Holden Geriner has to be the QB going forward

[bostic up the middle 80]

Imagine for a moment that there is a group of people that love an institution so much, they complain in a publicly searchable forum about young men that come to defend their beloved institution, giving pause to other young men who might want to join their family and take up their fight.

I know we are upset. We have been in search of a direction since 2018 and it sucks. But these young men chose to come here. Some chose to come a while ago and made the decision to stay, a few chose to spend their final year of eligibility at Auburn and others used their only transfer to play at Auburn. These are D1 athletes...evaluated by D1 coaches. A players performance due to positioning or the scheme they were put in, should be attributed to THAT and the coach called out. It is the COACHES job to get the right people in the right seats on the bus.

Please quit calling out players. I want more of these bright young men to come to Auburn and return our football program to greatness.

I don't care what state they came from, what university they used to play for. If they are evaluated to benefit this program and given a scholarship to defend our name, then I say, "War Damn Eagle" to them. If that proves not to be the case, for whatever reason, that is on the adult in the room and we need to remember that.

Support these young men...and yes, at the moment, support these coaches. Believe in the process and believe that the coaches are scheming and designing plays that fit the strengths we have vs the strengths our opponents have. We are excited to have a solid direction and solid recruiting for the first 9 months, but don't let a little dose of reality change our support for the team. Things said on this forum about a player can only hurt that players (and possibly future players) belief in Auburn.

War Eagle, and beat UGA!

[cbo 8,039]

11 minutes ago, DAG said:

 

and what was his stats against the elite Michigan and tOSU? Anybody can just show up.

2021:  33/66 for 1 td and 2 interceptions, 11 rushes for -9 yards

2022: 28/48 for 2 td and 2 interceptions, 12 rushing attempts for -21 yards

And FYI, when Texas A&M gets into the meat of the schedule, I highly doubt they will be considered an elite defense by SEC standards.

Maybe he is not confusing at all.

Not to act like a politician, but I honestly think you're both right. 

It's a combination of a) Thorne was never that great and we should have realized that and b) Thorne is playing worse than history would predict. 

Thorne threw for 94 yards against Cal, a bad team. North Texas and Idaho scored more points against Cal than Auburn. 

Thorne looked bad in the first half against Samford. One terrible pick. 

I have to assume Thorne performed better against that level of competition while he was at MSU. 

 

 

 

[DAG 34,046]

2 minutes ago, cbo said:

Not to act like a politician, but I honestly think you're both right. 

It's a combination of a) Thorne was never that great and we should have realized that and b) Thorne is playing worse than history would predict. 

Thorne threw for 94 yards against Cal, a bad team. North Texas and Idaho scored more points against Cal than Auburn. 

Thorne looked bad in the first half against Samford. One terrible pick. 

I have to assume Thorne performed better against that level of competition while he was at MSU. 

 

 

 

I agree and I wasn’t necessarily responding to that, more so, he saw elite speed before so he should be comfortable with it. No! He was never comfortable with it. I saw Thorne play for two years living in big ten country and I thought he was an above average QB but never the one to lift you above equal competition. This was never more exemplified than against Michigan in 2021 when he accounted for zero touchdowns but two turnovers, yet Kenneth walker willed them to a win.
 

With that being said, with this favorable schedule I thought he could lead us to 8 wins. Maybe he still can but not the way he is currently playing. Average QB play would’ve helped us win against that Texas A&M squad who in all honesty is not good. Do not be surprise if they lose to Arkansas next week. 

[cbo 8,039]

2 minutes ago, DAG said:

I agree and I wasn’t necessarily responding to that, more so, he saw elite speed before so he should be comfortable with it. No! He was never comfortable with it. I saw Thorne play for two years living in big ten country and I thought he was an above average QB but never the one to lift you above equal competition. This was never more exemplified than against Michigan in 2021 when he accounted for zero touchdowns but two turnovers, yet Kenneth walker willed them to a win.
 

With that being said, with this favorable schedule I thought he could lead us to 8 wins. Maybe he still can but not the way he is currently playing. Average QB play would’ve helped us win against that Texas A&M squad who in all honesty is not good. Do not be surprise if they lose to Arkansas next week. 

I never watched Thorne play before this season, so thanks for that. I'm definitely not an expert on him. 

I agree Texas A&M isn't very good. As bad as Auburn played, they let us hang around. 

In order, I currently blame the offensive woes on coaching, QB, OL, WR. But who the hell knows. Hard to sort out when nothing is working.

I still think Thorne is our best chance if he can get his head on straight and play calling improves. But again, who knows. We don't have an answer on the roster so we are hoping for huge improvement from one of the three QBs, which is unlikely. 

[SaltyTiger 7,974]

3 minutes ago, cbo said:

Hard to sort out when nothing is working.

