I’m just sad man

[AUght2win 6,883]

Too early to give up hope GWill. We’ve been bad but I expect to see us grow even this year. Certainly in years to come. I think Freeze is a legit passing game architect.

[creed 1,666]

I just laugh at people who come on here and don't understand football. All they want is instant gratification..."I want a capable passing game" without understanding the passing game or its required components. Our team is currently in the "process" of making it better, it will take time, and our patience. 

P.S...and a couple cycles of really good OL recruiting...

Edited September 24, 2023 by creed

[Cardin Drake 1,886]

It's disappointing that the pass blocking was so abysmal.  I don't think we are as bad as we looked though, and I believe we have the right coach in place.  He just inherited a mess that was too big to fix in one year.  Sigh.  Not going to get better next week.  Kudos to the defense for keeping up in the game for a half.  And when one of those A&M QB's hits the TP at the end of the season, they may find a new home.

Edited September 24, 2023 by Cardin Drake

[tbone4jc 2,241]

11 hours ago, ShocksMyBrain said:

Couldn’t tell you the last time I watched an AU football game and walked away saying, “that was fun”. 

The last few games last year with Coach Caddy were pretty fun

[passthebiscuits 6,884]

Qbs: make good decisions. Be confident. Hit the open receivers. Make the easy plays.

Wrs: catch the dang ball. get open.

Coaches: prepare better. Make things easier for our passing game.

Fans: chill the heck out. It’s a process. We are that low. It’s shocking, but it’s not unexpected. 
 

 

[gabo4au 228]

We are the Detroit Lions of CFB. Change coaches, change players, change schemes, same results... Old players that were terrible at AU, move on to other places and become successful, Bo Nix/Matthew Stafford..

[aubiefifty 17,073]

it has been a long hard row these last few years. and my soul hurts from it. i am sad today as well but i know this will pass and we will get better.

[Mikey 16,777]

9 hours ago, GwillMac6 said:

Freeze and Montgomery have never ever before have remotely run anything like whatever TF we have rolled out this season. Auburn is cursed it does stuff to coaches.

That's because we have never seen them run an offense that doesn't have a competent QB.

[Cardin Drake 1,886]

8 minutes ago, Mikey said:

That's because we have never seen them run an offense that doesn't have a competent QB.

An incompetent QB doesn't go 10-1 at Michigan State.  It's not that simple.  Thorne did not have a good game, and missed some easy passes, but the pass-blocking was abysmal.  We have more issues than just QB on offense. 

[Mikey 16,777]

10 minutes ago, Cardin Drake said:

An incompetent QB doesn't go 10-1 at Michigan State.  It's not that simple.  Thorne did not have a good game, and missed some easy passes, but the pass-blocking was abysmal.  We have more issues than just QB on offense. 

Yes, the O-line transfers from smaller schools playing like smaller school O-linemen is going to be a problem no matter who the QB is. No matter what Thorne did or didn't do at MSU, he's been incompetent at AU. Time after time it's been mentioned that there were open receivers that he didn't see, among other things.

[AU120289 380]

 

It was this, or the riot scene from Animal House. 🤪

[NCTiger1982 171]

Gwill 

I understand. I am sick to death of losing and always looking to “next year”. There are many good comments on here about our past history of meddling, bad hires, being our own worst enemy, etc. When we hired Freeze I considered him an improvement over Gus by @ 1 more win per year. Averaging 8-9 wins is NOT acceptable (10 reg season wins min for me) in my book at all, but how I perceived Freeze. His teams were normally tough on O where Gus’ were not and they seemed to have more swag. Gus had players like Mason, Marshall, etc that were tough but the O as a unit was soft in my mind. Freeze’s D always seemed physical with swag as well. He was also involved with all aspects of the team, not just the O. I realize he is trying the CEO mode right now but just saying his past looked like what I just described. 

The HOPE I have is that he has and will evolve as a HC : something Gus was NOT capable of. Saban & Tubs had the same MO with the exception of Tubs pursuing a strong kicking game. Saban went out of his comfort zone opening up his O, shifting DL recruiting from big DL to big DL that could RUN to help defend the spread and added a better kicking game. I hate the midget, but it took brass balls to RISK this strategic shift to raise his game as a HC and evolve. Doing this at his age took extra guts but his ego/drive, whatever to be the best helped him overcome any fear of failure he may have had ? So what will she see from Freeze ? My HOPE is hanging by a thread right here. 

