Finebaum, Cole Cubelic sound off on loss

[aubiefifty 18,231]

Paul Finebaum, Cole Cubelic sound off on Auburn’s loss to Georgia: ‘I didn’t like the plan’

By Mark Heim | mheim@al.com

3-4 minutes

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Georgia's Jordan Davis (99), Nolan Smith (4) and Malik Herring (10) tackle Auburn quarterback Bo Nix (10) during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020, in Athens, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)AP

Gus Malzahn said Saturday his Tigers got “whipped” after then-No. 4 Georgia beat then-No. 7 Auburn 27-6.

The Auburn coach isn’t alone.

SEC analyst - and former Auburn center - Cole Cubelic didn’t like the Malzahn’s game plan, calling it “ordinary.” Paul Finebaum, quite frankly, said we’ve seen this storyline before.

Auburn managed 216 yards of total offense against the Bulldogs and failed to score a touchdown for the first time since 2018 when the Tigers lost 23-9 at Mississippi State.

“I think you have a multitude of problems right now,” Cubelic told Lee Shirvanian and me on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 on Monday. “It starts up front with the offensive line. They aren’t a very experienced group. They aren’t a very physical group. They haven’t played a lot of football together, and they went against a pretty good front.”

The offense struggled in all areas, including third-down conversions (6 of 15) and running the ball (39 yards). Meanwhile, Bo Nix managed just 4.4 yards per pass.

“There are still times where it feels like he’s seeing ghosts,” Cubelic said. "There are times that feel like he’s leaving the pocket when there is no pressure to force him out, (like) he’s uncomfortable in the pocket.

“He doesn’t like to be a guy that likes to survey the defense. You have a comfort level that’s just not there with what they are trying to do offensively.”

Meanwhile, during a Monday appearance on The Roundtable on WJOX-FM, Finebaum said this isn’t anything new.

“We’ve had conversations like this in the past and what do you do?” Finebaum said. “Gus Malzahn decided to try something different by bringing in Chad Morris and so far it hasn’t worked. Against maybe the best defense in the country, there’s no indication from Saturday night that it’s going to work against Alabama, which I think has a similar defense. It’s the same conversation, and guess what, same result. I don’t know where to go. Auburn occasionally beats Georgia, occasionally beats Alabama, this is the program they have. Are they satisfied with it? No, but what are they going to do about it I guess is my final retort.”

Finebaum went on to say, at some point, Malzahn may take the offensive keys from offensive coordinator Chad Morris.

Either way, the game plan on Saturday, Cubelic said, left little to be desired.

“I didn’t like the plan against Georgia,” he explained. “I thought you needed quick distribution to get it in the hands of your playmakers. ... It’s the best defense you may face this year. That plan needed to be creative. You needed to have a lot of window dressing. You needed eye candy to utilize visual deception. Try to get that defense moving one way where you hit them back the other way. I didn’t feel like that took place.”

Mark Heim is a sports reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim.

[creed 1,787]

When you lose the LOS no amount of misdirection, trickery, or luck will get you much in yards or first downs. Especially if the other team is "fast" at every position like Georgia. Plus they were pushing our linemen, both offensive and defensive, backwards all night.  

[johnnyAU 3,745]

Cole is right. We needed quick hitting plays to slow down the rush due to the inexperienced OL. Long developing plays were doomed from the start.  The ball needed to be out of Bo's hands quickly. 

We needed to attack the perimeter and middle of the field. We really didn't. It seemed like we had no game plan at all. Unacceptable.

[gravejd 3,304]

1 minute ago, johnnyAU said:

Cole is right. We needed quick hitting plays to slow down the rush due to the inexperienced OL. Long developing plays were doomed from the start.  The ball needed to be out of Bo's hands quickly. 

We needed to attack the perimeter and middle of the field. We really didn't. It seemed like we had no game plan at all. Unacceptable.

I wish i understood why we can't have a passing attack that spreads the ball all over the field to a multitude of players. Auburn has played teams before where we could completely overwhelm their OL with our DL but they are able to reduce that advantage with quick pass plays....screens....throwing to TE when LB rush......popping a RB out of the backfield and throwing to him. Multiple OC and the result always looks the same. Just sucks that we are stuck with Malzahn for the next year or 2. Beyond tired of talking about the same problems every single year. 

[Barnacle 9,107]

YEAR EIGHT

[Win4AU 4,182]

When you don’t have to play the run you can pin back your ears and go after the Qb.  Defense to me is more disappointing than offense.  I half expect this on offense but I at least thought the defense would keep UGA in check.  I know there have been some losses on the Dline but I thought we were in the reload phase on that side of the ball.  Garner better hold on to Hunter and whatever Dline guys he can get this off-season.

[cole256 17,085]

He's right need quick plays to get the ball out so the qb doesn't have to think and he's right he's not comfortable in the pocket. Well move the pocket sometimes let him use his legs, this could help him and the o line. During the games against less talented teams you need to be teaching Bo how to operate in the pocket.....that is if you want what's best for him. Knowing the plays means nothing if you don't make reads because you're ancy. 

Get some linemen he can believe in. He's all we got now

 

[steeleagle 2,945]

2 hours ago, cole256 said:

He's right need quick plays to get the ball out so the qb doesn't have to think and he's right he's not comfortable in the pocket. Well move the pocket sometimes let him use his legs, this could help him and the o line. During the games against less talented teams you need to be teaching Bo how to operate in the pocket.....that is if you want what's best for him. Knowing the plays means nothing if you don't make reads because you're ancy. 

