re: Sumlin vs. Gus: Who's more dangerous?

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Auburn always had talent

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we also lost a lot of it. I don't think pointing to the recruiting rankings is fair for that reason. But yes, we're not devoid of talent, but we're not as rich as others would like to make us out to be.

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WDE24

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Bama by 11.

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Damn, man, you are too reasonable. This is Iron Bowl week!

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ok, so if johnny doesn't land on the ball so hard he beats us?

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Most likely yes, but he did land on the ball and hurt his shoulder so we will never know. Bottom line y'all won we lost congrats. Good luck with Bama your gonna need it

JFF going down when he did was HUGE. A&M had 3rd and 1 and brought in a new QB that threw a terrible pass. Four point swing there. Then Auburn drives and scores and Joekel comes out again for a quick 3 and out. Auburn scores again. That doesn't even mention the horsecollar.

Auburn won and this isn't about "moral victories", it's about the fact that game could have EASILY gone the other way and it wasn't as if coaching was the big difference. Both coaches were excellent.

It's easy to bag on Sumlin after his worst game but look at what he has done overall. This was the first game in 2 years he has lost by more than a TD and that wasn't in doubt up until the end. That's damn impressive considering what he inherited.

Realize as well that if Sherman were the coach or many others we may never have seen JFF. Showers was the heir apparent and Sumlin took a huge chance on a RS Freshman that was undersized and had issues. Most of his improvisational running skills were also harder to see in practice because QB's aren't tackled. He did an incredible job of developing him. Same story with Evans that was a basketball player. This year Labhart is starting and he was a guy that was not only a walkon but didn't even try out for the football team his first year. The A&M recruiting classes of '09, '10, and '11 are pretty ugly rankings wise and many of the few 4 Stars aren't even on the team now.

Gus has done an amazing job at Auburn for sure but to act as though he didn't inherit a ton of talent is ridiculous. Every Class on his roster was a Top 10 outside of last year. Did he lose some of those players? Sure, but not all of them. He has been able to take some very talented guys and get them to play which is very different than taking a bunch of 3 Stars and making them into Heisman winners and Bielitnikoff Finalists.

If you look at the complete transformation of the A&M program that Sumlin deserves a ton of credit for as well that is a huge factor. The recruiting is amazing compared to where it was. The entire attitude of the team is completely different as is the perception of the school. It's more than winning games, he is building something.

Auburn snuck up on a lot of people this year, let's see if they can do it next year just as A&M was tested this season.

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Auburn has recruited at a very high level. Gus was left with a lot of pieces.

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Those pieces also went 3-9 the year before. Gus, for all he has done on the field, has done an amazing job at developing the pieces he was left. Gus is a tough, demanding SOB and demands that his players be as tough as anyone they'll face on saturdays. That will pay dividends.

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it's about the fact that game could have EASILY gone the other way

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this is uncommon?

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let's see if they can do it next year just as A&M was tested this season

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y'all maintained status quo this year didn't you?

I don't see the paralell. Every team gets tested every year. Of course it will be difficult to be playing for the west championship in the last week of the season for us next year.

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o more like if he hadn't landed on the ball so hard. The tackle wasn't all that hard how he landed was more damaging than the hit

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if he wouldnt have done the pump fake, he would not have injured his shoulder

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And it is better than Auburn's at the moment. The discussion really needs to begin and end here. Auburn is still in Saban's shadow when it comes to recruiting, and Sumlin has marginalized Mack and Stoops.

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Auburn is fine recruiting wise, but Texas is a much bigger pie to split. While Auburn has traditionally exceeded its inherent advantages, I think TAMU is just coming around to taking advantage of theirs. Credit to Sumlin for that.

TAMU has the money, location and size to really make their mark. They exceed AU in all those areas. In theory, they should be the more prominent program.

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I agree that was my point it wasn't a devastatingly hard tackle as he was implying. It was JFF landing on the ball that hurt his shoulder and you're right if he dosen't pump fake he prolly dosen't land on the ball and get hurt. I am not taking a thing away from y'all. Y'all won we lost just pointing out that it wasn't because of some monster hit like he implied is all.

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it wasnt the ball. the pump fake caused the defender to jump, when he came back down and realigns, he hits JFF awkwardly, thats what caused the injury

Owens body slamming him on the shoulder is the end cause, but the pump fake is the root of it

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Sumlin. Gus has a far more talented defensive unit to carry his team. Sumlin is also a better recruiter,

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Evidently not, considering Gus recruited true freshman on D that have contributed immediately, contributing to "a far more talented defensive unit".