Don't blame Cox!

[NoOneAUFan 2]

I have been reading the posts that blame Brandon for the USF loss. I remember sitting in the stands at the first game of the 2004 season and hearing some "fan" badmouthing Jason Campbell and saying that Auburn would never go very far until the coaches pulled him and put in Cox. We have all seen BC play when he was healthy, and we all know he's an excellent quarterback who makes smart decisions. He is now playing like a scared little girl because the O-line has been letting him take a severe pounding and he expects to get creamed on every play. He has no confidence (who can blame him?) in his protection and makes stupid and rushed decisions to dump the ball into coverage or take the sack because in the back of his mind he's thinking they have let someone get through who will paralyze him. Also, if you watch him move and try to plant his feet, you can tell there's something wrong with him physically. Auburn had this same problem years ago when Dameyune Craig proved that an O-line is not always necessary to win games, but Craig could move around a lot better than Brandon (but it appears that BC has some kind of injury preventing this). The O-line did start to look somewhat better during the USF game, but they have a long way to go. For those people who want to pull Cox--- do you want to watch a more inexperienced guy go out there and have a season or career ending injury because of poor O-line performance? If our hotshot freshman quarterback takes the hits that BC has, what will then happen to his performance on the field?

And another thing, what about our problems with some basic fundamentals: the horror of all those "bounce off the guy and fall down" tackles of the K State game? the special teams problem? you know your your kick coverage is poor when the kicker has to make the tackle, gets injured, and is out of the game--- just prior to overtime, USF returns a kick for fifty-something yards to set up the tying field goal by their pathetic kicker? Who is in charge of our special teams and why aren't we demanding his head? Don't even get me started on Prechae Rodriguez who dropped the PERFECTLY THROWN winning touchdown pass.

[TexasTiger 15,426]

I have been reading the posts that blame Brandon for the USF loss. I remember sitting in the stands at the first game of the 2004 season and hearing some "fan" badmouthing Jason Campbell and saying that Auburn would never go very far until the coaches pulled him and put in Cox. We have all seen BC play when he was healthy, and we all know he's an excellent quarterback who makes smart decisions. He is now playing like a scared little girl because the O-line has been letting him take a severe pounding and he expects to get creamed on every play. He has no confidence (who can blame him?) in his protection and makes stupid and rushed decisions to dump the ball into coverage or take the sack because in the back of his mind he's thinking they have let someone get through who will paralyze him. Also, if you watch him move and try to plant his feet, you can tell there's something wrong with him physically. Auburn had this same problem years ago when Dameyune Craig proved that an O-line is not always necessary to win games, but Craig could move around a lot better than Brandon (but it appears that BC has some kind of injury preventing this). The O-line did start to look somewhat better during the USF game, but they have a long way to go. For those people who want to pull Cox--- do you want to watch a more inexperienced guy go out there and have a season or career ending injury because of poor O-line performance? If our hotshot freshman quarterback takes the hits that BC has, what will then happen to his performance on the field?

And another thing, what about our problems with some basic fundamentals: the horror of all those "bounce off the guy and fall down" tackles of the K State game? the special teams problem? you know your your kick coverage is poor when the kicker has to make the tackle, gets injured, and is out of the game--- just prior to overtime, USF returns a kick for fifty-something yards to set up the tying field goal by their pathetic kicker? Who is in charge of our special teams and why aren't we demanding his head? Don't even get me started on Prechae Rodriguez who dropped the PERFECTLY THROWN winning touchdown pass.

If he is as scared as you say he is, that's a great reason to pull him.

[PChamp119 96]

Eddie Gran (our RB coach) is our Special Teams coach, that's why we aren't demanding his head. Not to make excuses, but on the final KO, Michael Goggins was held IMO.

Prechae didn't drop the winning touchdown pass? Are you talking about the slant when it went through his hands? He was far from the endzone.

Cox is a problem - Plain and simple. I'm not going to badmouth him because he is a good QB. He just isn't a great QB. He is a QB that can make short throws on target and a deep one on occasion. The problem I have with him is not consistency (like so many want to point out), but it is his lack of making a play. He is not a playmaker. He may have made a throw to Gabe last week and that throw against UGA in 05, but there have been a handful of "great Cox plays." The Gabe catch last week was a good play, not a play-maker play. The only team I think Auburn could move the ball on is a defense from Ann Arbor.

