O-Line????

[tidesnightmare 0]

Nobody has posted on this topic so I thought I would bring it up. Should we be worried about our O-line

or is Miss St. and LSU's front four really that good? I'm not really that worried but then again I don't like seeing Cox on his back. I've yet seen Florida play but heard they have a good front four.

[TigerMom 0]

Not worried about this week. Just get everyone healthy.

[tidesnightmare 0]

I'm not worried about this weekend but I thought I would bring it up.

[Tigermike 3,027]

I've yet seen Florida play but heard they have a good front four.

They are good and they smoke some good pot as well!

http://www.aunation.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29079

[AUesquire 1]

Word is that Florida's best defensive player just got suspended 5 games. A big DE. No link, just heard it talked about on Finedong, so take it for what it's worth. That being said, UF's D looked good from the half I saw against UT when I got home from the game. They looked extremely fast and I'll admit that any team that holds it's opponent to -11 yards rushing has got my attention.

I think our offensive line needs to use this week as a gut check time and see how physical they can be. If Field plays most of the game, as some have speculated, we won't be throwing it around like crazy and the backs will get all the carries they want. Our O-line needs to step up and say, "We're going to score every possession...period."

[AUesquire 1]

Bump...I just saw the thread about the UF player suspended.

[tidesnightmare 0]

I just can't picture a big-o-burly DE smoking dope....their suppose to be mean and nasty not happy dead heads.

[jwise0022 1]

I think we all agree the offensive scheme we had in 2003 was downright retarded. I think we all can agree that the offensive line play this year has been totally below par. What is the nexus between the two problems? Hugh Nall is responsible for both. I think after this season it might be time for an upgrade at the coaching staff position. It seems like our lineman stop playing after 3 seconds. Cox always has 3 seconds, except for when the defensive goes unabated through the A gap and blows the play up just after the snap. The lack of communication and the obvious lack of hustle has led me to this conclusion. I mentioned before this season that the only spot I was concerned with was the offensive line. Coach Nall was the reason for my concern. I am sure there is a spot on the team for him to coach, just not such an important part.

[Weagle98 119]

I think we all agree the offensive scheme we had in 2003 was downright retarded. I think we all can agree that the offensive line play this year has been totally below par. What is the nexus between the two problems? Hugh Nall is responsible for both. I think after this season it might be time for an upgrade at the coaching staff position. It seems like our lineman stop playing after 3 seconds. Cox always has 3 seconds, except for when the defensive goes unabated through the A gap and blows the play up just after the snap. The lack of communication and the obvious lack of hustle has led me to this conclusion. I mentioned before this season that the only spot I was concerned with was the offensive line. Coach Nall was the reason for my concern. I am sure there is a spot on the team for him to coach, just not such an important part.

Wasn't Hugh Nall the coach during the 2004 season too. Hmmm. Maybe he just has off years.

Nall was co-OC in 2003 huge mistake that was corrected.

[Tigermike 3,027]

I think we all agree the offensive scheme we had in 2003 was downright retarded. I think we all can agree that the offensive line play this year has been totally below par. What is the nexus between the two problems? Hugh Nall is responsible for both. I think after this season it might be time for an upgrade at the coaching staff position. It seems like our lineman stop playing after 3 seconds. Cox always has 3 seconds, except for when the defensive goes unabated through the A gap and blows the play up just after the snap. The lack of communication and the obvious lack of hustle has led me to this conclusion. I mentioned before this season that the only spot I was concerned with was the offensive line. Coach Nall was the reason for my concern. I am sure there is a spot on the team for him to coach, just not such an important part.

If I'm not mistaken, Hugh Nall is considered one of the best OL coaches anywhere. Just wait, this OL will turn out to be a team strength this year.

[AUesquire 1]

Wow jwise, Nall is regarded as one of the best in the game....by his peers. I was concerned about our O-line coming in as well, but not because of coaching, more from a personnel standpoint. I didn't know if we had anyone to replace guys like McNeil and Reddick. I got used to the steady play at those positions.

Our line has some growing up to do and needs to gel, but I don't think coaching is the problem. I can name about 100 D-1 teams that would jump on Nall as their line coach.

[vatz22au 142]

Nobody has posted on this topic so I thought I would bring it up. Should we be worried about our O-line

or is Miss St. and LSU's front four really that good? I'm not really that worried but then again I don't like seeing Cox on his back. I've yet seen Florida play but heard they have a good front four.

