Thoughts - Week Hitch in the Giddyup

[Townhallsavoy]

I haven't really seen much "sky is falling" posts around the web nor have I heard anyone say Auburn is out of it.  I have however heard a lot of "Miss State and Ole Miss are unstoppable" conversation, and I just want everyone to remember that 16 days ago, Miss State, Ole Miss, TCU, and Arizona were just some good teams that could make noise in their conferences.  On the flip side, 16 days ago, Georgia, Texas A&M, Oregon, and Alabama were all worthy of being ranked #1.  Oh and Kenny Hill had the Heisman in the bag. 

Point is, shit changes and shit changes quickly.  Especially as hype and momentum deteriorate throughout the grind of the season. 

Auburn

- We weren't as bad as we looked.  We started out crushing them on a great defensive 3 and out, and then proceeded to throw an interception.  They scored.  Then we got the ball back and went pretty much to the same play as before and Duke got popped and he fumbled the ball.  They scored. 

- But we were pretty bad.  When it was 14-0, I was still really optimistic.  Maybe even more so than when it was 0-0.  I had seen our defense play well already.  Duke Williams was wide fucking open on the first interception that was a tipped ball.  The second fumble was more of a fluke.  By the time it was 14-0, their stadium was rocking, their sidelines were dancing like morons, and Auburn still had 57 minutes of game time to put together a comeback. 

- And that's when the shit show happened.  Miss State goes up 21-0, and then we get FOUR FUCKING CHANCES IN THE FIRST HALF TO SCORE TOUCHDOWNS.  It wasn't even red zone opportunities, it was goal line opportunities.  We came away with 13 points.  I don't know what to criticize.  Play calling?  Not really.  Players executing?  Perhaps.  Offensive line?  Most likely.  I don't really know, but I do know that a Gus Malzahn offense with weapons all over the field has to figure out how to score touchdowns when it is less than ten yards from the endzone. 

- The game very easily could have been 28-21 at the half, but it wasn't.  Our team was off, mostly the center of our offensive line.  We had zero push and outside of a few rare breakaways, CAP was limited for most of the game. 

- I thought considering the dilemma our offense caused, the defense played well.  Miss State is a good team with a really good quarterback that can run.  I wouldn't have been upset if we gave up 24 points to them.  But our offense has to come away with more than 23 after having four red zone attempts in the first half alone.  And our offense can't gift them 14 points in the first three minutes of the game.

- I'm glad we have a bye-week.  Nothing is anywhere near over.  The only concern I have is that in our two away games this season, we've come out really flat.  Our three remaining away games are @Ole Miss, @Georgia, and @Alabama.  Ouch.

Miss State

- Could win the SEC West.  I don't really think they will.  But they could.

- Dak Prescott very well could win the Heisman.  He keeps breaking off on long runs in every game and hitting some nice passes, he'll win it.  But Cam Newton he is not.  I'm sorry Gary and anyone else making the comparison, he's good, but Cam was all-timer good.  Dak's going to have to do a lot more to get into the upper tier section of college football legends. 

- They were still Miss State.  Even though they had us by the throat, we were still in position to score 28 points in the first half.  The fake punt, the Dak interceptions, the muffed punt return - I still a lot of the same ole Miss State blunders from that team. 

- I don't think Miss State beats Ole Miss.  I think they could struggle with Kentucky.  But unfortunately, I don't know if I see them losing two games this season. 

Alabama

- Sucks.  Blows monkey dick. 

- Remember when I said Amari Cooper disappears every year?  To not count on him as a Heisman candidate?  He had 2 catches for 22 yards.  0 touchdowns. 

- Even Alabama's defense looked bad.  If Arkansas had any semblance of a real quarterback, they win this game going away. 

Ole Miss

- Land Sharks look legit.  Great tackling all around.  That's what I noticed most about them.  Texas A&M did some good things in the game, but Ole Miss was always right there to put them on the ground and put them on the ground hard.  Takes a tough team to compete against that.  Texas A&M is not tough.

Texas A&M

- Kenny Hill just isn't that great.  He's often inaccurate, makes ill-advised throws, and tries to do much with his legs.  With A&M's defense being Pac 12 worthy, he has to make sure he doesn't put them in a bad position, and often, he's putting them in a bad position. 

