Should I dare look ahead

[AUman43 5]

2010 Schedule

•9/4/10 ARKANSAS STATE

•9/11/10 @ Mississippi State

•9/18/10 CLEMSON

•9/25/10 SOUTH CAROLINA

•10/2/10 LOUISIANA MONROE

•10/9/10 @ Kentucky

•10/16/10 ARKANSAS

•10/23/10 LSU

•10/30/10 @ Ole Miss

•11/6/10 TENNESSEE-CHATTANOOGA

•11/13/10 GEORGIA

•11/26/10 @ Alabama

While things are at a lull, I just happened to view the schedule for 2010 and got really excited. I noticed that we don't have either Tennessee or Florida on our schedule and non-conference games with UT Chattanooga, Arky State and CLEMSON. Our away games are not bad and our home games are big. Given these facts, combined with returning players from this year and anticipating a great recruiting year, things could indeed wind up good for us in 2010. I couldn't help but imagine and hope for Fannin, McCalebb, Smith, Aycock, Dyer, perhaps Seastrunk and/or Lattimore in the backfield, a battle between Rollison, Mosley, Kodi, Trotter, and Caudle, improved receiving by Zachery, Hawthorne, Adams, Blake, Benton, Goodwin, Richardson and perhaps including Reed. An O line which might include Mack and a defense which Carter might be joined by Whitaker and Thornton and LB's Owens, Curry, Holland and White. Some of this is conjecture and some of it might come to pass. But the future is indeed exciting.........WDE!

[Justin5 20]

If Rollison grabs hold and runs this offense well by the Miss St. game, we will be extremely dangerous.

[TitanTiger 20,521]

Thou shalt not look ahead to next season when thy team is undefeated only three games in to this season.

[BigSammyK 171]

Amen brother.

[PChamp119 96]

Back in '07 I saw the '10 schedule and thought it was the year Auburn would win the National Championship in large part to an easy schedule and a senior Kodi Burns at QB and senior stacked OL. Then everything fell apart.

What college sports fans need to realize is anything can change in a moment. Getting excited about players is one thing (they could get injured or they could go pro). Getting excited about players you have never seen is another (e.g. Kodi Burns - my mistake). Getting excited about the schedule is another (who thought '07 that Bama would be where they are today?). And lastly, you can never count on the coaching staff to be in tact (who would've thought Tubs would be gone back in '07). For all we know, we still don't know how effective his offense is against a quality SEC defense. For all we know Gus Malzahan could be elsewhere. This is one reason why I don't pay attention to recruiting too much because if an assistant coach leaves, so may the recruit.

In regards to having high expectations for players who hardly ever play, please don't count too much on them to perform next season. I mean if they played well this year, then I can certainly understand. But I wouldn't recommend having high hopes for players who haven't made a significant factor (e.g. Aycock). How many times have we fans hyped up certain players who hardly or ever played.

So yes, I understand your looking forward to next year, I did it a couple of years ago myself. But try and enjoy this season and next season you can enjoy when it comes around. If you are constantly looking forward, you will never enjoy what is going on at the current moment in time. And don't set yourself up for disappointment. We all recall 2003 and perhaps even 2008. 2004 was awesome because it was such a pleasant surprise and we all just enjoyed it while it happened.

[McWeagle 4]

Be as excited as you want. Chalk up 14 Ws and the MNC if you like. Just make sure you don't tell any players, coaches, rivals or journalists how you feel. As far as any of them are concerned, "you're not buying stock in Auburn football yet".

Sincerely,

The Gene Chizik School of Managing Expectations

[ksmmspt 1]

Be as excited as you want. Chalk up 14 Ws and the MNC if you like. Just make sure you don't tell any players, coaches, rivals or journalists how you feel. As far as any of them are concerned, "you're not buying stock in Auburn football yet".

Sincerely,

The Gene Chizik School of Managing Expectations

+1

[AUman43 5]

OK,OK, I dared look ahead for an instant, but I have not forgotten that we're 3-0 against relatively minor competition except perhaps for WV. It's my hope that this team can avoid injuries and keep improving throughout the year. I have no illusions as to what might happen nor do I take anything for granted. So, I suppose now I'll begin to address reality and the moment again. Grin!

