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Half way point
Posted on 10/11/21 at 3:53 am
Posted on 10/11/21 at 3:53 am
This may be long I'm not sure but some ramblings so ignore if you want.
We are about where we thought we would be most prior to the season had us winning 1 and losing 1 of the PSU and LSU game and anyone with a brain had us losing to UGA at home or not. They out talent us about by a margin about like we out talent Miss State. Plus they are well coached.
I mentioned before the season and asked on here and didn't get much of a response. Did we want the coaching staff to install their culture, offense, and defense or play to the players strengths? A few mixed responses but it appears we are doing a combo of both. Mostly sticking to the coaches schemes though. With that there would be a learning curve. It can look great at times and look awful the very next series. Real time football ain't easy.
Most of the time the coaches know best on how to play people and what's best for their program. Some coaches don't and are just lost and clueless as a head coach. I think Harsin is a good head coach. How it plays out long term will depend completely on recruiting. I think he is seeing that right now and even in the post game I think he mentioned recruiting and something we have to do every day.
I'm impressed with the Bobo/Harsin offense however I don't think we have a true identity. Yes we say we are going to be a power run team but our 3 toughest games we haven't ran the ball. Yes some of it was shut down but if you are true power run team you stick to it. So I think we "scheme" a little to much for each opponent. I know that sounds silly and yes you should scheme for each opponent but also you better be good enough at something that you can do consistently at a high level and I'm not sure we can do that on any phase of the offense. Blame can go around to many players and possibly coaches.
On defense I'm not sure I'm a huge fan of the scheme. Just seems Auburn is always supposed to be a 4-3 base team. It's been that primarily for the past 40ish years. So it's strange seeing us play a 3-4 not that I am against the 3-4 I just like the 4-3 and not many teams in the SEC run it and have thought over the past 10-12 years it has set us apart from our big rivals. We could take tweeners that are great players that didn't fit traditional 3-4 roles. Now we see why coach Mason went portal crazy for DBs our defensive backs have not performed well at all. We blamed scheme the first few games but we went man up and got toasted multiple plays not just the TD and the other big pass. There were plays that even Bennett didn't see come open that could have been big plays but only our QB misses seeing open receivers.
I don't know how the rest of the season will turn out I really don't could see us winning every game could see us losing every game. We are that inconsistent. In reality we will probably finish somewhere around 7-5/8-4 and that will be a decent season and be able to get a good bowl camp and next spring. We should look like a completely different team next season. The OL is a concern with so few young OL. We need to grab at least 2 transfers possibly 3.
Lastly we need to support these boys. Bring excitement into the stadium every weekend. You never know what recruit may be impressed just by the passion of the fanbase or someone making them feel at home.
War Eagle
We are about where we thought we would be most prior to the season had us winning 1 and losing 1 of the PSU and LSU game and anyone with a brain had us losing to UGA at home or not. They out talent us about by a margin about like we out talent Miss State. Plus they are well coached.
I mentioned before the season and asked on here and didn't get much of a response. Did we want the coaching staff to install their culture, offense, and defense or play to the players strengths? A few mixed responses but it appears we are doing a combo of both. Mostly sticking to the coaches schemes though. With that there would be a learning curve. It can look great at times and look awful the very next series. Real time football ain't easy.
Most of the time the coaches know best on how to play people and what's best for their program. Some coaches don't and are just lost and clueless as a head coach. I think Harsin is a good head coach. How it plays out long term will depend completely on recruiting. I think he is seeing that right now and even in the post game I think he mentioned recruiting and something we have to do every day.
I'm impressed with the Bobo/Harsin offense however I don't think we have a true identity. Yes we say we are going to be a power run team but our 3 toughest games we haven't ran the ball. Yes some of it was shut down but if you are true power run team you stick to it. So I think we "scheme" a little to much for each opponent. I know that sounds silly and yes you should scheme for each opponent but also you better be good enough at something that you can do consistently at a high level and I'm not sure we can do that on any phase of the offense. Blame can go around to many players and possibly coaches.
On defense I'm not sure I'm a huge fan of the scheme. Just seems Auburn is always supposed to be a 4-3 base team. It's been that primarily for the past 40ish years. So it's strange seeing us play a 3-4 not that I am against the 3-4 I just like the 4-3 and not many teams in the SEC run it and have thought over the past 10-12 years it has set us apart from our big rivals. We could take tweeners that are great players that didn't fit traditional 3-4 roles. Now we see why coach Mason went portal crazy for DBs our defensive backs have not performed well at all. We blamed scheme the first few games but we went man up and got toasted multiple plays not just the TD and the other big pass. There were plays that even Bennett didn't see come open that could have been big plays but only our QB misses seeing open receivers.
