aubiefifty

yes mam but i corrected it lol

i wonder if harsin is a dog lover? lol

Dogs are this team’s weakness. Mississippi State, TAMU, and uga all used the power of their dogs to defeat us. I’m hoping we don’t end up in a bowl game against NC State or something.

tell me he at least had potted meat and sardines..........and what the hell happened to you forehead? i got paper sacks if you need them

mikey have a happy thanksgiving if i do not see you!

was mario not just starting out? i do not know i am asking. but he is a lights out recruiter and we would probably end up with the best o line in the country or at least top ten. with our running backs and a little help from the portal he could be lights out. but did we not turn him down once? for the record i am not through with harsin right now.

who the hell provided vienna sausage for munchies at a party? and who goes to parties with vienna sausages for ho derves? lol

he and peterson were really close so maybe peterson is pushing for him behind the scenes. just a guess and nothing more.

i am not upset because i am not totally sold on harsin. i like him but the dd thing bothers me. he came out and said when playing against the second string he was tearing it up. and now they think he might not fit? this just bothers me. the kid played high school ball in the toughest league in texas and texas is as big as a lot of countries. and i am pretty sure they talked about how accurate he was and what a pretty ball he throws. i know this because i posted the article. that might not have been word for word but it was close. so to me something is not right unless it was just the normal crap talk coaches do about certain players that are not starting.

not sure why folks are giving you negs but the rumor is all over the rant so their might be something to it.

he beat them last year but he might have those jitters. but i am sure it is like my band days. i would be scared but once those first couple of songs were played i could rock the house. this is what i hope for tj.

all i know is he is a super great kid and i hope he shines. i hate bo got hurt but tj deserves a shot so now we will see what we have with him. i doubt coach o recruits him if he sucks.

What Bryan Harsin said about replacing Anders Carlson on ‘Tiger Talk’ By Nubyjas Wilborn | nwilborn@al.com 4-5 minutes Auburn travels to South Carolina trying to bounce back from a two-game losing streak. After Bo Nix suffered an injury during the Mississippi State loss, the Tigers will have a new starting quarterback. TJ Finley will start Auburn (6-4, 3-3) against the Gamecocks (5-5, 2-5) at Williams Brice. Head coach Bryan Harsin will discuss Finley and several other factors for Auburn during his weekly radio appearance with the Tigers’ broadcast crew. Here are some highlights from Harsin’s chat. Harsin on not having Nix and kicker Anders Carlson It’s disappointing for both guys. Let me say that both of those guys are doing well. I appreciate that we have great people here in the medical area and surgeons and all that, so they’ve done a great job. They’re in great spirits. We have to move forward. That’s the thing about football, and I’ve told guys that too. Unfortunately, guys get hurt. When you come off the field, the game goes on. We’ve been back in practice, and TJ is doing a good job leading the guys. Harsin on replacing Anders Carlson. Ben Patton and Evan McGuire will both get opportunities. Those guys have done a good job this week up to this point. And you know, the big thing is, they’ll get their opportunities in the game. We tell them don’t be nervous when you go out there, be excited like this is the chance you’ve been waiting for this is the opportunity you want when you stand on the sidelines and you know, every player that’s not playing always thinks they should be playing and then so, you know. It’s unfortunate when things happen like this, but nonetheless, you have a chance to go out there and play, so take advantage of it, prepare properly and then, you know, go out there and do your job and do it to the best of your ability. What stands out about the Gamecock defense? I think they play hard. I think they’ve got their edge rusher number one(Kingsley Enagbare). He’s got five or six sacks. I think their linebackers are all solid as far as just where they need to be, and I think they play sound and are physical. I think they play hard. I think they do a good job and their schemes and structure, and I think they got good players and inside of the ball that, you know, are developing and getting better, and you see that as the season goes on there. There’s an improvement on that football team, and that’s what you got to prepare for. Harsin on how Finley playing against South Carolina last season helps this year. I know that our offensive staff is looked at that. And there are certainly some things from that that we could probably take away and that we’ve seen this week. For me, it’s, you know, it’s so different. It was such a long time ago. And so many things have changed for TJ, the schemes and all that, and he’s a different player. Is it a different system? Now I know for him he remembers it. Sure. And, you know, I think that’s part of it too. Like just in his mind that he had that opportunity at LSU, and he has an opportunity here, and so that’s his own story. However, you know, what I do like about TJ is he’s always he’s very focused. He’s very determined, and he doesn’t get caught up in too many things that aren’t the most important, and the most important things are, we need to have a really good day of practice. On Auburn handling road games. The awesome thing about being in the SEC is that you know every game you go to has that energy. As far as being on the road goes, it’s not so much about that any longer. It’s about what we have to do to go out there and execute our assignments and play good football, and I think the challenge of being on the road. We have to handle adversity from a mentality standpoint; you got nobody in there cheering for you. You got nobody there that’s in your favor. Sometimes that can be the best environment to walk in there and have that mentality, kind of like a SWAT team. Just get in there. Do your job and go home. Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn for Alabama Media Group.

