Baffling day at Auburn ends with serious questions

[aubiefifty 17,488]

Auburn Football

Baffling day at Auburn ends with serious questions

Updated: Nov. 13, 2021, 5:13 p.m. | Published: Nov. 13, 2021, 5:13 p.m.

 

270

shares

By Joseph Goodman | jgoodman@al.com

It’s impossible to know if Auburn’s stunning collapse to Mississippi State on Saturday would have been different based on one play.

Maybe, but probably not.

When a team blows a 25-point lead, and that collapse is the worst in school history, and it’s Mississippi State that’s on the other sideline inside Jordan-Hare Stadium, one play probably isn’t going to mean that much to anyone on the silent drive home.

That doesn’t mean this one play in particular is any less significant, though.

Auburn’s season under first-year coach Bryan Harsin fell off the cliff with its 43-34 loss to Mississippi State, and it was painful to watch a team with so much promise at halftime blow it all like that, but tucked inside that historically bad second half was the controversial ejection for targeting on Auburn pass rusher T.D. Moultry.

Where to begin?

How about here? The call by the replay booth was violently awful. The decision to kick Moultry out of the game was unforgivably unnecessary. Somebody, please help it make sense.

Harsin wasn’t that guy after the game. He indicated that the field officials didn’t see anything to qualify it as targeting.

“They saw what I saw,” Harsin said, who added that it was a “momentum-changing play” that “wasn’t called on the field.”

Somebody, anybody, please explain how the evolution of targeting — a very important rule in college football — has evolved to the point that arguably the best defensive play in an SEC football game is instead penalized for 15 yards, an automatic first down and, most egregiously of all, an injection from the game.

No, that play isn’t why Auburn lost, but it could have been the thing to resuscitate Auburn’s chances in one of its most important games of the season.

RELATED: Auburn suffers all-time collapse

RELATED: Inside Auburn’s stunning loss, and State’s 40 unanswered points

It was either rage inducing, soul crushing or frightening for the Auburn supporters still watching the game at that point. As a mostly unbiased observer, I wanted to throw my laptop at the windows inside the David E. Housel press box. It was a beautiful football play. Moultry broke through the Mississippi State offensive line, left his feet as if trying to position himself to deflect a pass but then registered a sack when Bulldogs quarterback Will Rogers pulled the ball down.

Yes, it was helmet to helmet. No, there was no intent to injure Mississippi State’s quarterback. Moultry was called for targeting, but he did not “target” the quarterback. It was not a “dirty” play, and it didn’t even seem like a dangerous play.

Earlier in the second half, the helmet of Mississippi State defensive back Emmanuel Forbes Jr. collided painfully with the helmet of Auburn receiver Kobe Hudson on a questionable play. A flag was thrown for targeting, but upon review, despite it being helmet to helmet, it was overturned because, clearly, Forbes’ intent wasn’t to harm and he was going for the interception.

It was a football play, in other words … just like Moultry’s.

Y’all, again, please help it make sense.

There was a lengthy review after Moultry’s sack, too, and third and 21 turned into first and 10 and Moultry, who had rightly celebrated the sack, was, just that fast, gone. Kicked out of the game. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve written about “bad calls” determining the outcomes of games, and this horrendous call, in my opinion, doesn’t qualify as that, but it does help me understand the difficult job defenders and defensive coaches now have in this game.

They can’t play it the way they were taught their entire lives. Again, Moultry was innocent of targeting, and everyone knew it, but he was booted for a play because intent isn’t supposed to matter (unless it does) and because — trust me, I get it — preventing brain injuries and keeping players healthy has to matter more than anything else.

Auburn quarterback Bo Nix saw the replay, and got it right.

“Just getting to the quarterback is all you’re thinking about,” Nix said. “It’s one of those frustrating things, but that’s football and it happens.”

Remember the circumstances before the play for context. Auburn was still in the game, and trailing by eight, with 6:35 left on the clock. After the first down for targeting, Mississippi State scored its sixth straight second-half touchdown to go up 43-28.

