Penn State Post Game Thread

[CCTAU 3,366]

Just now, Ihaveabadfelling said:

The receiver was about five yards from the sideline and the ball was a good yard out of bounds. It wouldn't have been catchable for Stretch Armstrong.

Maybe the WR was supposed to be on the sideline. There are a lot of intricacies that we are not privy to. 

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

2 minutes ago, AuMarine said:

Should have never been an option to begin with.. you turn around and hand it to Tank. 

 

2 minutes ago, ShocksMyBrain said:

How about don’t throw on 4th and short at the goal line at all and give it to the players who’ve actually carried the offense? Nah that’s crazy. 

I don't disagree.  Just pointing out that we apparently had more options on the play that was called and our experienced QB chose none.

[NoALtiger 3,875]

1 minute ago, cole256 said:

5 options?!?! He looked at one and I dare anybody to argue different

I don’t know why there would be any options except what the coaches want to run in that particular instance. Why in the world would you leave it up to Bo to make that decision, give it to Tank and let’s roll. Maybe the coaches got too smart for their own good I dunno. Not exactly Montana or Brady back there ciphering through options. 

[cbo 8,108]

Random first thoughts:

The team will learn a lot from this game and have a good, but not great season. The losses will at least be competitive. 

Bo is still Bo. Just in a better offensive scheme. Crazy rainbows in the first quarter, a bad pick 6 that was dropped, throwing to the wrong guy, misfiring. He isn't terrible but he's not great. 

Receivers didn't help Bo out. Let's remember when you lose your top 3 players at a position, it's almost always a problem, regardless of stars of recruits. 

Tank and Hunter are about as good as it gets. 

Despite the issues, we might have pulled a very tough win if not for a horrid 4th down play call. 

Zakoby never should have been ejected. It hurt him badly, which is all you need to know about him. Love that guy. 

Poorly officiated game, but most calls worked in our favor. 

Team was focused, ready to compete, and responded well to adversity on the road. Great signs for the future. 

 

[Auhud08 596]

6 minutes ago, AU9377 said:

This is hilarious.  This game looked exactly like our out of conference top 10 games early in the season from prior years.  We beat Washington, Oregon, Louisville, and lost to Clemson twice by the same margin that we lost this game or less. During LSU's championship year, we played them closer than any other team they faced. This looked a lot like the Florida game we lost that same year by a similar margin.

And all of those were under a coach who had his players in place. This is Harsin and Co’s first game. If you expected that the coaching change was going to miraculously make us top ten and beating top ten teams then youre an idiot. 

[Ihaveabadfelling 6]

Just now, CCTAU said:

Maybe the WR was supposed to be on the sideline. There are a lot of intricacies that we are not privy to. 

Maybe but the ball was still a yard out of bounds

[IronMan70 3,277]

11 minutes ago, auskip07 said:

Concerning the 4th and 2   fade call...     Hear me out ,  is this just coaches figuring out their personnel or is it just a lack of awareness of what really works? 

to call that play in that situation you would think we would have to had a 70%+ success rate in practice   right? 

It was a low % call imo. We need 2 yards, we have 2 tough RBs, a QB with some speed and a TE that can catch almost anything. That's where the percentages are in your favor. 

[jAUSon 2,836]

Down at reciever. Down at playcalling. Down at qb. Down at pass-rush. Down at O'line. It sucks. But looks like the blame goes ticky-tack across the board. If any one or two of these columns repair themselves we can win 9. If not, oh well. Hunter, Shenker, and Bigsby are the 2021 Auburn Tigers. Since it aint Gus- I think these guys will figure it out.

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

3 minutes ago, PSUPat said:

fyi, I see ya arguing.   Ya'll are very well coached.  You had 2 stud running backs, and our backs are pretty weak, honestly. 

PSU was more talented pretty much everywhere else, dominated the line of scrimmage, and was a constant threat to go ahead 2 scores and force you to pass, where we woulda broken it open.  We couldn't do it.  Secondary jumping routes and coming up inches away.  Every time we score, there was a response by Auburn to stay in it.   Very gritty effort.  Yeah a couple of questionable play calls, but so did we.  Your players were disciplined and played with heart.   Really impressed.  A good WR and a pass rushing DE would change your fortunes quickly.  

This is standard fare for us after a loss.  Seeing the bright side in the heat of the moment isn't something most are good at around here LOL

[auskip07 930]

Just now, PowerOfDixieland said:

I don't disagree with the enirety of your post, but Penn State punted on third down..We weren't (clearly) out-coahced.

outside of that one mistake (i think it was mostly the ref's mistake)     they exposed our weaknesses better than we played to our strengths.    

Franklin got Vandy to 9 wins in consecutive seasons   our current DC couldnt break 6 wins with franklins team. 

[1auburn1 1,120]

3 minutes ago, cole256 said:

I know what he was expecting but he didn't read other options, he went straight to that one on a throw he can't make to a wr who isn't going to make that play either

Yep. Literally aligned every weakness into one futile play

[cole256 17,084]

Just now, NoALtiger said:

I don’t know why there would be any options except what the coaches want to run in that particular instance. Why in the world would you leave it up to Bo to make that decision, give it to Tank and let’s roll. Maybe the coaches got too smart for their own good I dunno. Not exactly Montana or Brady back there ciphering through options. 

