AUwent

6 hours ago, RHN1975 said:

I think we are way closer to the end than the beginning at uat. What drives most of these guys is competitiveness and wanting to be the best. He is now the best when it comes to titles. Only two realistic goals left for him because it would take 15 years of 10+ win seasons to catch Paterno.

 

He is tied with Bryant for most NC's at Alabama. He is four behind him for most SEC Championships. I believe once he gets another NC he will be very close to done. His ego is big enough he will not let himself slide into the mediocrity that so many legendary coaches did at the end.  

Bowl Cut might be just as big a beneficiary of the end of his master's tenure as us and TN.

Oh of course we’re going against the two non-SEC teams who have looked the best so far this year. Though if we’re still in good shape with him after this past weekend, that’s a big positive.

50 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

We destroyed them in 2002 and 2014 too.  Didn't matter the next season in BR.

Yep. But those were vastly superior LSU teams. We MUST win this. If we can’t, who can we beat after besides MSU and USCe?

2 hours ago, PSUPat said:

@Iowa, @MSU, @OSU, @Maryland even looks tough at 3-0 with a W over WVU.  

Michigan - still untested but look solid, at least we get them at home.  Rutgers doesn't even look like a pushover.  

 

Tennessee was beyond idiotic to run off Schiano like that.

4 hours ago, USATiger said:

I'll be very surprised if PSU isn't the B10 champ this year.  They are solid everywhere

It will be time for us to cancel all P5 OOC games if Cal suddenly becomes a powerhouse.

The more I think about it the more I think we miss a bowl this year and next. I think we have a very dark future as a program--the SEC has just never been better and it appears we are falling behind. I could see us becoming sixth in the pecking order in eh west. I'm sorry, I wish I could find something to convince me otherwise.

2 minutes ago, WarEagleHunter1221 said:

Nah not near Vandy. Closer to Kansas. 

I'm a resident negabarner, but we are NOT Kansas. Akron and ASU would've taken KU to the edge.

3 minutes ago, passthebiscuits said:

Bo’s arm strength is suspect. Am I alone in that assessment?

OLine not too shabby. 
 

D secondary not good. 
 

sticking to my preseason assessment of this team…hard-nosed and physical, will keep us in every game, lots of “moral victory” games, but not enough high end talent and/or at crucial positions (WR) to get the Ws. 
 

playcalling was bad at times, but I have faith that we are moving in the right direction. 
 

give penn state and that environment some credit. 

What was your record prediction again? And roughly how long do you think it takes for us to actually the Ws (besides 60 minutes)?

12 minutes ago, TitanTiger said:

You really see six more losses on this schedule based on what you’ve seen?

Possibly. LSU should be pretty fired up coming in with win over MSU and given our track record in DV and Bo on road. Arky is after LSU and Georgia. OM is looking pretty good. 

@Brad_ATX: JoePa stayed at PSU til he was 85. Bobby til he was 80. And much to the delight of the Turd fanbase, he is a workaholic perfectionist.

One thing I'm happy I saw tonight outside of RBs? I liked what I saw from Kobe for the most part, and he's a sophomore.

Just now, AUx said:

Charles and Dianna got hitched.

The Iran hostages were released.

The Delorean was created.

Raiders of the Lost Ark debuted.

American Airlines introduced the first frequent flier miles.

China and CDC were only "what-iffing" gain-of-function experiments on the Coronavirus.

Good times.

3 minutes ago, TitanTiger said:

I can't predict what the next few years are going to be under Harsin.  But I just think it's crazy to act like we're looking at the same kind of football we saw the last few years under Gus.

Fair. I was glad we didn't fold when we fell behind 21-10.

But IF 5-7 happens, IDK how good we should be feeling about our program's future.

2 minutes ago, TitanTiger said:

Yeah.  To some degree.  But I'd put it more like, it looks like a different kind of team to me.  I mean, I've been around for a while.  I remember 1981 in Dye's first year.  We'd gone 5-6 in Barfield's last season and went 5-6 in Dye's first one.  But anyone paying attention could tell there was a difference in the two teams and the two coaches.

 

 

I would love for this to be like 1981. Because we quickly improved our record. But as Ive made perfectly clear, I'm not sure that's going to be the case. Don't forget that Bear was almost on the way out in 1981. And Wee Man could be there for 15 more years.

9 minutes ago, Zeek said:

I think 8-4 is legitimate this year. Win at LSU lose to the other big 3. Win the rest. Ole Miss is scary if our secondary doesn't fix its coverage issues.

Top 15ish class this year.

2023 we're getting some good in roads already. I think we finish top 10 so long as we keep looking competitive.

What about ArkMart? Don't forget we have to play them right after LSU and Georgia. I might actually like our chances against Ole Mrs. better just because of the bye week beforehand. My confidence about LSU is a bit shakier, especially because they'll likely have some mo coming off MSU (who we absolutely should beat along with USCe). But if we lose to them I just don't see a third SEC win.

So, I would be extremely pleased if what's bolded comes to pass.

2 minutes ago, Zeek said:

Top 20 will happen. Top 15 is a huge stretch. Top 10 isn't happening this year.

 

Unrelated but I don't want to double post:

Thought this was 100% a safety 

I don't expect a top 10 class at all! My goal this year is top 20. But I definitely will not be as forgiving of a losing season as I would've if we were in line for top 10.

13 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

Nah.  We'll beat MSU and for sure South Carolina.