He is off to a good start with recruiting and being Captain Obvious it is crucial we lose none of our commits and flip some others. Thank God for NIL and it offers more hope in that Bama & GA can just buy our recruits right out from under us any longer with no repercussions. This alone should get us 3-4 4*s per year they would have bought out from under us like Pickens/Foster/Evans and on and on. Given what I have seen through 4 games without a SEC caliber QB gives me little hope of proving proof of concept this year versus SEC competition to encourage more 5*/4* recruits to sign on. 
 

The quickest fix to getting us on track is NIL, NIL, NIL and Freeze proving he has evolved as a HC showing proof of concept using the 2023/2024 freshmen class he will have just signed. I’m not happy at all trying desperately not to put it all on Freeze after so many bad decisions by our dysfunctional leadership (JJ/Leath/boosters) got us in this spot. Hopefully we have the right AD, Prez and NIL contributors that are willing to do anything it takes to make us a consistent NC contender winning our share. 

[Allen_D 72]

54 minutes ago, Cardin Drake said:

An incompetent QB doesn't go 10-1 at Michigan State.  It's not that simple.  Thorne did not have a good game, and missed some easy passes, but the pass-blocking was abysmal.  We have more issues than just QB on offense. 

A combination of things has Thorne hearing footsteps (maybe because there are footsteps), but it’s causing him to take his eyes off the field.  
 

There’s a rush, he feels it looks down to escape, gets tackled.   Optional - guys may or may not be breaking open downfield.

[Swamp Eagle 5,153]

13 hours ago, Strychnine said:

If people are patient enough to let them build it, you might end up seeing it.

2019 Iron Bowl 

[Maverick.AU 13,281]

I agree with Gwill that it does feel like a curse.

On the offense, while there have been some head scratching calls this season, the biggest thing is the players just aren't connecting when they have the chances. As far as qb play, how does that game turn out if Thorne hits Fair to go up 7-6 or doesn't take a sack knocking us out out of fg range? When the QBs did finally make downfield plays the WRs weren't making the catches. The Brown drop that would've had us at 4th and short (in FG range I believe) and the Hooks drop that would've made the game 20-17 at least giving us a shot with 7 mins left in the game. The overall execution top to bottom is frustrating to watch.

That being said most people here know it is a process and Freeze needs the time. It's not about immediate gratification, it is about looking competent and we have looked as inept as an offense can look in our first 2 power 5 games. People are gonna be frustrated by that no matter if it's a 1st year HC or a 15th year HC that's won multiple national championships. People want to see auburn get over the hump and I don't really think u can blame them of being tired of the dreaded "onto next year" or "wait till 2 years down the road". If there is some kind of improvement over the season I think people will have hope, but if we just wallow around the rest of the season like we have these first 2 power 5 games, people will not be happy. Process or not.

[KTATLEagles 15]

14 hours ago, ShocksMyBrain said:

Couldn’t tell you the last time I watched an AU football game and walked away saying, “that was fun”. 

Last year aTm game 

[BigBlueWDE 1,136]

If Peyton hits a wide open Jay Fair for a TD and Shane Hooks makes a play on a very catchable ball with a size mismatch on the defender in the endzone, we are in a good mood today.

[AUAlumnTN 211]

1 hour ago, Cardin Drake said:

An incompetent QB doesn't go 10-1 at Michigan State.  It's not that simple.  Thorne did not have a good game, and missed some easy passes, but the pass-blocking was abysmal.  We have more issues than just QB on offense. 

2 Things:

1. Kenneth Walker III was the straw that stirred the drink on that offense. PT’s production dropped off DRAMATICALLY when he left. Also, the book on PT coming out of MSU is that he was fine when the running game clicked and everything stayed on schedule but struggled when he had to carry the offense, particularly on the road. Sound familiar? 
 

2. The QB’s play can in fact make an offensive line look worse than it is. For instance, taking too deep a drop and giving your tackles unfavorable protection angles, failing to identify blitzers and adjust protection/check out of plays accordingly, running yourself out of decent pockets, or holding on to the ball too long due to indecision. PT was guilty of almost all of those yesterday. 
 

I’m not saying Auburn’s o-line is going to contend for the Joe Moore award this season but I don’t think they’ve been as bad as some have claimed. 

