The Last Ten Years of Auburn Football

[Kaos]

Which directly segues into:
We're not allowed to say anymore that anything is pretty ok. It's gotta be sunshine & roses or Chernobyl.

You see, this is where I disagree.  I've been in the pretty okay boat. I was pretty okay with Tuberville, honestly. 

It's my current opinion, however, that we're pretty close to Chernobyl at the moment.  Yes, we're going to the Sugar Bowl (maybe) so huzzah!  But the reactor is leaking, the temperature in the core is spiking and the alarm sirens are sounding deep within the plant. 

I don't think we can or should be happy that 80% of the customers still get power from our nuclear plant, or that the radioactive sewage seeping into the ground hasn't yet killed any toddlers, or that we should be grateful that the Soviet Nuclear Regulatory Agency just gave us its second highest rating and a grudging thumbs up only because all the other reactors in Mother Russia melted down. 

The problems that the football program has right now go beyond a hurt shoulder and a strained quad. 

There's a systemic failure to identify and prepare a decent quarterback.   It's not just two games this season or "at times."   It's Kahlouli Frazier, Jeremy Johnson, Turtle Moseley, Barrett Trotter (who got so pissed off at the way things were being handled that he left the damn program), Kodi Burns, Jonathan Wallace, Franklin XIV....   

There's the constant ridiculous pre-season "who's going to be the starter" drama every single year.  He had a football GOD in Cam and couldn't even settle on him at the start. 

I know it's an unfair comparison, but look across the state.  They've had Douche McTattoo who was fairly decent, Blake Sims (who would have been third string even at LSU), Proactiv Coker and now this tom turkey.  None of those guys are very good. Their production is, though.  Their preparation is.  Their composure is.  And yes, I understand the surrounding mechanisms there are different, but still. 

If Auburn was devoid of talent and in a building mode, sure.  I'd be happy with 8-4 and a backed-into Sugar Bowl.  I'd see the potential on the horizon. 

Unfortunately what I see in our future is more of the same.  More baffling personnel decisions. More bizarre offensive (and I do mean offensive) displays.  More indecision. More waffling. More excuses about being young. More finger pointing. More flailing around trying to figure out what works.  More learning on the job while drawing $4 million plus. 

I'm sorry, but any one of us on this board could have taken the talent at Auburn this season with this schedule (while leaving Steele alone to run the defense) and won eight games.  In those games where we needed something from the coaching staff.... we got the whirly bird, the double reverse twist, idiotic formations and fullbacks throwing passes. 

I don't know what the answer is, I really don't.  I just know this isn't it. 

[AUChizad]

The "final destination" may be decent, but it's not acquired because of any greatness or approaching greatness on our part.  It will be attained (if it actually is) through the collapse and ruin of other programs around us.  We don't "deserve" a Sugar Bowl bid and in any other season we wouldn't be within snorting distance of it.  The potential invitation is a product of there being even shittier other options.  IMO, that isn't something to celebrate.

The only definition of "good" or "bad" in college football is in relation to everyone else. It's a game that is played between two teams in 12 different combinations per team plus the postseason. If everyone else in the conference team is shit, well then fine by me, that makes us King Shit.

I'm not celebrating, I'm just saying the utter meltdown I've seen from Auburn fans across the board because we're ONLY the 2nd best team in the SEC is embarrassing.

[Kaos]

The only definition of "good" or "bad" in college football is in relation to everyone else. It's a game that is played between two teams in 12 different combinations per team plus the postseason. If everyone else in the conference team is shit, well then fine by me, that makes us King Shit.

I'm not celebrating, I'm just saying the utter meltdown I've seen from Auburn fans across the board because we're ONLY the 2nd best team in the SEC is embarrassing.

I disagree with your first statement wholeheartedly and completely.  I take the golf approach.  You compete only with yourself.  Are you playing as well as you can?  Are you getting the most out of the weapons you have.  Is there something you can or should do better?  While winning is obviously the goal, the biggest thing for me is whether we are taking the players we have and making them better than they should be -- or at least giving them the best opportunity to thrive. 

On the golf course you are competing against yourself only.  Every shot, every decision is yours. Some days you're going to be out there against players who are simply better than you are.  And that's fine. I can live with that. 

That's not what we're doing. 

So... the reaction?  It's not embarrassing in any way. 

It's JUSTIFIED.

It's justified for all the reasons I listed above.  It's justified because although we're better on defense and statistically (allegedly) better on offense we still exhibit the same awful tendencies we have every year under Malzahn.  2010 covered a lot of flaws, but if you look back even those games showed a lot of the same strange behaviors. 

