Much deeper than we think

[nthemix 123]

there are a lot of problems with the program … probably too many to list BUT the main issue on the field is in the play along both lines of scrimmage … Mahomes couldn’t play behind this O line & we can’t pressure the opposing QB … also our tackling is utterly miserable … truth is we don’t have any “dawgs” on either side of the los … until that changes we are a long, LONG, way from being competitive 

[Shoney'sPonyBoy 441]

15 minutes ago, WarEagle1983 said:

Just like our team. 

Yeah.

So?

[Viper 3,595]

5 hours ago, AUght2win said:

we are about to go 3-9 with 8 win talent

Those who predicted an 8+ win season were out of their minds. There is not and was never 8-win talent.

[AUght2win 7,176]

24 minutes ago, nthemix said:

there are a lot of problems with the program … probably too many to list BUT the main issue on the field is in the play along both lines of scrimmage … Mahomes couldn’t play behind this O line & we can’t pressure the opposing QB … also our tackling is utterly miserable … truth is we don’t have any “dawgs” on either side of the los … until that changes we are a long, LONG, way from being competitive 

The “bad O line” excuse doesn’t work with this team. They’re actually above average at pass protection. Don’t think Hank was sacked even once in the first half. Thorne, as he has all year, got sacked a couple times because he won’t step up in pocket. 

[AUght2win 7,176]

3 minutes ago, Viper said:

Those who predicted an 8+ win season were out of their minds. There is not and was never 8-win talent.

7 plus a bowl was doable. If we win the 4 OOC, Vandy arky and Kentucky/AM that’s 7. This was an easy schedule and we have better talent than all those teams listed besides maybe A&M. 

[Viper 3,595]

4 hours ago, Shoney'sPonyBoy said:

Somehow we are worse this year than we were last year despite having added significant WR talent.

Same QBs. Same RBs. Similar OL. Lost our best DL, Marcus Harris. Same/similar LBs. Depleted Secondary.

WRs don't fix that problem.

[Viper 3,595]

1 minute ago, AUght2win said:

7 plus a bowl was doable. If we win the 4 OOC, Vandy arky and Kentucky/AM that’s 7. This was an easy schedule and we have better talent than all those teams listed besides maybe A&M. 

Haven't won a bowl since Stidham was here. Mizz and Kentucky on the road. A&M def has more talent and has a 4-2 record at JH. This is not an easy schedule, esp with GA & bammer on the road.

[Viper 3,595]

4 hours ago, Old fan 47 said:

Where have these huge recruiting wins gotten us?

Freeze has had just one of his own (100%) recruiting classes (2024) to see the field and those players are true Freshmen.

The 2023 class was mostly Harsin. That's why we finished #18 for the 2023 class.

In one year, Freeze & staff got us to #10.

2025 class, we're currently #4.

2026 class, we're currently #2.

[Viper 3,595]

3 hours ago, TripleDegreeTiger said:

Gus also had the advantage of coming into his first HC season with a team full of recruits that were his or he was involved with.

Yup and Gus' first high school QB of his, as HC, was the bust of all busts...in Year 3 of Gus' system.

Thankfully, Gus & staff went all out on recruiting Stidham. Otherwise, it would have been more of the Sean White shite show.

[DAG 35,455]

6 hours ago, JMassie11 said:

To make matters worse FSU beat Cal….told everyone they are not a good team

Arkansas is not a good team either. Miss me with the "recruiting is the answer." Better might get us back to 8 wins with this coaching staff. I am hoping to RON ZOOK Hugh freeze's ass when the time comes.

[aubaseball 2,922]

9 hours ago, HabitualChiller said:

Auburn is on a higher level, historically, than UGA and LSU, but the program is nowhere near BAMA, Texas or Oklahoma.

Not in program prestige, NFL players, NCAA award winners, wins, championships, etc. 

Auburn is in that tier below the blue bloods and shares company with schools like Florida State. 