In Mississippi State meltdown, Tigers 'got ahead of ourselves' on defense ByNathan King 4-5 minutes How Coaching Changes Around Nation Will Impact Signing Day AUBURN, Alabama — Auburn players weren't surprised at all by what Mississippi State was doing on offense. They just couldn’t find a way to stop it. Auburn allowed Bulldogs quarterback Will Rogers to complete 44-of-55 passes — including 24-of-26 in the second half — and dissect Auburn’s defense en route to 40 unanswered points and a 43-34 comeback win. The 25-point blown lead is the largest in Auburn history. How did Derek Mason’s defense — which had been superb over the past two games, not allowing a touchdown in its previous six quarters and holding opponents out of the end zone on nine straight red-zone trips — get peeled apart inside Jordan-Hare Stadium in such stark contrast to its recent successes? Only one defensive player, edge rusher Derick Hall, was made available to discuss the loss after the game. Wednesday was the first time multiple players on Auburn’s defense were able to review the gutting performance at length. And like most things in football, it came down to execution, said senior cornerback Roger McCreary, who thinks his teammates on defense eased off the accelerator once Auburn grabbed a 28-3 lead in the second quarter. “We knew it was going to come — it's just that some players just weren't focused and some people just weren't doing their job,” McCreary said. “So I feel like it was a lack of focus, and we got ahead of ourselves. The first half we did good and we thought it was going to be easy.” Auburn held Mississippi State’s air-raid offense to just one touchdown across five drives in the first half, including two punts and a forced field goal in the red zone. The Tigers were getting stable pressure and weren’t letting the Bulldogs break away for long gains when they hauled in receptions from Rogers in the short passing game — their bread and butter. Rogers torched Auburn out of the locker room, though, mounting five straight touchdown drives. “We just started executing, and one successful drive just led to another,” Mississippi State coach Mike Leach said Wednesday. More than 84% of Mississippi State’s offensive output in the second half came via the passing game, as Rogers completed 24 of his last 25 passes for the game. Auburn allowed nine explosive plays of 15 yards or more through the air in the second half as opposed to only three in the first half, yet Mississippi State’s drives were still strenuous and methodical, ending with touchdowns from 3, 3, 6, 3 and 6 yards out. “Everything we did worked in the first half; we just didn’t execute in the second half,” said senior linebacker Chandler Wooten. “It’s totally up to us as players to hold each other accountable. I think we had a great plan. Like I said, it worked in the first half, so there was no reason it couldn’t work in the second half. It just came down to execution, people doing their jobs and doing it with physicality.” Auburn will get back to a more traditional opposing offense this week when it travels to South Carolina, averaging 35 runs to 29 passes per game. The Gamecocks are on their third quarterback of the season: Jason Brown, a transfer from FCS Saint Francis who’s completed 57% of his passes this season, with five touchdowns to three interceptions. Auburn’s defense has been an above-average group in the SEC for the majority of the season. To return to its prosperous roots in a bounce-back effort this weekend, the key is carrying out the game plan for the entirety of a game, not just a half or a quarter, according to a pair of its senior leaders. “I feel like that's going to be great against this offense,” McCreary said of the game plan for South Carolina this week. “We just have to execute it.”

Bo Nix talks season-ending injury, offers thoughts on TJ Finley taking over at QB Chris Wallace | 20 hours ago 2 minutes A broken ankle and subsequent surgery will sideline Bo Nix for the rest of Auburn’s season. It had been an up-and-down year for the junior quarterback, but most objective observers would agree that the positives outweighed the negatives. Nix finishes the 2021 season having completed 197-of-323 passes for 2,294 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions. He also added 168 yards and 4 TDs on the ground. The 6-3, 214-pounder will now be forced to watch Auburn’s remaining games this season. On Wednesday while meeting with reporters he said it won’t be easy. “I can’t stand missing games,” Nix said. “I can’t stand not being out there.” Bo Nix on emotions after learning extent of injury: “I’d kind of known in the back of my mind the news was going to come….When they told me, it was obviously very heartbreaking b/c of the kind of season it’s been…I can’t stand missing games. I can’t stand not being out there” — Tom Green (@Tomas_Verde) November 17, 2021 Nix was also asked if he would be involved in helping TJ Finley adjust to the starting QB role, but Nix said he’s going to leave that task to the coaching staff and that he is confident Finley will do just fine. Auburn plays at South Carolina on Saturday night at 7 p.m. EST on ESPN.

