predictions for the season

[oracle79 3,569]

13 hours ago, AUwent said:

Almost all of our starters are seniors. Expecting 8 regular season wins and then a bowl win is completely justified.

Vegas doesn't but I do. But, I'm a homer.

[JBiGGiE 2,488]

After tonight and judging around the country, I think A&M and Bama are the teams to beat. No one else on the schedule scares me... Not even Georgia (JT Daniels had a little over 100 yards passing? That won't beat our defense)

 

[DAG 34,126]

1 hour ago, JBiGGiE said:

After tonight and judging around the country, I think A&M and Bama are the teams to beat. No one else on the schedule scares me... Not even Georgia (JT Daniels had a little over 100 yards passing? That won't beat our defense)

 

UGA defense is nasty. Let's not get too ahead of ourselves. At least it is at home. 

[Hank2020 3,233]

5 hours ago, JBiGGiE said:

After tonight and judging around the country, I think A&M and Bama are the teams to beat. No one else on the schedule scares me... Not even Georgia (JT Daniels had a little over 100 yards passing? That won't beat our defense)

 

I believe that was because of Clemson’s D.

[JBiGGiE 2,488]

6 hours ago, DAG said:

UGA defense is nasty. Let's not get too ahead of ourselves. At least it is at home. 

Too late. I'm drinking my own Kool-Aid!

[Mikey 16,781]

20 hours ago, Hank2020 said:

They must have still tested at Ole Miss as HC is in quarantine.

Reading his remarks (somewhere ) he said he had himself individually tested because he felt sick and showed some minor symptoms.

[Mikey 16,781]

7 hours ago, JBiGGiE said:

After tonight and judging around the country, I think A&M and Bama are the teams to beat. No one else on the schedule scares me... Not even Georgia (JT Daniels had a little over 100 yards passing? That won't beat our defense)

 

I think UGA will be much tougher to beat than A&M. They were up against a top-notch opponent and beat Clemson by more than the score indicated.

[Hank2020 3,233]

1 minute ago, Mikey said:

Reading his remarks (somewhere ) he said he had himself individually tested because he felt sick and showed some minor symptoms.

Gotcha, I wonder if they contact traced too?

[Mikey 16,781]

3 minutes ago, Hank2020 said:

Gotcha, I wonder if they contact traced too?

I'm not sure of the protocols, but if all the players and other coaches are vaccinated there would be little point in tracing through the team.

[Hank2020 3,233]

2 minutes ago, Mikey said:

I'm not sure of the protocols, but if all the players and other coaches are vaccinated there would be little point in tracing through the team.

I guess I’m just dumb or uneducated. I thought if you have asymptomatic positive players, they would potentially spread the virus to opposing players ( vaccinated or unvaccinated) Ole Miss players (vaccinated), fans (vaccinated or unvaccinated).

[Mikey 16,781]

20 minutes ago, Hank2020 said:

I guess I’m just dumb or uneducated. I thought if you have asymptomatic positive players, they would potentially spread the virus to opposing players ( vaccinated or unvaccinated) Ole Miss players (vaccinated), fans (vaccinated or unvaccinated).

I don't think anybody knows much more about this disease that the two of us know. Even the SEC's rules seem to be changing almost daily. Apparently contact tracing is out, at least as far as playing SEC football goes. Of course, that could change in the next hour.

[AuburnNTexas 7,242]

I am still think 7-5  or 8-4 as I can't let the Akron beat down influence me to much. bama and A&M looked good, LSU looked like we could beat them but it was 1st game and away from home so I now give us a 40/60 chance of beating them. If we were playing at home I would change that to 60/40 us. Penn State played what many think is a good Wisky team that should have won the game but made to many mistakes, I still have Penn State favored because if their playing at home but another one we might pull off. Georgia is hard to judge is their D that good or was Clemson's O-Line that bad, need to see both Ga and Clemson play a couple more games but right now I think Ga is the favorite against us. 

Because so many of the other SEC games against teams we will play were against cupcakes just like ours it is hard to take away much as to how good or bad they are just like it is hard to say how good we are because it was Akron. I am assuming we destroy our next opponent again because they are not that good and that Penn State game will be our 1st Litmus test.