Preach on CBO. I could see nothing “develop” and at a total loss. 

[DAG 34,046]

3 minutes ago, cbo said:

I never watched Thorne play before this season, so thanks for that. I'm definitely not an expert on him. 

I agree Texas A&M isn't very good. As bad as Auburn played, they let us hang around. 

In order, I currently blame the offensive woes on coaching, QB, OL, WR. But who the hell knows. Hard to sort out when nothing is working.

I still think Thorne is our best chance if he can get his head on straight and play calling improves. But again, who knows. We don't have an answer on the roster so we are hoping for huge improvement from one of the three QBs, which is unlikely. 

He is by far the best but lack of confidence can be a major barrier. I really was not expecting the veteran to be the one who needed to be pushed. To me, it’s the fact that he seems timid and scared. I don’t think that started at Auburn . I think that begun in the spring , the moment they told him the starting job wasn’t solidified to him.

[Eagle-1 3,821]

1 hour ago, W.E.D said:

The blocking wasn't that bad.  For example this was a sack...he had 2 guys side open for easy plays.

He's not processing anything fast enough right now.  He's thinking & not playing.  Brand new offense, new reads, new calls, etc.

 

I said exactly that in a previous post today. It looks like brain surgery out there for him right now. If Freeze is really a QB whisperer his task should be to relax his QB. I'm certainly not arguing that Thorne is playing well. I'm just not convinced he's not capable. 

[aucat 69]

we all know our next big recruiting target is a 5* QB and more o-line men, but at this moment, we must fully support our kids to help them get the best performance.

Not many ppl expect us to beat teams like ATM, LSU and UGa game so we all need to support our kids and our coaches to do their best correction to get 3 more w's before we get one or two 5* Q in our next recruting class

 

[GreenTiger 1,008]

12 hours ago, DAG said:

Against freaking Samford you mean? Come on man. 

You’re correct. It was Sanford. But your statement of Thorne not even being mediocre is silly. As most can see he is an average QB who is not playing with confidence right now. I personally put that on the coaching staff and Thorne/Ashford experiment derailing continuity and confidence 

[DAG 34,046]

1 hour ago, GreenTiger said:

You’re correct. It was Sanford. But your statement of Thorne not even being mediocre is silly. As most can see he is an average QB who is not playing with confidence right now. I personally put that on the coaching staff and Thorne/Ashford experiment derailing continuity and confidence 

Samford* 

I can’t even take you serious if you thought it was worth to argue that he almost broke a record against Samford who loss to Chattanooga 47-24 last week as evidence that he is mediocre. Did he look mediocre to you last week? A mediocre QB would’ve been good enough to beat that Texas A&M squad last week. Get a grip.

Edited September 27, 2023 by DAG

[AU120289 382]

Thorne, Ashford, Geriner 

 

Seems to be the way we’re headed at the moment. The bye week will be interesting, especially if Saturday is another tragic performance. And I don’t put everything on the QB’s. Plenty of work to be done on and off the field in many areas to improve. 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,827]

17 hours ago, TigerPAC said:

Curious…..why do we NEED Ashford?   Not throwing stones, just an explanation 

It’s just an interpretation derived from Freeze’s own words and his usage of Robby. He wants him involved and he’s the backup QB.
If I was opining myself, whoever the backup QB is, we’re going to need him as long as Thorne is the starter 

[auburnatl1 5,367]

3 hours ago, DAG said:

Samford* 

I can’t even take you serious if you thought it was worth to argue that he almost broke a record against Samford who loss to Chattanooga 47-24 last week as evidence that he is mediocre. Did he look mediocre to you last week? A mediocre QB would’ve been good enough to beat that Texas A&M squad last week. Get a grip.

I’m trying to follow your point. So he was actually mediocre but sucked at times at msu. Since then he has lost  his confidence. Making him consistently suck. So the plan should be we have to get his confidence back so we can restore him back to the good ol days when he was mediocre and just sucked sometimes.

Right?

[GreenTiger 1,008]

26 minutes ago, auburnatl1 said:

I’m trying to follow your point. So he was actually mediocre but sucked at times at msu. Since then he has lost  his confidence. Making him consistently suck. So the plan should be we have to get his confidence back so we can restore him back to the good ol days when he was mediocre and just sucked sometimes.

Right?

The point for this person is to argue and be “right” no matter the topic. 

[auburnatl1 5,367]

9 minutes ago, GreenTiger said:

The point for this person is to argue and be “right” no matter the topic. 

I’m just confused on what the arguing is even about. If people are edgy now, 1-2 weeks from now promises to be a total adventure.

[AUApostle 7,663]

1 minute ago, auburnatl1 said:

I’m just confused on what the arguing is even about. If people are edgy now, 1-2 weeks from now promises to be a total adventure.