What's Auburn football coach Bryan Harsin's approach to 2-point conversion attempts? Bennett Durando, Montgomery Advertiser Wed, November 17, 2021, 4:27 PM AUBURN — Hope wasn't completely lost when Auburn football scored with 3:37 remaining against Mississippi State last week. It snapped a 40-0 run by the Bulldogs and set up an extra point that would cut Auburn's deficit to 43-35 — a one-possession game. But at some point, a 2-point conversion would be required if Auburn wanted to catch Mississippi State. Coach Bryan Harsin elected to go for it after the first touchdown. An injured Bo Nix threw an interception on the attempt, and Auburn remained two scores behind. The final was 43-34. On one hand, that decision stung extra after Mississippi State missed a field goal. Auburn could've had possession in an eight-point game with a chance to tie. On the other, missing the 2-point conversion would likely cost the game no matter when it was attempted. So was it the right call to go for it early? "The old chart question," Harsin called it Wednesday. "Yes, there is a chart that everybody in America uses (to determine when to go for two). I think that tends to be made fun of when it doesn't work out. But everybody has the same one. It's pretty standard." The decision against Mississippi State was the first time of Harsin's Auburn tenure that he has been scrutinized for a 2-point decision. But in that specific scenario, strategic opinions differ even among experts. Here's what Ryan Paganetti, a former Philadelphia Eagles assistant coach who specialized in analytics and game management, had to say in a message to the Advertiser: "There has been a lot of discussion of why 'in theory' it makes sense to go for (two) when down (nine) late (in the game) because you gain information on if you are going to succeed on the 2-point conversion earlier and can at least adjust your strategy going forward if you do or don’t get it. For example, if you don’t get it, you are almost certain to want to kick onside. But if you do get it, you’d be more likely to kick deep. "Despite it sounding right in theory, the win probability difference between down (nine) and down (eight) has been so large that my suggestion would be to kick the extra point. There may be other factors at play where your team continues to play really hard when down (eight) as opposed to almost giving up, down (nine)." Paganetti also pointed out that college 2-point conversion success rates are lower than in the NFL, which can factor into the "when" question in a number of ways, depending on how coaches and analysts view it. AUBURN FOOTBALL: For cornerback Jaylin Simpson, clutch interception of Corral was validation after injuries While Paganetti would've suggested Auburn kick instead of chasing the two points early in that spot, Football Outsiders founder and statistician Aaron Schatz was on the same page as Harsin. "My feeling is that you want the most information as soon as possible," Schatz wrote in a message to the Advertiser. "You know you are going to have to make a 2-point conversion to tie. So you might as well try it first. If you miss it, you know you have to try to do the almost-impossible and score two more times. "If you try the 2-point conversion after the second touchdown and you don't get it, the game is also over and you also lose. But you don't have the opportunity to TRY to score twice more." It's clear the down-nine situation is one of the more nuanced debates in the go-for-it-or-kick debate. Either way, Harsin cited the chart, but he elaborated that a coach needs to consider other elements when it comes to his general decision-making philosophy. "You know if you have to go for two and what that's going to put you down by or up by. And then really it comes down to, just for us, if you've got momentum," Harsin said. "Are you going to do it at the end of the last drive when you have to, or are you going to do it during a drive where you can? That's really what it comes down to. I think it's a big swing in momentum. And that is a determination in the game. So you see teams do it: They'll go for it earlier, they'll go for it later. QUARTERBACK: Bryan Harsin: Auburn football will start TJ Finley after Bo Nix's season-ending surgery "And also, you have player availability. You have, just as far as the play selection, did you use it before? Do you need to come up with something different? There's a lot of different things that come up in the game, so it's not just one standard process I think everybody uses from that standpoint — other than, there's a chart that people look at, or a guy on the sideline has, that says you should go for two if you're down by this or up by this. And then you get to make that decision as a coach." This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: How Auburn football coach Bryan Harsin approaches 2-point conversions