For Auburn (6-4, 3-3), it was a devastating second half for its chances to remain in the hunt for the SEC West crown. Auburn led this game 28-3 in the first half thanks to excellent performances by both the offense and defense. What happened at halftime? Long will we be asking that question.

RELATED: What Bryan Harsin said after Auburn’s loss to Mississippi State

RELATED: Auburn offense loses momentum in collapse

It will forever remain a mystery, but it seemed like everyone on Auburn’s sideline emerged from the locker room with the same kind of energy level people might experience after eating an entire turkey and three pecan pies while slamming back whiskey sweet tea.

Lethargic doesn’t even begin to describe the offensive line. Tired is what Auburn fans call questions about Harsin’s vaccination status. This team was sleep walking towards the edge of oblivion and didn’t seem to care.

Until Moultry’s sack.

And then that shot of momentum lasted long enough to review a play and seal the fate of a game. The defense allowed 40 unanswered points, so it shouldn’t have even been in that situation at all.

For Moultry, though, it was the heartbreaking conclusion to a sequence of events that should have been, or could have been, his single greatest on-field contribution to Auburn football in his entire career. He’s a senior, and he has been through a lot while at Auburn, but he has worked and worked, and his persistence was supposed to pay off on that field against Mississippi State.

Instead, the replay booth took that all away.

Joseph Goodman is a columnist for the Alabama Media Group. He’s on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr. His first book, “We Want Bama: A season of hope and the making of Nick Saban’s ‘ultimate team,’ is available wherever books are sold.

[Hank2020 3,233]

59 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

Auburn Football

Baffling day at Auburn ends with serious questions

Updated: Nov. 13, 2021, 5:13 p.m. | Published: Nov. 13, 2021, 5:13 p.m.

 

270

shares

By Joseph Goodman | jgoodman@al.com

It’s impossible to know if Auburn’s stunning collapse to Mississippi State on Saturday would have been different based on one play.

Maybe, but probably not.

When a team blows a 25-point lead, and that collapse is the worst in school history, and it’s Mississippi State that’s on the other sideline inside Jordan-Hare Stadium, one play probably isn’t going to mean that much to anyone on the silent drive home.

That doesn’t mean this one play in particular is any less significant, though.

Auburn’s season under first-year coach Bryan Harsin fell off the cliff with its 43-34 loss to Mississippi State, and it was painful to watch a team with so much promise at halftime blow it all like that, but tucked inside that historically bad second half was the controversial ejection for targeting on Auburn pass rusher T.D. Moultry.

Where to begin?

How about here? The call by the replay booth was violently awful. The decision to kick Moultry out of the game was unforgivably unnecessary. Somebody, please help it make sense.

Harsin wasn’t that guy after the game. He indicated that the field officials didn’t see anything to qualify it as targeting.

“They saw what I saw,” Harsin said, who added that it was a “momentum-changing play” that “wasn’t called on the field.”

Somebody, anybody, please explain how the evolution of targeting — a very important rule in college football — has evolved to the point that arguably the best defensive play in an SEC football game is instead penalized for 15 yards, an automatic first down and, most egregiously of all, an injection from the game.

No, that play isn’t why Auburn lost, but it could have been the thing to resuscitate Auburn’s chances in one of its most important games of the season.

RELATED: Auburn suffers all-time collapse

RELATED: Inside Auburn’s stunning loss, and State’s 40 unanswered points

It was either rage inducing, soul crushing or frightening for the Auburn supporters still watching the game at that point. As a mostly unbiased observer, I wanted to throw my laptop at the windows inside the David E. Housel press box. It was a beautiful football play. Moultry broke through the Mississippi State offensive line, left his feet as if trying to position himself to deflect a pass but then registered a sack when Bulldogs quarterback Will Rogers pulled the ball down.

Yes, it was helmet to helmet. No, there was no intent to injure Mississippi State’s quarterback. Moultry was called for targeting, but he did not “target” the quarterback. It was not a “dirty” play, and it didn’t even seem like a dangerous play.