I don't know how the rest of the season will turn out I really don't could see us winning every game could see us losing every game. We are that inconsistent. In reality we will probably finish somewhere around 7-5/8-4 and that will be a decent season and be able to get a good bowl camp and next spring. We should look like a completely different team next season. The OL is a concern with so few young OL. We need to grab at least 2 transfers possibly 3.
Lastly we need to support these boys. Bring excitement into the stadium every weekend. You never know what recruit may be impressed just by the passion of the fanbase or someone making them feel at home.
War Eagle
This post was edited on 10/11/21 at 3:58 am
5
Posted on 10/11/21 at 5:03 am to CorchJay
Hey Corch, I completely agree with your assessment. This is also where I thought that we’d be. I knew that this was a transition year, and I also knew that there was a talent gap. The previous coaching staff recruited to stars, not need, and had a lot of high profile busts, so I knew that we’d have some holes.
What was going to be the measuring tape for me was how they performed in big games; not necessarily winning them, but giving maximum effort, being physical, competing, and showing heart that they haven’t in the last few years. So far, I can see a huge difference this year.
In our two losses, we went toe to toe with them and didn’t blink. Against PSU, I saw a team predicted to finish at the bottom of the SEC West take a top ten team to the wire at their place. That would not have happened under the previous regime- we would have lost that game 28-6. Against the Dawgs, we never gave up. If our WRs catch a few more passes, it’s a much closer game. We keep the ball longer, defense stays fresher.
The point is that I CAN see progress in preparation and toughness. I see a coherent offensive gameplan. I know that this is Auburn, and we expect to win those games, and we should. But, we are exercising the demons of the previous regime both on and off the field. If we just relax and give him time, the results will come, and be sustainable.
What was going to be the measuring tape for me was how they performed in big games; not necessarily winning them, but giving maximum effort, being physical, competing, and showing heart that they haven’t in the last few years. So far, I can see a huge difference this year.
In our two losses, we went toe to toe with them and didn’t blink. Against PSU, I saw a team predicted to finish at the bottom of the SEC West take a top ten team to the wire at their place. That would not have happened under the previous regime- we would have lost that game 28-6. Against the Dawgs, we never gave up. If our WRs catch a few more passes, it’s a much closer game. We keep the ball longer, defense stays fresher.
The point is that I CAN see progress in preparation and toughness. I see a coherent offensive gameplan. I know that this is Auburn, and we expect to win those games, and we should. But, we are exercising the demons of the previous regime both on and off the field. If we just relax and give him time, the results will come, and be sustainable.
Posted on 10/11/21 at 8:32 am to CorchJay
Yeah I believe it's going about as many reasonable people expected. And that's good. Not really exceeding expectations, but at the moment (other than recruiting) I don't see huge foundational issues that are concerning.
Better than expected:
- I didn't think we'd come out and tune up the creampuffs quite like we did. Didn't mean much, but it was nice to see.
- I thought we'd have a good chance to win @ LSU, but I did not expect an individual performance like that and it's arguably the first time Bo put the team on his back for any extended period.
- We're not a great football team, but we're not really lost, either. I don't have the "we have no identity" feeling that plagued late Gus era teams.
Worse than expected/disappointments -
- We could have won the PSU game. Not saying we should have or deserved to, but it was winnable. I barely included this in my list because I think the outcome was fairly expected and not that huge a disappointment.
- The Ga State game was a debacle but ultimately doesn't matter.
- We missed out on a chance to really give UGA a game and make it an exciting one for recruits and fans. UGA is better and deserved the win, but modestly better execution and it's probably a 4th quarter/7-10 point game. And notably, that's with UGA playing a really good game, they gave us little to work with in terms of mistakes.
Better than expected:
- I didn't think we'd come out and tune up the creampuffs quite like we did. Didn't mean much, but it was nice to see.
- I thought we'd have a good chance to win @ LSU, but I did not expect an individual performance like that and it's arguably the first time Bo put the team on his back for any extended period.
- We're not a great football team, but we're not really lost, either. I don't have the "we have no identity" feeling that plagued late Gus era teams.
Worse than expected/disappointments -
- We could have won the PSU game. Not saying we should have or deserved to, but it was winnable. I barely included this in my list because I think the outcome was fairly expected and not that huge a disappointment.