Baylor-TCU

- Basketball season starts next month, guys.  I think you forgot the rules to football.  You are allowed to tackle. 

College Football Playoff Implications

- I think we really get to bitch this week.  Alabama lost to Ole Miss @Ole Miss and dropped to #7.  Alabama has done nothing this year outside of looking good at home in the 2nd half against an absolutely terrible Florida team.  Where does Auburn drop? 

I imagine the top ten should look something like this:

1.  Florida State
2.  Miss State (because of hype)
3.  Ole Miss (should be #2)
4.  Baylor
5.  Notre Dame
6.  Auburn
7.  Michigan State
8.  Alabama
9.  Oklahoma
10.  Oregon

But I get the feeling it's going to look like this:

1.  Florida State
2.  Miss State
3.  Ole Miss
4.  Baylor
5.  Notre Dame
6.  Alabama (because they didn't lose)
7.  Michigan State (because their only loss is the almighty Oregon Ducks)
8.  Oklahoma (because they beat Texas in a rivalry game!1!1!!!)
9.  Oregon (the almighty mighty Ducks)
10.  Georgia (we knew they were great all along! and without Gurley!)
11.  Auburn

[Godfather]

I'm pissed, we are way better than that fucking team.  I'm not going to take away the fact that they are good, they are.  However, we should have won that game. 

Turnovers and the fucking refs, we beat ourselves. FUCK!

[jmar]

Every team you list is very vulnerable and beatable especially as a road team. There doesn't seem to be that team that the media would swear by. Mississippi? Who is going to hitch their star to a team led by Bo Wallace?...not that he isn't talented, it's just that so many of the others were over hyped that they all regarded better. Same for their teams. We are better than all on a given Saturday but I don't think we travel any better than the others.
I'm guessing we fall to tenth in the AP.

[dallaswareagle]

If the team that showed up yesterday shows up for anymore games we lose two maybe three more games.

Maybe more. 

Hopefully, like last year this loss gets their attention. 

[WiregrassTiger]

Apparently, we have sidelined the zone read and replaced it with the "hurry up and drop it". And, we are trying a somewhat unconventional approach by trying to compress the field will batted balls at the line of scrimmage, rather than stretch it.

My only criticism of coaching is that we should have put JJ in the first half, at some point. Probably after the first batted ball.

My criticism of playing is too much to delve into. But, I maintain that we cannot afford the number of drops that we continue to have and we need to throw to Sammy less often. He can't jump. We need to throw to Duke first and then have a somewhat even disbursement between Sammy, CJ, Bray and Ray.

Defense defended the pass better than I expected but the arm and push tackling was disappointing.

We sucked and they are good. The offensive PI is a poor excuse. We should beat them, even though I think we are close in talent.

Glad it's over and we still have a shot at getting in the playoffs if we win out. An outside shot at the SEC if they fail to continue on their apparent road to SEC destiny.

[dallaswareagle]

Apparently, we have sidelined the zone read and replaced it with the "hurry up and drop it". And, we are trying a somewhat unconventional approach by trying to compress the field will batted balls at the line of scrimmage, rather than stretch it.

My only criticism of coaching is that we should have put JJ in the first half, at some point. Probably after the first batted ball.

My criticism of playing is too much to delve into. But, I maintain that we cannot afford the number of drops that we continue to have and we need to throw to Sammy less often. He can't jump. We need to throw to Duke first and then have a somewhat even disbursement between Sammy, CJ, Bray and Ray.

Defense defended the pass better than I expected but the arm and push tackling was disappointing.

We sucked and they are good. The offensive PI is a poor excuse. We should beat them, even though I think we are close in talent.

Glad it's over and we still have a shot at getting in the playoffs if we win out. An outside shot at the SEC if they fail to continue on their apparent road to SEC destiny.

Maybe its just me but Duke looks uninterested and uninspired. On the touchdown catch coming off the field he just stood there while DC was hugging him. He has stickem hands and can go get anything thrown his way. He saved Nick a couple of times on some of his catches.   

[RWS]

Alabama

- Sucks.  Blows monkey dick. 

Yes.

