Auburn
- I was wrong in my guarantees thread about Jeremy Johnson. I expected a sluggish start: one that would not make him look like a Heisman contender and one that would cause the most cynical of Auburn fans to question his ability to start. Instead, Johnson's performance was rather abysmal if I'm honest.
- I'm finally getting to the point where I feel like I can see the trends in football. After 13 years of watching not just Auburn football but mostly all of college football, I've learned that if a team or player looks a certain way, they mostly likely are that way. While I'm not going to hitch a ride on the doom and gloom train, I do think it's safe for me to say that Jeremy Johnson is going to be a hindrance to this team.
- He threw three horrific interceptions and nearly a fourth that may have put the game in jeopardy. Even some of his completions and good plays were clunky, such as the wheel route to Barber. He lacked a good rhythm and sometimes looked downright lost out there. That's not to say that he's Kiehl Frazier Part 2, and while I do think he will improve as I said in the guarantees thread, I don't think he will be anywhere near on the level of Newton or Marshall. Chris Todd, maybe. Trotter/Moseley, perhaps in a worst case scenario.
- But to those who think this was just first game jitters, I can't say I agree. Bad play calling? No. Being in Atlanta and the quality of the opponent? Don't think so. Too many examples over the last 13 years of players starting a certain way and finishing that way.
- But there are a LOT of positives about this team, at least based on the first game. Defense looked a lot better, especially with Lawson and Mathews out there (We ask for healing, Jesus. We ask for healing). Even though the 2nd half was questionable, I do credit that freshman quarterback from Louisville. Once he got comfortable in his legs, he was by far the most gifted athlete on the field. Our defense had a few good plays where their offense was stifled, but the QB just juked around and turned it into something positive.
- Open field tackling for the most part was much better than I've seen in a long time. The defensive line was disruptive. The secondary seemed to be in better position. I don't think they hit any deep balls on us. I think the defense wore out in the 2nd half primarily because our offense put them in a tight spot with the turnovers.
- Speaking of disruptive defensive lines, the refs were atrocious in this game. For one, did they really call a penalty on one of our coaches for cussing? Do they think this is pee wee football? Two, we had what, four holding calls on our offense? I watched our defensive line continuously blow threw the line of scrimmage only to have a gloved fist drag a wad of jersey. If the refs are going to be flag happy with the holding, they could at least call the game fairly.
- Running game looked like it usually does in the 1st game. Barber was impressive as a "get 5-6 yards" back, but I'm not sure I saw much big play potential. Roc Thomas's spin move is going to get him killed one day. Hopefully his injury heals up quickly so he can get back out by the 19th.
- All in all, I saw the potential for a 9 win team. If Johnson can cut out the mistakes, maybe we can make a run. I have to remind myself though that 2010 and 2013 both started out slowly. We were struggling with a .500 Clemson team in 2010. Won 31-24 against Washington State with a rather lackluster game from Marshall in 2013. If Johnson had the legs of Newton and Marshall, I'd be less worried. Right now, I'm thinking Malzahn is in the film room thinking of ways to mask Johnson's weaknesses, which isn't a good thing to have in your quarterback.
Agree with all for the most part. Again, my "didn't see much encouraging" comment was a short (but still accurate as to my thoughts) comment on what I personally observed. You seem to have seen it the way I did. JJ will not even challenge for the Hypeman. As a team it's not "sky falling" but it's not a championship level start either. Whether JJ can become a QB that "just doesn't get us beat", or not remains to be seen. We turn the ball over 3 times vs LSU and the like, we'll get hammered. On that note, I fully believe that Gus wanted to be a little more dropback pass oriented this year. I want to believe in him and Lashlee to get the ship righted by "reverting" to what he's done in the past, and what I think I noticed in the second half. More gap/power run schemes, with PAP and less complicated reads/progressions. Our RBs were a bright spot. Maybe sprinkle more option run game for JJ who I think is more than athletic enough to provide something teams have to prepare for in a running QB.
Defense? Looked improved, but how could they look anything but? Still not, from what I saw, going to take games over but they are capable of making some plays and getting some stops. DL is pretty damn good but Lawson out creates a big dropoff.
I had heard about JJ being a Hypeman contender in some folk's predictions, and I told my friend right before the game that was a bad omen. After Game 1, it seems I was right. Those blaming anything other horrifically poor decisions by JJ are willfully blind. Can he get better? Sure. I think he's talented and smart. Were the bad decisions something that will haunt him, or does he forget easily? Is he prone to learn from his mistakes or repeat them? We will see.
I didn't see much encouraging. I didn't see the sky falling either. With what would be to my mind, normal improvement for a team starting this way, this is a 9 win team. They could do worse with some bad breaks, injuries, team dissent or apathy. Could it go like 2013 and be a surprise? It could do that too. I doubt it. (I doubted in 13 too, so I'm sticking with my doubts in the hope of being wrong again)
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