Early poll...win/loss predictions

[TigerOne 1,159]

5 hours ago, meh130 said:

99% of our problems the last several years have been poor offensive line talent and play. It is why our red zone performance has been so poor the last several years. In the red zone, a defense can rush more against the pass because the field is not as deep, and it is easier to run man for man pass defenses in the red zone. I am hoping the OL will be better, giving QBs more time to make throws, less intentional throw-aways to avoid sacks, etc. Also, the WR room is much improved, so we should have a capable passing game. If that happens, we will not face a loaded box as much as we have in the past, which should improve our red zone performance.

To put this into perspective, consider the Iron Bowl in 2021. Our pass rush with Derick Hall and Eku Leota almost won that game for us because for the first time in a decade Bama did not have a top offensive line. Same reason Michigan was able to blow up that last play in the CFP. I think the key to success on offense is to have a top offensive line. And on defense, you need two stand-outs on the defensive front four.

That said, we did not see this happen in the A-Day game, but A--Day is such a sterile scrimmage now I do not know how useful it is.

Wasn’t that extra bowl practice back in December supposed to be a great thing?

[WarTim 3,457]

9-3. Can we also WIN a bowl game???

[E'Town4Bama 111]

9-3 or 10-2

Both are very possible. Georgia and Bama could be sure losses but the iron bowl is insane sometimes. Oklahoma will have a new QB and y'all got them at home fairly early. A&M has a new coach. Lets see how that works out. Missouri is up in the air. They had a great year last season but can they duplicate it. I think AU will have a good year in 24. Not trying to be Mr. good bama fan here but just an honest opinion. No doubt y'all start off 4-0 easy.

[zeroforwinger 445]

I’ll be disappointed with anything less than 9-3. I guess you have to allow for losses to Georgia and Bama but nobody else on our schedule should be better than us. No LSU and no Ole Miss. At Mizzou and home against Oklahoma will be tough but we shouldn’t be losing all 4 of those games. 
 

I’m interested in how quickly Thorne gets pulled if he doesn’t show big improvement on last season. There’s no reason Freeze shouldn’t have someone ready to step in after a couple of games. 

[AU120289 380]

Gut says a regular season repeat of last year: 6-6. Hope I’m wrong. 

[meh130 1,054]

On 5/11/2024 at 7:37 PM, bishoptf said:

Be sure to leave your prediction.

I stopped predicting after in 2013 I predicted we would only have one loss and would make it to the BCS national championship game. My mistake was I predicted the one loss to be to Texas A&M, and that A&M would win the West but would be hit with NCAA sanctions allowing us to go the the SEC championship game.

But I will give 2024 a range: 7-5 as the low (losses to Oklahoma, UGA, Mizzou, aTm, and Bama), 9-3 as the high (losses to UGA, aTm, and Bama). An 8-4 season would see us beating Oklahoma at home. I think Drinkwitz wants to beat us so bad that he will have Mizzou very ready for us. I know Kentucky on the road is hard, but I think we pull it off.

[meh130 1,054]

2 hours ago, AU120289 said:

Gut says a regular season repeat of last year: 6-6. Hope I’m wrong. 

I don't see us losing to both Mizzou and Kentucky on the road. Mizzou is rising, but Kentucky is probably falling right now.

[meh130 1,054]

5 hours ago, zeroforwinger said:

I’ll be disappointed with anything less than 9-3. I guess you have to allow for losses to Georgia and Bama but nobody else on our schedule should be better than us. No LSU and no Ole Miss. At Mizzou and home against Oklahoma will be tough but we shouldn’t be losing all 4 of those games. 
 

I’m interested in how quickly Thorne gets pulled if he doesn’t show big improvement on last season. There’s no reason Freeze shouldn’t have someone ready to step in after a couple of games. 

Oklahoma had a horrible year in 2022, and a good year in 2023. 2023 was inconsistent in they beat a #3 Texas, but lost to lesser teams. They had a weak schedule. We do not know how Oklahoma will perform in the SEC.

[Old fan 47 775]

13 minutes ago, meh130 said:

Oklahoma had a horrible year in 2022, and a good year in 2023. 2023 was inconsistent in they beat a #3 Texas, but lost to lesser teams. They had a weak schedule. We do not know how Oklahoma will perform in the SEC.