- The Ga State game was a debacle but ultimately doesn't matter.
- We missed out on a chance to really give UGA a game and make it an exciting one for recruits and fans. UGA is better and deserved the win, but modestly better execution and it's probably a 4th quarter/7-10 point game. And notably, that's with UGA playing a really good game, they gave us little to work with in terms of mistakes.
Posted on 10/11/21 at 8:42 am to CorchJay
One thing I think you nailed on the head is the lack of offensive identity.
The game with Arkansas will show if we have the mental toughness to get right back out there, imo.
And i really expected some receiver to have stepped up by now. Every team we play, I think most of us can usually name at least one receiver for the team. Not sure other team's bases say the same about us.
I thought 7-5 was likely at the start, now I have no idea if get anywhere from 5-8 wins.
The game with Arkansas will show if we have the mental toughness to get right back out there, imo.
And i really expected some receiver to have stepped up by now. Every team we play, I think most of us can usually name at least one receiver for the team. Not sure other team's bases say the same about us.
I thought 7-5 was likely at the start, now I have no idea if get anywhere from 5-8 wins.
Posted on 10/11/21 at 8:59 am to higgs_boson
Lots of great analysis ITT.
I think this weekend is make or break for this team/season. Find a way to win and I can see a morale boost and rallying the team for the second half of the season after a needed off week. If we drop it though, I could see us mailing in much of the rest of the season.
Good news is we still have everything in front of us and control our own destiny.
I think this weekend is make or break for this team/season. Find a way to win and I can see a morale boost and rallying the team for the second half of the season after a needed off week. If we drop it though, I could see us mailing in much of the rest of the season.
Good news is we still have everything in front of us and control our own destiny.
Posted on 10/11/21 at 9:02 am to CorchJay
13-2 Ship! 
Posted on 10/11/21 at 9:15 am to RockyMtnTigerWDE
I guess stranger things have happened but we are tied for 2nd in the west and only a 1/2 game out of first.
Posted on 10/11/21 at 9:32 am to CorchJay
I agree, but our DBs seem to keep either getting hurt or getting f'd with the targetting disqualifications. Georgia could've been a much different game if WRs caught the ball, and we had Smoke for its entirety. I think Auburn could've won that game, and the coaches had a good game plan for that game, but the players were having an off day.
The only other issue I can see is what is going on with some of the receivers not getting playing time that were productive and useful. I get that Shedrick Jackson might be the teacher's pet so to say, and that's why he's consistently included, but Shedrick Jackson gets maybe 1 or 2 fantastic catches, then about 15 miscues or drops. Where was Canion, it seemed to be all about D Rob Saturday because it was his old team's reunion, but we have some better talent consistently stuck to the bench.
The WR situation obviously needs an improvement from coaches, to rotation, to QB to WR timing. I'm not sure the interim WR coach is going to be it, his career seems to have been a revolving door of inconsistency as well.
I don't think Bo Nix was the biggest problem Saturday either, but he does need to dial-in his ball speed, a lot of those were heaters that would be a bit difficult to hold on to.
Overall I like a lot of things Harsin and most of his staff is doing, but there are a few holes that need to be adjusted, and part of that was the quick turnaround he needed to make to get coaches this season to duct-tape those holes.
The only other issue I can see is what is going on with some of the receivers not getting playing time that were productive and useful. I get that Shedrick Jackson might be the teacher's pet so to say, and that's why he's consistently included, but Shedrick Jackson gets maybe 1 or 2 fantastic catches, then about 15 miscues or drops. Where was Canion, it seemed to be all about D Rob Saturday because it was his old team's reunion, but we have some better talent consistently stuck to the bench.
The WR situation obviously needs an improvement from coaches, to rotation, to QB to WR timing. I'm not sure the interim WR coach is going to be it, his career seems to have been a revolving door of inconsistency as well.
I don't think Bo Nix was the biggest problem Saturday either, but he does need to dial-in his ball speed, a lot of those were heaters that would be a bit difficult to hold on to.
Overall I like a lot of things Harsin and most of his staff is doing, but there are a few holes that need to be adjusted, and part of that was the quick turnaround he needed to make to get coaches this season to duct-tape those holes.