I am looking forward to next year for Kodi Burns to come in because it gives us hope that we may have a QB that is a playmaker. Someone that can escape pressure. Someone that will scramble his way out of a sack and run when he has to (he says he prefers to pass the ball). I am not saying Kodi needs to be playing now (the coaches say he hasn't matured or learned the offense yet - which is tough for a freshman).

Yesterday we saw Mario and Slaughter - two players who apparently weren't ready, but played well (yes I know Mario had two fumbles, but he still runs freaking awesome). Maybe Kodi could be next? I don't know. Probably not, but maybe he'll be the difference maker this offense needs. Because Cox is not the answer. We have struggled on offense for the last three years.... hmmm... who has been the QB those years? Don't get me wrong - Cox has all the guts in the world and I know he wants to win. It's not a matter of determination with him. He is a good guy and I like him as a person. But not as our QB to win championships.

I like a lot of parts to our team, especially the defense. Tate is not one of them. He is the most impatient players I have ever seen on the football field. I have met him off the field and he is a cocky "get out of my way, the ground I step on is holy." I like Powers, but not the rest of the secondary right now. If USF passed more, the game would've been a lot uglier.

I think we have a good team that is capable of special things. But I don't see them actually accomplishing them. At this point, in all seriousness, a winning record in the regular season would surprise me and make me happy. All I want is to beat Bama, but it's not looking good.

[edgecy 3]

If Brandon Cox could lead this offense well, we won't even be talking about the poor tackling on the defense and the special team. Remember, it's the defense that held them to zero point when the offense coughed up TWO turnovers deep in their own territory.

Brandon Cox is playing scared and making decision like that of a freshman QB, so I don't see why we shouldn't put in a freshman QB. A lot can be gleamed off of CTT's decision not to have this offense go half the field to kick a field goal with two TOs.

[TexasTiger 15,426]

Prechae didn't drop the winning touchdown pass? Are you talking about the slant when it went through his hands? He was far from the endzone.

That was the second one he dropped. The first was at the goal line.

[mcgufcm 4,109]

i don't think brandon should be the guy the rest of the year. at least not alone. he needs someone else to add something that he's missing. brandon reminds me on brodie croyle, and that's not a good thing. BUT we haven't struggled on offense for three years. we lead the SEC in total offense and scoring offense in 2005 with brandon under center. that, to me, is the tragedy of the thing. he had so much promise, but he took a beating, got injured, played hurt, took even more shots because of it, and now? he's scared of getting hit in a full contact game. if we had non-contact jerseys, he'd be a menace, but we don't. that's the reason we need to start working someone else, field or burns, into the game because (and i never ever ever thought i'd say this) brandon doesn't give us the best chance to win the game anymore.

[NoOneAUFan 2]

He's hurt and he's scared, so he's not going to perform well, but my point is this: should we traumatize (physically and/or psychologically) a new kid by letting him go out and take the same punishment as BC with the current performance of the O-line, or should we consider this a "learning experience year"? If Kodi Burns gets knocked into semi-consciousness the way BC was during the K State game, how long do you think he'll last after a few SEC games?

[TexasTiger 15,426]

He's hurt and he's scared, so he's not going to perform well, but my point is this: should we traumatize (physically and/or psychologically) a new kid by letting him go out and take the same punishment as BC with the current performance of the O-line, or should we consider this a "learning experience year"? If Kodi Burns gets knocked into semi-consciousness the way BC was during the K State game, how long do you think he'll last after a few SEC games?

Catch up with your Tivo watching. The OL was okay last night. Last night's OL won't get Kodi killed. Kodi's running might get him injured, but that's the risk of the mobile QB. Frankly, though, a mobile QB is less apt to take a beating than one like Cox. Also, a D won't be able to tee off on a mobile QB as much. It expands what they are guarding against. Last week I worried about the OL. Last night, they did well against a fast D.