TJ Finley was always ready for this. Will the super suit fit Auburn football’s backup QB? Bennett Durando, Montgomery Advertiser Thu, November 18, 2021, 7:26 AM·5 min read In this article: AUBURN — T.J. Finley wore his mom’s homemade homecoming slacks. His relatives wore his No. 1 on the back of Auburn football shirts that would have been sacrilegious a year ago. In a gravel RV parking lot in the shadow of LSU’s Tiger Stadium, a dozen of those Finleys struggled to cram into one camera frame. They eventually gave up on the selfie and opted for a video. That way they could dance, flex and show off the Auburn swag in a pregame text to Finley, who was preparing to face his former team. An aunt received a text from a family friend: “I hope TJ has a good game. Just not a win.” “We’ve been getting those texts all day,” Shannon Finley, his mom, said. “They don’t want my baby to win.” They didn’t bother replying with what they already knew: Finley would not be starting that night. Auburn coach Bryan Harsin had decided to stick with Bo Nix the week after Finley entered off the bench and led Auburn to a comeback win. The family didn’t mind. They stayed overnight in the parking lot and celebrated Finley’s homecoming all the same. Auburn Tigers quarterback T.J. Finley (1) celebrates after the game at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021. Auburn Tigers defeated Georgia State Panthers 34-24. Making the familiar 45-minute drive from Finley’s hometown of Hammond, Louisiana, his mom could take pride in Finley’s game-day outfit, even if he wasn’t starting. She tapered his navy blue slacks that he wore to the stadium. It’s a mother-son tradition that will take on greater importance now, almost two months later. Finley has a look-good, feel-good mentality on Saturdays. His mom’s craftsmanship is the key. And confidence will be key for Finley in Auburn’s last two games of the season, including the Iron Bowl, as he is suddenly thrown into the starting quarterback role after a season-ending injury to Nix. His journey to this point has featured frustration, patience, vigilance and a collection of new suits. The model His legs were too long. Too skinny at the bottom. He didn’t like the way flared pants looked. But with Finley’s bulkier upper-body, he had no choice but to buy larger suits. The fit was always rough. Mom came to the rescue. While he was in high school, Shannon Finley taught herself to sew and taper pants. From the knee down, she slimmed every pair of slacks to her son’s liking. It continued into college. Auburn’s weekly pregame tradition is Tiger Walk, in which the players dress to impress on the stroll through Auburn’s campus into Jordan-Hare Stadium. Shannon always buys Finley’s suits — three new ones this season. His favorite was blue and gray with pinstripes. She knows her son’s taste, and T.J. trusts hers. They’ve shared a bond since he was a baby, when she brought him to pharmacy school exams while getting her doctorate. COACHING DECISIONS: What's Auburn football coach Bryan Harsin's approach to 2-point conversion attempts? AUBURN BASKETBALL: Wendell Green Jr. takes torch as Bruce Pearl's next audacious point guard Finley’s appreciation of fashion also started as a toddler, when his parents entered him in a local baby modeling contest. He won. So he moved on to the state competition. He won that, too. Finley was suddenly on the national stage for the first time, judged against other babies for his personality, communication skills and runway costumes. His mom helped assemble those. His Louisiana-themed crawfish outfit was a hit. Photos from TJ Finley’s child model shoot hint at the importance of fashion to the future Auburn quarterback. Finley won the national baby championship. “I think he won because he’s so smart because he went to pharmacy school,” Shannon said. The reward included a photo shoot. Finley's portfolio was sent out for products in need of a baby model. “He’s always had that charisma and that model gene,” she said. Auburn quarterback TJ Finley appears as a child model for a photo paper company. The muck When Finley isn’t wearing fashionable clothes, he’s coated in mud. A Louisianan at heart, he and his family share a hobby of mud-riding in four-wheelers. During Auburn’s off week in October, he returned home and went for a day. “He got extra muddy,” his mom said. “His escape from football is the mud.” Finley needed an escape that week. After his heroic moment against Georgia State, his routine had changed. The first few weeks of the season, Finley never worked with the first-team receivers in practice. But even after Nix won back the starting job at LSU, Harsin and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo decided to put Finley in the first-team rotation during practices, just in case. It made Finley realize that being a backup quarterback is more challenging than being a starter. He started studying the playbook more intensely. He was more alert. It was just as exhausting as starting but less rewarding. It was its own slog through the mud. “It really taught him a lot about endurance and patience,” his mom said. “There are a lot of emotions that go with it. He’d get so amped up because you’re practicing like you’re the starter, then the game comes and you don’t touch the field at all.” Auburn Tigers quarterback T.J. Finley (1) during warm ups at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021. The final suit Just when Finley had embraced that role, Nix went down with an injury last week during Auburn’s loss to Mississippi State. X-rays after the game showed a broken ankle. He had season-ending surgery Monday. When Auburn kicks off at South Carolina at 6 p.m. CT Saturday, Finley will face the same opponent from his college debut, when he led LSU on 17-of-21 passing. Then comes the Iron Bowl. Finley was 14-for-28 in LSU’s loss to Alabama last year. When Finley was in the transfer portal, Alabama coach Nick Saban recruited him but warned him in advance that he would be behind quarterback Bryce Young. When Auburn hired Bobo, he invited Finley to compete with Nix, promising a fair shot. Now Finley is set to start by necessity against Saban’s Crimson Tide next week. It’s a historic rivalry and will be Finley’s first home start at Auburn. It calls for a new suit. “Last week in Auburn I did some shopping and got him a turtleneck to wear underneath,” Shannon Finley said. “I haven’t put my hands on the suit just yet, but I’m sure it’ll have some stripes.” This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football's TJ Finley was always ready for this

