Things We haven't discussed
Hey everyone. Yea, I know you love ripping Tony Franklin. He'd boo Tony Franklin if he wasn't Tony Franklin. At the same time, the whole thing is getting a little tired this late in the week.So let's examine a few topics that haven't (to this point) earned enough run:
- Josh Bynes is a really good player. Cash money says he'd start almost anywhere else in the league, but he's behind the LBOH and his nasty streak. Bynes does everything at least pretty well. He administrates and handles pass responsbilities with aplomb.
- Jason Bosley is fighting through more pain than anyone. We all know his shoulder is hurting. That's why he's not at center anymore. What you may not know is that his back hasn't been all that cooperative, either. It's hard to play tackle effectively when the upper half of your body hurts all the time.
- I like and respect ESPN's Chris Low, but I disagree with his assertion that Vanderbilt will beat Auburn this weekend. The Commodores are last among SEC schools in both yards gained and yards allowed.
Check this:
SEC NET YARDS
TEAM
OFF.
DEF. NET RECORD
1. LSU
426
261 +166 4-0
2. UGA
425
286 +139 4-1
3. KEN
352
227 +125 4-0
t4. ALA
377
256 +121 5-0
t4. USC
342
221 +121 3-2
6. FLA
359
241 +118 3-1
t7. AUB
329
246 +83 4-1
t7. TEN
341
258 +83 1-3
9. MIS
386
328 +58 3-2
10. ARK
350
357 -7 2-2
11. MSU
311
332 -21 1-4
12. VAN
283
364 -81 4-0
See anything out of place there in the W-L column? - Former tight end Robert Johnson is back in school. He's participating in the athletic department's "Operation: Follow Through" program that assists players in RoJo's position. Former basketball player Derrick Bird worked his way through last year. Those guys, and everyone else who has taken advantage of that opportunity, deserve a lot of credit.
- Where is James Swinton? He's on the team and all. It's just that I don't see him on Saturdays. You don't see him on Saturdays. I really have no idea why he's still not making even a minor impact. He should be useful by now.
- Tommy Trott's catch in double coverage last week. The Montgomery tight end bailed out his quarterback with that one. Trott fought to keep that situation from becoming an interception, then caught the ball while falling down. Really nice play.
Photo credit: Todd Van Emst/Auburn University
Questions? Comments? Post directly to the blog below or email me at jgtate@gannett.com.
posted by Jay G. Tate at
11:45 AM
39 Comments:
Jay- I know we have beat the qb situation to death but percentage wise how much do you see the qb's playing saturday?
75% todd and 25% burns
I've wondered where James Swinton is hiding too. I saw Chris Slaughter back on the field Saturday but no place in the box score. Same for Terrell Zachery. I do remember hearing Quindarius Carr's name though. Smith, Hawthorne, Dunn, Billings, Trott...I'm not getting enough of any of these guys in our offense. Jay, you told us these kids could play, so what's wrong?
My bad, MCP.
Just an observation and maybe a interrogative or two.
You know how they say the offense begins with the QB and the defense begins with (jargon time) the "mike" linebacker. Bynes is, by most accounts, way more multidimensional than TLBOH. Apparently Bynes is able to provide more leadership and get the defense into the correct alignments more so than TLBOH. Then why not more public clamoring for Bynes to play more. One could argue that more Bynes against LSU might have been the difference game. There is not as much vitriol concerning crowd favorite TLBOH not getting as much PT.
Bosley playing. Love him, love the playing through pain. But are we saying that a converted Center playing in pain is better than the number 2 right tackle? What does that say about depth at that position. I mean its not like JB is a returning All SEC tackle.
James Swinton. Jay G, maybe you should go down to APD or the Lee Co. SO and file a missing persons report. Is he hurt worse than they are saying, is he nursing his injury too much? Yeah, I know HIPPA law and all, but come on, you are our number one ace cub reporter for the Daily Planet or something like that.
A big hats off to any student athlete who comes back for their degree. You have to have the old fire in the belly for that one.
I just wish Tommy would make catches on a consistent basis. He is too streaky.
Some time in the future I will explain my thoughts on playing younger players versus the older players in terms development.
Trott also dropped a an easy one, a critical one on Kodi's first drive. This guy is glorified way too much.
Bynes...like I said...
Swinton...throw him the ball. He's been open. Give him a chance, Todd. Kodi's first pass from scrimmage went to Swinton.
Swinton is not injured. I have asked about that two or three times ... and asked different people.
should have been "an interrogative" not "a." My bad.
Is it that Swinton outruns Todd's passes? Couldn't they put Kodi in, send Swinton on a go route and let Kodi let it fly just to see if would work. I know its not that simple, but its also not that hard.
Dan,
CTF says his offense is simple. Why not?
UCLA's highpost offense was simple, but it was executed with perfection. Maybe that is the problem we have here. Complex or simple, things still have to be executed properly. That has been the biggest problem for the last 3 years with our offense. Whether east coast or spread.
Saying something will or won't work just because it is the SEC is hubris. Just sayin' that's all.
I think it's pretty clear that "Auburn's Offense" isn't simple. A lot of different guys with differing levels of experience are all out of whack right now.
Is it a chemistry issue. I mean it could be all built for love, but sometimes the chemistry isn't there. Chemistry is that undifinable 'it.' Right now the defense has 'it' and the offense doesn't.