- Even Alabama's defense looked bad.  If Arkansas had any semblance of a real quarterback, they win this game going away. 

Agree and disagree.  Held Arky to 89 rushing yards on 39 carries.  They average almost 300 yards per game.  Alabama's offense only had 3 drives that weren't three-and-outs.  At halftime I think Bama's time of possession was 10 minutes.  That's a tough situation to put your defense in.  Arky's QB was 21/40 for 246 yards 1TD 1INT.  The secondary has to get better, and Alabama has to develop a pass rush.  All in all, the defense is the only reason they won. 

Also, I will be very disappointed if Saban didn't make Bobby Williams (special teams coach) walk back to Tuscaloosa.  I have never seen a more inept special teams unit.  Ever.

[WiregrassTiger]

Maybe its just me but Duke looks uninterested and uninspired. On the touchdown catch coming off the field he just stood there while DC was hugging him. He has stickem hands and can go get anything thrown his way. He saved Nick a couple of times on some of his catches.

Maybe he is underpaid.

[AUownsU]

Jmo. What lost the game was 3rd down offense and defense in the in the 1st half and redzone offense and defense. Those were huge keys to the success we've had under Gus.

[CCTAU]

Maybe he is underpaid.

Maybe he is pissed that he only gets ball thrown to him that takes yoga moves to catch.

[djsimp]

I'm pissed, we are way better than that fucking team.  I'm not going to take away the fact that they are good, they are.  However, we should have won that game. 

Turnovers and the fucking refs, we beat ourselves. FUCK!

THIS!

Yes, giving up 14 points right off the bat hurt and put AU in the hole and yes the MSU is pretty good but holy cow, the refs were straight up putting the handcuffs on Auburns comeback. Three of the most obvious bs interference calls I have EVER SEEN!!!!!! It still makes freakin sick to my stomach.

[djsimp]

Bright side is, Auburn can still make it back into the playoff picture if W's come of the remaining games with two of those games being against bama and Ole Miss. Those victories will help a lot, but , Auburn will still need some help from some others losing. If the CFB season continues as is, there will not be one single undefeated team this year and if Auburn was to lose, the time was now and to a highly touted team like MSU. Auburn needs bama, MSU and Ole Miss to win all their games except Auburn.

Another thing, this loss may have also come at a good time to get the players AND coaches refocused on the end goal. It sucks though that it will be two weeks before Auburn gets the next victory but I suppose at bye week comes a good time.

[Pell City Tiger]

Bright side is, Auburn can still make it back into the playoff picture if W's come of the remaining games with two of those games being against bama and Ole Miss. Those victories will help a lot, but , Auburn will still need some help from some others losing. If the CFB season continues as is, there will not be one single undefeated team this year and if Auburn was to lose, the time was now and to a highly touted team like MSU. Auburn needs bama, MSU and Ole Miss to win all their games except Auburn.

Another thing, this loss may have also come at a good time to get the players AND coaches refocused on the end goal. It sucks though that it will be two weeks before Auburn gets the next victory but I suppose at bye week comes a good time.

Falling only to 6th in the AP is a good sign. I know these polls don't mean diddly squat now, but I expected Auburn to fall 3 or 4 more spots after thst bumfuckery of a performance yesterday.

Forced Sex U or Notre Dame fall Saturday, the Acbars and MSU will lose one, and Baylor generally shits the bed somewhere late.

If we win the rest, we're in. Realistically though, we have the possibility of up to 2 more losses on our schedule: Ole Miss and maybe UGA.

[jmar]

Apparently, we have sidelined the zone read and replaced it with the "hurry up and drop it". And, we are trying a somewhat unconventional approach by trying to compress the field will batted balls at the line of scrimmage, rather than stretch it.

My only criticism of coaching is that we should have put JJ in the first half, at some point. Probably after the first batted ball.

My criticism of playing is too much to delve into. But, I maintain that we cannot afford the number of drops that we continue to have and we need to throw to Sammy less often. He can't jump. We need to throw to Duke first and then have a somewhat even disbursement between Sammy, CJ, Bray and Ray.

Defense defended the pass better than I expected but the arm and push tackling was disappointing.