We probably just played the most physical team on our schedule. I have faith that our OL is going to come out with some fire in their eyes.

[tidesnightmare 0]

Yeah they'll get better just a matter of time. Believe it or not some of it is Cox's fault for taking too long to get the ball out. As far as Nall he'll get it straight. He did good last year after we played GT.

[aukooze91 11]

Bump...I just saw the thread about the UF player suspended.

Yeah, I just heard it announced on ch 123 (i think at 5 pm central it goes to the Sportsdesk and not Rivals Radio) on Sirius this afternoon. Said he got 5 games suspension for testing positive for dope - and get this he tested positive a second time (I assume a second time this season)!

Go figure, all the talent in the world, and he would rather throw it all away!

[jwise0022 1]

I think you all make valid points. However, it is interesting in this post how you all agree with what the rest of the media thinks about Auburn, but when it comes to the polls and what not you think they are bunk. From watching every game over the last 5 years I believe our offensive line has not been one of the best in the nation. Let's face it, its not all the difficult to block for Ronnie, Caddy, Irons, etc. However, when I watched the LSU line this weekend, Randall had all day to throw. How come their offensive line doesn't have any break downs? We weren't able to sneak someone through the A gap twice on them. Who could argue with our run blocking? We have been one of the most successful rushing teams for quite sometime. But giving up sacks can make a running game mute. Look at the LSU game. The reason we couldn't rush for over a hundred was because we were constantly in 3rd and long. Many of these were a result of sacks. If we can get to 3rd and 3 or 4 and keep the defense honest with the possibility of a run than we will have more success. The most important players on a team are the offensive and defensive linemen. In my opinion, our offensive line didn't get it done and responsiblity lies with the coach of that unit.

[TDAuburn 2]

I think you all make valid points. However, it is interesting in this post how you all agree with what the rest of the media thinks about Auburn, but when it comes to the polls and what not you think they are bunk. From watching every game over the last 5 years I believe our offensive line has not been one of the best in the nation. Let's face it, its not all the difficult to block for Ronnie, Caddy, Irons, etc. However, when I watched the LSU line this weekend, Randall had all day to throw. How come their offensive line doesn't have any break downs? We weren't able to sneak someone through the A gap twice on them. Who could argue with our run blocking? We have been one of the most successful rushing teams for quite sometime. But giving up sacks can make a running game mute. Look at the LSU game. The reason we couldn't rush for over a hundred was because we were constantly in 3rd and long. Many of these were a result of sacks. If we can get to 3rd and 3 or 4 and keep the defense honest with the possibility of a run than we will have more success. The most important players on a team are the offensive and defensive linemen. In my opinion, our offensive line didn't get it done and responsiblity lies with the coach of that unit.

In part... I'm afraid I agree with you jwise. As the O-line goes... so goes the team. In '04 the O'line caused a too close game against LSU, but won based on CT catching a 4th and long, and TD pass at the end. They pulled together after that, and you know the rest of the story. They didn't play well in the 1st 2 games last year... again... you know the story. Auburn's SEC and NC hopes ride on whether the O-line gets their crap together or not. Nall definitely knows the technical part... it's the motivational area that he sometimes misses. The O'line hasn't been a NC unit yet this year... but they do have the talent. Here's hoping/praying that they find the groove... I truly believe our success hinges on it. Without improvement, we'll still win all but a couple of games... if they play like they can/should... it's NC time.

[TigerHeat 9]

Our O-line doesn't worry me nearly as much as the fact that our receivers aren't gaining any separation from the DB's. I think 2/3rds of our sacks so far have been coverage sacks. Sure, there have been a few broken pass protections (e.g. LSU's untouched linebacker), but the line can't hold all day!

Our new WR's need to do something different. CT can't carry the whole load, and one catch per game for these other guys is going to pin us down to "Irons up the middle, Irons to the right, Irons to the left" all day. A good D can just load up between the tackles and drill us if they don't have to worry about our receivers breaking one off.

My 2 cents for the day.

