If no one else will bring it up

[auwallace 6]

guys its no secret i've never been the biggest tre smith fan. Unless he's our only option at return man i'd like to see someone else get a shot. He's never made good decisions on letting the ball bounce or not and yesterdays two fumbles won't get it done against one of the big 6.

[aufan175 13]

He makes a few big plays here an there but he is a turnover machine and I think we should let someone else try returning punts like one of the WR.

[GoAU 1,600]

Although I agree with what you both have said about Tre's decision making at times, I still feel it's best to let the guys who see the players play on a daily basis versus what I see once a week on TV.

[TigerGlide 1]

I think Tre is undersized for the SEC, but Tuberville has always been loyal to guys that are loyal to him. Tre is not a big man, so I would assume he has small hands too, that would account for the fumbles.

[aucanucktiger 1,798]

Maybe Stattiger can help us out re: how many kicks Tre has fielded over the last 2-3 years, vs. how many he's fumbled. I'm betting his ratio is outstanding. He fits Tubberville's idea of a return man too, 5-10 yards, sure hands, no fumbling...yesterday notwithstanding. This makes sense w/ our consistently strong defenses giving our O good field position...so long as the punt returner doesn't fumble or lose 10 yards trying to score a TD by reversing field 3 times. Unless we experiment w/ somebody new 8 games into the season, I bet we see Tre tighten up his game and break a long one soon. He's harder on himself than any fan can be.

As a RB, he MUST be used as a situational player (e.g. Carl & Irons pound the line 5 times, then Tre's quick feet get 5 yards...then give the ball to Carl & Irons, etc.). Tre WILL NOT flourish as a main ball carrier.

Another thing about Tre, he's poses the problem of a good athlete not suited perfectly for ANY one position, but that can pick up ANY position off the line. To me, he's one of the reasons I love college ball so much more than NFL, his work ethic makes his playing time. He's a Doug Flutie of sorts.

[TigerGlide 1]

SEC Ranks

PUNT RETURN AVG Ret Yds TD Avg

----------------------------------------------------------

1. Skyler Green........ LS 17 272 1 16.0

2. Rafael Little.......... UK 13 197 0 15.2

3. Thomas Flowers.....UG 19 275 1 14.5

4. Tre Smith............. AU 20 205 0 10.2

5. Peyton Hillis.......... AR 10 98 0 9.8

6. Mike Espy............. UM 19 168 1 8.8

7. Vernell Brown........ UF 25 190 0 7.6

8. Kenny McKinley..... SC 14 52 0 3.7

[mcgufcm 4,107]

get off tre. good night. i'm so tired of this discussion. i've seen him play every single game of his collegiate career except one (arkansas this year where he gave us two touchdowns). i can only remember him fumbling a punt in two, lsu 2003 and yesterday. he couldn't see the ball on the first one. if you didn't notice him trying to shield his eyes even before the kick then you weren't paying attention. does that excuse a turnover? no. but it does explain it. and the second one happened after a 20+ yard return where the ole miss guy just happened to get a blind hand on the ball. it was a fluke, and it wasn't a turnover.

i don't know where he currently stands, but as of last week, he was leading the sec in punt return yards. he may not be a skylar green, ted ginn, devin hester threat, but he's a solid return man. i'm not a tre apoligist all the time. i didn't really think he should've started this season as the number one tailback. but i get really tired of hearing folks question him every time he touches the field. he's a great receiving threat out of the backfield. he's a solid backup tailback and a pretty consistent return man.

[SCWarEagle 4]

Two words.

Robert. Dunn.

[BustemBigBlue 178]

Two words.

Robert. Dunn.

193656[/snapback]

Amen.

If we aren't going to redshirt him he should be playing more.

[SCWarEagle 4]

Two words.

Robert. Dunn.

193656[/snapback]

Amen.

If we aren't going to redshirt him he should be playing more.

193667[/snapback]

Amen right back to you. Why waste a year of eligibility?

[DKW 86 7,440]

I would like to see Lester back there catching punts a few times myself. He looked like an Prothro a few times this season, very expolsive speed.

[sportwareagle 0]

I completely agree. Why don't they put Dunn in and let's see what he can do.