[PChamp119 96]

I'm sick of this "BC is hurt" crap. I said it in the offseason that he is injury-prone and you all jumped on me for it. Well, for those who did jump on me - eat your own words. Every QB takes the same beatings he does. The USF QB runs into our defense and he isn't hurt. Brandon is tough, but he gets hurt too easily. If that is his "excuse" for not playing well, then I don't want him on the field at all because he is going to be hurt ALL year long, if he lasts that long.

[TitanTiger 22,001]

Last year, Cox was hurt. This year that cannot be an excuse.

[ATLauburnfan 0]

Last year, Cox was hurt. This year that cannot be an excuse.

QFT

KB

[autiger4life 3]

I know the O-line is young, but I thought they did pretty good. There were a lot of times when BC had tons of time and still through into double/triple coverage. No, this one doesn't go on the O-line just because their young, it goes on Cox because he couldn't get the job done.

[NoOneAUFan 2]

This went from a "don't blame BC" topic to a "blame BC for everything" topic. I would like to see the responsibility for AU's problems shared more equally. Why can't we have Eddie Gran answer for the extraordinarily poor performance of Auburn's special teams? We have had a lot of yardage to make up for when they didn't cover the kicks well in the last two games. Should we let him off the hook, or maybe we can blame that on Cox, too. Our secondary needs improvement; our offensive line is getting better, but if they can't stop K State from nailing our quarterback and they only played "okay" against USF, what happens when we face LSU? When BC does execute well, our receivers drop the ball half the time. Don't tell me--- that's still Cox's fault, right? Mario Fannin turns over the ball twice at a critical time- we excuse him because he's a freshman, but that still cost the team. We shake our heads over AB's play selections. It's true that Brandon has some issues and looked pretty bad for portions of this game. But are the "blame Cox" folks overlooking the fact that this is called a football TEAM, and one guy can't win (or lose) the game-----EVERYBODY has to perform well. Auburn has some problems--some (but not all) can be attributed to young players with little experience and that will get better. We probably should start giving some of the younger quarterbacks some playing time, but just to give them experience for the future. We should NOT put Kodi Burns in and expect him to beat LSU or FL for us. We should not single out Brandon Cox as the sole reason for this team's problems---he deserves better. (and we are not like Alabama fans)

[Raven_tiger 5]

I blame the USF student that was wearing a green wig and large sunglasses. ESPN kept showing this kid, all night. It was very annoying and probably led to our eventual defeat...

[aumoore 0]

Auburn had this same problem years ago when Dameyune Craig proved that an O-line is not always necessary to win games, but Craig could move around a lot better than Brandon (but it appears that BC has some kind of injury preventing this).

I think you just made a pretty good argument for putting in the more mobile Kodi Burns?

Right now we do not have the line to protect Cox so if he cannot make up for the lack of performance of the O-line maybe we need to give him a breather and see if something else works.

I like Brandon and if our line was not so inexperienced he would be great but I fear we need another Dameyune Craig to give the defenses something else to think about.

Other than poor tackeling skills the Defense looks like a championship caliber unit.

[AUTiger94 0]

Did we watch the same game? I say treat the MSU game like a preseason game and give all the qb's reps and let the chips fall where they may. We have no time for BC's excuses, we are trying to win football games here.

Oh and you were quick to point out the Rodriguez drop. How about the 10 yard overthrow on the deep post when Dunn burned his man to a crisp? What's the excuse there?

[autiger162005 0]

Hey, here's an idea. Why not put KB in for a change of pace. He doesn't have to know the offense inside and out, but I bet it would keep defenses from pinning their ears back and coming after BC. I don't understand Tubs problem with trying something new. This feels so much like when Daniel Cobb was the starter and Jason Campbell was behind him. We were told Campbell wasn't smart enough to run a high school offense and you see where he's playing now.

[Raven_tiger 5]

We were told Campbell wasn't smart enough to run a high school offense and you see where he's playing now.

Exactly. Time to start preparing a future AU QB. Let's not wait until next year...

[TheDrewYouKnew 3]

He's hurt and he's scared, so he's not going to perform well, but my point is this: should we traumatize (physically and/or psychologically) a new kid by letting him go out and take the same punishment as BC with the current performance of the O-line, or should we consider this a "learning experience year"? If Kodi Burns gets knocked into semi-consciousness the way BC was during the K State game, how long do you think he'll last after a few SEC games?