I have heard tell that CTF may not be the warmest of guys when it comes to his players. I don't think it is as much loyalty to Todd has lack of trust with Burns.
Just saw sportscenter's upset of the week: Vandy over Auburn.
I really must take issue with you about ripping CTF. I just wish he would shave. He looks like some guy who got kicked out of the house by his old lady and is living in his car.
I was saying taking a shot down the field to your fastest receiver with your strong arm qb shouldn't be that hard, not the entire off. No guarantee that it works, but why not try? I'm not down on the spread passing game because from what I've seen the receivers have been open. What or who I'm down on after the UT game is Todd, his lack of accuracy or zip on the ball was responsible for the poor passing game.
Their upset of the week a few weeks ago was Southern Miss over AU. So excuse me if I dont get nervous over ESPN picking against us.
Dan,
I was agreeing with you. I sometimes get a bit too verbose trying to impress the leader of the Hotties.
And I really hate that I missed the campfire. I'll be here next time and I'm bringin' the marshmallows.
The campfire was so awesome, I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats.
No problem Denny, or is it MR. Crum. I was responding to Jay G.'s comment. About ESPN's upset, they're just trying to pump up interest in Gameday and the game. Looking forward to the campfire this afternoon.
Jay G:
Enough about CTF. We want to hear about CPR. What is this guy like? Does he like being here versus beautiful Pittsburgh? Is he funny off the record? I am really sick of the CTF overload.
Denny, Denzel, or Coach....is quite alright.
Good to see Robert Johnson finish up his education.
Sometimes when you make a deal with the devil and leave early for the NFL, it just doesn't work out.
I address CPR in this week's "First and 10" column, which debuts Saturday morning.
He's an interesting cat. He likes to ride a bicycle for short distance-trips. He and his wifey roll with Harleys, too. He talks like a platoon commander in interviews, but he's different when the cameras are off.
He seems to completely lack that social awareness that I enjoyed so much with Will Muschamp. I don't mean that in a bad way. His life is pretty much defense and family.
He's not a gossip hound by any stretch. Muschamp was The Master.
Sounds like CPR has things in order. He sounds like he is all about his J-O-B and his family. That is a good way to keep life simple. CPR sounds like a guy that if he was your friend, man, then you would have a hellava friend.
Keep giving us more CPR and less CTF.
Take this as you will. From one of our up and coming D linemen. Burns' knowledge of the offense is absolutley not an issue. Trotter can probably run it the best and can make big throws. This lineman says Franklin's relationship with Todd is a black eye. Interestingly enough, he says "word is" they plan to run out of the gate with Cotton next year. "Word is" that's Franklin's plan.
Believe what you will, like I said. Just passing along something that kind of blew my mind today. It is coming from a 20 year old and his dad.
Interesting.
If they run out of the gate with Cotton next year I'll be a VERY happy man!!! That guy runs a similar offense in high school, and looks to be a heck of a player. Rated the #3 High School scrambling QB by Rivals to go along with a cannon of an arm. In my opinion, he seems a more capable QB than either of our current options.
I guess I'm confused. What do you mean by "black eye".
You've never heard of something that doesn't look right being a black eye on something?
I don't think it was meant as racist if that's what you were asking.
black eye as in it's not the correct or fair thing...like he promised a starting QB job to Todd--probably originally to Troy, but since CTF came to Auburn, that promise "transferred" to here along with Todd himself. That's got to be a huge no no in CTT's eyes and is definitely one in the eyes of the AU faithful!
JGT, have you ever thought about using Ventrilo to do your campfire chat. You could really chat instead of type. Just a suggestion. You should check it out. ventrilo.com
Hmmmmm.....interesting.......my favorite source of all.....un-named 'players' who have the in and skinny on everything.
I am trying to drip sarcasm,,,,is it working?
Interesting scuttlebutt on this comment thread....
I really don't care WHO the QB is, as long as he is the best of the bunch. If Cotton, or Trotter, or Burns or whoever is the best, then that's who should play.
I'd still be VERY surprised if a true freshman (who hasn't signed a letter of intent or enrolled) came in and won the starting QB job over a Junior and Senior QB. Even JC had to wait a year.
Just my opinion, but I think if we lose to a Vandy or Arkansas and then drop the Alabama game, then you can bet CTF will be history and the "Spread Eagle" experiment will be over. Hmmm, I wonder if Petrino wants his old job back...
Which one?
Didn't think it was racist, just oddly stated, and was looking for clarification.
Jay,
Thanks for the Prop on my boy Josh Bynes.... i saw it from game one, that he reminds me of DT, by lining up the guys on defense in the correct positions....
I think LBOH thinks only of hitting somebody and just really forgets about the other 10 guys on the field.... we need a general at middle linebacker not a freakn sniper....."one bullet...one kill" mentality just doesnt work on as the Mike backer....
"A lot of different guys with differing levels of experience are all out of whack right now."
This is the most clear and concise explanation of the problems with Auburn's offense I have seen
You can also apply this phrase to a plethora (yes, el Jefe, a 'plethora') of other situations also, which is really nice.
Thanks, Jay!
- Big Oil
Denny, if I named the player it would make him look like a clown and a blabber mouth. I just thought sharing this would be important in the grand scheme of things. I hate doing the "sources" thing myself. Heck, I'm Mr. Anonymous with that.
Ok mr anon. didn't mean to bust your chops.
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