WDE

[jumbo 0]

Msu and Lsu have the best front 4 that Au will see all year! dont worry Au will be fine

[mcgufcm 4,096]

are you guys serious? are we really questioning the talent (or personnel) of a line that has four guys in the starting lineup who will be playing on sunday within the next two years (palmer, grubbs, duckworth this year... dunlap next)? we have personnel problems? i think not.

are we really going to use the argument, "hugh nall was a bad coordinator so we should can him because of a couple of bad games by his line three years later"? we serious with that? jwise answer this one for me. you said the olinemen are the most important players on the offense (for the record i think they are the most important UNIT, they don't have to have great amounts of talent as long as they play well together). so for an offense to play well, the line would have to play well right? right.

okay given that what does this say about our line the last two years:

2004 - SEC offensive rankings

Florida - 437.9 YPG (1st), 31.8 PPG (2nd)

Auburn - 431.3 YPG (2nd), 32.1 PPG (1st)

Georgia - 417.4 YPG (3rd), 27.9 PPG (6th)

LSU - 416.1 YPG (4th), 28.7 PPG (5th)

Arkansas - 407.9 YPG, 29.8 PPG (3rd)

2005 - SEC offensive rankings

Auburn - 423.6 YPG (1st), 32.2 PPG (1st)

Vanderbilt 411.7 YPG (2nd), 27.2 PPG (5th)

Georgia - 398.1 YPG (3rd), 29.5 PPG (t-2nd)

LSU - 394.3 YPG (4th), 29.5 PPG (t-2nd)

over that same stretch of time, we've had two offensive players of the year (from different positions: qb and rb) jason campbell and kenny irons, respectively. we had a guy lead the league in rushing (kenny), a guy finish second (carnell), and a guy finish 7th (ronnie), in only two years. we've also had a qb lead the league in qb rating (campbell) and seen a first year starter finish 5th (cox). not to mention the fact that our line had two guys drafted last year, two wrs drafted last year, two rbs drafted the year before, and one qb.

so, i think we can all agree that we've not only been successful, but we've been the single most dominant offense in the sec with borges as a coordinator and nall as a line coach. if the line is the most important position on offense (as you stated), then you'd be pretty hard pressed to find even a shred of evidence that this line, under this coach, hasn't been one of the best in the country over the last two years, especially if you think the sec is the best defensive conference in the nation (like i do).

also, it should be pointed out. we have the leading rusher in the conference right now (kenny), and while we're currently in the middle of the pack offensively, history tells us that bigger things are on the horizon. we also just became the first team to score a td on lsu in four games.

for what it's worth, i'm not saying the line is playing well right now. i'm just saying that this is a line incorporating two new starters, and you should give them time to gell. it's the position that relies the most of cohesiveness and we've avoided injuries after playing two very physical teams (re: the injured list for the rest of the team). we had communication breakdowns last game which caused two sacks, and we have a qb that's holding the ball longer either for lack of trust in his receivers, lack of ability to get open, or indecision (or all three). brandon ate two sacks against msu when he had plenty of time to get the ball off.

these guys are going to put it together soon. this is the best coaching staff in the country, and the only reason it should be tinkered with is if someone gets a better job elsewhere.

[ProgRock 0]

I also have thought much on the NALL subject and I wasn't gonna say anything untill someone else mentioned it.I'm kinda questioning him as well.There really is just too many sacks and rushes for a non-scrambling QB to handle.How many sack are we averaging a game?

[jtweeks 0]

Most of our problems seem to be coming from the middle. For some reason we are vulnerable over center.....Either Cope is not getting it done or we are not picking up stunts very well!

[JB33 1]

are you guys serious? are we really questioning the talent (or personnel) of a line that has four guys in the starting lineup who will be playing on sunday within the next two years (palmer, grubbs, duckworth this year... dunlap next)? we have personnel problems? i think not.

are we really going to use the argument, "hugh nall was a bad coordinator so we should can him because of a couple of bad games by his line three years later"? we serious with that? jwise answer this one for me. you said the olinemen are the most important players on the offense (for the record i think they are the most important UNIT, they don't have to have great amounts of talent as long as they play well together). so for an offense to play well, the line would have to play well right? right.

okay given that what does this say about our line the last two years:

2004 - SEC offensive rankings

Florida - 437.9 YPG (1st), 31.8 PPG (2nd)

Auburn - 431.3 YPG (2nd), 32.1 PPG (1st)

Georgia - 417.4 YPG (3rd), 27.9 PPG (6th)

LSU - 416.1 YPG (4th), 28.7 PPG (5th)