Earlier in the second half, the helmet of Mississippi State defensive back Emmanuel Forbes Jr. collided painfully with the helmet of Auburn receiver Kobe Hudson on a questionable play. A flag was thrown for targeting, but upon review, despite it being helmet to helmet, it was overturned because, clearly, Forbes’ intent wasn’t to harm and he was going for the interception.

It was a football play, in other words … just like Moultry’s.

Y’all, again, please help it make sense.

There was a lengthy review after Moultry’s sack, too, and third and 21 turned into first and 10 and Moultry, who had rightly celebrated the sack, was, just that fast, gone. Kicked out of the game. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve written about “bad calls” determining the outcomes of games, and this horrendous call, in my opinion, doesn’t qualify as that, but it does help me understand the difficult job defenders and defensive coaches now have in this game.

They can’t play it the way they were taught their entire lives. Again, Moultry was innocent of targeting, and everyone knew it, but he was booted for a play because intent isn’t supposed to matter (unless it does) and because — trust me, I get it — preventing brain injuries and keeping players healthy has to matter more than anything else.

Auburn quarterback Bo Nix saw the replay, and got it right.

“Just getting to the quarterback is all you’re thinking about,” Nix said. “It’s one of those frustrating things, but that’s football and it happens.”

Remember the circumstances before the play for context. Auburn was still in the game, and trailing by eight, with 6:35 left on the clock. After the first down for targeting, Mississippi State scored its sixth straight second-half touchdown to go up 43-28.

For Auburn (6-4, 3-3), it was a devastating second half for its chances to remain in the hunt for the SEC West crown. Auburn led this game 28-3 in the first half thanks to excellent performances by both the offense and defense. What happened at halftime? Long will we be asking that question.

RELATED: What Bryan Harsin said after Auburn’s loss to Mississippi State

RELATED: Auburn offense loses momentum in collapse

It will forever remain a mystery, but it seemed like everyone on Auburn’s sideline emerged from the locker room with the same kind of energy level people might experience after eating an entire turkey and three pecan pies while slamming back whiskey sweet tea.

Lethargic doesn’t even begin to describe the offensive line. Tired is what Auburn fans call questions about Harsin’s vaccination status. This team was sleep walking towards the edge of oblivion and didn’t seem to care.

Until Moultry’s sack.

And then that shot of momentum lasted long enough to review a play and seal the fate of a game. The defense allowed 40 unanswered points, so it shouldn’t have even been in that situation at all.

For Moultry, though, it was the heartbreaking conclusion to a sequence of events that should have been, or could have been, his single greatest on-field contribution to Auburn football in his entire career. He’s a senior, and he has been through a lot while at Auburn, but he has worked and worked, and his persistence was supposed to pay off on that field against Mississippi State.

Instead, the replay booth took that all away.

Joseph Goodman is a columnist for the Alabama Media Group. He’s on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr. His first book, “We Want Bama: A season of hope and the making of Nick Saban’s ‘ultimate team,’ is available wherever books are sold.

Amazing how he wove in a vaccination hit. 

[SRBautigerfan 1,040]

1 hour ago, aubiefifty said:

Auburn Football

Baffling day at Auburn ends with serious questions

Updated: Nov. 13, 2021, 5:13 p.m. | Published: Nov. 13, 2021, 5:13 p.m.

 

270

shares

By Joseph Goodman | jgoodman@al.com

It’s impossible to know if Auburn’s stunning collapse to Mississippi State on Saturday would have been different based on one play.

Maybe, but probably not.

When a team blows a 25-point lead, and that collapse is the worst in school history, and it’s Mississippi State that’s on the other sideline inside Jordan-Hare Stadium, one play probably isn’t going to mean that much to anyone on the silent drive home.

That doesn’t mean this one play in particular is any less significant, though.

Auburn’s season under first-year coach Bryan Harsin fell off the cliff with its 43-34 loss to Mississippi State, and it was painful to watch a team with so much promise at halftime blow it all like that, but tucked inside that historically bad second half was the controversial ejection for targeting on Auburn pass rusher T.D. Moultry.

Where to begin?

How about here? The call by the replay booth was violently awful. The decision to kick Moultry out of the game was unforgivably unnecessary. Somebody, please help it make sense.

