Does this years team look better, worse or about what you envisioned?

[TeamZero77 1,967]

Come saturday, our regular season will be a 1/3 of the way done. Even though we haven't played an SEC opponent yet and these first 3 games were against average to below average teams, has the season gone like you expected so far? If not, has it been better or worse than you expected?

Our defense looks better than I thought they would so far. I thought our offense would be more explosive than what we've seen thus far. Our running game isn't as good as I thought they would be. Our O-Line is about what I expected. QB and WR's aren't at the level that I imagined them being. Coach Montgomery's playcalling isn't what I thought it would be. I wasn't expecting our offense to be like his Baylor offense with RG III but I did expect it to be more explosive. I didn't envision our guys fumbling this much either.

Special Teams is what I thought it would be. 

All in all, we're about where I expected us to be right now. 3-0 

Edited September 22, 2023 by TeamZero77

[Hopsing 634]

I thought the offense would be better than what we saw especially in the Cal game. Now I believe without the 2 fumbles by our RB’s we were on verge of running the ball down their throats, but both of those changed momentum.

 

[roe4christ 981]

I think this game on Saturday will give a better picture.  I did expect us to be 3-0 at this point.  Maybe the offense is just now rounding into shape more.  Given all that was new to this team, it was unrealistic to think things would great coming out of the gate.  The better gauge is......are we getting better from week to week.  Are we cleaning up things from the previous week.  Are we getting more and more confident and comfortable as the season progresses.

I am pleased with the team and the direction we are going.  We will take our lumps this year, but are we progressively getting better.  If so, we should be a team to deal with next year.  As some have mentioned, this will likely be the worst team that Freeze will have (not that they are bad but a complete turnover of players (half of which he didn't recruit or may not fit his system) and coaches.  We have to be patient and have realistic expectations for this year.  Anything better than 7-5, we should be extremely happy with.  

[AUINSY 2,300]

Defense is better than expected.
Offense is worse than expected. 
Gotta cut down the turnovers. 
Hopeful for steady improvement.

 

[catvomit 28]

There is a lot of catching up to do but I think Freeze is up to the task.  Year 3 is usually when the magic happens if it's going to with a particular coach.

[Mikey 16,781]

About what I expected. My pick was 7-5 and I see no reason to change that.

As someone noted above, offense is a little worse than expected and the defense a little better. The overall team is close to what I expected.

[alexava 6,976]

Had no expectations. Still don’t have an opinion. 

[GreenTiger 1,063]

Given the sample size and quality of samples it’s hard to say where we are at. 
Defense…. D-line is subpar. But consensus was this was to be expected. Linebacker has been better than expected. Safeties and corners are the strength and we new that coming into the season. 
Offense…. IMO the coaching staff has not done a great job at overall management of the personnel here and play calling. Frankly I expected a higher level of performance in every position group including the coaching. Maybe wishful thinking on my part. Too much experimentation with the QBs. Not sure our RBs have been able to find a groove yet either. Oline seems to be ok but given the historical context anything was going to be an improvement. Last game showed that we are finding some key players at WR and TE and that’s a positive. 
 

Best case scenario is we’ve had a week to focus on the guys who will be featured and they have taken a big step towards continuity and readiness for the next 3 games. 

[woodford 3,754]

Record wise, right on cue. I thought they'd win 8-9 games and be 4-0 when they host UGA next week.

As someone mentioned above, I thought the offense would be ahead of the defense but that's fine. O will get better. This team will be much better in a month as long as they stay somewhat healthy.

[Gowebb11 10,008]

Happy to be 3-0 to date

Not happy that we don’t have an offensive identity yet and pay calling has been awkward at times

CHF’s transparency has been refreshing. His assessment of the team and the challenges ahead have been spot on and honest. The first step in fixing things is awareness of things

Hard to assess the defense due to several key and untimely injuries but they play hard and are improving

I still believe we are on pace for a 7-5 season plus a bowl game and expect continued high level recruiting for the future 

[bigbird 60,963]

Personally, I didn't have any idea how we'd look. There were too many new names at key positions to make me feel super comfortable but I have a lot of faith in this staff.  I think we look sluggish coming out of the gates, very similar to the last decade. However, we seem to be getting a little more comfortable, which is to be expected but nonetheless promising.  We're learning who we are and have been able to do so while winning. I hope the patience and understanding continue while the truth and realities of the rebuild sets in. 

[eltigrerex 20]

The only surprise is the defense being ahead of schedule but, injuries have lowered their ceiling so right about on target. I still expect a tough run next four games but think they're on pace to gel nicely in the next month or so. 