Arkansas - 407.9 YPG, 29.8 PPG (3rd)

2005 - SEC offensive rankings

Auburn - 423.6 YPG (1st), 32.2 PPG (1st)

Vanderbilt 411.7 YPG (2nd), 27.2 PPG (5th)

Georgia - 398.1 YPG (3rd), 29.5 PPG (t-2nd)

LSU - 394.3 YPG (4th), 29.5 PPG (t-2nd)

over that same stretch of time, we've had two offensive players of the year (from different positions: qb and rb) jason campbell and kenny irons, respectively. we had a guy lead the league in rushing (kenny), a guy finish second (carnell), and a guy finish 7th (ronnie), in only two years. we've also had a qb lead the league in qb rating (campbell) and seen a first year starter finish 5th (cox). not to mention the fact that our line had two guys drafted last year, two wrs drafted last year, two rbs drafted the year before, and one qb.

so, i think we can all agree that we've not only been successful, but we've been the single most dominant offense in the sec with borges as a coordinator and nall as a line coach. if the line is the most important position on offense (as you stated), then you'd be pretty hard pressed to find even a shred of evidence that this line, under this coach, hasn't been one of the best in the country over the last two years, especially if you think the sec is the best defensive conference in the nation (like i do).

also, it should be pointed out. we have the leading rusher in the conference right now (kenny), and while we're currently in the middle of the pack offensively, history tells us that bigger things are on the horizon. we also just became the first team to score a td on lsu in four games.

for what it's worth, i'm not saying the line is playing well right now. i'm just saying that this is a line incorporating two new starters, and you should give them time to gell. it's the position that relies the most of cohesiveness and we've avoided injuries after playing two very physical teams (re: the injured list for the rest of the team). we had communication breakdowns last game which caused two sacks, and we have a qb that's holding the ball longer either for lack of trust in his receivers, lack of ability to get open, or indecision (or all three). brandon ate two sacks against msu when he had plenty of time to get the ball off.

these guys are going to put it together soon. this is the best coaching staff in the country, and the only reason it should be tinkered with is if someone gets a better job elsewhere.

What he said.

[WarTim 3,456]

Coach Hugh Nall IS one of the BEST o-line coaches in America. LSU has a VERY good defense that made our o-line look average.

Russell had a lot of time to throw because that was the game plan. Take away the run, which our d-line did unassisted, and make 'em throw. It would have been nice to get more pressure on the qb with the front four, but, they were concerned with stopping the run first and they did their job.

There are NO problems with our line coaches...period. Anything said to the contrary is just an uneducated opinion.

p.s. That glass you see in front of you is actually half full.

[Longtrainn 2]

I'll just say that while the O-line is not playing great right now, this is not uncommon for us. Go back and look at some of the early games from each of the past few seasons. Our o-line, for whatever reason, always takes a while to become a well-oiled machine. I think you'll actually find that's the case with most OLs across the country, because they need playing time together to jell. LSU's just happens to be an exception. They are outstanding and came out of the gate that way. That's pretty rare. Our line will get it together in the coming weeks, as usual. You can tell they are not satisfied with their level of play, and they will work their tails off to get better.

[jwise0022 1]

Coach Hugh Nall IS one of the BEST o-line coaches in America. LSU has a VERY good defense that made our o-line look average.

Russell had a lot of time to throw because that was the game plan. Take away the run, which our d-line did unassisted, and make 'em throw. It would have been nice to get more pressure on the qb with the front four, but, they were concerned with stopping the run first and they did their job.

There are NO problems with our line coaches...period. Anything said to the contrary is just an uneducated opinion.

p.s. That glass you see in front of you is actually half full.

Not to pick a fight here WarTim, but don't you think LSU's gameplan was to take away the run from us as well. They were able to do that AND still get the sacks. There offensive line couldn't get the ball moving on the ground, but they did the job pass blocking. We did neither. Why don't you get that? I don't have a problem with our defense, I think they are awesome. I said before the season that Muschamp will be sick as the coordinator here. I also said that I was afraid the oline play would be subpar. Now you say I have an undeducated opinion? I think my predictions have been right on so far. I want Auburn to be the best team in the country, which means I don't want the glass half full, I want it filled all the way. GOT IT. There is nothing wrong with me saying our oline sucks right now. Anything said to the country is just an uneducated opinion.