Harsin wasn’t that guy after the game. He indicated that the field officials didn’t see anything to qualify it as targeting.

“They saw what I saw,” Harsin said, who added that it was a “momentum-changing play” that “wasn’t called on the field.”

Somebody, anybody, please explain how the evolution of targeting — a very important rule in college football — has evolved to the point that arguably the best defensive play in an SEC football game is instead penalized for 15 yards, an automatic first down and, most egregiously of all, an injection from the game.

No, that play isn’t why Auburn lost, but it could have been the thing to resuscitate Auburn’s chances in one of its most important games of the season.

RELATED: Auburn suffers all-time collapse

RELATED: Inside Auburn’s stunning loss, and State’s 40 unanswered points

It was either rage inducing, soul crushing or frightening for the Auburn supporters still watching the game at that point. As a mostly unbiased observer, I wanted to throw my laptop at the windows inside the David E. Housel press box. It was a beautiful football play. Moultry broke through the Mississippi State offensive line, left his feet as if trying to position himself to deflect a pass but then registered a sack when Bulldogs quarterback Will Rogers pulled the ball down.

Yes, it was helmet to helmet. No, there was no intent to injure Mississippi State’s quarterback. Moultry was called for targeting, but he did not “target” the quarterback. It was not a “dirty” play, and it didn’t even seem like a dangerous play.

Earlier in the second half, the helmet of Mississippi State defensive back Emmanuel Forbes Jr. collided painfully with the helmet of Auburn receiver Kobe Hudson on a questionable play. A flag was thrown for targeting, but upon review, despite it being helmet to helmet, it was overturned because, clearly, Forbes’ intent wasn’t to harm and he was going for the interception.

It was a football play, in other words … just like Moultry’s.

Y’all, again, please help it make sense.

There was a lengthy review after Moultry’s sack, too, and third and 21 turned into first and 10 and Moultry, who had rightly celebrated the sack, was, just that fast, gone. Kicked out of the game. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve written about “bad calls” determining the outcomes of games, and this horrendous call, in my opinion, doesn’t qualify as that, but it does help me understand the difficult job defenders and defensive coaches now have in this game.

They can’t play it the way they were taught their entire lives. Again, Moultry was innocent of targeting, and everyone knew it, but he was booted for a play because intent isn’t supposed to matter (unless it does) and because — trust me, I get it — preventing brain injuries and keeping players healthy has to matter more than anything else.

Auburn quarterback Bo Nix saw the replay, and got it right.

“Just getting to the quarterback is all you’re thinking about,” Nix said. “It’s one of those frustrating things, but that’s football and it happens.”

Remember the circumstances before the play for context. Auburn was still in the game, and trailing by eight, with 6:35 left on the clock. After the first down for targeting, Mississippi State scored its sixth straight second-half touchdown to go up 43-28.

For Auburn (6-4, 3-3), it was a devastating second half for its chances to remain in the hunt for the SEC West crown. Auburn led this game 28-3 in the first half thanks to excellent performances by both the offense and defense. What happened at halftime? Long will we be asking that question.

RELATED: What Bryan Harsin said after Auburn’s loss to Mississippi State

RELATED: Auburn offense loses momentum in collapse

It will forever remain a mystery, but it seemed like everyone on Auburn’s sideline emerged from the locker room with the same kind of energy level people might experience after eating an entire turkey and three pecan pies while slamming back whiskey sweet tea.

Lethargic doesn’t even begin to describe the offensive line. Tired is what Auburn fans call questions about Harsin’s vaccination status. This team was sleep walking towards the edge of oblivion and didn’t seem to care.

Until Moultry’s sack.

And then that shot of momentum lasted long enough to review a play and seal the fate of a game. The defense allowed 40 unanswered points, so it shouldn’t have even been in that situation at all.

For Moultry, though, it was the heartbreaking conclusion to a sequence of events that should have been, or could have been, his single greatest on-field contribution to Auburn football in his entire career. He’s a senior, and he has been through a lot while at Auburn, but he has worked and worked, and his persistence was supposed to pay off on that field against Mississippi State.