[AuburnTiger4Life 2,225]

Is it too early to put us 2nd in the west? I know it was Akron but besides Bama the rest of the west looked pretty bad. LSU got bullied by UCLA 

[AuburnTiger4Life 2,225]

11 hours ago, JBiGGiE said:

After tonight and judging around the country, I think A&M and Bama are the teams to beat. No one else on the schedule scares me... Not even Georgia (JT Daniels had a little over 100 yards passing? That won't beat our defense)

 

You didn’t watch the A&M I’m guessing. Could improve but they really struggled against Kent State for a whole half 

[AuburnNTexas 7,242]

1 hour ago, AuburnTiger4Life said:

You didn’t watch the A&M I’m guessing. Could improve but they really struggled against Kent State for a whole half 

1st game of the year. I have seen bama in the past not look good early then come on so the 1st half doesn't show me much and either does the second half when they wore down an overmatched team. Right now I have bama ahead of everybody followed by A&M and Ga with us and LSU about equal.  LSU lost but was playing a solid team in UCLA.

Next question was bama as good as they looked or was Miami over-hyped and that bad. You need 4 or 5 games into a season before you can say if a team is good or bad. Some teams take a while to establish their identity, especially if playing a lot of new players or a new system or both.

What I do know is that bama, A&M, Ga and LSU based on recruiting in last 4 years all have a lot of talent. bama has coach who knows how to utilize the talent, Ga has not quite shown ability to get to the top under Kirby, A&M is trying to get to elite level and who knows with Orgeron. We have a new coach that I like what he is trying to do. The hard work and discipline both on and off the field but we won't know for a few years if he can pull it off. 

Edited September 5, 2021 by AuburnNTexas

[AU_Canoe 239]

4 hours ago, Mikey said:

I think UGA will be much tougher to beat than A&M. They were up against a top-notch opponent and beat Clemson by more than the score indicated.

I agree, UGA played a really stout and excellent Clemson defense and UGA's own defense was ridiculous. Plus, they have several games they can fine tune before AU. The Akron game and overall cultural vibe was a confidence builder but there was a noticeable difference between our starters and non-starters. If we stay healthy we will be competitive; however, our Achilles heel could turn the season quick. 

[AuburnTiger4Life 2,225]

15 minutes ago, AuburnNTexas said:

1st game of the year. I have seen bama in the past not look good early then come on so the 1st half doesn't show me much and either does the second half when they wore down an overmatched team. Right now I have bama ahead of everybody followed by A&M and Ga with us and LSU about equal.  LSU lost but was playing a solid team in UCLA.

Next question was bama as good as they looked or was Miami over-hyped and that bad. You 4 or 5 games into a season before you can say if a team is good or bad. Some teams take a while to establish their identity, especially if playing a lot of new players or a new system or both.

What I do know is that bama, A&M, Ga and LSU based on recruiting in last 4 years all have a lot of talent. bama has coach who knows how to utilize the talent, Ga has not quite shown ability to get to the top under Kirby, A&M is trying to get to elite level and who knows with Orgeron. We have a new coach that I like what he is trying to do. The hard work and discipline both on and off the field but we won't know for a few years if he can pull it off. 

A&M has true freshman starting at QB and he looked awful. Orgeron looks like Chizik 2.0 

[AU_Canoe 239]

5 minutes ago, AuburnTiger4Life said:

A&M has true freshman starting at QB and he looked awful. Orgeron looks like Chizik 2.0 

Orgeron does give off the vibe. I empathize for LSU for having to adjust due to be hurricane but Tulane proved that you can still fight. Not much positive coming out of LSU's athletic department lately. 

[AuburnTiger4Life 2,225]

Just now, AU_Canoe said:

Orgeron does give off the vibe. I empathize for LSU for having to adjust due to be hurricane but Tulane proved that you can still fight. Not much positive coming out of LSU's athletic department lately. 

When you have former players blasting the coaches for not teaching proper fundamentals, specifically on defense, you know you have a problem. 

[AuburnNTexas 7,242]

2 minutes ago, AU_Canoe said:

I agree, UGA played a really stout and excellent Clemson defense and UGA's own defense was ridiculous. Plus, they have several games they can fine tune before AU. The Akron game and overall cultural vibe was a confidence builder but there was a noticeable difference between our starters and non-starters. If we stay healthy we will be competitive; however, our Achilles heel could turn the season quick. 

