My First Post Since the Game

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

This is my first post since the game and I probably shouldn't make it. After the game I didn't get on the board because I knew a lot of people here would be playing the blame game. I was right but I was shocked at the magnitude of it. All of a sudden a lot of people here were experts on everything that happened. It is an understatement to say I am saddened and disappointed in the remarks made by a lot of you. With some I saw what was expected. In other cases I was as disappoined as you were with the team. I am proud of the few, noteably War Tim, who didn't rush to flame the team and coaches. In any event my future post exchange with some here will be measured and some have simply been placed on my ignore list.

I could go thru the same analysis and blame game some of you have but that would only add my opinion and I won't be so hypocritical as to pretend to be an expert analyst. I would only comment that I don't think it was the coaches' fault or the players' fault. I was a combination of things that just happen in college football. I believe the players wanted to win badly, as did the coaches. But the coaches didn't throw an early interception or make an early fumble, neither did they kick the all out of bounds following the TD where we got within 7 points giving Wisconsin the ball on the 35 rather than the 20, a critical mistake at that point. The coaches didn't miss the tackles that at least on DB did that killed us.

Nope all of these things contributed but to blame the coaches or players alone is ridiculous. IMHO, what killed us was over confidence, just as it did a lot of other teams in bowl games. Look at how many games the underdog won and you see the same pattern. Now go back and look at your posts preceding the game. See any over confidence. I posted my concern about this a couple of weeks ago.

But enough. I was as disappointed as any of you. But right after the game I went into my study and looked at a beautiful pic I got for Christmas. It was a picture of a stadium and the scoreboard. The caption says November, 2005, Auburn 28-Aabama 18, Four in a Row. A smile came on my face. That pic will sustain me thru the Winter and until next November.

It has been 1507 days since bama beat Auburn and some of you are whining?

Now fire back. But just one request. Would all you geniuses who correctly picked at least 50% of the bowl games correctly rerspond first.

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

Have seen where the players have admitted they were overconfident as well as the coaches saying they didn't focus the players.

I think its like Dickens said, they did to much vacationing down there. Just did not look prepared to play at all.

I'm over it today. We had a great season considering what we lost from last years team. Only two programs have won more games over the past two years than Auburn. We got a good bunch coming back next year, so hopefully the staff and players learn from this and use it as a springboard in prep for next season.

WDE

[Draven 0]

I don't think I even came close to 50% on picking bowl games but I like you waited to post, not as long granted but I waited. Like I said in my post, I was proud of the team and the good season, but we had a horrid afternoon and pointing out some things i noticed. I have no delusions of being an expert if I was I would be getting paid 300,000 dollars a year to coach but like most on here I am not.

I can't speak for everyone but I don’t think a lot of it was not meant as a flame to the coaches, except those we have grown to expect that type of outlook from. I do think it was more in the way of wanting answers, everyone made this out to be the game that would finally gain the respect and cement Auburn as a premier program in the nation. We came out and look as unprepared and listless as I have seen a Tiger team in a long time.

Given time most of the ones who came out placing blame and flaming coaches and players will return to their regularly scheduled mental programing. Overconfidence doomed most all of us yesterday and it is hard to eat crow for some people.

[LegalEagle 22]

16 right 10 wrong - WooHoo I qualify!!

The team was not properly prepared and did not play well. I can't believe the coach's would disagree. However, I do agree that it was just one game and not the end of the world.

I also agree that all of our players wanted to win and most played with full enthusiam. As a whole however, that did not look like the team who played Bama and GA.

It would have been so nice to start next season in the top 5. It would help us get ready for a MNC shot. However, as I posted, I think it can be helpful in preparation over the long break. This loss, combined with the first loss of this season, should put everyone on alert to be ready to play ball when the next game comes around.

No one feels worse about the game than the players and coaches. I'm sure the players did what the coaches told them to do in preparation for the game. I think the coaches did let the players down. It wasn't any one coach either. We made mistake after mistake in each area of play. You don't need to be an expert to tell we played poorly.

It's a game. We lost. We need to build upon the lessons learned and move on.

War Eagle!

[trinitiger 0]

Proud Tiger here is one thats in your corner on this one.

Course I graduated in 82, I remember sitting in the stands in disbelief as we got beat 41 to nothing by Tenn. Cribs got caught smoking dope twice in one season. You would see a bunch of the players getting drunk at the supper club on Friday night before a game, etc, etc.

Now we are upset over a 3 loss season? We have a fine outstanding group of young men who just came into the game flat footed.

If everyone could be on their game all the time Viagra would not be a billion dollar drug!

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

Proud Tiger here is one thats in your corner on this one. 

Course I graduated in 82, I remember sitting in the stands in disbelief as we got beat 41 to nothing by Tenn.  Cribs got caught smoking dope twice in one season.  You would see a bunch of the players getting drunk at the supper club on Friday night before a game, etc, etc. 

Now we are upset over a 3 loss season?  We have a fine outstanding group of young men who just came into the game flat footed.

If everyone could be on their game all the time Viagra would not be a billion dollar drug!

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I sure agree with you and Legal's comments above. I just couldn't believe I was on an Auburn board last night seeing some of the comments. What I saw was a bunch of whiners who claim to be loyal fans to the team that has the 3rd best record in all of Div-!A over the last two years. Poor babies, the team didn't live up to their expectations against Wisconsin and none give Wisconsin any credit for our demise.

We have come a long way since the days you mention and few appreciate it like I do.

[SKCAUB 0]

Yup...we're upset...fans, coaches, players...and rightly so...and that's the beginning and the end of it. I haven't seen anyone calling for executions (I don't think I have, anyway). But we all saw what happened...and now we'll move on. Wisconsin played about as well as they could have possible expected...and we were within a TD in the 4th.... That said, I choose to look forward to signing day, and the Spring...ahhhhh, the Spring...when all things are made new.

[LegalEagle 22]

Tubs said:

"We threw high passes, we dropped balls, I called the wrong plays," Tuberville said. "It's just a mixture of things. You can say we weren't ready. We didn't have the emotion that we had the last couple of games. That's pretty obvious."

"I'll take the blame," coach Tommy Tuberville said. "We weren't ready to play. We weren't in sync. We never got anything going. We didn't execute, and that's because I didn't have these guys mentally ready to go."

CAB said:

"It was just a rough way to finish (the season)," Borges said. "We just were so poor today. That was awful. We haven't played like that all year. We never got into a rhythm. So much about offensive football is about being in sync, putting successful plays back to back to back, and we just never did it."

DT Wayne Dickens said:

"They were beating us to the edge. I can't name one team that's done that to us before," Dickens said. "We'd have him contained and he'd just bounce away from our linebackers. I've never seen someone do that before. I saw that and said: That's a special back."

"We got our (butts) handed to us," the senior defensive tackle said. "Anybody in the stadium could see that. A team had more speed than us. There's not much I can say about it."

"There's nothing these coaches could have done," Dickens said. "I don't think we came out ready to play. We spent too much time vacationing down here. In the first quarter, I played horribly. To a man, we were overconfident. When you get overconfident, sometimes you get your (butt) beat."

These folks are pretty much experts about the game. They said it all. None of us had to. I understand your point PT, but you'd have to stick your head deep into the sand not to notice our poor play. No expertise would be needed.

Thanks for calling me a genius though.

[jumbo 0]

15-11 so I guess I can write a sentence....Auburn was not ready to play he game and they heard espn and all the media talking about how bad they were going to run over Wisconsin and they just relaxed and got beat bad.

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

Thanks for calling me a genius though. 

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Well you tell us regularly that you are so I just thought I would humor you