[aubiescottie 1]

Back in '07 I saw the '10 schedule and thought it was the year Auburn would win the National Championship in large part to an easy schedule and a senior Kodi Burns at QB and senior stacked OL. Then everything fell apart.

What college sports fans need to realize is anything can change in a moment. Getting excited about players is one thing (they could get injured or they could go pro). Getting excited about players you have never seen is another (e.g. Kodi Burns - my mistake). Getting excited about the schedule is another (who thought '07 that Bama would be where they are today?). And lastly, you can never count on the coaching staff to be in tact (who would've thought Tubs would be gone back in '07). For all we know, we still don't know how effective his offense is against a quality SEC defense. For all we know Gus Malzahan could be elsewhere. This is one reason why I don't pay attention to recruiting too much because if an assistant coach leaves, so may the recruit.

In regards to having high expectations for players who hardly ever play, please don't count too much on them to perform next season. I mean if they played well this year, then I can certainly understand. But I wouldn't recommend having high hopes for players who haven't made a significant factor (e.g. Aycock). How many times have we fans hyped up certain players who hardly or ever played.

So yes, I understand your looking forward to next year, I did it a couple of years ago myself. But try and enjoy this season and next season you can enjoy when it comes around. If you are constantly looking forward, you will never enjoy what is going on at the current moment in time. And don't set yourself up for disappointment. We all recall 2003 and perhaps even 2008. 2004 was awesome because it was such a pleasant surprise and we all just enjoyed it while it happened.

Its funny - after the 2007 recruiting class I said the exact same thing to a couple people - we would win a nat'l champ in 2010. I said our '09 road schedule was too tough, but thought '10 would be fine, and thought we could get through JHW. I also assumed Tubbs would be the coach. The biggest issue is that we don't know who the QB is going to be next year - so I'm going to prefer to live in the moment.

[OldNewby 27]

OK,OK, I dared look ahead for an instant, but I have not forgotten that we're 3-0 against relatively minor competition except perhaps for WV. It's my hope that this team can avoid injuries and keep improving throughout the year. I have no illusions as to what might happen nor do I take anything for granted. So, I suppose now I'll begin to address reality and the moment again. Grin!

Hey, at least you're not moaning and groaning about the past, playing coulda-woulda-shoulda, and crying over spilled milk.

3-0 so far and one game at a time this year.

[Duder 238]

To response to the question in the initial post, next year may well be a big year. Relatively soft schedule, another year of experience for the D, solid offensive line, another year of experience with your WRs, McCaleb with a full season under his belt, etc. The X factor is whether Rollison ends up meeting everyone's expectations or he fizzles. If his accuracy is good enough to make intermediate range throws and the occasional long ball with a bit of touch, he'll be fine. Look what the scheme has done for a healthy Chris Todd.

That being said, let's get through 09 first, my friend. We've got many more miles to walk before we turn our attention to 2010.

[Longtrainn 2]

Just to add a drop of pessimism to this thread, we'd better make some noise in 2010, because we have a HUGE junior class right now, so going into 2011 we will be decimated by graduation. The following players are set to graduate after the 2010 season: Burns, Caudle, Fannin, Zachery, Hawthorne, Wisner, Ziemba, Isom, Bostrom, Berry, Pugh, Eddins, Goggans, Carter, Blanc, Clayton, Stevens, Bynes, Washington, Etheridge, McNeil, Byrum, Hull, Shoemaker.

I certainly hope we bring in some strong recruiting classes this year and next, because there are large shoes to fill, and a lot of them.

[quietfan 233]

Just to add a drop of pessimism to this thread, we'd better make some noise in 2010, because we have a HUGE junior class right now, so going into 2011 we will be decimated by graduation. The following players are set to graduate after the 2010 season: Burns, Caudle, Fannin, Zachery, Hawthorne, Wisner, Ziemba, Isom, Bostrom, Berry, Pugh, Eddins, Goggans, Carter, Blanc, Clayton, Stevens, Bynes, Washington, Etheridge, McNeil, Byrum, Hull, Shoemaker.