I agree with you to a point. Our starting D-Line was pretty deep and we probably played at least 8-10 players through out the game  so we were deep enough there to sustain some injuries I also saw some rotation of DB's. The second group of O-Line actually were not to bad either (I know it was Akron) we got some nice holes for both Hunter and jackson from second team o-line and Finley had decent protection. We rotated all the TE's throughout the game and same with WR's. We saw 4 good RB's. By the time Akron scored it wasn't the second teamers but a mixture that included third teamers.

I have to admit I was a bit disappointed in Finley but it was his 1st game with us and Bo has been getting more of 1st team reps. Also if Bo was hurt the O calling might have to adjust for a less mobile QB but who is big and capable of staying in the pocket to deliver a pass. I am not sure how much we rotated our LB's as to be honest I was watching the big boys up front on both O and D along with Bo as they were my concerns going into the game. 

When Akron did finally get the scoring drives I think it was more on the DB's as we still had pressure on the QB and the few outside runs were because DB's were late coming up. Also took two tough 4th down catches on balls that were not great as QB was under duress on one and a perfect throw on the other where receiver was blanketed put ball just got over finger tips of one defender.  

[AU_Canoe 239]

1 hour ago, AuburnNTexas said:

I agree with you to a point. Our starting D-Line was pretty deep and we probably played at least 8-10 players through out the game  so we were deep enough there to sustain some injuries I also saw some rotation of DB's. The second group of O-Line actually were not to bad either (I know it was Akron) we got some nice holes for both Hunter and jackson from second team o-line and Finley had decent protection. We rotated all the TE's throughout the game and same with WR's. We saw 4 good RB's. By the time Akron scored it wasn't the second teamers but a mixture that included third teamers.

I have to admit I was a bit disappointed in Finley but it was his 1st game with us and Bo has been getting more of 1st team reps. Also if Bo was hurt the O calling might have to adjust for a less mobile QB but who is big and capable of staying in the pocket to deliver a pass. I am not sure how much we rotated our LB's as to be honest I was watching the big boys up front on both O and D along with Bo as they were my concerns going into the game. 

When Akron did finally get the scoring drives I think it was more on the DB's as we still had pressure on the QB and the few outside runs were because DB's were late coming up. Also took two tough 4th down catches on balls that were not great as QB was under duress on one and a perfect throw on the other where receiver was blanketed put ball just got over finger tips of one defender.  

Great points. Thanks for the feedback. Akron was a learning curve and it will be interesting to see what comes out of the other end. 

[bikeriderga 134]

Still thinking we go 9-3 overall. 8-4 is worst case scenario, IMHO.

I don't see Ole Miss beating us and I believe this is the year we overcome the Baton Rogue jinks.

[Hank2020 3,233]

3 hours ago, bikeriderga said:

Still thinking we go 9-3 overall. 8-4 is worst case scenario, IMHO.

I don't see Ole Miss beating us and I believe this is the year we overcome the Baton Rogue jinks.

We will see Ole Miss tonight so maybe can get an idea.

[AUwent 3,786]

On 9/5/2021 at 1:02 PM, AuburnTiger4Life said:

Is it too early to put us 2nd in the west? I know it was Akron but besides Bama the rest of the west looked pretty bad. LSU got bullied by UCLA 

Yes. It's entirely plausible but it was Akron. We did everything we needed to do against them but let's wait until we leave Happy Valley to make further prognostications.

Edited September 7, 2021 by AUwent

[CleCoTiger 1,957]

2 hours ago, AUwent said:

Yes. It's entirely plausible but it was Akron. We did everything we needed to do against them but let's wait until we leave Happy Valley to make further prognostications.

Thank you! A lot of folks seem to be forgetting just how bad Akron has been and near as I can tell continues to be. It's wonderful that our Tigers took care of business against a team that they were supposed to handle like they did, but 60-10 against Akron? That's like 60-10 against our 3rd string in a scrimmage. I think PSU is the first game where we get any kind of handle on what kind of team this year's edition of the Tigers really is.