Posted on 10/11/21 at 9:33 am to CorchJay
Yup. We are very flawed but at the end of the day every single game left on our schedule is winnable. Even Bama. This where we either find a flow and identity and get on a roll heading into November, or we have just another mediocre season
Posted on 10/11/21 at 9:36 am to CorchJay
quote:
I'm impressed with the Bobo/Harsin offense however I don't think we have a true identity. Yes we say we are going to be a power run team but our 3 toughest games we haven't ran the ball. Yes some of it was shut down but if you are true power run team you stick to it. So I think we "scheme" a little to much for each opponent. I know that sounds silly and yes you should scheme for each opponent but also you better be good enough at something that you can do consistently at a high level and I'm not sure we can do that on any phase of the offense. Blame can go around to many players and possibly coaches.
On defense I'm not sure I'm a huge fan of the scheme. Just seems Auburn is always supposed to be a 4-3 base team. It's been that primarily for the past 40ish years. So it's strange seeing us play a 3-4 not that I am against the 3-4 I just like the 4-3 and not many teams in the SEC run it and have thought over the past 10-12 years it has set us apart from our big rivals. We could take tweeners that are great players that didn't fit traditional 3-4 roles. Now we see why coach Mason went portal crazy for DBs our defensive backs have not performed well at all. We blamed scheme the first few games but we went man up and got toasted multiple plays not just the TD and the other big pass. There were plays that even Bennett didn't see come open that could have been big plays but only our QB misses seeing open receivers.
I understand you're concerns about going away from the run game, but I always go back to this. These coaches are not set in a run heavy offense or a pass heavy offense. I like the fact that they are adaptable to the teams the play and also how the game progresses. In the GA game there was no way Kirby and that dominant front line was going to allow us to run the ball, especially when our passing game is sporadic and inconsistent. We tried to run, but we were lucky to get 2 yards on avg. And if you recall against LSU we started to use the run game more in the 2nd half as they sensed LSU was getting tired and it worked.
we tried to run the ball 14 times on 1st and/or 2nd down, so I don't see the issue with our plan to run. I didn't count the last 2 drives bc we were so far behind by then.
On D, I love the 3-4(I guess my history w/ the Steelers does that to me), but man, you HAVE to have some stud OLBs that can pressure the QB. I think we have some good ones but not elite pressure DL. Almost most of our DL are transfers and against a good to great OL, don't really generate enough pocket push. We don't have a dominant OLB/Edge rusher, although TD had been giving us a pretty good rush. And I agree our defense on the back end is getting beat way to much. Although the big splash plays on passes, our DB got beat both times. But some of that is because Bennett had all the time back there.
Posted on 10/11/21 at 4:09 pm to AuSteeler
I think we go more run the rest of the season, starting Saturday with Arkie.
I think every time we lose, folks will bitch about Bo. If I was him, I would probable transfer. Kid fights and give his all. I have never asked for anything more.
I think every time we lose, folks will bitch about Bo. If I was him, I would probable transfer. Kid fights and give his all. I have never asked for anything more.
Posted on 10/11/21 at 6:56 pm to allin2010
Things I like so far...
The offense, the stretch runs, the use of the TE the different formations, zakoby mclain, The oline hasn't been horrible
Things I don't like so far...
Wrs, Dbs, Nix still not staying in the pocket.
The offense, the stretch runs, the use of the TE the different formations, zakoby mclain, The oline hasn't been horrible
Things I don't like so far...
Wrs, Dbs, Nix still not staying in the pocket.
Posted on 10/11/21 at 6:59 pm to AUtigR24
Honestly, Nix has been a lot better about staying in the pocket this year. There is very clear improvement on tape. Not to say he never relapses but it’s been a lot better
Posted on 10/11/21 at 10:55 pm to CorchJay
quote:
I guess stranger things have happened but we are tied for 2nd in the west and only a 1/2 game out of first.
At this point, we still control our own path to the SECCG.
Posted on 10/12/21 at 5:41 am to tiggerfan02 2021
quote:If our WRs start catching catchable balls, I might have more optimism here...but if they can't catch some of the balls I've seen hit their hands/head/chest by now, I don't see any hope.
At this point, we still control our own path to the SECCG.
Posted on 10/12/21 at 11:31 am to Niner
Agree. Even with everything being the same in the uga game we had a shot to be in the game in the 4th if they’d only caught what was catchable. Bo takes a lot of criticism and yes he has plenty of room to improve but geez, when your Oline is crumbling most plays and your WRs are playing like they are there’s only so much you can do.
I don’t usually whine about bad calls but the uga game really pissed me off. The PI calls and lack there of on our 4th down TD throw had me seeing red and melting hard.
I don’t usually whine about bad calls but the uga game really pissed me off. The PI calls and lack there of on our 4th down TD throw had me seeing red and melting hard.
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