man i love me some cam! i watched him walk by some homeless white dude sitting on the sidewalk. cam was picking up some food i assume from some swanky place and when he came out he had a sack full of food for him. i bet the guy never knew who he was. but cam giving handicapped his cletes or giving footballs yo kids at the games and getting fined for it? i just think he is an awesome person and i hope he wins a super bowl.

i will say this. if dd should happen to leave i would be very disappointed in harsin. this season has been hard enough already. but to continue the rumor thing the rant is saying the university of washington is interested in hiring harsin. and it was stated by some cat that harsin did not realize what he was up against in the sec and is not happy. not i do not believe it at all but i thought someone might get a laugh out of it. now i am gonna start a rumor. harsin goes to washington and takes dd with him................grins. oh snap! i forgot harsin will also require all assistants to dye their hair purple.lol and if any of you believe that lord help us.

the rumor started on facebook. lol it seems he took down everything auburn related on his page but has not said a word. but he said this on instagram with no link so take it for what it is worth. supposedly DD has shut down the transfer rumors on his Instagram.so if anyone can look that up we probably have an answer. i do not do instagram not twitter......................

william brice sounds like the name of an insane asylum...am i right?

What Bryan Harsin said about Bo Nix's injury, Auburn's QB situation By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com 20-25 minutes The final stretch of Auburn’s first season under Bryan Harsin took a difficult turn following the team’s loss to Mississippi State. Not only was the 43-34 setback against the Bulldogs the biggest collapse in program history, with the Tigers letting go of a 25-point first-half lead, but Auburn also lost its starting quarterback and starting kicker in the process. Auburn coach Bryan Harsin confirmed Monday that Bo Nix (ankle) and Anders Carlson (ACL) are out for the remainder of the season after sustaining injuries in the second half of Saturday’s game. Nix underwent successful surgery Monday, while Carlson will undergo surgery this week. Harsin discussed the impact of those injuries, as well as what they mean for Auburn entering the final two games of the regular season, during his Monday press conference. Here’s a complete look at everything Harsin said about Nix, Carlson and the fallout of last weekend’s loss: BRYAN HARSIN Opening statement… “We had a couple of players in the last game that were injured, Bo Nix being one of them, who had a successful surgery today on his ankle. So that’s positive. He’s out. “Anders Carlson had an ACL in this last game as well, so he’ll have surgery here shortly. And a couple of our starting players that were injured in the game and now we’re just moving forward, getting those guys healed up. “We’ll have some guys who will have to step up and get their opportunities as we go into this week against South Carolina. “Both of those guys are in good spirits, and it’s unfortunate what happened to them. Those guys have handled it well. Guys on the team know what we need to do to have guys step up and be able to fill those roles and get ourselves ready to play in this next game. “As far as the last game goes, just a little recap on that. I thought we were ready to play in the first half. We came out and started fast, did some really good things. And then at halftime, really from that point on, I thought in the second half when Mississippi State went down and scored, they created some momentum. We needed to get that momentum back in the second half. “The execution just overall, finishing, making plays like we did in the first half didn’t show up in the second half. There’s some penalties, blown plays, missed opportunities. But at the end of the day we needed to finish the game. That was what we had talked about going into it and competing for four quarters and playing our best footbal for 60 minutes. All the things you talk about each and every week, making sure that was a mission of every player that stepped on the field. “And that did not happen in the game. So we’re going to learn from that. We’ve already watched it and put it away. We take that and use that information against South Carolina and get ourselves ready to play this week.” On what it says about Nix that he played through the injury for three-plus drives… “Well, the first thing you talk about at the quarterback position is toughness and there’s no question with that with Bo. And I’ve said that before. He was injured on a long throw that he had made. Continued that drive, came out, got looked at, was able to go back in the game and play, and was available to do that. “He’s a tough individual, No. 1. He wants to win, he wants to succeed, he wants to be a part of that. It says a lot about his desire to be out there with his teammates and to provide whatever he can from that position to try to help us win. I love that. I love the attitude. Unfortunately, he was injured and he’ll be out the rest of the season. But he’s got a great attitude.” On who will take over at kicker, and what he has seen from T.J. Finley since Saturday… “Yeah, we’re going to work through that with our specialists, so not right now. I’m not ready to make that decision yet on exactly what direction we’re going to go. “As far as T.J., he’s like every other backup quarterback that I’ve been around. He prepares like a starter, he goes out there and practices like a