Get some linemen he can believe in. He's all we got now

 

I think some of the linemen that came in later in the game, have shown more promise, even though they are younger and a little less experienced.

I expect those guys to replace some of the others( Bell and Troxell seemed to look better than the starters).

[tigerman1186 537]

I'd think this week in practice there will be a lot of 1 v. 1 with the defensive and offensive lineman....in football terms, it will be the 'inside' drill...usually the defense has the upper hand because they know all the plays will be run inside...this will make the offensive lineman to attack their man and drive them out....great drill with usually good results...BUT the question is, can they bring this to the field on Saturday... 

[IronMan70 3,322]

We have been having the SAME conversation about the LOS,  strength of the OL/DL, game plans and play selection for the last 10 years. I cant stand Finebaum so don't get me wrong but sometimes he stumbles into some clarity and this is one of those times. He is quoted in the article as saying, "Auburn occasionally beats Georgia, occasionally beats Alabama, this is the program they have. Are they satisfied with it? No, but what are they going to do about it I guess is my final retort.” Indeed and meanwhile the UGa series itself represents a microcosm of the overall program. Spurts of success with years of mediocrity only now we are all 10 years older.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

[aucanucktiger 1,889]

Has any 3 TD loss to a #3 team ever received this much bellyaching?

[nixtosanders94 2,180]

4 hours ago, IronMan70 said:

We have been having the SAME conversation about the LOS,  strength of the OL/DL, game plans and play selection for the last 10 years. As the article says, "Auburn occasionally beats Georgia, occasionally beats Alabama, this is the program they have. Are they satisfied with it? No, but what are they going to do about it I guess is my final retort.” Meanwhile the UGa series represents a microcosm of the overall program. Spurts of success with years of mediocrity except now we are all 10 years older.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Here’s the dirty little secret...a lot of our fanbase ARE happy with where we are...you need only see the very next post after yours...

[tigerrules 517]

13 hours ago, johnnyAU said:

Cole is right. We needed quick hitting plays to slow down the rush due to the inexperienced OL. Long developing plays were doomed from the start.  The ball needed to be out of Bo's hands quickly. 

We needed to attack the perimeter and middle of the field. We really didn't. It seemed like we had no game plan at all. Unacceptable.

Why can we all see the obvious but Gus can’t?  UK looked more like a Morris offense. UGA had Gus fingerprints all over it. I have seen that same game plan for 5 frustrating years. So Morris should own the game plan or walk away. He clearly took the job to make a boatload of money and do what Gus tells him. We only make offense adjustments in the final 8 minutes of the game when panic sets it. 

[copper4eva 106]

On 10/6/2020 at 11:24 AM, gravejd said:

I wish i understood why we can't have a passing attack that spreads the ball all over the field to a multitude of players. Auburn has played teams before where we could completely overwhelm their OL with our DL but they are able to reduce that advantage with quick pass plays....screens....throwing to TE when LB rush......popping a RB out of the backfield and throwing to him. Multiple OC and the result always looks the same. Just sucks that we are stuck with Malzahn for the next year or 2. Beyond tired of talking about the same problems every single year. 

We can't do it because we have nothing else to threaten the defense with. If the defense isn't afraid of the deep ball, isn't afraid of the run game, then how the heck do you expect screens and quick pass plays to work?

It all comes back to the OL. No run game, and can't protect the QB to burn the defense deep. And thus, nothing in between works either.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

I know why it went so bad vs UGA. It was the lack of coaching from Malzahn "big surprise there" and from Morris.

[I_M4_AU 8,935]

19 hours ago, aucanucktiger said:

Has any 3 TD loss to a #3 team ever received this much bellyaching?

UGA was favored by 7 I think and the over/under was 44.  There was great speculation before the game that it would be a low scoring affair and that was half right.  When the expectations going in were a close game and you see your favorite team get their manhood questioned for an hour, this is the result.  Oh, and we were ranked #7 at the time.

[bigbird 60,939]

[augolf1716 21,969]

4 hours ago, bigbird said:

[gr82be 14,910]

On 10/6/2020 at 9:00 PM, aucanucktiger said:

Has any 3 TD loss to a #3 team ever received this much bellyaching?

Should a #7 team lose by 3 touchdowns? I wouldn't think so. 

[Zeek 16,953]

43 minutes ago, gr82be said:

Should a #7 team lose by 3 touchdowns? I wouldn't think so. 

Media loves rating us high before games like this too. Makes it more marketable. We typically don't live up to expectations (under the current regime)

[EagleEye67 1,948]

On 10/6/2020 at 10:48 AM, Barnacle said:

YEAR EIGHT

Gus just needs more time to install his system.  It'll all work out, you'll see.

[tbone1430 1,353]

9 minutes ago, EagleEye67 said:

Gus just needs more time to install his system.  It'll all work out, you'll see.

 

[cole256 17,085]

On 10/6/2020 at 9:00 PM, aucanucktiger said:

Has any 3 TD loss to a #3 team ever received this much bellyaching?

This may be the most pathetic post to ever be written on this board.....

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 hour ago, cole256 said:

This may be the most pathetic post to ever be written on this board.....

Eh, you should check out his post history. Hehe, just kidding, that would be a terrible use of your time.