True enough, but we for sure know even less about how AU will perform in the SEC. Weak or not, HF hasn’t beaten NMSU, in his last two attempts. That does not scream even middle pack in the SEC. We’ve never had a decent track record against any power teams outside of the SEC. Time to change the narrative, or become a bottom 6 team in a 16 team conference. 

[TexasTiger 13,134]

8-4

[CoffeeTiger 5,227]

7-5 with a hopefully 8th win coming in the bowl game. 

[HAPvsOA 339]

I'm really hoping to get to 6 or 7 wins, but I think that's going to be more difficult than most expect. 

[JerryAU 1,694]

On 5/11/2024 at 1:23 PM, Old fan 47 said:

I agree. We had at least two losses last year that were unacceptable and one was against Bama. No excuse for giving up a 4th and 31. I see 7/5 and hopefully a better bowl showing to get to 8 wins. I believe PT should be better, but that’s still a big question mark. WR room appears stacked and OL should be at least as good as last year if not better. Schedule appears tougher with OK and Mizzou, but I think if we get one of those and steal another one we aren’t supposed to, we could see 8 wins in regular season. HF will get at least 3 years, but year 2 needs to show vast improvement over last year, otherwise I don’t think he’s the right HC for us, head recruiter maybe, but not HC. 

IMO, better in-game decision making, play-calling and an ability to adjust during the game needs to be visibly improved. 

Perhaps Hugh has found a way to recruit and focus on game planning & scheming. I hope I never hear him claim that he didn't have the time to game-prep or draw up schemes for the opponent.  

[bishoptf 699]

Great keep them coming...I mean lets get it documented so we can look at the end of year and see where we are. I see some are giving multiple options, its not multiple choice question just one pick that you think they will end up. Just for fun, I hope we destroy my 7-5 prediction on the plus side since it will mean we had a good year. I am hoping we do better but some of the coaching some last year play, well not sure how we are going to do this year. 

 

War Eagle!

[woodford 3,678]

Depends on CFH’s long term strategy. Does he think he needs another top 10 or 5 class to survive past 2025? If so then we should expect 6-7 wins because 2024 will again be a “recruit first” season. 
 

If he thinks he can coach and recruit at a high level then I think 7-8 maybe even 9 is possible. Recruiting shouldn’t be as difficult as last year as those relationships have been established. A CFH who is managing each and every game plan and who has a better understanding of his program should produce more wins. 

[AUwent 3,778]

9 minutes ago, woodford said:

Depends on CFH’s long term strategy. Does he think he needs another top 10 or 5 class to survive past 2025? If so then we should expect 6-7 wins because 2024 will again be a “recruit first” season. 

If we had only 10 seniors in the (projected) starting lineup, he could possibly get away with that.

[Lotto 224]

Range of 7-5/9-3

[cbo 7,979]

4 hours ago, woodford said:

Depends on CFH’s long term strategy. Does he think he needs another top 10 or 5 class to survive past 2025? If so then we should expect 6-7 wins because 2024 will again be a “recruit first” season. 
 

If he thinks he can coach and recruit at a high level then I think 7-8 maybe even 9 is possible. Recruiting shouldn’t be as difficult as last year as those relationships have been established. A CFH who is managing each and every game plan and who has a better understanding of his program should produce more wins. 

He should be able to recruit another #10 class AND coach at a high level. Chizik and Gus had top 10 classes half the time and they never claimed they were too busy recruiting to coach. Plus, Saban's gone. 

If Freeze isn't coaching as hard as he can in Year 2, we have hired the wrong guy. Either a non-competitive loser or someone in way over his head. 

[woodford 3,678]

14 hours ago, cbo said:

He should be able to recruit another #10 class AND coach at a high level. Chizik and Gus had top 10 classes half the time and they never claimed they were too busy recruiting to coach. Plus, Saban's gone. 

If Freeze isn't coaching as hard as he can in Year 2, we have hired the wrong guy. Either a non-competitive loser or someone in way over his head. 

I agree with you. I’m to the point where I can’t get excited about Thorne. If we had Georgia’s OL? Sure. But we don’t. 
 

It’s possible he has another season like he had at MSU. RPO and keeping defenses honest will determine a lot of his success. Can he tuck and run and hit those open receivers if the corners bite? That’s one way he can create explosive plays. I don’t think he can do it over the top consistently. 
 