[AWK 0]

Big Play Tre has experience, which gives him the advantage over all the young players, therefore Tubberville will not take him out

[vatz22au 142]

Hell put Anthony Mix back there....we cant afford these fumbles. You think were gonna beat Georgia or Alabama fumbling the ball like that? Tre knows better than to fumble twice in a ROW. After you fumble once, you put 2 damn hands on that ball.

[WarTim 3,457]

Whatever happened to the "Speak no evil of any AUBURN player" rule. We are skating on very thin ice here. Tre Smith is an AUBURN TIGER . As such, he has my complete support. Let the coaches make any changes or corrections they decide upon.

p.s. Tre earned a lifetime pass in a certain game he played as a true freshman.

[DaddyBoyAU 119]

I agree with mcgufcm here - this was just an off day for Tre. He's one of the most consistent punt returner's in the league, and doesn't normally fumble. I don't understand why some people want to replace him.

[WaDE'05 8]

Eddie Gran 's Tre Smith. Its that simple. He had too much heat on him to keep Tre at the starting TB postion, but he likes the guy and has a lot of confidence in him, and since he's the Special Teams Coach, he found a way to get Tre on the field. For better or worse, I don't think anyone else is gonna see the field at PR this year as a result. He makes me kinda nervous back there, but I don't think he's and exceptionally bad return man, I think he just lacks that Greene/Prothro/Hester quality to go the distance on any given kick.

[mcgufcm 4,107]

my question is this: why are folks on this board so quick to support john vaughn (which we should and did) when he suffered through a bad game, but the first sign tre shows of a bad day... time to go. screw 'em. put in the freshman. what's up with that? he fumble a punt this year that i missed? i know he's not a touchdown threat, but that's not the only kind of return man out there. i'd rather get a guy who gives us solid returns and the ball 19 times out of 20 over a guy that's reversing field and juke trying to break big ones. not every team is going to have a devin hester. that's why they call it "special."

[vatz22au 142]

Whatever happened to the "Speak no evil of any AUBURN player" rule. We are skating on very thin ice here. Tre Smith is an AUBURN TIGER . As such, he has my complete support. Let the coaches make any changes or corrections they decide upon.

p.s. Tre earned a lifetime pass in a certain game he played as a true freshman.

193851[/snapback]

Tim, we are always able to comment on a player's ability to hold on to the ball. We aren't blasting his integrity, character, or moral values.

If theres one thing I've noticed about you and your comments towards some of the players on the team...you like Tre because of one thing....and it isnt his athletic ability.

[auwallace 6]

Whatever happened to the "Speak no evil of any AUBURN player" rule. We are skating on very thin ice here. Tre Smith is an AUBURN TIGER . As such, he has my complete support. Let the coaches make any changes or corrections they decide upon.

p.s. Tre earned a lifetime pass in a certain game he played as a true freshman.

193851[/snapback]

Tim, we are always able to comment on a player's ability to hold on to the ball. We aren't blasting his integrity, character, or moral values.

If theres one thing I've noticed about you and your comments towards some of the players on the team...you like Tre because of one thing....and it isnt his athletic ability.

193947[/snapback]

Vatz i totally agree with you. Maybe not just him but i think a lot of auburn fans want tre smith on the field because of his well, differences. Tre is a good back, but if he weren't white would there be such a love affair with him? I know tre gives his all on every down and plays his best but i'm sure that there have been countless players throughout the years with his ability level that haven't gotten this much of a push for playing time.

Oh and i never spoke bad of tre smith, i never will, i just seem to remember a coach tuberville that had an itchy trigger finger for punt returners.

[WarTim 3,457]

Whatever happened to the "Speak no evil of any AUBURN player" rule. We are skating on very thin ice here. Tre Smith is an AUBURN TIGER . As such, he has my complete support. Let the coaches make any changes or corrections they decide upon.

p.s. Tre earned a lifetime pass in a certain game he played as a true freshman.

193851[/snapback]

Tim, we are always able to comment on a player's ability to hold on to the ball. We aren't blasting his integrity, character, or moral values.

If theres one thing I've noticed about you and your comments towards some of the players on the team...you like Tre because of one thing....and it isnt his athletic ability.

