Cynical Thoughts on a Bye Week

[Wild Turkey]

Did you watch UCLA game with Fisher back ?

If KSU game is any indicator I would say Auby would be hard pressed to get a road win against a couple handfuls of teams.

They are very good, but I think you may be stretching just a little.

Assuming all games were away:

1. Mississippi State - Loss
2. Florida State - Take Auburn
3. Ole Miss - Probable Loss
4. Baylor - Toss up
5. Notre Dame - Win
6. Auburn - NA
7. Alabama - Toss up
8. Michigan State - Very Tough
9. Oregon - This year I would like Auburn
10. Georgia - Toss up rivalry game
11. Oklahoma - Very Tough
12. TCU - Tough but I take Auburn
13. Ohio State - Auburn
14. Kansas State - Won
15. Oklahoma State - Auburn
16. Arizona - Auburn
17. Arizona State - Auburn
18. ECU - Auburn
19. Nebraska - Auburn
20. Utah - Auburn
21. Texas A&M - Won last year
22. USC - Auburn
23. Stanford - Auburn
24. Clemson - Auburn
25. Marshall - Auburn

Non-SEC teams the ones that would concern me the most would be Baylor, Oklahoma, Michigan State and maybe TCU. I do think we would be favored in all at this point.

Not saying that to beat my chest this team has issues and could drop any game really and most likely have one to two losses left in them.

 

[WhiteMamba]

 

[Wild Turkey]

 

[Wamu]

:charlie:

 

[occupant]

We lost a WR, 3 RB, 2 OL and a Safety...apparently they were some sort of competitive lynchpin for us.

I think we're seeing why they let DGB come on board...

 

[Oney]

Assuming all games were away:

1. Mississippi State - Loss
2. Florida State - Take Auburn
3. Ole Miss - Probable Loss
4. Baylor - Toss up
5. Notre Dame - Win
6. Auburn - NA
7. Alabama - Toss up
8. Michigan State - Very Tough
9. Oregon - This year I would like Auburn
10. Georgia - Toss up rivalry game
11. Oklahoma - Very Tough
12. TCU - Tough but I take Auburn
13. Ohio State - Auburn
14. Kansas State - Won
15. Oklahoma State - Auburn
16. Arizona - Auburn
17. Arizona State - Auburn
18. ECU - Auburn
19. Nebraska - Auburn
20. Utah - Auburn
21. Texas A&M - Won last year
22. USC - Auburn
23. Stanford - Auburn
24. Clemson - Auburn
25. Marshall - Auburn

Non-SEC teams the ones that would concern me the most would be Baylor, Oklahoma, Michigan State and maybe TCU. I do think we would be favored in all at this point.

Not saying that to beat my chest this team has issues and could drop any game really and most likely have one to two losses left in them.

I don't know for sure what you see, but I don't see that in Auburn at all. KSU easily left 20 points on the field and that's your signature win. And they were just completely dominated from start to finish and lost by two plus scores. Auburn is a shadow of what they were last year.

In all seriousness, they look about the same as everyone in the mid-teens.

 

[Wild Turkey]

I don't know for sure what you see, but I don't see that in Auburn at all. KSU easily left 20 points on the field and that's your signature win. And they were just completely dominated from start to finish and lost by two plus scores. Auburn is a shadow of what they were last year.

In all seriousness, they look about the same as everyone in the mid-teens.

Here is the Auburn breakdown:

Defense - Much improved over last year the D-Line and Linebackers are playing lights out. The secondary has made huge strides from the 1st game and is really playing solidly. The only real weak spot on defense right now is we do not have a dominate pass rusher and that is causing us issues we are really missing Dee Ford but overall much better than last year.

Note: We have an improved defense with two of our best out Carl Lawson/injury and Jermaine Whitehead/Suspended for a verbal altercation with a coach and no word on if he will return.

Offense - This group is actually performing better than last year at this point but way below the level they were playing at the end of the year. Our QB play is the same and our receivers are as good as I have seen since 2004. The issue is the running game (ironically we are racking up more yards than we were last year at this point hard to believe but true) and the ability to run at will. Our biggest losses were Greg Robinson (LT), Jay Prosch (FB) and Trey Mason (RB). Of those three Jay Prosch is the one that is killing the running game. The freshman Roc Thomas is showing progress and got some quality time Saturday but learning this offense is a tough task so it will take a few more games before he is a major impact.

Special Teams: Last year we were solid at every position and this year we have a freshman doing everything PK, KO and punting. He has had some misses but is coming along and shows a lot of promise. The big issue was punt coverage in the Kansas State game their blocking was absolutely incredible and we did not adjust well.

Play Calling: So far our Red Zone play calling has not been great and I'm sure that is do to the lack of faith in the running game right now. This is an extremely smart and experienced coaching staff and I am sure that will be the focus the next two weeks.

Special Notes:

-Auburn was not some incredible team last year there were plenty of close games and we had an early blow out at LSU.

- The problems with this team are fixable and we are seeing improvements.

- Auburn got incredibly lucky last year on more than one occasion last week it caught up to us (as it always does) I was not surprised.

- Auburn does not have the best offense or defense in the country but both are good enough to compete with anyone in the country. Saturday we got within 8 and had we hit a chip shot field goal and Sammie Coats not called erroneously for offensive pass interference we most likely take the lead and it's a different game. We did not deserve to win and not making excuse just pointing out the margin between us and the number one team in the country is very slim.

That is why I feel the way I do however if you disagree I will respect that.

 

[ellupo]

I thought for sure Ohio State would have offered him a position by now. Since his wife passed, I think he might be doing the announcing instead of coaching so he can be home with his family more.

It would be great if Urban can get him on the sidelines.