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Rig’s Week 1 Reaction
Posted on 9/5/21 at 4:13 pm
Posted on 9/5/21 at 4:13 pm
Fair warning - I was in attendance so there’s probably a lot that I missed. Hoping to catch a replay tonight. And it’s Akron and they’re terrible.
Atmosphere
- Flashing LED lights were cool, but the atmosphere overall was somewhat disappointing on Saturday. AU didn’t announce the attendance but I’d guess 70,000.
- Kudos to the student section. They showed up early and stayed late. Much later than they would have the last 2 years under Malzahn.
- Pre-game warm ups for AU looked visibly different than the Malzahn era as well. More team-focused drills.
Offense
- This offense and the play-calling was refreshing. Balanced. Solid variety. Efficient.
- Best play-call of the day came in the 1st drive. 3rd down and 6 or so in Akron territory. Javarrius gets sent in motion across the LOS pre-snap and runs a curl route to sit on the sticks. Nix fires a bullet for the first down. That’s focused play-calling at its best.
- Nix looked much more poised and well coached. Stepped into every throw. Set his feet. Money.
- Still somewhat hesitant about our receivers. They’ll get a good test at Penn State. No drops that I noticed.
- No concerns with our depth at RB. Hunter is smaller than I’d thought though.
- If we have to rely on Finley at any point this year, we may be in trouble. He needs more practice time.
- I couldn’t focus on the OL.
Defense
- Transfers made a huge impact on this D. Marcus Harris, Kaufman, Fair, Knighten, and Torrence are all going to play a ton of snaps.
- Schematically, we look drastically different from last year.
- Let’s take a moment to appreciate TD Moultry.
- Depth everywhere but DB is a concern long-term. I think we’ve got some growing to do up front and behind our big 3 LB’s.
All in all, I don’t think yesterday could’ve gone any better.
Atmosphere
- Flashing LED lights were cool, but the atmosphere overall was somewhat disappointing on Saturday. AU didn’t announce the attendance but I’d guess 70,000.
- Kudos to the student section. They showed up early and stayed late. Much later than they would have the last 2 years under Malzahn.
- Pre-game warm ups for AU looked visibly different than the Malzahn era as well. More team-focused drills.
Offense
- This offense and the play-calling was refreshing. Balanced. Solid variety. Efficient.
- Best play-call of the day came in the 1st drive. 3rd down and 6 or so in Akron territory. Javarrius gets sent in motion across the LOS pre-snap and runs a curl route to sit on the sticks. Nix fires a bullet for the first down. That’s focused play-calling at its best.
- Nix looked much more poised and well coached. Stepped into every throw. Set his feet. Money.
- Still somewhat hesitant about our receivers. They’ll get a good test at Penn State. No drops that I noticed.
- No concerns with our depth at RB. Hunter is smaller than I’d thought though.
- If we have to rely on Finley at any point this year, we may be in trouble. He needs more practice time.
- I couldn’t focus on the OL.
Defense
- Transfers made a huge impact on this D. Marcus Harris, Kaufman, Fair, Knighten, and Torrence are all going to play a ton of snaps.
- Schematically, we look drastically different from last year.
- Let’s take a moment to appreciate TD Moultry.
- Depth everywhere but DB is a concern long-term. I think we’ve got some growing to do up front and behind our big 3 LB’s.
All in all, I don’t think yesterday could’ve gone any better.
10
Posted on 9/5/21 at 4:16 pm to Rig
quote:
All in all, I don’t think yesterday could’ve gone any better.
Agreed. I need to watch a replay.
I thought the atmosphere was good for the first game. Tiger Walk was packed and folks were excited. Student section seemed to be into the game as well.
The play calling was just refreshing. Bo actually looked better.
Posted on 9/5/21 at 4:48 pm to Rig
Been waiting on this 
Posted on 9/5/21 at 5:02 pm to AA7
I never saw inside zone after a first down.
We threw multiple passes to the TE.
We threw multiple passes to the TE.
Posted on 9/5/21 at 5:15 pm to Rig
quote:Bo’s only bad throw was his first incompletion: a designed rollout to the wide side of the field. Said to myself as he took off in that direction “yeah, he’s gonna sail this one over the receiver’s head”, which he did
- Nix looked much more poised and well coached. Stepped into every throw. Set his feet. Money.
There were a couple of other throws that could’ve been better placed (like that pass to Shedrick at midfield could easily have been a 92-yard TD if he led him a little), but you can’t complain about a school record-setting performance for accuracy.