Instead, the replay booth took that all away.

Joseph Goodman is a columnist for the Alabama Media Group. He’s on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr. His first book, “We Want Bama: A season of hope and the making of Nick Saban’s ‘ultimate team,’ is available wherever books are sold.

Like!  He nailed it.  The call was horrible and to top it off it was made from the booth which just smells fishy.

[auburndkel 100]

1 hour ago, aubiefifty said:

This team was sleep walking towards the edge of oblivion and didn’t seem to care.

I woke up this morning still numb. Yesterday has all the makings of a culture defining loss. I’d, like most of y’all, had so much faith after the change from Malzahn to Harsin. There are so many awful things about yesterday. The potential the game had to help bolster an anemic recruiting class, the fact that the loss was to one of the historically worst teams in the SEC with far less resources….  There was no reason this year’s team should have been a top to bottom rebuild. Where do we go from here? Are we going to languish for 4-5 years in mediocrity near the bottom of the conference until Harsin/Mason/Bobo are bought out and we start from scratch again?  

[aubiefifty 17,488]

2 minutes ago, auburndkel said:

I woke up this morning still numb. Yesterday has all the makings of a culture defining loss. I’d, like most of y’all, had so much faith after the change from Malzahn to Harsin. There are so many awful things about yesterday. The potential the game had to help bolster an anemic recruiting class, the fact that the loss was to one of the historically worst teams in the SEC with far less resources….  There was no reason this year’s team should have been a top to bottom rebuild. Where do we go from here? Are we going to languish for 4-5 years in mediocrity near the bottom of the conference until Harsin/Mason/Bobo are bought out and we start from scratch again?  

i am a doom and gloom guy so i think three years until we get rolling.

[weagl1 1,793]

I lost all confidence in this staff yesterday.  It was like they saw something wasn’t working so they just kept doing it hoping for a better result.  Insanity!  

[AUFlyer99 647]

4 hours ago, SRBautigerfan said:

Like!  He nailed it.  The call was horrible and to top it off it was made from the booth which just smells fishy.

There is little doubt in my mind that was Birmingham ensuring we weren’t coming back.  Hell.  We didn’t DESERVE to come back from blowing that lead, but had a shot.  
 

 

 

 

 

 

Until Birmingham decided otherwise….

[japantiger 4,069]

My prediction from back in May...got LSU and MS State backwards...overall on track.  I do see great effort and at least from some players that tenacity I was looking for.  I also see more inconsistency than I expected....greatness in some situations followed by absolute mediocrity from the same folks.  Offense as expected with the QB and WR talent we have.  

As for coaching; I have thought we had turned a corner vs LSU with play calling and scheming...now had two back to back weeks of going backwards to whatever you call what we did thru the Penn State game.  We are scoring more than last year at 31 ppg.; 6 points better than last year.  As for defense; until that mess yesterday where you give a Mike Leach team all day to throw; I was feeling pretty good.  I don't see how someone could think that was how you beat Leach.  

At this point, I give Harsin a B- on the season.  It can get materially worse depending on these last 2 games.  Yesterday made me question how the staff works together and what Harsin does when reviewing game plans...in addition to how they make adjustments on the fly.  Yesterday we seemed to look at a trainwreck in slow motion and say "let's do more of that".  

We are where I thought we would be; that is a below average SEC West team.  

More important than finishing out the next two games is what happens to close out the next generation.  To quote an ancient Saxon warrior "Recruiting is all".   This is where this coach and staff lie or die.

 

• Senior Alumni
•  
• 
• PlatinumDonor
•  

Posted May 28

6 and 6 or 7 and 5:

Would be great to be wrong.  Think getting a new offensive system installed and  to produce more than 20 ppg will be hard given all around offensive talent (QB and WR's really). Defense won't be able to save the day if we can't score...offenses, well, except ours, are just too good in general these days...looking for tough, hard hitting play by people who want to get better.  Hope that everyone that needed to go are gone by now.  