Agree to disagree…. Georgia past Auburn about Ten years ago.   Just look at the record for the past 20 years.    20 years is a long time in athletics.   Auburn use to get some of the best players in Georgia to come play….Rocker, Spikes, Brown and many more.   Georgia, Alabama and Clemson are getting those guys now.   It’s part of the problem that AU is currently in.   LSU is a lot like AU in that sometimes they are their own worst enemy.   

[Shoney'sPonyBoy 441]

6 hours ago, Viper said:

Same QBs. Same RBs. Similar OL. Lost our best DL, Marcus Harris. Same/similar LBs. Depleted Secondary.

WRs don't fix that problem.

So then we HAVEN'T recruited well since the only difference between this year and last year's team is a few WRs?

O.k.

We didn't add a new QB (In direct contradiction to what you just posted), four 4-star D-linemen, two 4-star LBs, a four star OL, two 4-star CBs, and a 4-star safety?

Also, if we have basically the same team (according to you) as last year, shouldn't those same players have benefitted from the additional year of experience/coaching?  

(This is one of those times in which you can't have it both ways).

Look, if you want to make the argument that we have talent but it is very young and not ready to contribute much or at a high level yet, make that argument.  That's not what you said.

[Shoney'sPonyBoy 441]

6 hours ago, Viper said:

Those who predicted an 8+ win season were out of their minds. There is not and was never 8-win talent.

Maybe, but it's a lot closer than you make it seem.

Auburn has more talent than two of the teams we just lost to.  We also have more talent than two of the teams we have beaten, which makes four teams right there.

We have more talent than Vandy and LA Monroe.  Now we're up to six teams.  

According to the 247 Sports Talent Composite, we also have more talent than Kentucky and Missouri (as well as Arkansas).

I get that that is a composite and doesn't tell the whole story, but...

That's eight wins right there.

 

[Old fan 47 831]

6 hours ago, Viper said:

Freeze has had just one of his own (100%) recruiting classes (2024) to see the field and those players are true Freshmen.

The 2023 class was mostly Harsin. That's why we finished #18 for the 2023 class.

In one year, Freeze & staff got us to #10.

2025 class, we're currently #4.

2026 class, we're currently #2.

Currently, but how many will actually sign and how many current ones will stay? 

[AU120289 575]

7 hours ago, Viper said:

Those who predicted an 8+ win season were out of their minds. There is not and was never 8-win talent.

Those of us who predicted 6 win seasons are out of our minds. 

[AU120289 575]

46 minutes ago, Shoney'sPonyBoy said:

Maybe, but it's a lot closer than you make it seem.

Auburn has more talent than two of the teams we just lost to.  We also have more talent than two of the teams we have beaten, which makes four teams right there.

We have more talent than Vandy and LA Monroe.  Now we're up to six teams.  

According to the 247 Sports Talent Composite, we also have more talent than Kentucky and Missouri (as well as Arkansas).

I get that that is a composite and doesn't tell the whole story, but...

That's eight wins right there.

 

I will take execution and drive over talent everyday. 

[aucom96 1,662]

8 hours ago, AUDub said:

Oh my god. 
 

RECRUITING IS LITERALLY THE SOLUTION 

Freeze came in, bought an NIL QB with decent numbers on paper, named him starter after spring and then yanked him to play ring around the rosie with Robby Ashford. This season, same story with Hank Brown so far and I suspect it's not over. We don't establish anything offensively. We have good - not great - running backs and hurl the ball blindly down the field as often as not. We don't seem to factor pressure into any gameplan for some reason. We look like a team with a very chaotic offensive strategy and our staff is largely filled with green assistants hired more to be street agents than technical professionals. This was also how Gus ran things later in his tenure. 

