SOMETHING STILL MISSING

[aubrandon 5]

AFTER CLOSELY WATCHING AUBURN'S FIRST TWO GAMES, WHAT IS MISSING?

THE TIGERS SHOWED GREATNESS AT TIMES IN THE GA TECH GAME THEN FELL APART OVER AND OVER. THERE WAS NO DOUBT THAT AUBURN HAD MORE TALENT THAN GA TECH. THEY WOULD DO GREAT THINGS YET AGAIN BUT THE INCONSTANTCY CAME BACK AND TOOK OVER.

WE DID THE SAME THING AGAINST STATE. AUBURN WOULD DOMINATE. THEN THEY WOULD SPUTTER.

I CAN NOT QUITE PUT MY FINGER ON WHAT IS GOING ON. I PERSONALLY THINK THAT IT IS A LACK OF LEADERSHIP. I THINK THE SENIORS NEED TO STEP UP AND TAKE THEIR ROLE. I JUST CAN NOT BE QUITE SURE.

GIVE ME YOUR THOUGHTS.

[GaTigerFan 0]

AFTER CLOSELY WATCHING AUBURN'S FIRST TWO GAMES,  WHAT IS MISSING?

THE TIGERS SHOWED GREATNESS AT TIMES IN THE GA TECH GAME THEN FELL APART OVER AND OVER.  THERE WAS NO DOUBT THAT AUBURN HAD MORE TALENT THAN GA TECH.  THEY WOULD DO GREAT THINGS YET  AGAIN BUT THE INCONSTANTCY CAME BACK AND TOOK OVER.

WE DID THE SAME THING AGAINST STATE. AUBURN WOULD DOMINATE.  THEN THEY WOULD SPUTTER. 

I CAN NOT QUITE PUT MY FINGER ON WHAT IS GOING ON.  I PERSONALLY THINK THAT IT IS A LACK OF LEADERSHIP.  I THINK THE SENIORS NEED TO STEP UP AND TAKE THEIR ROLE.  I JUST CAN NOT BE QUITE SURE.

GIVE ME YOUR THOUGHTS.

180265[/snapback]

In the GT game we got beat by a better team because they stopped our running game. They had a better D plan. In the game we played a lot of young players. That was our plan. We "sputtered" because of that. Overall I was pleased with the game. We will see much much more of the young players the next two weeks. Probably a lot of the young QB's too. I doubt Cox plays more than a half in each game.

[OKieAuburnDoug 1]

they DID NOT stop our running game..we only ran it 13 or so times in the first three Qs. Borges admitted he was too obsessed with Cox's talent...IN the fourth AU ran the ball down Tech's throat....

Tech is not a better team...a fluke win all around. A bad day of coaching, a bad day of officiating, and poor execution by some players...IT's OVER LET'S MOVE ON!

THE MSU game: Simple, we got conservaitve in the playcalling in the second half (only passing on third down on nealry every 2nd half drive).

[auskull 239]

Tech did not have better raw talent, they did however have the more experienced players and were well coached.

Against State we looked very proficient in the first quarter and the first half of the second quarter. We were balanced and got the tight end into the game. After that we began to focus on the running game and getting players into the game. We are making progress. Its unrealistic to expect the precision that we had on offense last year. The running backs are trying but don't yet have that second and third effort that cad and ron had. Were getting there.

[AUesquire 1]

Exactly, Okie. As CTT is very proned to doing, when the game seems to be in hand, we basically go into a shell offensively. (See Va. Tech for definitive reference). The first 3 possessions of the second half were 2 plays up the middle, try to convert 3rd and long and then turn it back over to your defense. By the 4th, the game was 21-0 and the benches were quickly emptying on to the field.

If I saw one huge difference in the game plan from GT to MSU, other than the number of passes, it was how they handled the blitz. In the GT game, they played straight up, trying to hit the receivers while counting on the backs and line to pick up the blitzes. Didn't work.

MSU brought numerous blitz packages early and Borges burned them with throws to the TE's, draw plays and screens. There were very few passes to the wide receivers. They did exactly what they needed to do to keep MSU off balance and negate their blitz. Great week of game planning by Borges and company.

[GaTigerFan 0]

AU ran the ball down Tech's throat....

Tech is not a better team...a fluke win all around. A bad day of coaching, a bad day of officiating, and poor execution by some players...IT's OVER LET'S MOVE ON!

50 yds rushing ain't exactly running down their throat.

On Sept. 3rd Tech WAS the better team. We did have a bad day coaching and the refs were'nt great... If we played again maybe we would win. OK lets move on. Beat BALL STATE!

[Shug2003 1]

Senior Leadership and experience...that's what's missing! Right now, we are NOT a good running team and that is a direct result of an Offensive line which is either not as talented as we thought, a victim of inexperience, not well coahed or a combination of all three. I'm sure that there are other factors as well such as team chemistry, being hungry, etc. I think Cox is an exceptional talent and a work in progess, but he needs an aggressive, physical Offensive Line to both open holes and protect him as well. He doesn't have that right now. IF we don't get that kind of line, then he will be subject to injury against some of the better teams on our schedule and more losses will occur. We SHOULD get better each week but we are NOT capable of wining the BIG game right now.... WDE

[AuNuma1 1]

We still have NO running game. As bad as MSU was, we still couldn't get anyone to run for more than 40 yards!

[PowerI 0]

Senior Leadership and experience...that's what's missing! Right now, we are NOT a good running team and that is a direct result of an Offensive line which is either not as talented as we thought, a victim of inexperience, not well coahed or a combination of all three. I'm sure that there are other factors as well such as team chemistry, being hungry, etc. I think Cox is an exceptional talent and a work in progess, but he needs an aggressive, physical Offensive Line to both open holes and protect him as well. He doesn't have that right now. IF we don't get that kind of line, then he will be subject to injury against some of the better teams on our schedule and more losses will occur.  We SHOULD get better each week but we are NOT capable of wining the BIG game right now.... WDE  

180294[/snapback]

I agree. The offensive line has to start creating more holes for the young inexperienced running backs. They also need to start blowing people off of the line. Also, the runningbacks have to do a better job of blocking, when we play another good defense, Cox will get killed if they don't get better at picking up their assignments.