193947[/snapback]

vatz, I have a consistant pattern of one thing, I have defended each and EVERY player any time anyone has commented on their performance...period. I have NEVER and will NEVER attack the play and or character of ANY Tiger...EVER.

You may want to check your facts before you make statements that you can't back up. FYI, my daughter helped recruit several players on this team and remains friends with them today. NONE of them are white players. The "suggested" reason you put forth is a slap in the face of who I am and how I was raised and how I have raised my children and who I am and what I believe.

If you read "anger" between the lines, you would be 100% correct. I may be many things, but, You are treading in dangerous waters with that backhanded suggestion. Yes, I defended Tre. I have defended other players on simular threads that just happened to be not of the same "color" as Tre. It had absolutely nothing to do with their skin color. Once they put on that Orange & Blue, They are Tigers to me and should be Tigers to you too!

I take total and complete offense to your suggested "bias", to put it mildly, and anxiously await your appology. Yes, it is due.

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

my question is this: why are folks on this board so quick to support john vaughn (which we should and did) when he suffered through a bad game, but the first sign tre shows of a bad day... time to go. screw 'em. put in the freshman. what's up with that? he fumble a punt this year that i missed? i know he's not a touchdown threat, but that's not the only kind of return man out there. i'd rather get a guy who gives us solid returns and the ball 19 times out of 20 over a guy that's reversing field and juke trying to break big ones. not every team is going to have a devin hester. that's why they call it "special."

193941[/snapback]

I for one am not bashing Tre. I love the guy but is it so bad to discuss if he is the best punt return man we have? And you might note, this wasn't his first bad day. He muffed a couple of punts last year too.

[War Eagle 96 10]

Whatever happened to the "Speak no evil of any AUBURN player" rule. We are skating on very thin ice here. Tre Smith is an AUBURN TIGER . As such, he has my complete support. Let the coaches make any changes or corrections they decide upon.

p.s. Tre earned a lifetime pass in a certain game he played as a true freshman.

193851[/snapback]

Tim, we are always able to comment on a player's ability to hold on to the ball. We aren't blasting his integrity, character, or moral values.

If theres one thing I've noticed about you and your comments towards some of the players on the team...you like Tre because of one thing....and it isnt his athletic ability.

193947[/snapback]

vatz, I have a consistant pattern of one thing, I have defended each and EVERY player any time anyone has commented on their performance...period. I have NEVER and will NEVER attack the play and or character of ANY Tiger...EVER.

You may want to check your facts before you make statements that you can't back up. FYI, my daughter helped recruit several players on this team and remains friends with them today. NONE of them are white players. The "suggested" reason you put forth is a slap in the face of who I am and how I was raised and how I have raised my children and who I am and what I believe.

If you read "anger" between the lines, you would be 100% correct. I may be many things, but, You are treading in dangerous waters with that backhanded suggestion. Yes, I defended Tre. I have defended other players on simular threads that just happened to be not of the same "color" as Tre. It had absolutely nothing to do with their skin color. Once they put on that Orange & Blue, They are Tigers to me and should be Tigers to you too!

I take total and complete offense to your suggested "bias", to put it mildly, and anxiously await your appology. Yes, it is due.

193958[/snapback]

Get em Tim! I thought that was a little goofy for vatz to put that out there too. Looked like he was bored, or something, and just wanted to type before thinking. I've never seen anything in Tim's posts to indicate preference, on color, or anything else...

[penguin149 391]

Let's just agree to demote Brandon Cox (too many interceptions), John Vaughn (too many missed field goals), David Irons (too many penalties), the offensive line (too many allowed sacks), Tre Smith (too many fumbles), Devin Armoshadou (too many dropped passes) and the water boy (too many thirsty players)...sorry if I missed anybody else that should have been included on this black-ball list!

[saniflush 0]

Let's just agree to demote Brandon Cox (too many interceptions), John Vaughn (too many missed field goals), David Irons (too many penalties), the offensive line (too many allowed sacks), Tre Smith (too many fumbles), Devin Armoshadou (too many dropped passes) and the water boy (too many thirsty players)...sorry if I missed anybody else that should have been included on this black-ball list! 

193963[/snapback]

Don't forget CTT....Too many true statements made last week! Sorry....couldn't resist that one.