I don't think Auburn has a culture problem. Every team has a culture problem with NIL. It's just the new reality of things. What Auburn has always had a problem with is boosters. Our boosters tend to think in terms of quick fix since Saban came to town. Gus had the magic scheme. Harsin had the magic culture-fix. Hugh is going to save recruiting. And the problems across the board with these coaches all manifested strongly on the field. Gus was great while the rules and adjusting rosters gave his scheme an advantage. After those adjustments were made, the results were much more average. Harsin probably was a decent on the field coach, but he did not play well with others, didn't care about representing Auburn and didn't take recruiting seriously. With Hugh, I think we have the opposite problem. Recruiting is the fix for all problems and we just need to wait... and wait... and wait. Talent is not why NMSU, Maryland, Cal and Arkansas are out playing us in every facet of the game. Talent isn't why we went into the season with exactly one very average QB with any experience. Talent isn't why we look lost and unprepared nearly every time we take the field. 

The boosters think Hugh's recruiting is the fix-all so he'll get his time and yeah, we can't really afford to fire another coach at this point. But the portal and NIL aren't going to allow teams to just easily build a 4 year roster anymore. If we continue to look lost this season, guys like Coleman are going to start eyeing the QB situations at other schools and weighing the money a little differently. They don't want to wait and wait and wait until we get the magical talent levels to run a coherent offensive gameplan. Do you think our boosters are going to wait 5-6 years on Hugh to figure it out? The clock is ticking. 

[sevenlee36 1,885]

Been saying we lost the Auburn edge for a few years now. Poor leadership and poor coaching from the top guy. He can’t blame it on the other coaches as much so he now blames it more on the players.

[japantiger 4,209]

10 hours ago, AuCivilEng1 said:

We are a good college football program that is in a conference with a lot of good, and elite college programs. We are middle of the pack in the new SEC. That’s not an opinion, it’s a fact. You can’t discount the accomplishments brand recognition and money of Texas, OK, and A&M because they were in the Big 12. 

Being an Auburn coach is a whole lot tougher than it was in 2000. There are way more variables to overcome. 
 

I love Auburn and am proud of the tradition and history of Auburn. But I recognize the challenge at hand. 

 

No, we're not middle of the pack.  Over the last 4 years, there are only 4 teams with a worse record than Auburn.  Vandy, Ms State, Arky and South Carolina.  We are bottom tier.  As several have pointed out, the game is also very different now.  History is what you are doing now. 

We are getting worse, not better.

We face the very real possibility of having a 3 win season...

We hired a bad program leader. There is nothing distinctive in the way he commands this program or coaches it on gameday that would lead a reasonable observer to the conclusion that it can be a "middle of the pack", much less get to a top 3 or 4 team sufficient to make a playoff appearance.

 

(trivia: For those throwing stones at OK and TX historical opponents in the SWC or BIG, we haven't faired too well against them in our few head to head encounters...so you can't have it both ways. We're 4-4 lifetime against TX and we're 0-2 against OK.)  

 

 

 

[NWALA Tiger 3,782]

Freeze has made 2 glaring errors during his tenure.  Bringing in Thorne to begin with. Then banking on Thorne this year and not getting  a QB in portal. Those 2 decisions have added 2 years to this rebuild. QB evaluation is not exact but to strike out 2 times , will get us where we are now with no hope in sight. I wish reporters would remind him of this every time he belly aches about QB play. It all lays at his feet. He could have done something about it and chose not to.

Edited September 22 by NWALA Tiger

[JMassie11 1,754]

9 hours ago, AUght2win said:

The “bad O line” excuse doesn’t work with this team. They’re actually above average at pass protection. Don’t think Hank was sacked even once in the first half. Thorne, as he has all year, got sacked a couple times because he won’t step up in pocket. 

Exactly, it’s also very telling how HB has the time to atleast get to his 3rd read 75% of the time while Thorne stares down 1 WR then suddenly running for his life. Is the Oline all sec? No. Is the oline competent enough to allow 60% plus completion rate? Yes

[Auburn93 871]

15 hours ago, AUght2win said:

This program has a fundamental problem that has nothing to do with anything tangible. Recruiting won’t fix it. It’s something much deeper. In the bones of our players. Our culture and character as a team is broken. Hugh has stunned me by not making any progress on this front, and perhaps we’re even in a worse spot culturally as a program than when he started.