We sucked and they are good. The offensive PI is a poor excuse. We should beat them, even though I think we are close in talent.

Glad it's over and we still have a shot at getting in the playoffs if we win out. An outside shot at the SEC if they fail to continue on their apparent road to SEC destiny.

Sammy is still not 100% but is playing through an injury to his left leg (heard anything from a high
 ankle sprain to a minor knee injury) and still poses a deep threat although I'm guessing he can't plant or pivot well enough to sport that 44" freaky vertical just yet.
   

[djsimp]

Falling only to 6th in the AP is a good sign. I know these polls don't mean diddly squat now, but I expected Auburn to fall 3 or 4 more spots after thst bumfuckery of a performance yesterday.

Forced Sex U or Notre Dame fall Saturday, the Acbars and MSU will lose one, and Baylor generally shits the bed somewhere late.

If we win the rest, we're in. Realistically though, we have the possibility of up to 2 more losses on our schedule: Ole Miss and maybe UGA.

Yep. I hoping though that this loss and its effect on the AU players will be that of the same as last years loss to LSU. If it is, Auburn should be in shape.

[jmar]

Falling only to 6th in the AP is a good sign. I know these polls don't mean diddly squat now, but I expected Auburn to fall 3 or 4 more spots after thst bumfuckery of a performance yesterday.

Forced Sex U or Notre Dame fall Saturday, the Acbars and MSU will lose one, and Baylor generally shits the bed somewhere late.

If we win the rest, we're in. Realistically though, we have the possibility of up to 2 more losses on our schedule: Ole Miss and maybe UGA.

We can beat Ole Miss but we need State to be beaten twice which leaves us having to depend on the Turds and Bo to take them down where losing the heads up yesterday won't come into play. And naturally we must win out.

[dallaswareagle]

We can beat Ole Miss but we need State to be beaten twice which leaves us having to depend on the Turds and Bo to take them down where losing the heads up yesterday won't come into play. And naturally we must win out.

They are still Miss State, something tells me they start believing all their own hype and lose somewhere, Maybe the turds and Ole Piss. 

Tall order for this team to win out, but the bye week comes at a good time.   

[GH2001]

I haven't really seen much "sky is falling" posts around the web nor have I heard anyone say Auburn is out of it.  I have however heard a lot of "Miss State and Ole Miss are unstoppable" conversation, and I just want everyone to remember that 16 days ago, Miss State, Ole Miss, TCU, and Arizona were just some good teams that could make noise in their conferences.  On the flip side, 16 days ago, Georgia, Texas A&M, Oregon, and Alabama were all worthy of being ranked #1.  Oh and Kenny Hill had the Heisman in the bag. 

Point is, shit changes and shit changes quickly.  Especially as hype and momentum deteriorate throughout the grind of the season. 

Auburn

- We weren't as bad as we looked.  We started out crushing them on a great defensive 3 and out, and then proceeded to throw an interception.  They scored.  Then we got the ball back and went pretty much to the same play as before and Duke got popped and he fumbled the ball.  They scored. 

- But we were pretty bad.  When it was 14-0, I was still really optimistic.  Maybe even more so than when it was 0-0.  I had seen our defense play well already.  Duke Williams was wide fucking open on the first interception that was a tipped ball.  The second fumble was more of a fluke.  By the time it was 14-0, their stadium was rocking, their sidelines were dancing like morons, and Auburn still had 57 minutes of game time to put together a comeback. 

- And that's when the shit show happened.  Miss State goes up 21-0, and then we get FOUR FUCKING CHANCES IN THE FIRST HALF TO SCORE TOUCHDOWNS.  It wasn't even red zone opportunities, it was goal line opportunities.  We came away with 13 points.  I don't know what to criticize.  Play calling?  Not really.  Players executing?  Perhaps.  Offensive line?  Most likely.  I don't really know, but I do know that a Gus Malzahn offense with weapons all over the field has to figure out how to score touchdowns when it is less than ten yards from the endzone. 

- The game very easily could have been 28-21 at the half, but it wasn't.  Our team was off, mostly the center of our offensive line.  We had zero push and outside of a few rare breakaways, CAP was limited for most of the game. 