 

W

Akron

Alabama State

Ga State

Arkansas

Miss State

South Carolina

 

L

Penn State

LSU 

Georgia

TAMU

Alabama

 

Tossup

Ole Miss

[DAG 34,126]

5 minutes ago, japantiger said:

My prediction from back in May...got LSU and MS State backwards...overall on track.  I do see great effort and at least from some players that tenacity I was looking for.  I also see more inconsistency than I expected....greatness in some situations followed by absolute mediocrity from the same folks.  Offense as expected with the QB and WR talent we have.  

As for coaching; I have thought we had turned a corner vs LSU with play calling and scheming...now had two back to back weeks of going backwards to whatever you call what we did thru the Penn State game.  We are scoring more than last year at 31 ppg.; 6 points better than last year.  As for defense; until that mess yesterday where you give a Mike Leach team all day to throw; I was feeling pretty good.  I don't see how someone could think that was how you beat Leach.  

At this point, I give Harsin a B- on the season.  It can get materially worse depending on these last 2 games.  Yesterday made me question how the staff works together and what Harsin does when reviewing game plans...in addition to how they make adjustments on the fly.  Yesterday we seemed to look at a trainwreck in slow motion and say "let's do more of that".  

We are where I thought we would be; that is a below average SEC West team.  

More important than finishing out the next two games is what happens to close out the next generation.  To quote an ancient Saxon warrior "Recruiting is all".   This is where this coach and staff lie or die.

 

• Senior Alumni
•  
• 
• PlatinumDonor
•  

Posted May 28

6 and 6 or 7 and 5:

Would be great to be wrong.  Think getting a new offensive system installed and  to produce more than 20 ppg will be hard given all around offensive talent (QB and WR's really). Defense won't be able to save the day if we can't score...offenses, well, except ours, are just too good in general these days...looking for tough, hard hitting play by people who want to get better.  Hope that everyone that needed to go are gone by now.  

 

W

Akron

Alabama State

Ga State

Arkansas

Miss State

South Carolina

 

L

Penn State

LSU 

Georgia

TAMU

Alabama

 

Tossup

Ole Miss

I personally think Harsin needs to go all in and bring in his staff he is more comfortable with. For something like that to happen, I feel like people are on different wavelengths. Sometimes too much opinion can be problematic and from what I gathered based on past articles, the scheme room is several talking experts, implementing something together from their different perspectives. I want one foundation, one scheme, one philosophy and every follow suits.

[AUwent 3,786]

11 minutes ago, japantiger said:

My prediction from back in May...got LSU and MS State backwards...overall on track.  I do see great effort and at least from some players that tenacity I was looking for.  I also see more inconsistency than I expected....greatness in some situations followed by absolute mediocrity from the same folks.  Offense as expected with the QB and WR talent we have.  

As for coaching; I have thought we had turned a corner vs LSU with play calling and scheming...now had two back to back weeks of going backwards to whatever you call what we did thru the Penn State game.  We are scoring more than last year at 31 ppg.; 6 points better than last year.  As for defense; until that mess yesterday where you give a Mike Leach team all day to throw; I was feeling pretty good.  I don't see how someone could think that was how you beat Leach.  

At this point, I give Harsin a B- on the season.  It can get materially worse depending on these last 2 games.  Yesterday made me question how the staff works together and what Harsin does when reviewing game plans...in addition to how they make adjustments on the fly.  Yesterday we seemed to look at a trainwreck in slow motion and say "let's do more of that".  

We are where I thought we would be; that is a below average SEC West team.  

More important than finishing out the next two games is what happens to close out the next generation.  To quote an ancient Saxon warrior "Recruiting is all".   This is where this coach and staff lie or die.

 

• Senior Alumni
•  
• 
• PlatinumDonor
•  

Posted May 28

6 and 6 or 7 and 5:

Would be great to be wrong.  Think getting a new offensive system installed and  to produce more than 20 ppg will be hard given all around offensive talent (QB and WR's really). Defense won't be able to save the day if we can't score...offenses, well, except ours, are just too good in general these days...looking for tough, hard hitting play by people who want to get better.  Hope that everyone that needed to go are gone by now.  

