Borges' Offense

[jcat 0]

Who's bashing?

Maybe a bit over the top and I was referring to Raven.

He was our favorite doom and gloomer around here until tubs finally turned the corner.

Now borges comes in, lifts the offense to new heights, suffers some setbacks this year due to things beyond his control.

Now here comes raven with the "petrinos better" crap. Who freaking cares if petrino is or isn't better than borges? The jury is still out on that one and if we played in the big east our O numbers would be much better this year, no if's and's aor but's.

Either he's wanting ctt fired, getting a stiffy over chizik, or now he's into knocking Borges.

Classic doom and gloomer.

I wasn't bashing Borges. I just pointed to the facts that show that the offense really lagging behind the defense if you look at the stats. Muschamp has received criticism for the defense, but the defense is actually performing better than the offense. Sometimes people just can't accept reality.

Now borges comes in, lifts the offense to new heights, suffers some setbacks this year due to things beyond his control.

What was beyond his control?

Who freaking cares if petrino is or isn't better than borges? The jury is still out on that one and if we played in the big east our O numbers would be much better this year, no if's and's aor but's.

Just comparing old vs new OCs. Maybe we will get a chance to see how well UofL really is, first hand.

Either he's wanting ctt fired, getting a stiffy over chizik, or now he's into knocking Borges.

Chizik won (again) yesterday, didn't he??? (just for you 88)

[lca408 366]

I think its part of the "SMASH-MOUTH FOOTBALL" campaign that TT and others have been preaching this year. Our offense lacks the big plays. The only real big play we've had all season from the Offense was Kenny's 50 something yard streaker for a TD against Wash. St. That's it!

Defenses know we want to run. And defenses know that our O-line is a little bit weaker this year. And the playcalling has been a little less creative this year. Auburn as a whole has lacked the big play. In the last two games, we've had 7 big plays. And they've all come from the Defense. The turnovers vs Florida and the turnovers vs Tulane.

We may have a balanced offense that is finally coming around to where it needs to be, but the overall scheme of our offense is to pound it out on the ground again and again and again. Our drives take up time and slowly wear down defenses. They work most of the time and we'll probably win most of our games that way, but when you're going up against teams like Florida or Arkansas that are fired up and ready to play, and your defense isn't playing up to par (the other team is scoring in 2 or 3 plays), and your offense is grounding out 4 and 5 and 6 minute drives that score most of the time but maybe not all of the time, the team that can make big plays and score quick will probably end up winning those games.

Auburn's 04' offense was good. They could build long drives that take up time, or score quick when they had to. (SEC championship game 04 comes to mind) Last year's offense was a mix of 04' and 06' but still with the ability to make big plays. Now, we have no big plays. So we're probably gonna end up playing people close no matter who they are.

I say we quit talking about the BCS seriously for the moment. Our eyes should be on the championship game in ATLANTA, not in Tempe! Every SEC team aspires to this game more than any other. We're no different. If we went to the Fiesta bowl without playing for the SEC title, I would rather throw away any trophy or recognition we would get because we didn't win THAT BIG GAME. It is inconcievable to me that some people would praise the BCS for letting us into that game without being able to officially claim ourselves the best in the SEC first!

National Championships are great and all but their greatness can fade with time. (Alabama) Being Auburn fans isn't about comparing our NCs to someone else or bragging that "we have more tradition than you cause we've won more NCs!" Being an Auburn fan is rejoicing in a hard fought season. Being an Auburn fan is supporting your team through thick and thin and loving every minute of Auburn. We know that beating Alabama is always better and sweeter for us than any of their national championships are for them. I wouldn't trade "Punt Bama Punt", "Bo over the Top", "1989 Iron Bowl", or the "Sack Brodie Bowl" for any of their National Championships.

If we don't do it this year, than its not the end of the world. There's plenty of other years to do so. With this coaching staff, I'm confident that we'll have another shot at it in the next year or two. Until then, lets just have fun with this season, see where it takes us, and relish in the fact that we've already beaten LSU and Florida, and we stand a good chance at beating the Dawgs and the Turds too.

War Damn Eagle!

Ryan

[mcgufcm 4,107]

a few thoughts: borges is a great offensive coordinator, but i don't think there is any doubt that his play calling has been much worse this year, at least to this point, than past seasons. arkansas was easily the worst game he's called at auburn (prime example being the completely not-set-up halfback pass called on the first series that set a "we're not taking this seriously" tone... that play was a lot bigger than anyone really thought at the time). now? he's finding a groove. the offense was solid good against uf, except the redzone, and it was great against tulane.

this is an offense with limitations. the best center is playing right tackle (at least until last saturday). the second best center is injured. the wide receivers lack speed, and it's forced the most physical receiver (and by far the best receiver) on the team into an uncomfortable role as a "deep threat." the tight ends are really young, and the running backs are gimpy. there is talent though, and borges is starting to find how to use it efficiently.

brandon lacks arm strength. that's easy to see. i'm not saying he can't be a good/great qb... he's just a specific type of qb (ken dorsey and danny wonderful are the proof that a skinny qb with a limp noodle arm can dominate in college). his limitations take away some plays. we can't run deep outs, for example. but his gifts (quick release, accurate, smart) make him really dangerous. i think we're seeing a real step in the right direction with the production of the tight ends (jeremy shockey and kellen winslow helped make dorsey) and the backs.

gene chizik is the best defensive coordinator in the nation. i have no problem saying that (rankings be damned), and i don't think it's a knock on tubby or muschamp or the school. he just (mistakenly) thought texas would give him a better shot at a head coaching job. i still think muschamp needs more time before we pass judgment. continuity may be the best thing to happen for our defense next season (heck, look at bama's improvement from year one to year two under joe kines).

[aucanucktiger 1,798]

Petrino has the best of all worlds, no wonder he left for UL: play nobody in a conference that plays nobody, lose to a nobody occasionally (see USF last year) and still get media respect. AU's offense w/ UL's schedule (even if we play like we did against Tulane or Buffalo) is probably #2 as well.

Re. the lefty Q, I've heard all sorts of NFL Hall of Fame WRs say the same thing, that lefties are easier to catch. Maybe it's the novelty of the ball spining that direction that makes the receiver concentrate on the ball more.