AU 3, MSU 2
That was ugly.So ugly.
Here are some nuggets from the post-game scene:
- Tony Franklin on the offense: "We stunk it up. Every time we had an opportunity to do something, we found a way to screw it up."
- Franklin on why he didn't play Kodi Burns: ``I didn't think it was Chris. I didn't see him making a lot of mistakes. It wasn't his deal. Kodi has some talent. He has things he can do. This wasn't it."
- I saw Brad Lester after the game. He was walking around, though it was obvious that he was in pain. He was diagnosed with a neck sprain. No damage. Coach Tommy Tuberville said he expects Lester back next week against LSU. We'll see.
- Tuberville putting his best spin on the game: ``Sometimes you grow up after a game like this. (The offense) had better get better quickly."
- Tuberville said Chris Todd's general ineffectiveness wasn't his fault: ``Had we opened it up a little more, he would have done a little more. We thought we could run the ball better than that."
- Tough day for a few guys who typically are not problematic:
- Wes Byrum missed two field-goal attempts. One was from 22 yards. He also took the post-safety free kick and hammered it out of bounds. Yuck.
- LT Lee Ziemba was flagged four times. Two holds. Two offsides.
- RT Jason Bosley was flagged three times.
- Wes Byrum missed two field-goal attempts. One was from 22 yards. He also took the post-safety free kick and hammered it out of bounds. Yuck.
- Auburn opponents have converted only three of 46 times on third down this season. That's amazing.
- Antonio Coleman earned a sack for the third consecutive game. Remember how he and Hot Carter were going to wager on which player would get the most sacks this season? I'll have to find out what happened there.
- Just to stoke your fire ... Mario Fannin had just two touches (one pass, one run) while Tristan Davis had five carries. I will say that Fannin seemed more involved this week. I'll bet he played more snaps than last week. Montez Billings, of all people, was the only passing-game standout. He had 68 yards.
- The last time Auburn won a game by scoring only three points? A 3-0 win against Miami in 1974.
- The last time Auburn gained at least 300 yards (315 tonight) and didn't score a touchdown? Iron Bowl 2000. That was a 9-0 barn burner.
posted by Jay G. Tate at
11:05 PM
53 Comments:
Of course isn't wasn't Chris... That's the golden child.
for some reason i knew CTF was going to say something about "screwing" or "stinking" it up on offense
its starting to sound familiar
"This wasn't it" ????
So CTF thinks that an opposing defense respects Todd's ability to run? Maybe that's why he kept calling a #@$%$ draw on third and long all night.
I probably should stop thinking about the game tonight and just go to bed...
Not sure logic will get you anywhere, James!
i can't believe i actually miss brandon cox! todd's has the same arm but lacks the courage to freaking lead...somebody has to step up and lead this offense
2nd and goal from the 2 and we can't even score. That sums up this crappy offense to me. Line up and blow them off the ball.
A new thread before 100 comments? Super Nova staus was officially not reached.
Why do we only have 3 or 4 running plays?
Jay G, any chance Kodi starts next week?
No.
Okay my (few) positive for the game....
1. The defensive line... that's one of the best we've had in a while. I thought Marks was a little overhyped coming into the season. I was most definately wrong.
2. Tray Blackmon... A hell of a linebacker against the run.
3. Walt McFadden... he's becoming a player and i'm looking forward to having him the next two seasons.
Side note.... Most of those holding calls were border line
Why is Kodi not playing some part in this offense? Is Tony Franklin a racist?
Oh stop with that.
Kodi is inaccurate. I'm more impressed with Burns than most people, granted, but I still don't think he's the answer.
Auburn has a bit of a mess here.
please no... this isn't the 60's let's not play the race angle.
Jay, you have seen more practices and been around the team more than any uf us. Did you ever imagine the offense could play this poorly? I am truly shocked at how confused the players look on offense.
Hey, RM, I said going into the season that Auburn's first-team defense is the best collection of talent Tuberville has had there.
I also said Walt McFadden was more than a capable backup. I said he'd fill in for Savage with little or no drop-off.
Of course, I said Chris Slaughter would be a big-time player, too.
Inaccurate, I agree, but does chris todd provide much accuracy with his rainbow balls?
