AUesquire 1 Posted August 19, 2006 Share Posted August 19, 2006 I just got back from a day on the PLains, where I got to attend practice and meet some of the players. I'm READY for WSU!!!! Okay, I'm not actually playing or anything like that. Observations: 1. It was a normal practice with a lot of work on technique. The coaches worked hard to perfect their vocabulary. (I'd try to spell some of the stuff they said, especially Borges, but I'm not sure where to start or even how to pronounce half of it) The players seemed to understand it, though. 2. In the drills, the 7 on 7, the 9 on 9, the O-line was horrible. King Dunlap wallowed around for a while and then left the field with some type of ankle or knee injury. Didn't look serious. 3. The other side of the coin is the D-line is in-freakin'-credible. As good overall as I've seen in a while. The ends, Q, Browder and Gunn were unstoppable and the one concern I had in the off season, the interior line...well, it's not a concern anymore. Thompson is a freak while Pat Sims and SenDerrick Marks just overwhelmed whoever got in front of them. Tez looked solid and the freshmen, Ricks, Clayton and Eddins looked like they could contribute right away. Clayton surpised me. He's big, fast and physical. A couple of side notes on the D-line. G. Smith was in shoulder pads and helmet and participated in the drills. He's huge and strong and quick....and he ain't near ready. Backup O-linemen were owning him. Q. Groves is THE MAN. He's a leader. PERIOD!! He got in Greg Smith's grill about not running out a drill and is very vocal. In one drill, they put true freshman Mike Berry on him and I'm not sure if Berry touched him or not. They were all laughing and Groves strolled over to the other side, faced up with Ben Grubbs and said, "Watch how bad I beat Ben now." Same result. 4. Kenny Irons...enough said. The other backs looked good and I have to say that everything I've heard and read about Tate...is true. He's big, fast and just plain AUsome. Stewart is much bigger as many have reported and he's lean. A ripped 230. No true fullback in the bunch. 5. Wide receivers. Don't worry folks, we'll be fine. There are a bunch of incredible athletes out there and they'll settle on 3-4 who are consistent. Look for Cox to hook up a lot more with his old buddy, Lee Guess. LG looked sharp. Robert Dunn looked good as did Rod Smith and Prechae. Honestly, I can't see them missing a beat. Michael Goggans is a beast and Gabe McKenzie is right there with him. We're good at TE. No worries, mate. 6. Hard to tell about the LBs. It was fun to watch Blackmon and they had him in the middle. Craig Stevens was drawing a lot of praise out there as well. 7. QBs: Cox was sharp and in control in everything he did. Blake Field is much bigger than last year and looked good at times. With a year under his belt and about 10-15 more Yox pounds on his frame, Caudle is going to be pretty darn good. There was a lot more that went on and I got to meet a bunch of the players. Overall, it may have just been a bad day for the O-line but if that comes together by kickoff, this team is going to be pretty special to watch. And that is my totally unbiased, amatuer observations as seen through completely clear eyes and without any orange and blue colored glasses. WAR EAGLE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValleyTiger 2,894 Posted August 19, 2006 Share Posted August 19, 2006 esquire, how did you get into the practice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUesquire 1 Posted August 19, 2006 Author Share Posted August 19, 2006 Tigers Unlimited. My dad is a scholly donor and gets a lot of freebies. He cares nothing about standing out in 95 degree weather, watching young guys sweat, grunt and cuss so he passes the opportunities on to his favorite son. Ahem, that would be me. (Squire searches diligently for the "Rubbing elboes with the big money playa's" emoticon. ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aubrandon 5 Posted August 19, 2006 Share Posted August 19, 2006 That's freakin awesome dude. Is the O line that bad or is the D line that good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUesquire 1 Posted August 20, 2006 Author Share Posted August 20, 2006 Hopefully, I'm not naive enough to be too swayed by what I saw in one practice. But then, I'm easily influenced about certain things. We were able to stand literally 4-5 feet from the drills they ran for the O-line against the D-line and it wasn't pretty. We have some HUGE guys on both sides of the ball and I imagine that once they settle on a starting 5 for the O, we'll be okay. Duckworth and Palmer looked good at times and a couple of backups like Tyrone Green and A. Daniels really got after it and obviously want some PT. Nathan Farrow and Michael Hatter played as hard as anyone and you can tell they have the repect of their teammates and coaches. The things that stood out in both the drills and the scrimmage playes they ran were that the interior D-line just bull rushed whoever they faced and the ends are phenomenol. Thompson, Sims and Marks pushed their guy 5 yards back every single play. Jemarcus Ricks is fast and physical and again, Zach Clayton just looked good to me. I may be way off base, but I think this guy is going to be special by the time he's a junior. M. Gunn is about 260, tall and lean. He and Groves could not be blocked by anyone and Browder was in the backfield every play. Oh, and Muschamp....that guy is insane. His ticker never stops ticking. He was so happy with Patrick Trahan on one play that he came running out on the field, screaming like a mad man and jumped on his back, hugging his neck. I asked someone next to me if Trahan was in trouble or not. I couldn't tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the deacon 0 Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 Muschamp is my kind of coach!