And I don’t care how flippin lousy the competition - 300 yards rushing/300 yards passing and less than 200 yards total allowed is damned impressive.
This post was edited on 9/5/21 at 5:16 pm
Posted on 9/5/21 at 5:27 pm to Rig
quote:It was almost perfection for the starters.
All in all, I don’t think yesterday could’ve gone any better.
Once the back ups came in it was a mixed bag.
Posted on 9/5/21 at 5:30 pm to Rig
When do we see D Davis? Not feeling TJ.
Posted on 9/5/21 at 5:30 pm to Rig
I’ve been getting reactions from bammer friends that Auburn didn’t look that good, only going to win 3 more games at the most, etc. So yeah, they’re sweating what they saw last night.
Posted on 9/5/21 at 5:53 pm to Rig
At the game also. Their was one drop and one Non-catchable (but at least he did not throw against his body.
Announced crowd was 83,000, but I agree with your 70,000. Atmosphere was good.(we were playing Akron) Eagle flew great. Student section was rocking and stayed.
You learn about yourself when you play good teams, but that would have been good against the scout team.
Road trips look more manageable (LSU, PSU)
Team was disciplined. Loved the offense after the last 5 years.
Did not substitute RB unless someone got tired.
Passed to the TE.
Will see how our line does, but this seems like a better fit for Bo.
Amazing it was this clean with a new staff, different offense and defense.
There will be some dark days, but live the outlook of the program.
Announced crowd was 83,000, but I agree with your 70,000. Atmosphere was good.(we were playing Akron) Eagle flew great. Student section was rocking and stayed.
You learn about yourself when you play good teams, but that would have been good against the scout team.
Road trips look more manageable (LSU, PSU)
Team was disciplined. Loved the offense after the last 5 years.
Did not substitute RB unless someone got tired.
Passed to the TE.
Will see how our line does, but this seems like a better fit for Bo.
Amazing it was this clean with a new staff, different offense and defense.
There will be some dark days, but live the outlook of the program.
Posted on 9/5/21 at 6:02 pm to jvilletiger25
quote:
I’ve been getting reactions from bammer friends that Auburn didn’t look that good, only going to win 3 more games at the most, etc. So yeah, they’re sweating what they saw last night.
They will never admit it but their worst fear is losing iron bowl this year with Harsin at the helm
Posted on 9/5/21 at 6:36 pm to HailToTheChiz
quote:
They will never admit it but their worst fear is losing iron bowl this year with Harsin at the helm
I do think the "never beat a ranked Auburn at Jordan-Hare" mantra is in the back of their heads.
Posted on 9/5/21 at 11:12 pm to Rig
*Disclaimer* it is just Akron and we have to take everything with a grain of salt.
Takeaways Offense:
- Our running backs are good. We know how good Bigsby is, but Hunter might have been the most impressive back on Saturday. Shivers scored twice on three touches. Liked how physical Jackson was.
- Nix looks good fundamentally and knew where to go with the ball. He will be put to the test on the road against a real defense and we will see if that holds up, but this offense is going to be better for him.
- The play calling and coaching was refreshing. TE throws, check downs, short hitches, and routes to the sticks on 3rd down. Running a legit 2 minute offense at the end of the first half. And running our best backs until they were tired, not just subbing them at random. I loved it.
Defense takeaways:
-Our defensive line is going to be better this year. There is more depth there than I expected, and they were solid rushing the passer and stopping the run.
- I thought secondary was going to be the strength this year, but it probably was the most disappointing on Saturday. Not sure where Miller is and Simpson going out didn’t help. We will be fine, but there were some missed tackles and bad angles at times.
I think we are ahead of schedule based on what I saw from that first game. Bad team or not, dominating the way we did with entirely new schemes on both sides is a good sign. We have a long way to go to be competitive with the actual top of the league (UGA and Bama) but everyone else seems beatable a this time if we stay healthy and continue to improve.
Takeaways Offense:
- Our running backs are good. We know how good Bigsby is, but Hunter might have been the most impressive back on Saturday. Shivers scored twice on three touches. Liked how physical Jackson was.
- Nix looks good fundamentally and knew where to go with the ball. He will be put to the test on the road against a real defense and we will see if that holds up, but this offense is going to be better for him.