Selfishness. Laziness. Timidity. Incompetence. Buckling. All spokes on the losing wheel. The hub, though, is a program who isn’t orienting its players toward team goals or teaching them their prime directive is to WIN as a TEAM. These guys simply don’t play with that focus.

You see it. I see it. I’ll post some examples from this game if I have time. I counted a half dozen things from that game that were truly disgusting to watch, and not normal from even the worst Auburn teams. 

There are lots of other problems, sure. The offensive system must be simplified. Durkin needs to give defensive play-calling to Kelly on third downs. There are talent deficiencies.

But would you agree with me that if we played that Arkansas team 10 times, we’d find a way to lose all 10 games? Same with Cal. Two teams that are tangibly inferior to us, at home. That’s where our program is right now. Broken.

We’re not “a couple plays” or “a few blown calls” away. We aren’t close. Due to our cultural and mental breakdown, we are about to go 3-9 with 8 win talent.

Fix it Hugh. The culture is 100% your responsibility. Burn it down and start fresh. There’s no excuse for it to be this bad. Never seen an Auburn team so completely without the intangibles to win like this current one. 

I see a team that turns it over. I see a defense that has done enough to win a game. I see that Freeze cannot change his system to fit his players. (What OC can and win?) 

[Auburn93 871]

15 hours ago, AUght2win said:

This program has a fundamental problem that has nothing to do with anything tangible. Recruiting won’t fix it. It’s something much deeper. In the bones of our players. Our culture and character as a team is broken. Hugh has stunned me by not making any progress on this front, and perhaps we’re even in a worse spot culturally as a program than when he started.

Selfishness. Laziness. Timidity. Incompetence. Buckling. All spokes on the losing wheel. The hub, though, is a program who isn’t orienting its players toward team goals or teaching them their prime directive is to WIN as a TEAM. These guys simply don’t play with that focus.

You see it. I see it. I’ll post some examples from this game if I have time. I counted a half dozen things from that game that were truly disgusting to watch, and not normal from even the worst Auburn teams. 

There are lots of other problems, sure. The offensive system must be simplified. Durkin needs to give defensive play-calling to Kelly on third downs. There are talent deficiencies.

But would you agree with me that if we played that Arkansas team 10 times, we’d find a way to lose all 10 games? Same with Cal. Two teams that are tangibly inferior to us, at home. That’s where our program is right now. Broken.

We’re not “a couple plays” or “a few blown calls” away. We aren’t close. Due to our cultural and mental breakdown, we are about to go 3-9 with 8 win talent.

Fix it Hugh. The culture is 100% your responsibility. Burn it down and start fresh. There’s no excuse for it to be this bad. Never seen an Auburn team so completely without the intangibles to win like this current one. 

I'll add the defense tackled better and took better angles in this game when compared to the Cal game. 

[Auburn93 871]

13 hours ago, AUght2win said:

I was at the game today. I saw KLS openly pout and drag-ass most of the game. I saw Keonte Scott refuse to fair catch punts because he wants to play hero ball. I saw a completely unnecessary roughing the passer on 3rd down because Keys wasn’t thinking of the situation. I saw Alston fumble at the 5 because he was more focused on scoring himself than helping his team. I saw our freaking punter make an incredibly stupid impromptu play because he doesn’t understand the moment he was in. I saw Coleman, for the second time this year, tip a routine pass up to get intercepted because he wasn’t focused. I saw defeated body language. I saw a void of player leadership. I saw losing football.

Broken. You can’t have watched that game and seriously come away thinking this team’s mind is right.

I saw KLS fighting through pain and making plays. He also said it was everyone's responsibility for the losses. I think you are not interpreting what you see accurately if you think KLS is causing problems.  Alston fumbling was poor technique not a moral failing. So you think Coleman on YESTERDAY's interception was because he wasn't focused. How do you KNOW he wasn't focused? I've seen tipped over the middle interceptions plenty of times in my life. I agree Keonte needs to call for a fair catch on some of those plays.

How great is your vision to see all these things close up?

[BustemBigBlue 224]

Cancelled my YouTube TV. Saturdays just got a lot more enjoyable for me.