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolltoomer 0 Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 I would never stand 4-5 feet away from those guys going at it. Could be deadly. You never know which way they might go. Had a pre-game sidelines pass coupla' years ago and was nervous the whole time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUesquire 1 Posted August 20, 2006 Author Share Posted August 20, 2006 It is pretty scarey when guys that big that move that fast are trying to kick each other's butt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeagleDMS 0 Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 That's freakin awesome dude. Is the O line that bad or is the D line that good? From what I understand, the D line is just that good. We knew Groves was a stud coming into this, but I think Josh Thompson has suprised everybody at how dominant he has been. If you'll remember previous years McClover would absolutely whoop Marcus McNeil in two a days so I don't think there is anything to worry about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Sanders 123 Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 Well.. That made me feel better about our defense.. although you didn't mention our secondary much. Even if our OL doesn't play great... I think Borges can work out some stuff with them. As long as we can get through WSU.. we have 1 more game to let them gel.. Then they should be ready for LSU. BTW.. Check out the front page on ESPN College Football http://sports-att.espn.go.com/ncf/index Scroll down to blogs, where is says: MARK SCHLABACH Underrated Auburn may surprise Insider Updated: 8/17/06 Haha.. #4 and we are UNDERRATED!! =D yes!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AURaptor 1,126 Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 That's freakin awesome dude. Is the O line that bad or is the D line that good? From what I understand, the D line is just that good. We knew Groves was a stud coming into this, but I think Josh Thompson has suprised everybody at how dominant he has been. If you'll remember previous years McClover would absolutely whoop Marcus McNeil in two a days so I don't think there is anything to worry about. One of my (vastly uneducated ) concerns was the DL. Not that I had concerns for any particular spot or player, but that as a unit, I had doubts as to how effective they'd be. It was my ( again, vastly uneducated ) opinion that the OL was going to be the deeper, more talented of the 2 lines. Am I wrong in thinking that this OL was / is projected to be one of the better lines in the SEC, or even the nation? I use to spend far more time studying this sort of stuff, so if I'm way off in my views here, I'll gladly plea ignorance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bottomfeeder 244 Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 I believe the two tight-end set will help with any protection issues. But, that leaves fewer receivers, and we'll have to release someone as a safety valve. Play action/ bootleg is going to be an alternative to the pocket if we see the pocket breaking down early during the WSU game. Borges has this stuff under control I'm sure. The running game may not be affected by blocking issues, that is, if we keep most everything outside. The first game will give the coaches much needed footage to assess strengths and weaknesses in order to change game plans in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKCAUB 0 Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 AUSome info...thanks!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quietfan 233 Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 I'm not a coach nor have I stayed at a Holiday Inn lately, but I get the impression that our O-line has been hampered by nagging little injuries and by Coach Nall experimenting with different people in different positions. I have seen our line highly rated by some national columnists, Coach Nall is a great O-line coach (if not such a good OC), and I think we'll be fine once a healthy top five start working together as a unit. Good news about the D-line, however. With Coach Muschamp's aggressive philosophy, I look forward to seeing a lot of opposing quarterbacks doing the "Brodie duck-n-cover" this fall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AURaptor 1,126 Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 I get the impression that our O-line has been hampered by nagging little injuries and by Coach Nall experimenting with different people in different positions. 2 weeks from kickoff, the time for 'experimenting' should be over, no ? I mean, assuming we don't have any major holes to fill, I'd think it's time for the 1st unit to start forming up and reading from the same page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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