Toss up games with LSU, Arkansas, A&M, and Ole Miss.  Probably 4-4 or 5-3 in conference.

Provided we don't get run out of the building more than once and meet my recruiting goals, I would be ecstatic with 5-3 in conference.

4 minutes ago, Zeek said:

I think that's fair. Bama, UGA, and Texas A&M match up well against us. The Gumps and Aggies would roast this secondary with how they played and UGA would stifle our run game leaving us SOL.

The staff told us all spring they weren't happy with the wide receiver group.

We're not going to get any better if our recruiting doesn't pick up. I could maybe stomach even 5-7 if we were set to sign a top 10 recruiting class.

14 minutes ago, Zeek said:

Don't think this is meltdown worthy at all. Most fans predicted this loss before getting jazzed up from our first two games. Heck, most said they'd be okay with it if we were competitive. We're two play calls from winning this game in my opinion. 

 

QB - Bo completed 57% with a decent amount of drops and a few throw aways. If I told you he threw for 185 and no turnovers you'd think it's a win. He ran for an additional 19 and one critical conversion. Had one pass that should have been intercepted and one way off after tweaking his shoulder that stood out to me. Otherwise I feel like he did enough on his end to put us in a spot to win.

RB - the biggest crime here is that the RBs didn't get more carries. Jarquez averaged 7 YPC and only had 9 touches. We were running at will and moved away from it trying to get chunk plays or getting cute. Props to Tank and Hunter who played their asses off.

WR - nightmare performance here. Almost no separation on deep balls. Drops, near fumble, tripping on air, losing the ball mid-air, and a few whiffs on blocking. Awful showing. Kobe's fumble, Shed's would be conversion tripping, and Demetris losing the ball on an open TD are mistakes you can't afford when evenly matched.

TE - 5 Receptions 62 yards for Shenker. That's phenomenal by Auburn standards. Might needed to have hit him more.

OL - I thought they did enough to win. Had a few completely missed blitzes but the run lanes were decent enough and Bo had enough time to work through reads. There was one crucial 3rd and short they let Tank get blown up on and that led to a FG when we badly needed a TD.

DL - absolutely horrendous. Clifford even said in his post game interview he had all day to throw. The lack of a pass rush absolutely killed us. How there wasn't one holding call blows my mind but still we had almost no pressure here all game. 

LB - great in the run game absolutely awful in coverage. If we spied their YE (86) they don't move the ball near as much. We look lost in Zone Coverage right now and often had two guys following one WR while the other ran free.

DB - awful. Contested almost no passes. Clifford was 10/10 at one point. Let 5 run free all game. Just a terrible job in what was supposed to be a strength. Again, miscommunication in zone.

K - Carlson was great in a loud environment. 

P - very impressed. Averaged 48.5 almost half a football field. Phenomenal compared to the production we had been getting.

Playcalling was bad. Outside screens were too slow against a Penn State D that was FLYING around the field. Very impressed with their defense.

The reverses and cute stuff absolutely killed us. That fumble at the start of the second half was brain dead. We could have ran on them all game and Bo should have been an intentional factor in the run game to keep them off Tank/Hunter.

The 4th down call was assanine. Based on how it was thrown I 1,000,000٪ believe it was done with the intention of drawing a PI. Power-I to Tank might have been predictable but I'll be damned if I don't trust him to get 2 yards. Hell do a 5 WR set and let Bo scramble. Heck a rollout with Shenker in front of him even.

Hunter needed more touches. The sweeps and reverses are for the birds. Sugar huddle doesn't work for us even with a new staff just stop.

Defense was flat out embarrassing compared to expectations. Made Clifford look like ******* Joe Burrow. McCreary spy #5 and LB spy #86 that's there whole offense right there. 

Winnable game. It's frustrating but we definitely looked better overall than we would have with Gus. Clock management is still rough. Wasted penalties in the second half killed us. Imagine if we're on the 26 yard line with more time.

Pretty good insight.

1 minute ago, TitanTiger said:

???

It's not out of the question that we win 9 games this season.  

This was in response to Hunter's prognostication. It is plausible for sure.

1 minute ago, WarEagleHunter1221 said:

I’m disappointed but that game matches what my expectations were coming into the season. I said it in the other post but outside of our RBs and our LBs, this is an average team at best. It doesn’t look like our recruiting is going to be great this year either so my expectations for next year or even the next aren’t very high. We got to get better guys and we got to settle in a lot more. In other words we got a looooong way to go. I hate that but it’s the truth. 
 

Hey at least we ain’t losing with Gus. 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️. 
 

Side Note: The play calling on both sides were god awful. No excuse for that. 

9 wins by 2023. Period.

2 minutes ago, RunInRed said:

I’ll eat crow - I said back in the summer this game would be ugly.  It wasn’t.  We just don’t have the horses yet - particularly in the trenches.  But our time is coming.  Keep the faith, brothers.

WDE

Well, this is why I've been concerned about our recruiting.

That said, I think we have plenty to build on as well...

1 minute ago, Farmer Brown said:

If we score, we better have a good play for a two point conversion. 

Better than FL's attempt.

If we can't win (still within reach, mind you!), can Tank at least get 21 more yards?

5 minutes ago, USATiger said:

Pressure is a bitch, and he has a long history of bad fundamentals to try to overcome.  same way in high school. 

Are we ever going to get a good QB...hopefully it was just Gus having a black thumb.

But if our recruiting stays the same, we aren't going to "get the players."

WTH is wrong with our secondary?