have work to do.

[Gowebb11 9,384]

32 minutes ago, passthebiscuits said:

I understand that we aren’t world-beaters. I guess I’m just still shook that so many of our fam base are writing us off or worse, going to sabotage the recruiting efforts we have going right now. Look, our focus is next year already. We just want to field a competitive team this year. The roster we had would have been boatraced yesterday. 

 

can’t believe even my locked on guys are losing their minds over this game. We need to have some patience. 

I agree with this. It’s hard because we’ve already had some recent lean seasons. But a good comparison is the roster mess Taggart left Norvell at FSU. they had a terrible first year and lost to Jax St at home. Two years later they’re a loaded roster and Top 10 team. I believe CHF will do the same for us, but it won’t be this year. 

[murpjf88 506]

Smash and grab. Didn't deserve to win but I'll take it.

[Win4AU 4,054]

I’m just as concerned with some of the Oline stuff as I am the Qb situation.  I saw Miller get abused a little, 52 had one of the worst holds I’ve seen just because he was getting into it with the Dlineman.  Jarquez was only getting about 2 yards a carry for most the games.  The Dline’s are just going to get bigger and meaner.

[au701948 1,009]

2 hours ago, AUwent said:

Just remember, we get to go to Cali again in four years! 😁

AU should start now on negotiating a buyout of that trip. It’s not worth the costs, financially or physically.

Nothing to be gained and there are too many teams regionally to do that again.

[Hank2020 3,217]

10 hours ago, ShocksMyBrain said:

And then Robby finally throws the ball and it’s immediately picked. 

No pics for Robbie, almost picked though.