The only exception is 2013.  He had Marshall. He had Tre (when he finally figured out Tre was the man and quit fiddle farting around after getting bitch slapped at LSU).  He rode those two like the horses they were and didn't outthink himself.  Every other year has been a carnival of some kind.

It's a completely rational and justified reaction to the buffoonery of Clemson, A&M and Georgia.  It's a completely rational and justified reaction to having no game plan at all for Alabama. None.

[CCTAU]

Football is not golf....

[Townhallsavoy]

K is killing it in this thread.

I really don't know how anyone can look at 2016 as a whole and combine it with what's occurred with Gus since he arrived and believe the program is on the track it should be on.

We have zero impressive wins this year. Too many embarrassing losses. A whole lot to worry about.

[CCTAU]

We have zero impressive wins this year.

This is why there is no constructive discussion.

[Kaos]

K is killing it in this thread.

I really don't know how anyone can look at 2016 as a whole and combine it with what's occurred with Gus since he arrived and believe the program is on the track it should be on.

We have zero impressive wins this year. Too many embarrassing losses. A whole lot to worry about.

Clubbing Arkansas and Mississippi State like they were baby seals was impressive. I'll grant Gus that.  It was also indicative of what this team should be capable of and a clear illustration of why he isn't getting things done.  Those few games are exactly why so much of what we see from this staff is deeply troubling.  In those games, and even against Ole Miss, the team executed cleanly, looked prepared and, quite honestly, looked significantly better across the board than our cross state rivals. 

We all -- rightly at the time -- bought into the idea that our coaching staff could unscrew its head from its own ass, learn from its mistakes, improve from week to week and deliver on the potential that's there.  Well oooops.  No. 

Under no circumstances should a team be so dependent on a QB who wasn't the opening game starter and a back who was a pre-season afterthought that the offense cannot generate a single damned first down against a Georgia team that is as weak as it's been in years.  Not when that same team dragged Arkansas all over the field. 

I don't know if it's psychological on the part of the coaching staff or the players or what, but it's not acceptable to be one and then the other over the span of a few weeks.   It's not acceptable to whiz, wham and pirouette for four quarters against Clemson, come out and truck Arky and then look like a drunk monkey trying to finger bang a bowling ball against UGA. 

Yay Sugar Bowl!  But that doesn't minimize the alarming cracks in the foundation.   

Show me where a Malzahn coached Auburn team (other than 2010 and maybe 2013) was better at the end of the season than it was at the beginning.  Show me where when talent was equal and it came down to coaching where we've succeeded?  I know there are examples, but the overall trend isn't good.

[AUChizad]

This is a bizarro world where I'm aligned with CCTAU against Townhallsavoy.

We had a solid month and a half of playing "good golf" as it were. Starting with beating LSU, dominating ULM as we should, beating the pants off of MSU, dominating Arkansas even more than ULM, and making Ole Miss our bitch. Then the Vandy game happened and the wheels started to fall off. But why did that happen? Because of injury. The consequences of that carried over into the UGA game and, well, shit happened.

I understand that things are off. I understand that there are legitimate grievances. But to just say "Well, 13 teams in the SEC are having a down year, so Auburn's success against them is null and void" is lunacy. What are those other 12 teams? Do you think they'd trade places with us?

Your one and only measuring stick is Bama. Until Saban chokes on a dick and dies, you're going to be perpetually disappointed.

[AUChizad]

I don't know if it's psychological on the part of the coaching staff or the players or what, but it's not acceptable to be one and then the other over the span of a few weeks.   It's not acceptable to whiz, wham and pirouette for four quarters against Clemson, come out and truck Arky and then look like a drunk monkey trying to finger bang a bowling ball against UGA.

It was physical. Guys got hurt. Key figures in our offense. This is not a secret. It's as simple as that. 

Show me where a Malzahn coached Auburn team (other than 2010 and maybe 2013) was better at the end of the season than it was at the beginning.  Show me where when talent was equal and it came down to coaching where we've succeeded?  I know there are examples, but the overall trend isn't good.

Barring injury, this one. After the A&M loss we had people similarly distraught. Two of our four losses are in the 4 team playoff. Yeah, I agree we probably could and should have beat Clemson. I was frustrated with that game plan as well. The UGA game was terrible and one of the worst halves of football I've ever seen. But there's an excuse, in my mind for the putrid offense. Our two MOST IMPORTANT offensive players were BOTH injured. Pettway not even dressing out compacted our reliance on the pass, which hobbled White even more. It sucks and I'm not happy about it, but it is what it is. Honestly the A&M game is the only one I got nothin for. Other than shit happens and upsets happen all the time in the SEC.