The smartest thing would've been a leg roll out with an option in the flat and one in the end zone. Look at one, look at the other if neither take off.....Bo isn't a great passer but that situation he's actually made for

[PSUMGD 2]

37 minutes ago, CCTAU said:

 

We fought like hell against the #10 team in the country.

We are a good team. PSU has had a few years with the same coach and system. 
We fought. I’m OK with that!
 

First year OC

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

1 minute ago, jAUSon said:

Down at reciever. Down at playcalling. Down at qb. Down at pass-rush. Down at O'line. It sucks. But looks like the blame goes ticky-tack across the board. If any one or two of these columns repair themselves we can win 9. If not, oh well. Hunter, Shenker, and Bigsby are the 2021 Auburn Tigers. Since it aint Gus- I think these guys will figure it out.

This.  This is the correct take.

The 4th down call is obvious, but lots of little things cost us all night.

[AUDub 11,301]

6 minutes ago, cole256 said:

I know what he was expecting but he didn't read other options, he went straight to that one on a throw he can't make to a wr who isn't going to make that play either

If you're running a fade at the goal line it literally isn't an option at all unless it's the first option. 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,841]

5 minutes ago, WarEagleHunter1221 said:

Idk how this will be received but I wouldn’t have been mad to see the Nix era leave with the Malzahn era. Feels like no matter the play calling we are not moving forward offensively with him. 

I never called for Finley except for the last drive where I thought we’d have to chunk it, but it seems pretty evident that this drive is going to want the QB to make some pretty difficult passes to some very ordinary WRs. That’s not Bo’s game. Not to say Finley definitely can, but he can at least stick it on a receiver. The ability to ensure a ball doesn’t hang in the air for centuries left with Nick Marshall it felt like 

[CCTAU 3,366]

4 minutes ago, Ihaveabadfelling said:

Maybe but the ball was still a yard out of bounds

It’s obvious that you have never thrown nor caught a pass on the sideline.

[cbo 8,108]

Just now, auskip07 said:

outside of that one mistake (i think it was mostly the ref's mistake)     they exposed our weaknesses better than we played to our strengths.    

Franklin got Vandy to 9 wins in consecutive seasons   our current DC couldnt break 6 wins with franklins team. 

That's why one's a HC and one's a DC. You can't compare the two. 

[AuCivilEng1 11,107]

I remember Gus Malzahn taking the 2013 team into a hostile Baton Rouge in game 3 of the season and getting beaten to death in the first half. Then we ran the table and we almost won another natty. I’m not saying that’s going to happen this year. But an 8 point loss to #10 on the road during their most insane home game of the year doesn’t necessarily equate to a team that will be completely average and bland.  I trust in this staff to coach the guys up and learn from the loss. 

[CCTAU 3,366]

Just now, AuCivilEng1 said:

I remember Gus Malzahn taking the 2013 team into a hostile Baton Rouge in game 3 of the season and getting beaten to death in the first half. Then we ran the table and we almost won another natty. I’m not saying that’s going to happen this year. But an 8 point loss to #10 on the road during their most insane home game of the year doesn’t necessarily equate to a team that will be completely average and bland.  I trust in this staff to coach the guys up and learn from the loss. 

This is horse crap. You HAVE to blame someone and declare the season a loss!

[Ihaveabadfelling 6]

3 minutes ago, CCTAU said:

It’s obvious that you have never thrown nor caught a pass on the sideline.

Okay man Bo Nix threw a great pass....

[MaitlandTiger 325]

3 minutes ago, PowerOfDixieland said:

I don't disagree with the enirety of your post, but Penn State punted on third down..We weren't (clearly) out-coahced.

I was wondering about that. It seemed like Franklin caught it, was screaming at the ref, and punted anyway?  I figured he would have just refused to play the next down, until the situation was addressed.  So instead of that, he just trotted the punt team out there?  If so, your are certainly correct that that was most assuredly a huge mistake. (I was mostly just venting on not using Tank/Jarquez more, and the low-percentage throws, and of course the fade!). That fade was Taylor made for: 1. Better QB and go-to WR and 2. Up-by-21, “what the hell, let’s try that fade we were talking about”.  

[PowerOfDixieland 3,228]

2 minutes ago, auskip07 said:

Franklin got Vandy to 9 wins in consecutive seasons   our current DC couldnt break 6 wins with franklins team. 

Again, I didn't disagree with the entirety of your post.  

In my opinion, Franklin is vastly over-rated as a coach.  Superiour recruiter, lass than superior coack.  I'll reserve judgement on Mason, except to agree that he was in over his head as a head coach at VU.  Many,  many fall into that bucket.

[Maverick.AU 13,282]

6 minutes ago, cole256 said:

The smartest thing would've been a leg roll out with an option in the flat and one in the end zone. Look at one, look at the other if neither take off.....Bo isn't a great passer but that situation he's actually made for

If you aren't gonna give it tank/hunter that should be the call. Not a los percentage fade 

[AUwent 3,784]

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.