 

W

Akron

Alabama State

Ga State

Arkansas

Miss State

South Carolina

 

L

Penn State

LSU 

Georgia

TAMU

Alabama

 

Tossup

Ole Miss

Well, you can effectively swap USCe and Ole Miss too.

[japantiger 4,069]

4 minutes ago, DAG said:

I personally think Harsin needs to go all in and bring in his staff he is more comfortable with. For something like that to happen, I feel like people are on different wavelengths. Sometimes too much opinion can be problematic and from what I gathered based on past articles, the scheme room is several talking experts, implementing something together from their different perspectives. I want one foundation, one scheme, one philosophy and every follow suits.

I think you are right.  I thought we had hit that point @ LSU game on offense; but now it seems not.  I really don't care if a coach came from the SEC or not.  I'm much more interested in can they ID the right kind of talent; build a rapport with them and their family and then develop talent when they get it.  That skill is available all over the country.  Might be good to get some folks from Ohio State or elsewhere.  I'd like an Ohio State Offensive or Big 12 offensive coach, Pac 12 WR coach, SEC O Line and LB Coach, etc.  

[tightendoverthemiddle 102]

9 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

i am a doom and gloom guy so i think three years until we get rolling.

I call it being realistic..

[creed 1,703]

Yes. I'm baffled too. I'm going to watch the game again but I'm trying to figure out how a team blows the lead we built in the first half and fell so far. Scheme? There is no way you can convince me that a scheme change or lack of game adjustments could result in what I saw Saturday. The plan worked in the first half and I didn't see anything from MSU that dictated major changes. So my first opinion (still need to review the game and i hate to say this) is the our players didn't execute in the second half and the loss is on the guys playing the game.

[tbone4jc 2,250]

2 hours ago, creed said:

Yes. I'm baffled too. I'm going to watch the game again but I'm trying to figure out how a team blows the lead we built in the first half and fell so far. Scheme? There is no way you can convince me that a scheme change or lack of game adjustments could result in what I saw Saturday. The plan worked in the first half and I didn't see anything from MSU that dictated major changes. So my first opinion (still need to review the game and i hate to say this) is the our players didn't execute in the second half and the loss is on the guys playing the game.

Nailed it. Lack of urgency. Got comfortable. Lost momentum. 1st qtr was too easy.

[woodford 3,688]

2 minutes ago, tbone4jc said:

Nailed it. Lack of urgency. Got comfortable. Lost momentum. 1st qtr was too easy.

Not saying Auburn did this but the idea that you don’t take your foot off the gas in CFB in 2021 is insane. No lead is safe in this sport. 
 

I had a terrible feeling when it was 28-17. I just don’t understand how the offense literally stopped working on a dime like that. The no pressure up front on defense is a big mystery too. If Auburn gets pressure they win the game. No doubt in my mind. Would’ve definitely forced Rogers into some throws and maybe an INT or two. 
 

Brutal loss. Harsin is about to meet this fan base he was probably warned about. 

[JuscAUse! 1,526]

3 minutes ago, woodford said:

Not saying Auburn did this but the idea that you don’t take your foot off the gas in CFB in 2021 is insane. No lead is safe in this sport. 
 

I had a terrible feeling when it was 28-17. I just don’t understand how the offense literally stopped working on a dime like that. The no pressure up front on defense is a big mystery too. If Auburn gets pressure they win the game. No doubt in my mind. Would’ve definitely forced Rogers into some throws and maybe an INT or two. 
 

Brutal loss. Harsin is about to meet this fan base he was probably warned about. 

As he should. That's the worst thing I've seen since the Gus and Sean White uga game. I'll give Harsin a pass, as it's the first year. But one more like this and I don't know. I only watched the replay, being out of town, but that was awful. Total garbage defense, and if it's lack of effort, put in players that will at least hustle while they're getting bludgeoned. And if you lit them up on O in the first half, why the heck did you change it in the second half?  If it's not players and effort, what the heck are you paying the coaches to do? I am  not and will never be a hire em and fire em two years later guy. But the post game presser was as bad as this game to me. I don't know that he gets the SEC mindset or fans yet. I am totally confused at this point.