[CCTAU]

This is a bizarro world where I'm aligned with CCTAU against Townhallsavoy.

We had a solid month and a half of playing "good golf" as it were. Starting with beating LSU, dominating ULM as we should, beating the pants off of MSU, dominating Arkansas even more than ULM, and making Ole Miss our bitch. Then the Vandy game happened and the wheels started to fall off. But why did that happen? Because of injury. The consequences of that carried over into the UGA game and, well, shit happened.

I understand that things are off. I understand that there are legitimate grievances. But to just say "Well, 13 teams in the SEC are having a down year, so Auburn's success against them is null and void" is lunacy. What are those other 12 teams? Do you think they'd trade places with us?

Your one and only measuring stick is Bama. Until Saban chokes on a dick and dies, you're going to be perpetually disappointed.

God help us, I was thinking the same...

I see where they are coming from, but that impressive stretch alone did not show how bad the other SEC teams were. It showed how good we could be.

People look at SW and see a slow ass White boy that is not NM or Cam and never will be.

But HE was the difference. He and Pettway created an unstoppable O. They both LED the SEC in categories. That is HARD! There are not many teams in America that can lose an SEC leading QB and replace them with a backup.
The issue here is that Gus and company were too damn stupid to see what SW was and gave everyone the impression that the backups were just as good. THEY WERE NOT!
You do not lead the SEC in efficiency and be just, MEH!
So when he got hurt, we were all led to believe that the three way race was so close. I'm not sure who is more stupid for believing that, us or Gus!

But. WE are finally back to defense, which is NOT Gus' thing. We are so close on offense that its silly. If Gus cannot succeed next season with what we got, he never will. Unless he goes JUCO for another savior.

[djsimp]

I'd rather watch my Auburn team play in the Sugar Bowl rather than the Birmingham Bowl. Just sayin'. I think we are all on the same page, however, that there are some problems that just aren't lining up with the solutions under Gus for whatever reason. Annnnnd, its frustrating as hell to watch.

[jmar]

I don't recall Auburn ever being rewarded by default but that's what this feels like.

Losing in that manner to Georgia is one of the most crushing defeats I've ever experienced in 48 years as an Auburn fan.

I view any sunshine pumping as patronizing. Might as well come from a shithead Alabama fan.

[AUChizad]

 
Barring injury, this one. After the A&M loss we had people similarly distraught. Two of our four losses are in the 4 team playoff. Yeah, I agree we probably could and should have beat Clemson. I was frustrated with that game plan as well. The UGA game was terrible and one of the worst halves of football I've ever seen. But there's an excuse, in my mind for the putrid offense. Our two MOST IMPORTANT offensive players were BOTH injured. Pettway not even dressing out compacted our reliance on the pass, which hobbled White even more. It sucks and I'm not happy about it, but it is what it is. Honestly the A&M game is the only one I got nothin for. Other than shit happens and upsets happen all the time in the SEC.

To elaborate on this one more, what do you think 2010, the pennacle of Auburn football, would have been like if Cam and Dyer BOTH got hurt? It would look a lot like this.

[Godfather]

The only definition of "good" or "bad" in college football is in relation to everyone else. It's a game that is played between two teams in 12 different combinations per team plus the postseason. If everyone else in the conference team is shit, well then fine by me, that makes us King Shit.

I'm not celebrating, I'm just saying the utter meltdown I've seen from Auburn fans across the board because we're ONLY the 2nd best team in the SEC is embarrassing.

You sorta had me until this ^^^   Isn't this like winning the Life Award?

[Godfather]

God help us, I was thinking the same...

I see where they are coming from, but that impressive stretch alone did not show how bad the other SEC teams were. It showed how good we could be.

People look at SW and see a slow ass White boy that is not NM or Cam and never will be.

But HE was the difference. He and Pettway created an unstoppable O. They both LED the SEC in categories. That is HARD! There are not many teams in America that can lose an SEC leading QB and replace them with a backup.
The issue here is that Gus and company were too damn stupid to see what SW was and gave everyone the impression that the backups were just as good. THEY WERE NOT!
You do not lead the SEC in efficiency and be just, MEH!
So when he got hurt, we were all led to believe that the three way race was so close. I'm not sure who is more stupid for believing that, us or Gus!