Yep…I fully expect to lose the next three and then win the next 4…but I just can’t imagine the headspace this board will be in by the time we get past Ole Miss.

[DAG 34,046]

2 hours ago, auburnatl1 said:

I’m trying to follow your point. So he was actually mediocre but sucked at times at msu. Since then he has lost  his confidence. Making him consistently suck. So the plan should be we have to get his confidence back so we can restore him back to the good ol days when he was mediocre and just sucked sometimes.

Right?

My point is at this moment he is way below average. If he gets back to mediocre , maybe we can actually win 8 games. Otherwise, we might not win six games. But saying he did good against Samford means absolutely nothing. Saying he faced speed before means absolutely nothing. He needs to produce . I never expected freaking Peyton Thorne to get us over the hump against UGA, BAMA. However, I don’t see how anyone can say we will beat any SEC team on our schedule based on the offense we got right now. This includes Mississippi state.

Edited September 27, 2023 by DAG

[auburnatl1 5,367]

2 minutes ago, DAG said:

My point is at this moment he is way below average. If he gets back to mediocre , maybe we can actually win 8 games. Otherwise, we might not win six games. But saying he did good against Samford means absolutely nothing. Saying he faced speed before means absolutely nothing. He needs to produce .

I agree with your last sentence.

[DAG 34,046]

Just in case y’all were wondering , Dame Lillard to the bucks! That’s all. 

[KnightTiger 205]

Geriner reminds of Sean white we would probably beat the bad Lower level teams with him but not sure about better teams

[HabitualChiller 110]

10 hours ago, aucat said:

we all know our next big recruiting target is a 5* QB and more o-line men, but at this moment, we must fully support our kids to help them get the best performance.

Not many ppl expect us to beat teams like ATM, LSU and UGa game so we all need to support our kids and our coaches to do their best correction to get 3 more w's before we get one or two 5* Q in our next recruting class

 

Not a chance in hell. There's one five-star in the class of '25, and it's looking like he'll choose Bama or Colorado. We have a shot of getting one of the other top five 4-star QBs, though. 

 

I don't think Walker White is gonna be that guy just based off of his completion percentage in comparison with the other kats in his class. I'd expect someone like him to be the headliner at vandy or Miss. State or something, so whoever comes in 2025 will be the future of the program. 

[NWALA Tiger 3,535]

24 minutes ago, KnightTiger said:

Geriner reminds of Sean white we would probably beat the bad Lower level teams with him but not sure about better teams

Good take. We just don't know

[cole256 17,084]

3 hours ago, GreenTiger said:

The point for this person is to argue and be “right” no matter the topic. 

Nah you just hurt because he didn't agree with you.....And look at that you share the want of being right just like the rest of us!

[bishoptf 699]

I will say this we all know we really do not have THE one qb to lead things to where we want to be, with the OL being what it is and talent level is just not there for whatever reason, each qb has their pros and cons. Saying that my take is the COACHING staff should step up and call better plays that are tailored to who we have starting, quick slants etc...we have seen all of them struggle to be protected and take shots down the field so maybe slants and other quick 2 step throw the ball (just react not think) is what we need to do but I lay that on the COACHING staff, they have some talent, get creative and figure out how to put who we have in the best scenarios to be as productive as they can be.

IMHO the coaching staff is just enough or actually more to blame for how the offense looks than just the players, I know they have missed open receivers and receivers have dropped passes but really the coaching staff needs to make lemonade from lemons. Not saying everyone is a lemon but I think we can all agree that we have sub par talent right now and I just think the play calling and game plans have not been where they need to be given the folks that we have playing right now. I know these kids want to do better etc and the coaches need to put them in better positions to start building some confidence...

 

just my .02....  

Edited September 27, 2023 by bishoptf

[au701948 1,009]

On 9/26/2023 at 7:48 AM, miscram6 said:

I just don't see how Payton Thorne can be the QB anymore.  There were too many times on Saturday where he looked terrified.  In hindsight, it seems clear to me that there is a reason why he wasn't going to be the starter at Michigan State and decided to transfer.  I like Robbie, but we need him at wide receiver and to let him run jet sweeps.  If we want to let him continue to take snaps on select plays, then fine.  Holden has to be the guy going forward, though.  We need to start Holden on Saturday and pray that our O-Line can block for him. 

I would hate it for him. But he supposedly has a very good arm and if pressed into action I pray that he might respond given the chance. 

Others have done it through the years in college football.

It may already have been said here, but with all the effort the team put into the first half of the A&M game, I knew as soon as their starting QB got injured that we were going to lose.

It generally never fails that we always make a team’s backup QB look like a Heisman winner. Of course, the other half of that story was the A&M defense also perked up and we were done.

A&M rallied around the adversity and we didn’t respond.