[BigBlueWDE 1,136]

11 hours ago, AUINSY said:

Defense is better than expected.
Offense is worse than expected. 
Gotta cut down the turnovers. 
Hopeful for steady improvement.

 

This for me. Hopeful that Freeze improves the O side of the ball while the D stays consistent for the remainder of the year.

I fully expected to be 3-0 to start but finish 7-5. This weekend would change that to 8-4 with a W

[NoALtiger 4,068]

Well I think everyone figured we’d be 3-0 given our schedule so there’s that. I’d agree with the majority in that I think the D is better than I thought and the O is a little worse than I was envisioning given our opponents so far. 
 

We need to revisit this thread after tomorrow, gonna be a little clearer. 

[auburnatl1 6,258]

Much worse. But maybe that’s part of chf’s sneaky plan. We’ll see.

[Hank2020 3,408]

11 hours ago, AUINSY said:

Defense is better than expected.
Offense is worse than expected. 
Gotta cut down the turnovers. 
Hopeful for steady improvement.

 

I’m with you!!

[Hank2020 3,408]

11 minutes ago, auburnatl1 said:

Much worse. But maybe that’s part of chf’s sneaky plan. We’ll see.

So you expected much worse? Lol

[AUlax10 35]

11 hours ago, alexava said:

Had no expectations. Still don’t have an opinion. 

 

[creed 1,809]

IMO a team is as good as it's LOS. Both lines are playing average at best and about the same as last few years so far. However, I think physically the Oline is better, barring the exception the LT, which doesn't fit the physical dimensions of a normal LT. I'm hoping they play up to their potential soon.

[gravejd 3,309]

I've really liked the style of defense we have played. Feels like we are more on the attack versus recent years. Love the blitz packages and how we send guys from different places and at different times. Having to blitz is not ideal but if you are going to do it you better get there and so far we have gotten there.

Offense all around has been terrible. Most upsetting is still using a QB that is not allowed to run the whole offense. I hope the coaches have a better plan moving forward.

[icanthearyou 4,468]

17 minutes ago, gravejd said:

I've really liked the style of defense we have played. Feels like we are more on the attack versus recent years. Love the blitz packages and how we send guys from different places and at different times. Having to blitz is not ideal but if you are going to do it you better get there and so far we have gotten there.

Offense all around has been terrible. Most upsetting is still using a QB that is not allowed to run the whole offense. I hope the coaches have a better plan moving forward.

Agree.  I would like to see us get better with the RPO game.  I want to see us get it to the level that produces a lot of YAC.  Right now, we are still working on the basics.

[autigeremt 7,251]

I think we are better than expected on D and a bit behind on offense. Overall....about where I expected. This team is going through a tough transformation and contrary to some it's not as easy as it looks in Colorado. 

[ScotsAU 1,390]

Too early to tell I think. Offense hasn’t been as good as I expected, but we’re seeing the effect of a lot of new players. So I think this team has the potential for real improvement as the season goes on. Players aren’t quite on the same page, and are still making mental errors that are common when someone is trying to learn a new playbook. Coaches seem to still be figuring out how to best use our personnel. In theory, those things could and should get better with more reps. 

[Hank2020 3,408]

52 minutes ago, gravejd said:

I've really liked the style of defense we have played. Feels like we are more on the attack versus recent years. Love the blitz packages and how we send guys from different places and at different times. Having to blitz is not ideal but if you are going to do it you better get there and so far we have gotten there.

Offense all around has been terrible. Most upsetting is still using a QB that is not allowed to run the whole offense. I hope the coaches have a better plan moving forward.

I believe the TOs have been the biggest negative impact to our offense. Clean that up, and it all looks different, IMO.

[HAPvsOA 448]

15 hours ago, TeamZero77 said:

Come saturday, our regular season will be a 1/3 of the way done. Even though we haven't played an SEC opponent yet and these first 3 games were against average to below average teams, has the season gone like you expected so far? If not, has it been better or worse than you expected?

Our defense looks better than I thought they would so far. I thought our offense would be more explosive than what we've seen thus far. Our running game isn't as good as I thought they would be. Our O-Line is about what I expected. QB and WR's aren't at the level that I imagined them being. Coach Montgomery's playcalling isn't what I thought it would be. I wasn't expecting our offense to be like his Baylor offense with RG III but I did expect it to be more explosive. I didn't envision our guys fumbling this much either.

Special Teams is what I thought it would be. 

All in all, we're about where I expected us to be right now. 3-0 

Better on Defense and worse on Offense thus far. Here's hoping that this is the week that the RPO game starts to come to life.