starter and then you never know when your opportunity is going to happen and so he just happened to be ready for that. Unfortunately an injury, it’s going to be a chance to get in the game and try to go make a difference. You never know what that is so you’re always preparing. So he’s done all those things so now it’s his opportunity to go out there and play the entire game and have a chance to prepare and practice with the reps this week like the starter, or as the starter, I should say, and get himself ready to go through a great week of preparation going into this game. So as far as his mindset and all that, he’s been very good. Now he’s going to go out there and do it in practice then it needs to show up in the game.” On if freshman Dematrius Davis could factor into QB spot, with his redshirt still intact… “No, not right now. We haven’t had those conversations.” On if Nix got reinjured in the fourth quarter after initial third-quarter hit… “I don’t really know that. He played obviously after he went back in. I don’t recall if there was another hit or something else in there but after the game when they went back and evaluated it, that’s what they found. I think it was on that play, I don’t think there was something else that happened in there. But moving around and running around and doing all those things, even taking a drop and stuff like that, I don’t know how much more that aggravated what had happened to him. “The injury came on that play in the third quarter where he got hit. Bo, as he went back in there, he looked, he stood in the pocket, he threw the ball well. He gave us opportunities to make plays, there’s no doubt about it, and we didn’t make those plays in those moments for us to continue drives and have a chance to go down there and do the things like we did in the first half.” On what goes into decision to let Nix play after initial injury… “Listen to the medical staff. That’s it. That’s why they’re there.” On medical staff clearing Nix after initial injury… “Yeah, that’s what the medical staff assesses our players, and then those guys make decisions whether guys are able to go back in or not during a game. And then there’s assessments after the game.” On decision to bring Finley in for final drive… “Yeah, I didn’t think that he could go anymore at that point, and then, you know, with TJ, trying to get a little bit of a spark -- but really, it came back to Bo, just could he go or not. He was limping around pretty good at that point in the game. So, we got TJ ready -- he had been ready, too [inaudible for several seconds] at that point in the game, it’s just, didn’t feel like where it looked like Bo could really go. So, TJ was obviously going to be ready to go and get him in the game. At that point too, you know, could we get a spark? Can we get the ball down the field and make something happen? Because we needed to: you know, we were now in that situation where we’ve got to score and get the ball back and try to score again quickly -- get a field goal at that point. So, really, it came down to that.” On discussions with Nix since Saturday, and his role moving forward… “Well, those conversations are between Bo and I, but he’s in good spirits. You know, I’m there to support him like his teammates and the other coaches on this staff are doing. You know, when guys get injured, that’s what you do: you support them. The next step is, you know, go have your surgery and get yourself healthy. You know, there is a human element to this, and so that part of it, that’s the focus. And then after the surgery, you know, we’ll regroup and we’ll focus on what comes next and what he has to do and those types of things. But, that wasn’t the initial conversation right after he was injured; like, what we have to do moving forward. It was just, ‘Hey, take care of yourself, make sure you’re good, family’s there. Let’s get through the surgery and then we’ll get on the other side of it, and we’ll figure out what the plan is moving forward.” On second-half defense vs. Mississippi State… “Yeah, I got you on State. Yeah, as far as the things that we had done early, yeah, we felt like those things would work, and they showed up on tape. You know, if you go back and study the game, those things that we had called in the first half were there in the second half. We didn’t execute and make the plays in some of those situations. Defensively with the pass rush, I thought we had the best players on the field at that time to get after the quarterback. Their o-line did a good job, and there were some things that we did to mix up some of the ways to get pressure on the quarterback. “You know, to not take anything away from the QB — he played really well in the second half, too. He threw the ball well. Their receivers, you talk about momentum, they made plays. What you have to do in a game is understand that when momentum shifts, you’ve got to find a way to get it back. You need to make the play. You need to get yourself in a position to get them off the field. “And on offense, you’ve got to continue scoring. That’s kind of the tale of two halves in this game. Come out playing hard, playing fast, making plays — in the second half, that has to continue. That’s what we have to understand as a team. You can’t coast your way through the rest of the game once you come out there and have a great first half. Put points on the board and expect somebody else to make plays as they gain momentum and put themselves back in a position to get themselves back in the game. They had however many drives for unanswered points. You’ve got to score. You’ve got to score points, and you’ve got to be able to