- The play calling and coaching was refreshing. TE throws, check downs, short hitches, and routes to the sticks on 3rd down. Running a legit 2 minute offense at the end of the first half. And running our best backs until they were tired, not just subbing them at random. I loved it.
Defense takeaways:
-Our defensive line is going to be better this year. There is more depth there than I expected, and they were solid rushing the passer and stopping the run.
- I thought secondary was going to be the strength this year, but it probably was the most disappointing on Saturday. Not sure where Miller is and Simpson going out didn’t help. We will be fine, but there were some missed tackles and bad angles at times.
I think we are ahead of schedule based on what I saw from that first game. Bad team or not, dominating the way we did with entirely new schemes on both sides is a good sign. We have a long way to go to be competitive with the actual top of the league (UGA and Bama) but everyone else seems beatable a this time if we stay healthy and continue to improve.
Posted on 9/5/21 at 11:14 pm to Rig
*Double post like a noob
This post was edited on 9/5/21 at 11:15 pm
Posted on 9/6/21 at 8:06 am to Rig
I was there too
I was surprised at the flashing LEDs. Thought I would hate, I didn't.
I was not disappointed in the atmosphere. It was as good as I've seen for an opponent of Akron's caliber. I've seen many, many Auburn games against the crappier side of the schedule, this was a good showing. Agree with 70k estimate.
Shout out to the student section for packing it out and staying! That was awesome.
I haven't watched the replay, but I swear I saw him check down to the 3rd read once, step in and nail it.
This made me sad for Sean White. I can remember a game (maybe Ark?) where he must have hit receivers in the hands 10 times. It's like their gloves were frozen and covered in butter. Sorry Sean.
Totally agree. If we're this well prepared for every game, we'll win some we shouldn't and scare some others.
quote:
- Flashing LED lights were cool, but the atmosphere overall was somewhat disappointing on Saturday. AU didn’t announce the attendance but I’d guess 70,000.
I was surprised at the flashing LEDs. Thought I would hate, I didn't.
I was not disappointed in the atmosphere. It was as good as I've seen for an opponent of Akron's caliber. I've seen many, many Auburn games against the crappier side of the schedule, this was a good showing. Agree with 70k estimate.
Shout out to the student section for packing it out and staying! That was awesome.
quote:
Nix looked much more poised and well coached
I haven't watched the replay, but I swear I saw him check down to the 3rd read once, step in and nail it.
quote:
No drops that I noticed.
This made me sad for Sean White. I can remember a game (maybe Ark?) where he must have hit receivers in the hands 10 times. It's like their gloves were frozen and covered in butter. Sorry Sean.
quote:
All in all, I don’t think yesterday could’ve gone any better.
Totally agree. If we're this well prepared for every game, we'll win some we shouldn't and scare some others.
Posted on 9/6/21 at 1:39 pm to slacker130
I’m trying to find something to bitch about but this is a tough game to do. I still don’t know what kind of team we will be until later in the season. But for Saturday night we looked great.
On the negative. Knighten looked slow and took bad angles. Tackling wasn’t great had a few missed tackles and a couple DBs just trying to blow someone up instead of just getting them on the ground. In our pass off zone coverage some was slow in picking up their guy. Wooten look indecisive on his drops and/or to fill in the run when he moved to the middle. Front 4 looked really good.
Ke.Jones destroyed just about anyone lined up against him. He’s big dude and he kept finishing his blocks. Had good footwork when shield blocking as well.
On the negative. Knighten looked slow and took bad angles. Tackling wasn’t great had a few missed tackles and a couple DBs just trying to blow someone up instead of just getting them on the ground. In our pass off zone coverage some was slow in picking up their guy. Wooten look indecisive on his drops and/or to fill in the run when he moved to the middle. Front 4 looked really good.
Ke.Jones destroyed just about anyone lined up against him. He’s big dude and he kept finishing his blocks. Had good footwork when shield blocking as well.
Posted on 9/6/21 at 2:38 pm to CorchJay
quote:
On the negative. Knighten looked slow and took bad angles
Noticed that, too. Akron's lone TD, Knighten was in position to tackle him for minimal gain but BK was indecisive coming up to tackle and got beat to the corner.
Posted on 9/6/21 at 8:37 pm to AUDevil
I know people make fun of Jay Tates obsession with audio quality and effects but he deserves credit.
Listening to Hokes podcast with Ben Leard.... Sound quality has a lot of room for improvement
Listening to Hokes podcast with Ben Leard.... Sound quality has a lot of room for improvement
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