Cox gets hit as much as any average QB but can't take the hits like they can. I dare say KB would have no issues getting hit even if the defense was somehow able to catch him.

[one 2]

But are the "blame Cox" folks overlooking the fact that this is called a football TEAM, and one guy can't win (or lose) the game---

I totally disagree that one guy can't lose a football game. If an entire game is played perfect except for one missed block or missed coverage or a missed tackle or a fumble, if that one play cost the game then that one guy lost the game.

This issue is magnified at QB. A QB can definitely lose a game all by himself. He is repsonsible for blocking assignments, play adjustments, leadership, making good throws, etc. Last night, BC lost the game for us. I am not saying that there are no other players that made mistakes, but if you trade any other player on our team for a superstar at their position then the outcome would not be much different ... except for BC. If someone only moderatley better than BC was our QB we would have won. That is why I say that he is responsible for the loss, at least more than any other player.

[AU alum 2]

This went from a "don't blame BC" topic to a "blame BC for everything" topic. I would like to see the responsibility for AU's problems shared more equally. Why can't we have Eddie Gran answer for the extraordinarily poor performance of Auburn's special teams? We have had a lot of yardage to make up for when they didn't cover the kicks well in the last two games. Should we let him off the hook, or maybe we can blame that on Cox, too. Our secondary needs improvement; our offensive line is getting better, but if they can't stop K State from nailing our quarterback and they only played "okay" against USF, what happens when we face LSU? When BC does execute well, our receivers drop the ball half the time. Don't tell me--- that's still Cox's fault, right? Mario Fannin turns over the ball twice at a critical time- we excuse him because he's a freshman, but that still cost the team. We shake our heads over AB's play selections. It's true that Brandon has some issues and looked pretty bad for portions of this game. But are the "blame Cox" folks overlooking the fact that this is called a football TEAM, and one guy can't win (or lose) the game-----EVERYBODY has to perform well. Auburn has some problems--some (but not all) can be attributed to young players with little experience and that will get better. We probably should start giving some of the younger quarterbacks some playing time, but just to give them experience for the future. We should NOT put Kodi Burns in and expect him to beat LSU or FL for us. We should not single out Brandon Cox as the sole reason for this team's problems---he deserves better. (and we are not like Alabama fans)

At least be correct in your bitching. Mario Fannin fumbled all by himself ONCE - the second fumble was not his fault. It was a bad handoff by Cox, so I don't think that Fannin should take the blame.

[otterinbham 0]

I have been reading the posts that blame Brandon for the USF loss. I remember sitting in the stands at the first game of the 2004 season and hearing some "fan" badmouthing Jason Campbell and saying that Auburn would never go very far until the coaches pulled him and put in Cox. We have all seen BC play when he was healthy, and we all know he's an excellent quarterback who makes smart decisions. He is now playing like a scared little girl because the O-line has been letting him take a severe pounding and he expects to get creamed on every play. He has no confidence (who can blame him?) in his protection and makes stupid and rushed decisions to dump the ball into coverage or take the sack because in the back of his mind he's thinking they have let someone get through who will paralyze him. Also, if you watch him move and try to plant his feet, you can tell there's something wrong with him physically. Auburn had this same problem years ago when Dameyune Craig proved that an O-line is not always necessary to win games, but Craig could move around a lot better than Brandon (but it appears that BC has some kind of injury preventing this). The O-line did start to look somewhat better during the USF game, but they have a long way to go. For those people who want to pull Cox--- do you want to watch a more inexperienced guy go out there and have a season or career ending injury because of poor O-line performance? If our hotshot freshman quarterback takes the hits that BC has, what will then happen to his performance on the field?

And another thing, what about our problems with some basic fundamentals: the horror of all those "bounce off the guy and fall down" tackles of the K State game? the special teams problem? you know your your kick coverage is poor when the kicker has to make the tackle, gets injured, and is out of the game--- just prior to overtime, USF returns a kick for fifty-something yards to set up the tying field goal by their pathetic kicker? Who is in charge of our special teams and why aren't we demanding his head? Don't even get me started on Prechae Rodriguez who dropped the PERFECTLY THROWN winning touchdown pass.