This is a normie take but if PT is struggling mid season, do you wash your hands with the guy and give the reins to HB or whoever is next man up? They’re selling the future and it could help with showing the next QB. Idk. This is probably the most pessimistic I’ve ever been about Auburn football. That Iron Bowl did me in. 

[autigeremt 6,776]

9-3 regular season. 

[bishoptf 699]

19 hours ago, woodford said:

Depends on CFH’s long term strategy. Does he think he needs another top 10 or 5 class to survive past 2025? If so then we should expect 6-7 wins because 2024 will again be a “recruit first” season. 
 

If he thinks he can coach and recruit at a high level then I think 7-8 maybe even 9 is possible. Recruiting shouldn’t be as difficult as last year as those relationships have been established. A CFH who is managing each and every game plan and who has a better understanding of his program should produce more wins. 

I think it may get pretty ugly if he has a losing season, I don't think they would let him go unless its really brutal but man I think if he is unable to show some progress then its going to get more difficult each year to say give me time. I guess he will get at least 3 years but at some point all the excuses have to stop and you have to show that you are getting better, just my opinion.

[bishoptf 699]

8 minutes ago, woodford said:

I agree with you. I’m to the point where I can’t get excited about Thorne. If we had Georgia’s OL? Sure. But we don’t. 
 

It’s possible he has another season like he had at MSU. RPO and keeping defenses honest will determine a lot of his success. Can he tuck and run and hit those open receivers if the corners bite? That’s one way he can create explosive plays. I don’t think he can do it over the top consistently. 
 

This is a normie take but if PT is struggling mid season, do you wash your hands with the guy and give the reins to HB or whoever is next man up? They’re selling the future and it could help with showing the next QB. Idk. This is probably the most pessimistic I’ve ever been about Auburn football. That Iron Bowl did me in. 

I agree with what you are saying about Thorne but again CHF made the decision to stay put, at some point he has to take accountability for HIS decisions. I am hoping if we can give PT a little more time to throw AND some receivers that actually catch the ball maybe he is good enough. He looked brutal during some games but there were a LOT of drops also, if the receivers catch some of those balls maybe he settles in and looks better than he did, I can at least hope.

[DAG 34,034]

45 minutes ago, bishoptf said:

I think it may get pretty ugly if he has a losing season, I don't think they would let him go unless its really brutal but man I think if he is unable to show some progress then its going to get more difficult each year to say give me time. I guess he will get at least 3 years but at some point all the excuses have to stop and you have to show that you are getting better, just my opinion.

I don’t believe we will have a losing season but say we go 6-7 or something weird like that , I don’t see him getting fired either. He will get at least three years no matter what in my eyes.

[JerryAU 1,694]

Auburn returns 66% of its '23 production - I don't know it that's good or bad?

Our SEC opponents return the following:

OleMiss 70% - UGA 68% - UAT 53% - OK 65% - Mizzou 71% - UK 72% - aTm 67% - Vandy 64%

Ole Miss/UGA/Mizzou/UAT will be tough.   OK/Vandy/aTm/Arkansas we should be able to handle.  

There's absolutely no excuse for even one OOC loss this year.  I've got 8-4 at worst and get a dang bowl WIN for 9-4. 

Edited May 14 by JerryAU

[cbo 7,979]

1 hour ago, woodford said:

I agree with you. I’m to the point where I can’t get excited about Thorne. If we had Georgia’s OL? Sure. But we don’t. 
 

It’s possible he has another season like he had at MSU. RPO and keeping defenses honest will determine a lot of his success. Can he tuck and run and hit those open receivers if the corners bite? That’s one way he can create explosive plays. I don’t think he can do it over the top consistently. 
 

This is a normie take but if PT is struggling mid season, do you wash your hands with the guy and give the reins to HB or whoever is next man up? They’re selling the future and it could help with showing the next QB. Idk. This is probably the most pessimistic I’ve ever been about Auburn football. That Iron Bowl did me in. 

I feel the same way. Still surprised we didn't bring in a transfer QB. Thorne will improve with the new surrounding cast, but he needs to be MUCH better than last season. And I don't see it happening. If he's struggling mid season, you have to try someone else.