But. WE are finally back to defense, which is NOT Gus' thing. We are so close on offense that its silly. If Gus cannot succeed next season with what we got, he never will. Unless he goes JUCO for another savior.

Troof^^^ I still don't understand the constant Sean White bashing from Auburn fans.  Is he Cam Newton...no. But fuck he was leading our team and our offense.  To me he was more crucial of a loss than Pettway was. 

Kaos you mentioned the QB's from bammer as being not all that great, but what have all of them done?  They fucking win, one way or the other they lead their team.  Sean leads this team.

I will also add to the backup theory, and I'm not defending Gus. Lord knows that I am as pissed at him for his mind boggling coaching this season.  But everyone was pissed that we lost to bammer based on Gus's game plan...and yes it did suck, and his lack of not having a backup QB.  However, I just don't believe that everyone has a backup QB waiting to come in and rescue the game (except when they are playing us) .  Players are back-ups for a reason, because if they were good enough to be starting they would be.   Look at Mr. Fragile himself Romo,  until this year the backups Dallas had were abysmal and this is the NFL. 

[jmar]

I disagree with anyone that thinks we SHOULD have beaten Clemson.
Mike Williams is STILL catching passes against us.
Think Fred Talley.

Total lack of preparation was the story in the Texas A&M game. We helped boost them to that lofty rating.

[jmar]

No reason to bash White. He came to Auburn expecting better.

He should expect better.

[Kaos]

Troof^^^ I still don't understand the constant Sean White bashing from Auburn fans.  Is he Cam Newton...no. But fuck he was leading our team and our offense.  To me he was more crucial of a loss than Pettway was. 

Kaos you mentioned the QB's from bammer as being not all that great, but what have all of them done?  They fucking win, one way or the other they lead their team.  Sean leads this team.

I will also add to the backup theory, and I'm not defending Gus. Lord knows that I am as pissed at him for his mind boggling coaching this season.  But everyone was pissed that we lost to bammer based on Gus's game plan...and yes it did suck, and his lack of not having a backup QB.  However, I just don't believe that everyone has a backup QB waiting to come in and rescue the game (except when they are playing us) .  Players are back-ups for a reason, because if they were good enough to be starting they would be.   Look at Mr. Fragile himself Romo,  until this year the backups Dallas had were abysmal and this is the NFL.

I'm not bashing Sean. 

I'm bashing the cluster fuck coaching decisions that cause him to bounce around as second team or a backup option while we run dipsy hoople plays with JFIX*YV and a fullback and Jeremy Johnson.  I'm bashing the lack of vision in a coaching staff that couldn't decide between Sean and Jeremy or between Cam and Kodi or between Trotter and Turtlesley.  I'm bashing a coaching staff that doesn't have anybody prepared to step into the role. 

I've watched a lot of college football in my days.  I've NEVER seen a team this dysfunctional at the quarterback position.  I've never, ever, ever seen one that could not find a single backup able to complete a pass to generate a first down.  I've never seen one that had no options whatsoever beyond the one that was forced on them three games into the season when they clearly wanted to do something else.  And then when that guy got beaten up and couldn't go 100%, that didn't have the first clue what to do so he could recover. 

It's not about Sean not being good enough, it's about a coaching staff that isn't providing him the best chance to succeed -- and not having a clue what to do when he struggles. 

[jmar]

Check the defenses of the  Dallas opponents. Save for Washington every fucking secondary is miserably BAD.
Romo likely throws to the same receivers running uncovered. Best overall team, best play calling possible for Dak and Zeke. Hate 'em but have to respect what they've accomplished so far.

[Godfather]

I'm not bashing Sean. 

I wasn't actually referring to you. 

I agree with a lot of what you are saying as well.  I'm not happy about how we got into the Sugar Bowl either, but honestly it really doesn't matter anymore.  The 4 team playoff has made the bowls including the Sugar pointless.  We get a better slot at primetime so hopefully it will help our recruiting, but outside of that it's pointless.  Whether we had gone to Capital One or Outback or even Music City they are all the same.

I think Gus is absolutely in over his head.  This year even more than last year he has shown me that he is a High School football coach.  In all of the games we have lost this year (save for maybe bama) I 100% blame coaching.  Like you said earlier I had hoped he had learned a lesson and was finally moving forward after handing the reigns to Lashlee, but the same issues creep up year after year.  IMO he isn't our future coach, which sucks because even though I didn't like his hire, I really wanted him to be.