- I thought considering the dilemma our offense caused, the defense played well.  Miss State is a good team with a really good quarterback that can run.  I wouldn't have been upset if we gave up 24 points to them.  But our offense has to come away with more than 23 after having four red zone attempts in the first half alone.  And our offense can't gift them 14 points in the first three minutes of the game.

- I'm glad we have a bye-week.  Nothing is anywhere near over.  The only concern I have is that in our two away games this season, we've come out really flat.  Our three remaining away games are @Ole Miss, @Georgia, and @Alabama.  Ouch.

Miss State

- Could win the SEC West.  I don't really think they will.  But they could.

- Dak Prescott very well could win the Heisman.  He keeps breaking off on long runs in every game and hitting some nice passes, he'll win it.  But Cam Newton he is not.  I'm sorry Gary and anyone else making the comparison, he's good, but Cam was all-timer good.  Dak's going to have to do a lot more to get into the upper tier section of college football legends. 

- They were still Miss State.  Even though they had us by the throat, we were still in position to score 28 points in the first half.  The fake punt, the Dak interceptions, the muffed punt return - I still a lot of the same ole Miss State blunders from that team. 

- I don't think Miss State beats Ole Miss.  I think they could struggle with Kentucky.  But unfortunately, I don't know if I see them losing two games this season. 

Alabama

- Sucks.  Blows monkey dick. 

- Remember when I said Amari Cooper disappears every year?  To not count on him as a Heisman candidate?  He had 2 catches for 22 yards.  0 touchdowns. 

- Even Alabama's defense looked bad.  If Arkansas had any semblance of a real quarterback, they win this game going away. 

Ole Miss

- Land Sharks look legit.  Great tackling all around.  That's what I noticed most about them.  Texas A&M did some good things in the game, but Ole Miss was always right there to put them on the ground and put them on the ground hard.  Takes a tough team to compete against that.  Texas A&M is not tough.

Texas A&M

- Kenny Hill just isn't that great.  He's often inaccurate, makes ill-advised throws, and tries to do much with his legs.  With A&M's defense being Pac 12 worthy, he has to make sure he doesn't put them in a bad position, and often, he's putting them in a bad position. 

Baylor-TCU

- Basketball season starts next month, guys.  I think you forgot the rules to football.  You are allowed to tackle. 

College Football Playoff Implications

- I think we really get to bitch this week.  Alabama lost to Ole Miss @Ole Miss and dropped to #7.  Alabama has done nothing this year outside of looking good at home in the 2nd half against an absolutely terrible Florida team.  Where does Auburn drop? 

I imagine the top ten should look something like this:

1.  Florida State
2.  Miss State (because of hype)
3.  Ole Miss (should be #2)
4.  Baylor
5.  Notre Dame
6.  Auburn
7.  Michigan State
8.  Alabama
9.  Oklahoma
10.  Oregon

But I get the feeling it's going to look like this:

1.  Florida State
2.  Miss State
3.  Ole Miss
4.  Baylor
5.  Notre Dame
6.  Alabama (because they didn't lose)
7.  Michigan State (because their only loss is the almighty Oregon Ducks)
8.  Oklahoma (because they beat Texas in a rivalry game!1!1!!!)
9.  Oregon (the almighty mighty Ducks)
10.  Georgia (we knew they were great all along! and without Gurley!)
11.  Auburn

Actually agree with almost every word.

Except I think you gotta give MSU #1 by default. Why by default? Because FSU blows donkey balls. To me there isn't a real #1. Probably 2-3 #2's, 3-4 #3's and so forth.

But yeah, MSU has some chinks in the armor that I saw. Someone will trip them up. Maybe twice. They will not get the kind of gifts they were given yesterday in all of their future games. And without those gifts yesterday, they lose. At home.

[Saniflush]

We can beat Ole Miss but we need State to be beaten twice which leaves us having to depend on the Turds and Bo to take them down where losing the heads up yesterday won't come into play. And naturally we must win out.

Well that is to go to Atlanta, which may or may not happen.  We win out and we are in the playoff without going to Atlanta.

[The Six]

It was a pooch screw all the way. Week off to lick wounds, fix what can be fixed, and try to salvage something. Another loss and it's time to play the ones who will be here next year.