I'm surprised by the offense's ineptitude. Absolutely.
The thing that gets me is how often they get a call, get down in their stance, then get back up and (presumably) get another call from the sideline.
That happens 80% of the time.
Why not stick with the initial call more often?
I'll try to get an answer to that tomorrow.
No doubt Jay, you provide good insight. That's why I "subscribe" to your free website. I thought the loss of Pat Sims was going to be more of a factor but they seem to have taken a step forward instead of a step back.
Thanks Jay. Love the blog and the honest opinions. Great job.
I haven't gotten to see a lot of Kodi, is he really that bad? Todd just wasn't great tonight. Maybe it was the play calling.. What do you think?
I can't watch practice. I don't know why they wouldn't at least give Kodi Burns a sniff during the second half.
I guarantee it's a deal where Franklin feels like the two-quarterback system was a flop and he's determined to avoid making that mistake again. So now he's going too far the other way.
Re: The getting the play from the sideline
I don't think this offense is supposed to be pretty. I think penalties come with the offense, but the yards gained are suppose to outweigh the penalties. That's not what we're dealing with apparently.
If Todd really is the best we have, it's going to be a pretty bumpy road...His arm looked extremely weak tonight.
Todd wasn't outstanding, but I feel the play selection left a lot to be desired. Why are they running the same sweep every other play? What happened to the off tackle run that used to be AU's bread and butter? Anyone else think the officials called what seemed like a ton of penalties (both ways) which ruined the flow of the game?
Side note: Props to ESPN for the low number of commercial breaks; The 2nd half felt like it had hardly any. (Although Bob Davie could use a refresher on his AU knowledge)
Alright, peeps, I'm taking this party to the hotel in Columbus. I'll check back here once I arrive.
I'll be asleep not long after that.
Peace.
good work Jay.
i've been in better moods after watching my Tigers win ugly but tonight i'm pretty sour.
It will probably be wise for me to sleep on my emotions right now so im not going to say much besides WAR EAGLE and keep up the good work.
interesting theory form a friend of mine:
"We'll find out if this is true or not when they start someone next Saturday: They were committed to playing Christ like they said and giving him every opportunity to play and not be "looking over his sholder" after mistakes. That means you have to at least let him start the second half, because then you can implement whatever halftime adjustments you made as well as coach up the team. By midway through the third quarter it was obvious that Todd wasn't working, but because the whole offense was fubar they didn't want to throw burns in there, because at that point it was just too late - the line and recievers were still going to play terrible. Besides as bad as we were playing Miss St. was playing worse, and we could shut them out. We had already been unfair to Kodi by not playing him more last week, it would have been even more unfair to throw him into the clusterf*ck today.
Maybe I'm giving the coaching staff too much credit or overthinking it. But we'll see. I think a good sign would be very little coaches or players talking to the media this week, because they want to go with Kodi but don't want LSU to know who we'll play. Of course they might not talk to the media much because they're embarassed. I think we have to wait until Saturday night to find out"
Jay G ... the funniest thing you have ever said.
It took me a while to catch it.
"he's just pissed because his team is inferior to CTF"
Man, that's a howler.
Footnote: CTF certainly LOOKED embarrased standing over there. CTT was not too far away and it looked like CTF was saying to himself "don't turn around. Just don't even look over there" He looked as lost as the offense. They really, honestly look like they don't know what to do.
Tony Franklin needs a wake up call. His step son (Chris Todd) is no threat to run and no better at running this offense than Kodi. It's time to go with the play maker (Burns).
It was a mess, pure and simple.
There will be a lot of soul-searching going on at Auburn this week.
The offense trying to find a clue; the defense trying to ignore those voices inside telling them to ambush the offense.
Bottom Line...when we were trying to run the clock out in the last minutes and Todd tried to hand off to Tate and they almost fumbled the ball together....very embarassing. I guarantee you with Borges power running offense we would have had at least 24 points last night.