[Maverick.AU 13,281]

6 minutes ago, AUAlumnTN said:

2 Things:

1. Kenneth Walker III was the straw that stirred the drink on that offense. PT’s production dropped off DRAMATICALLY when he left. Also, the book on PT coming out of MSU is that he was fine when the running game clicked and everything stayed on schedule but struggled when he had to carry the offense, particularly on the road. Sound familiar? 
 

2. The QB’s play can in fact make an offensive line look worse than it is. For instance, taking too deep a drop and giving your tackles unfavorable protection angles, failing to identify blitzers and adjust protection/check out of plays accordingly, running yourself out of decent pockets, or holding on to the ball too long due to indecision. PT was guilty of almost all of those yesterday. 
 

I’m not saying Auburn’s o-line is going to contend for the Joe Moore award this season but I don’t think they’ve been as bad as some have claimed. 

I will say about the oline, there have been times they have looked pretty solid (That hold on Britton was a load of bs), but there are also times they have looked really bad, mainly in pass pro.

[AUAlumnTN 211]

8 minutes ago, Maverick.AU said:

I will say about the oline, there have been times they have looked pretty solid (That hold on Britton was a load of bs), but there are also times they have looked really bad, mainly in pass pro.

Yesterday I thought they acquitted themselves well run-blocking. Take away the sacks and Auburn rolled up almost 200 yards rushing and Battie and Hunter were both averaging in the 6-ish ypc range. That said, pass pro I have no clue. On the one hand PT did get hit/sacked quite a bit yesterday but on the other hand I watched an aTm db walk up to the line of scrimmage yesterday all but wearing a sign that said “I am blitzing” and PT didn’t so much as look at him

[jluvah 673]

15 hours ago, aubaseball said:

This is true.  I think it won’t happen to at least 2025.   The question is…will the wolves be willing to suffer until then.  

If the wolves aren’t willing to give this man 3 years, we need to shut the program down. Malzhan and Harsin decimated this program. Who in their right mind will take the job if we don’t give Freeze 4 years to right the ship? Also, a lot depends on NIL (🤮) and the supplemental draft, I mean transfer portal, which Freeze seems pretty adept at

[aubaseball 2,670]

1 minute ago, jluvah said:

If the wolves aren’t willing to give this man 3 years, we need to shut the program down. Malzhan and Harsin decimated this program. Who in their right mind will take the job if we don’t give Freeze 4 years to right the ship? Also, a lot depends on NIL (🤮) and the supplemental draft, I mean transfer portal, which Freeze seems pretty adept at

I agree 100%.   It’s why I don’t get all the negative posts and head scratching.   This year was going to be ugly and for whoever thought it wasn’t needs to take the orange and blue glasses off.   

[ertrader 206]

1 hour ago, AUAlumnTN said:

2 Things:

1. Kenneth Walker III was the straw that stirred the drink on that offense. PT’s production dropped off DRAMATICALLY when he left. Also, the book on PT coming out of MSU is that he was fine when the running game clicked and everything stayed on schedule but struggled when he had to carry the offense, particularly on the road. Sound familiar? 
 

2. The QB’s play can in fact make an offensive line look worse than it is. For instance, taking too deep a drop and giving your tackles unfavorable protection angles, failing to identify blitzers and adjust protection/check out of plays accordingly, running yourself out of decent pockets, or holding on to the ball too long due to indecision. PT was guilty of almost all of those yesterday. 
 

I’m not saying Auburn’s o-line is going to contend for the Joe Moore award this season but I don’t think they’ve been as bad as some have claimed. 

Agree with everything you said, but here's my take - Jarrett Stidham was guilty of many of these things in 2018. Bo Nix was guilty of many of these things when he was here. And those are two very fine quarterbacks, obviously better than anything we currently have. Once a QB loses trust and confidence in their line it no longer matters if the line is good on some plays, QB is always expecting the worst. 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,813]

I commend the vast majority of Auburn fans that are able to get 100% excited every new season and leave past results in the past. I honestly wish I had that switch to flip 

Freeze just missed on the QB part of things. The receivers are fine, the plays are there, just no one to get it to em. Hopefully Geriner is good, although the guy has sat 3rd string behind some of the worst performances I’ve ever seen so I dunno 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,813]

I also don’t know how bad the OL really is in pass blocking (they’re not good by any means). In my head, a lot of the big sacks were with more than 4. I just can’t think it helps them there’s no passing threat whatsoever