I certainly hope we bring in some strong recruiting classes this year and next, because there are large shoes to fill, and a lot of them.

True, we're losing some good ones, but if this staff continues on the recruiting pace they've set I expect us to be back to the "reloading, not rebuilding" days of Tuberville's prime.

Because of SEC scheduling, even numbered years are always better for us with LSU, Georgia, and Arkansas at home.

[McWeagle 4]

Just to add a drop of pessimism to this thread, we'd better make some noise in 2010, because we have a HUGE junior class right now, so going into 2011 we will be decimated by graduation. The following players are set to graduate after the 2010 season: Burns, Caudle, Fannin, Zachery, Hawthorne, Wisner, Ziemba, Isom, Bostrom, Berry, Pugh, Eddins, Goggans, Carter, Blanc, Clayton, Stevens, Bynes, Washington, Etheridge, McNeil, Byrum, Hull, Shoemaker.

I certainly hope we bring in some strong recruiting classes this year and next, because there are large shoes to fill, and a lot of them.

I just threw up in my mouth a little.

We might be able to absorb the hits on D and ST somewhat, but losing those guys on the O line is going to hurt. I just can't picture anyway around it.

[Tiger1992 999]

Aside from Clemson, our OOC schedule next year is downright embarrassing.

[JLB1997 7]

As a rule of thumb most all SEC/major BCS schools will schedule 1 major BCS opponent for the OOC schedule each year. The rest will be tune ups.

[Tiger1992 999]

As a rule of thumb most all SEC/major BCS schools will schedule 1 major BCS opponent for the OOC schedule each year. The rest will be tune ups.

I'm aware of that. I'm hardly new to college football.

Still....Arkansas State, ULM, and UTC? Truly horrible.

By the way, ask a UGA fan about scheduling OOC. Their OOC this year is Oklahoma State, Arizona State, Georgia Tech, and Tennessee Tech. Granted, having three big OOC games is a bit overboard, but htey usually have at least two. They play Georgia Tech every year, and usually have at least one other good OOC game.

[dyehardaufan 0]

As a rule of thumb most all SEC/major BCS schools will schedule 1 major BCS opponent for the OOC schedule each year. The rest will be tune ups.

I'm aware of that. I'm hardly new to college football.

Still....Arkansas State, ULM, and UTC? Truly horrible.

By the way, ask a UGA fan about scheduling OOC. Their OOC this year is Oklahoma State, Arizona State, Georgia Tech, and Tennessee Tech. Granted, having three big OOC games is a bit overboard, but htey usually have at least two. They play Georgia Tech every year, and usually have at least one other good OOC game.

I would argue this year UGA's OOC schedule is the abnomaly. This is the first time they have traveled outside the south in what 50 plus years. I think if you go back and look at UGA's OOC scheduling history its about like Auburn's 2010 OOC.

While I do hate playing 3 cupcakes(especially as a season tix holder) and 1 BCS school it is justified. When you play an SEC schedule its just more brutal than other BCS conference schedules. The SEC is a fight week in and week out and you see many of our schedules loaded with back to back weekends of top teams while other conference seem to conviently spread their tough conference games out. And before someone jumps in with the OOC 2004 argument that is bunk. Go back and check the SOS from 2004 and Auburn's was tougher than OU and USC(USC was actually the lowest of the 3)The only reason OU and USC stayed 1 and 2 is because they started that way and the voters back then werent going to drop a team until they lost.

[aucanucktiger 1,798]

Our issue this decade has been holding onto good assistants. That's the issue we might be staring @ going into next season. New OC, new O?

[Geauxtigahs11 1]

LSU, Bama, and Arkansas aren't going anywhere next season. If LSU goes 7-6 this season, there's no doubt in my mind those who write the checks at LSU will be calling for for ole Lester's head... so, LSU is a sure-fire to be solid. You guys have a favorable schedule, but LSU also has a favorable schedule.

Ole Miss is going to really suck next season. Other than that, the SEC West will have no clear-cut leader for next season.