keep scoring. You’ve got to be able to do that. That’s the responsibility of the offense. You’ve got to stop teams from scoring and get them off the field. That’s the responsibility of the defense. And in special teams, you’ve got to try to create field position and opportunities to change the game. “We had some penalties in special teams that took that momentum out of what we were doing. So there were a few of those in the game that allowed Mississippi State to stay on the field, which we’ll get the review on that. I’m sure we’ll know what the answer is once we look at it. But that doesn’t help you in the middle of the game. There are some factors in there that you have to overcome, and that is something as a team that we’ve got to do a better job with. I’ve got to do a better job with helping our team and helping everybody understand those things in a game going to happen. How we’re going to respond and how we overcome those is part of our development as a team right now. We didn’t do a good job of that. “So as far as our discipline and focus and our ability to finish — we took a step back. That’s two games now where we haven’t had the performance as a team that we want. That falls back on me. That falls back on how this team operates leading into the game, how we’re going to perform. Before we ever step on the field, understand the factors it takes to actually go out there and win games in this league. And, then ultimately, consistently, when you go out there and play. “We work hard. The effort and the stuff like that is there. But those other factors that really make teams, in my opinion, great, we’re not showing that. We’ve got to continue to keep working on that. Guys have to focus on it. Staff has to focus on it. I’ve got to do a better job of making sure the things we emphasize are getting through to everybody and it shows up on game day and we actually do those things through the course of the game.” On what he saw on the play Nix injured his ankle… “What you said there, just one of their guys fall into him. It’s one of those, as the quarterback throws it, you’re throwing the ball down the field, you’re in the pocket a little bit longer, somebody falls into the QB. And a lot of times you just get knocked over, you get knocked back, whatever it is, as you stand in the pocket and deliver it, things like that will happen. Somebody maybe gets pushed into you. In this case, he got pushed into his leg and just fell on his ankle there. Those things happen, too. It’s not always when you come out, you fall down and you get up. It’s kind of one of those routine plays where you get hit, you get back up and go on to the next play, and there’s not an injury there. But you never know. “That’s one of the things about the game: You just never know. Guys get injured, and sometimes it looks like something he’s done a thousand times, and just as a result of that play, it was an injury. So, that’s really what it came down to. I don’t think there was anything, you know, much out of the ordinary when it came to that play right there. It just happened to be kind of wrong spot, wrong time and probably positioning as a player. That’s kind of what happens when you get those types of injuries. When your feet are planted in the game, you always try to run your feet, you’re always trying to move your feet, because guys get wiped out and that helps you, keeps you from hopefully having like a lower-leg injury throughout a game and even through practice. Sometimes when you’re planted, you get hit just right and things happen. I think that’s what happened after watching it.” On if the biggest focus this week is tailoring offense to Finley and figuring out what he’s comfortable with… “We kind of know what he likes. That’s been part of every single week. You want to know what those guys are thinking, and that’s part of their preparation, that’s part of the process where you get quarterbacks’ and players’ opinions on things. Most of the time, it ties into what the coaches are thinking too. There’s a lot of similarities there, but as far as T.J., we’ve already been doing it. You kind of know what he likes and, again, we’re going to have to still run our offense and do things we feel are going to be successful. He’s going to have to be able to execute those (things), and he’s going to have done everything that we have in our gameplan. It’s just a matter of Bo’s had more reps at it in practice, and obviously more reps in games. T.J.’s seen it, he’s done it. He’s going to get all the reps, all those starting reps this week and have himself prepared from that standpoint. “Yeah, certainly his opinion and some of the things he sees as he studies the film, because each player’s a little bit different in what they do like, so it might be a little more of this, a little less of that. But at the end of the day, we’re still going to operate our system and execute it and make sure that everybody else that’s been in and playing, those guys raise their level of play as well. So, that’s the thing when somebody gets injured, I don’t just think that player has to come in there and be the guy that brings everything. It’s the guys that have been playing, the Nick Brahms, Tank Bigsby, Kobe Hudson. Those guys have been playing. Those are the guys that have to raise their level of execution when you have a new player come in that hasn’t had as many reps and the same experience as some of those guys that are going to play for us in the game. I’m counting on those guys to raise their level this week and their execution and make sure they’re doing their job so T.J. can go in there and operate and do what he’s asked to do