What a bunch of nonsense.

Brandon Cox coughed up the ball on a quarter back sneak.

Brandon Cox threw two interceptions.

Brandon Cox threw plenty of balls very high or into double coverage. Frankly, we could have had the ball picked off five more times by a more talented secondary.

At one point, Auburn was 1 of 9 in third down situations. That my friend is quarterbacking.

But, hey, don't take my word for it. Go back and listen to the broadcast. Dan Fouts, probably one of the top five quarterbacks ever in the NFL spent half his evening discussing how Cox's throwing stance was off, yeilding back passes, not to mention how he was telegraphing all his passes all night long. I really don't think Fouts had it in for Cox. I think he was using excellent professional judgment.

Sure, others screwed up. But the QB was the one who made the lion's share of mistakes, mistakes that are really unforgiveable in a 5th year senior.

[AURoadhouse09 0]

The announcers were saying all night that all the defence had to was read Cox's eyes and they would be lead straight to the ball. This is very scary to me especcialy when we get into the heart of our SEC schedule.

Cox didnt step into his passes, but when he did he overthrew the reciever almost every time.

Still, cant get over the throw that he just lobbed up ,off his back foot ,falling back ,in our redzone. Conclusion: no points and a loss.

I really believed if our offence would have just scored one TD in second half our defence couldve held him. But instead our offence didnt do jack squat in the second half and we lost

[Fmnstr 0]

I have been reading the posts that blame Brandon for the USF loss. I remember sitting in the stands at the first game of the 2004 season and hearing some "fan" badmouthing Jason Campbell and saying that Auburn would never go very far until the coaches pulled him and put in Cox. We have all seen BC play when he was healthy, and we all know he's an excellent quarterback who makes smart decisions. He is now playing like a scared little girl because the O-line has been letting him take a severe pounding and he expects to get creamed on every play. He has no confidence (who can blame him?) in his protection and makes stupid and rushed decisions to dump the ball into coverage or take the sack because in the back of his mind he's thinking they have let someone get through who will paralyze him. Also, if you watch him move and try to plant his feet, you can tell there's something wrong with him physically. Auburn had this same problem years ago when Dameyune Craig proved that an O-line is not always necessary to win games, but Craig could move around a lot better than Brandon (but it appears that BC has some kind of injury preventing this). The O-line did start to look somewhat better during the USF game, but they have a long way to go. For those people who want to pull Cox--- do you want to watch a more inexperienced guy go out there and have a season or career ending injury because of poor O-line performance? If our hotshot freshman quarterback takes the hits that BC has, what will then happen to his performance on the field?

And another thing, what about our problems with some basic fundamentals: the horror of all those "bounce off the guy and fall down" tackles of the K State game? the special teams problem? you know your your kick coverage is poor when the kicker has to make the tackle, gets injured, and is out of the game--- just prior to overtime, USF returns a kick for fifty-something yards to set up the tying field goal by their pathetic kicker? Who is in charge of our special teams and why aren't we demanding his head? Don't even get me started on Prechae Rodriguez who dropped the PERFECTLY THROWN winning touchdown pass.

What a bunch of nonsense.

Brandon Cox coughed up the ball on a quarter back sneak.

Brandon Cox threw two interceptions.

Brandon Cox threw plenty of balls very high or into double coverage. Frankly, we could have had the ball picked off five more times by a more talented secondary.

At one point, Auburn was 1 of 9 in third down situations. That my friend is quarterbacking.

But, hey, don't take my word for it. Go back and listen to the broadcast. Dan Fouts, probably one of the top five quarterbacks ever in the NFL spent half his evening discussing how Cox's throwing stance was off, yeilding back passes, not to mention how he was telegraphing all his passes all night long. I really don't think Fouts had it in for Cox. I think he was using excellent professional judgment.

Sure, others screwed up. But the QB was the one who made the lion's share of mistakes, mistakes that are really unforgiveable in a 5th year senior.

6th.

[sntemp 0]

Not blaming BC entirely but he is the weakest link and needs to sit for a while. I rarely ever point fingers but he flatly isn't getting it done!