Jay,
What gets me is whyt didn't why put Kodi in as a change of pace in the second quarter or at least when they got down on the Goal line first and goal..... listen isn't the object of the Game is to win with the best players in certain situations... that Gaol line option was totally taken away without Kodi Burns.... if i'm not mistaken haven't we scored evertime Kodi is inserted into the Game when we get down there.... that was ridiculas to me to keep trying to force Chris and not give Kodi at least a chance... the defensive ends were crashing down on the read options and Kodi could have walked around the end for at least 5-10 yards everytime. Chris does not scare defenses on the zone option reads period.
For someone who hasnt been to a game this year, clue me in on this....what does it look like downfield? Is anyone open?
How did this offense have success against our defense in the fall scrimages? I realize that it is a scrimage, but that offense i watched last night was wretched and would have no chance at scoring a single point on our defense.
Jay, get used to Billings' name. He's the best we have. Smith is steady, but Billings is just as steady and he's a huge target. He's NEVER dropped a pass in a game.
PS-
Tired of Franklin's horsesh*t protect mode of Todd. "Kodi has talent. But this wasn't it". What is "it", Tony? Sickening...
BTW....if CTF thinks those lateral bubble screens will work against LSU and UGA.....goodness
I'm not sure this spread attack will work near the goal line.
When is the last time Auburn and 2nd and goal from the 2 and couldn't punch it in?
This offense was supposed to be the opposite of what we have seen the past two years, not the same just with different formations.
Someone in the 100 post forum stated "Chris Todd = Daniel Cobb". I disagree, Cobb had confidence to at least try to put the ball in places, Todd doesn't even appear to have that confidence.
Also, it's not all Todd's fault, the play calling was terrible. This offense looks as sloppy as Franklin's hair.
Not that it will matter next week when LSU beats us, but how far do we fall in the polls after a performance like that?
I wish I had something to add to this discussion but every one of my concerns/frustrations has already been said. :(
12 penalities and 3 turnovers on offense will kill every drive. It's like there is no discipline out there, just the opposite of how our D plays.
It seems to me there might be a little bait and switch going on.
Read this about Va Tech this morning on espn.com:
"This is not about what Virginia Tech quarterback Sean Glennon can't do.
It's about what Tyrod Taylor can do in the absence of pass protection, experienced receivers and a go-to tailback. Taylor can scramble, can make something out of nothing and he can spread defenses out."
So the VT coached figured it out after one game, but our coaches haven't yet. Very disapointing.
that's a great quote jim. it only took frank beamer one game to right the ship on that one.
on a positive note, we're going to have A-LLOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTT to talk about this week. the HABOTON may reach dangerous temperature levels by friday afternoon.
i'm afraid to go back and watch that mess again today, but heck, i'm a glutton for punishment i guess.
Surely the offense can't play any worse than they did last night.
We're asking a lot of the D to try to shut LSU down on every drive.
This is sad.
http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/drivechart?gameId=282570344
Jim, bud, what a graphic.
Tells the story.
MSU opens the game with seven punts. Auburn scores three points in the interim. Hard to believe.
i was just checking out the cumulative stats for the year. defensively, we're excellent. what leaps out at you is our turnovers and penalties.
Hey Jay, just out of curiosity, do you still know how to get in touch with Al Borges?
I for one would love to hear what he thinks of AU's offense so far.
anon: bait and switch? really? tell me more.
Y'all crack me up. Bait and switch. That's really funny. Y'all just didn't want to show LSU all your cards, right? LOL! That game was the textbook definition of defensive struggle. Both D's are very good and both O's are very bad. Simple as that.
spaceghost - I'm as amused by that idea as you are. I'm going Saturday night, but I'm feeling like we lose about 17 - 0. Just hope I'm wrong.
Several thoughts about the MSU game...someone correct me if I am wrong, but on the long pass that was called back because of the Ziemba hold...I thought he executed a perfet pancake block...he had two fistfulls of jersey (inside the shoulders) and pushed the defender flat on his back! I don't see that as holding.
I only recall seeing Fannin on two plays (that's all I noticed) the first being the reverse that gained ten or so yard and the other was him running around his block allowing the defender to crush Todd. I thought at the time that he either totally missed his assignment or he is afraid of making contact when he doesn't have the ball (shoulder). I seem to recall a comment after ULM or USM that the coaches were concerned he was not putting forth the necessary effort away from the ball
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