News of the day, 10/28
Hey everyone. Early indications from my inbox indicate Auburn fans weren't very enthused by Saturday's effort. I didn't criticize it per se. The Tigers weren't at their best by any means, but I didn't think effort was a problem.The offense is good at running and throwing short passes. Brandon Cox is not an exciting quarterback. Until Kodi Burns or someone of that ilk comes along and makes the offense more dynamic, things won't change.
I don't say that to rip Cox. He's fine. It's just that quarterbacks have changed since he was recruited (seems like 1999) and he's basically a relic from the old days. If you're going to play a pocket passer now -- Colt Brennan, Matt Ryan, Andre Woodson, JaMarcus Russell, Erik Ainge, Matthew Stafford -- he must have above-average arm strength. Guys like Cox will be extinct from the SEC within five years.
Rutgers deals with this issue as well. Mike Teel, the Scarlet Knights' quarterback, reminds me of Cox and Rutgers is running a two-quarterback system like Auburn. It's like when they increase the postage rate and you have to add those three-cent stamps to the stamps you bought in bulk off eBay. That continues until you run out of the old stamps.
Makes sense to me.
TEEL: 130-for-227, 2124 yards, 14 TD/8 TD, 6 runs for -19. Sacked 4 times.
COX: 128-for-214, 1452 yards, 7 TD/7 INT, 35 runs for -37. Sacked 18 times.
Thanks for reading the HOTTEST Auburn blog on the 'net.
Coach Tommy Tuberville today offered some lukewarm affirmation that he plans to stay at Auburn after this season. Rumors are circulating (as expected) that Tuberville could emerge as a candidate at Texas A&M or Nebraska. Tuberville said he and agent Jimmy Sexton (or Montgomery lawyer Jere Beasley) may talk with Auburn officials during the coming weeks about a contract extension. Remember that Tuberville has no aversion to hearing his name associated with high-profile openings, so don't expect this chatter to dissipate soon.Tuberville said today that WR Robert Dunn has been cleared for a return to the field this week. The junior was suspended after a practice-field argument a few days before the LSU game. He hasn't played since. Is that a big deal? You decide.
posted by Jay G. Tate at
11:14 AM
6 Comments:
I am growing rather tired of fans who have been grumblin about how conservative this AU offense is.
Ole Miss hardly sustained any drives.
The AU young offense is still making more mistakes than they want to and...
why would you want to risk turnovers tryin to be fancy when your defense could win the game for you?
As conservative as this team played on offense, they still gained abt 189yds passing and ran pretty much where they wanted.
And BC sustained a shoulder injury.
I do wish Tubs would let Borges stretch the field a little, but still, it makes sense to be conservative in games like this.
However, Tubs has pulled the reigns in the past where i really wanted to see the O open up and hang pts on bama. I remember the Sugar Bowl against VaTech where after a JC int, Tubs got so conservative that his bend til you break defense almost let VaTech win the dang game.
Nobody is ever happy though...whatever.
LetThemEatCakeandBlogAboutIt.blogspot.com
Because this exact same offensive philosophy LOST games to LS-Who, MSU and USF...that's why we're griping. "What if" Ole Mess doesn't throw the pick, and scores instead? Are you comfortable with overtime???!!! AGAIN???!!!
Too close for comfort. And didn't the TD pass to RS show that we CAN do exactly that? Good grief...why wait until there are 3 minutes left in the game?
Nuff said.
Steven C
Duluth, GA
the same philosophy did in fact not lose the game to LSU.
a Lack of execution lost the game to LSU in the second half, just like a lack of execution in the redzone on saturday kept us out of the end zone several times.
you cant lump whats going on now, with what happened in the first few games so much.
you can still blame the coaches for things like not having the right personnel on the o-line or rcvrs on the field that drop more passes than a rcvr should in three years combined, but you cant blame them for the injuries and having to play so many true and rs freshmen and the problems that come with that.
The poor performance of the first three games is a result of zero pass protection and not having a running game.
these intangibles had nothing to do with the coaching philosophy as much as execution.
I do have a problem with refusing to stretch the field, but Smith and Billings have to be open, I have never seen one of them fight for the ball and come down for it like courtney taylor could do.
IT IS A FACT that this team has a turn over problem. Early in the game Rod Smith fumbled on a nice run. IF you've watched much AU football the past three years with BC at the helm then you've noticed that many times its like a bug and when we start turning the ball over that it doesnt stop til we have three or four or god help us, six. The coaches went a tad conservative against ole miss bc of that, but really other than stretching the field, the did throw the ball and even ran a reverse so what are crying for, we won the dang game besides i dont expect you to read this whole post anyway, you'll just come back and argue the same points anyhow.
War Eagle
LetThemEatCakeandBlogAboutIt.blogspot.com
I think the important element to remember here is that Auburn DOES play more conservatively than expected.
To borrow from Jakob Dylan, these coaches are trying to drive this thing home with one headlight. Three 18-year-olds on the OL. A quarterback who isn't dynamic or strong. No home-run wideouts.
The best players are, in order: Brad Lester, Mario Fannin, Tyronne Green, Lee Ziemba, Rod Smith.
One headlight.
I'm just glad that the coaches took last week to figure out the offensive problems they were having in the 3rd quarter. We came out on fire and kicked a FG. Maybe against TN Tech we can add a TD. Watch out UGA and Bama.
Obviously, the only way Ole Miss was going to be in that game was by Auburn error. Tubs is conservative by nature, and after the Smith fumble, we rolled it up. Which I was disappointed in because the fumble to me was somewhat of a fluke, because Smith made a move and the defender missed. But, he stuck an arm out as he passed by and got an early Halloween treat. I would have liked to see us handle the Rebs like we handled Vandy, but we didn't. We won, and Ole Miss never really threatened. I'd really like to see Kodi start against TTech, but it doesn't look like that will happen. To me, Cox represents our best chance to win, and he needs to be healthy for the last two games. I am confident that we will come out with more fire in our bellies v. UGA & Bama. This team should finish 9-3, but I have to remind myself that we did lose to MSU. UGA & Bama will be typical dogfights, but both are beatable teams, despite what the Dawgs did this weekend. If anything, it will serve to make us take them more seriously.
Jay - you are right. Cox is a throwback to the Randy Campbell types of the SEC. He has shown the poise I expected from him all year lately, and I hope we at least get him out of the Tech game early. He doesn't have the arm to stretch the field, but he has shown toughness and an ability to put the ball where it needs to go. Hopefully, he'll be healthy enough down the stretch to help us win out.
War Eagle!
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