and play quarterback the way we know he can and go out there and get himself ready and prepared and come game day go out there and cut it loose and take advantage of your opportunity to play.” On if Grant Loy is the backup quarterback now… “Yeah, he’s been in that position there. Grant has been there, and Dee has gotten some reps in there. Trey Lindsey has been doing a good job. We’ll work through that this week on what that’s going to look like and let those guys get some reps in there. The majority of the reps will go to T.J. because you want to get as many as you can. We’ll have our backup plan as well for those guys. They’ve got to be able to execute it and they’re going to have less than anybody between Bo and T.J. They’re going to have very few, so they’ve got to stay into it mentally. They’ve got to be prepared and do some things extra on their own from a physical standpoint so they’re ready to play. They’ve got to now take on that role of being the backup and understanding what it is we’re trying to accomplish. “Grant understands that, and he knows. Trey has really done a good job, in my opinion, of preparing himself. Our Sunday practices are where our guys that don’t play as much get a chance to go out there and compete a little bit. I think he’s done a good job of that. Just as far as physically preparing themselves, they’ve all got some scout team reps and gotten a few reps here or there. They have thrown the football and done those things. They’ve just got a little bit more this week and be more in-tune to what the actual game plan is if they’ve got to get in there and execute it.” On how Nix’s injury impacts the run game… “With Bo in there the run game is different. I think more so when Bo would take off and run with the scramble and just his ability to escape and do some of those things. Bo is obviously very athletic. T.J. showed his wheels in a few games as well. He can pull it and he makes good decisions. A lot to me as far as being a good runner if you ever have that option when you’re reading, is being a good decision maker as well. You’re trying to take advantage of the defense if you’re running those types of plays. We’ll have those things in the game plan and T.J. can execute it. It changes a little bit on some of the other quarterback run game stuff that we’ve done, but there will be opportunities for that still in this game plan. “As far as are we taking that next step in the run game, we’ve improved throughout the season in areas. I wouldn’t say that we’ve taken the next step yet because we need to be more consistent. You’ve got to run the ball and be able to get yourself in more manageable down and distances. We didn’t do it in the second half in the last game. When you run two times and it’s still a 3rd-and-9, that’s not very effective in that situation there. So we still have, in my opinion, a ways to go in improving to where the level we want to be at consistently in the run game. We’ve shown flashes. We’ve done some good things and that’s expected. But where we need to go is we can run the ball the way we want to in those critical moments and get the yards that we need to sustain drives and keep ourselves on the field.” On special teams and kicker Ben Patton… “As far as teams go, we’ve had penalties. I think they’re questionable but for some reason we’ve got to be perfect on special teams on any type of return that we have. I think our guys give really good effort. I think guys are playing hard. But we feel like you’ve got to be perfect in those areas if you’re going to try to be aggressive in returning. From a field position standpoint, that hurts you when you have those penalties. I thought we did some really good things and earned a lot of yards in this game that came back and negated a lot of those returns. “As far as Ben and all those specialists. We’re going to work through that this week. Right-footed, left-footed, we’ve got guys that are both. So we’ll work through our kicking game and who’s going to kickoff and who’s going to kick field goals and who’s going to do all those things with Anders being out. But we’ve got to get through this week of practice before we get too far into who’s doing what and where we’re going to go as far as our specialists go with Anders being out. “But Ben’s done a good job. I like Ben. Ben works hard. He’s prepared. I know he’s going to get his opportunity. If that’s the case, then he’s going to be ready to go. He’s going to go out there and practice well and put himself in position to mentally go in the game and be ready to kick. So we’ll see what that looks like this week of practice and go from there.” On the blocked field goal against Mississippi State… “Yes, yea. We got beat inside. Between the center and the guard there, we didn’t position ourselves like we normally do. Poor technique. When you have poor technique and the player across from you is going hard, that’s going to result in a block. The kick was a little bit low in that situation as well, but we gave up penetration that you can’t give up on special teams. That’s a problem and it comes back to us, technique, and doing things consistently. But that was the result. It was a longer kick but those types of issues shouldn’t come up in protection. It’s just something that we didn’t do a very good job of that they took advantage of.” Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde. Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our

they disclosed what that was on the rant and past problems of the same nature and it supposedly was not football related. i have no idea if it is true being a rumor and i do not care to smear anyone.