Thoughts: Week 1

[Snakebite]

My writing will win no awards, but I’ll give it my best shot since K is on a very temporary sabbatical from Auburn Football as we ascend back into a championship level program.

I’ll take a 59-14 win against anybody, whether they are scrubs or not. It is the expectation that a team like Auburn should drum inferior competition with minimal mistakes. That is exactly what we got Saturday night at Jordan-Hare. We lived up to the standard in game 1. A few cliff notes of what I saw:

1. Running the ball to set up play action passes downfield will have to be the formula/identity for the offense this year. That’s a known recipe for success historically and presently.

2. It felt nice to see an opposing defense on its heels again. It’s been a while since we haven’t been 1-dimensional. Defenses will respect Thorne’s arm and will hesitate to crowd the box (gonna crowd my wife’s box later)

3. Pass rush will not be the issue for our defense. It was cool to see the chaos caused and exotic looks Roberts defense showed in game 1. I am excited to see those facets of the game get even more disruptive as the playbook opens and as the linebackers hopefully improve.

4. Our special teams may be our most dangerous phase of the game. Battie and Scott are bad, bad men. Can’t wait to see what they do and how they affect outcomes of tight games we are in.

5. Defense tightened up, but I am concerned about how susceptible we are to the run. I truly think we have the talent there, but I noticed them running themselves out of plays and into blindside blocks often. They need to attack their gap assignments with cruel intentions. Praying to 6 lb, 8 oz baby Jesus that they figure it out and play faster.

All of the above has me feeling some type of way about where we are going as a program. We are extremely likely to drop 3-5 games this year, but I bet that we will be a score away from winning most of those losses. 

Anyone know when we get Hunter back?

[WiregrassTiger]

What Snake said. And I’m kind of regretting not renewing.

The OL looked above average for the first time since some of the good Gus years.

Overall, 180 from last year. No doubt against a poor team and difficult to gauge, at the same time, a dominant performance.

And I worry about run stop, too.

I’m not as rabid as I once was but I haven’t checked out like K. But the biggest thing to happen for AU football wasn’t on the field. There were 2 OL commits. You saw that right. TWO OL COMMITS. The number one IOL 6’4” 340 HS from California (WTF? 340 lbs in HS and California) and a ‘25 commit. A 4 star and 3 star if that matters to you.

That’s exciting no matter what the Californian identifies as.

[WiregrassTiger]

It’s all relative as they say but I just looked up Cal stats. 669 yds and 30 first downs is pretty damn skippy. North Texas, granted. Isn’t that TJ’s team?

Yeah, going across the country and having to deal with all of the stuff that comes with that is huge. Those of you who have traveled for work know. It’s difficult to explain but getting out of a routine can really fuck things up. Especially at that age.

I don’t expect an easy win if we do get one. An L wouldn’t shock me. Auburn has replaced roughly half of our starters.And that’s a great thing. But there has been very little time to come together.

I will be breaking down position groups and giving more in depth analysis on individual games but it will be on my paid site, in case any of you are interested.

I am considering having guests. I want to bring JMAR in to talk about potential cornerback conversations and if Kaos ever comes back to the football thread, we will delve further into Hugh Freeze and Jarquez raping of cheerleaders.

It’s going to be affordable. There will be additional content for subscribers whether you are a paid subscriber or a cheapskate one.

I’m inviting Token to give a seminar on what it’s like to go from being a hall monitor when in school  to being a narc and pig. He will talk about shooting unarmed black males and sometimes a white. But not very often.

He tells us why violating tax paying and law abiding citizens’ rights is good policing because it makes the citizenry afraid to go outside of their homes. This cuts way down on property crimes.

I will announce how to sign up for this, pretty soon.

[wesfau2]

Finley plays for TxSt... Who beat the fuck out of Baylor Saturday

[Buzz Killington]

Finley plays for TxSt... Who beat the fuck out of Baylor Saturday

The Armadillos?

[Kaos]

I didn't watch much, but I saw some here and there.  Was sick and slept through the AU game, but granted, I didn't know for sure when it was on anyway and since I ditched DirecTV in December I really had no idea where to watch it if I'd wanted to or been awake.   

Of what I saw and heard...

A Cautionary Tale
Bryan Hardcider opened his AU tenure with back-to-back 60-point efforts. Read nothing into week one cupcake feasts. Not here, not there, not anywhere.

Things That Are Ass
Florida. Florida is ass and Napier's seat just got warmer

Clemson. Clemson is ass. And it's hilarious

LSU. LSU is ass.  When your head coach goes on record saying the team is gonna beat the heck out of FSU that trickles down to the players.

Deion Sanders. Deion is ass. Yes his team won. Could have been a great story. All the bullshit coming from his mouth was unnecessary and ruined it. Not openly rooting for him to fail yet, but not far off. I won't hate it when somebody smacks the buffaloes back to reality.

Things That Are Not Ass
Former Auburn quarterbacks are not ass.
Bo Nix was 20-23 for 287 and 3TDs in the first half and one second half series at Oregon.

TJ Finley proved Kaos right by playing like he was always capable of playing leading Northern Eastern Texas State AT&T to a win over Baylor. Finley was 22-30 for 297 and three TDs. In the highlights I saw, he showed the arm Kaos told you he had. Given a gameplan that didn't require him awkwardly running around (or dodging defenders as soon as the snap reached him) Finley displayed a calm presence in the pocket. He was everything Kaos thought he was. Once again, right.   

Duke. Duke was not ass. I've never liked Dicknose Swinney and it was refreshing to watch him flounder as the Devils snatched that game away.

That's about it.

[CCTAU]

You are still wrong about Finley. Watch the highlights from the Baylor side. He’s still the same guy. He fumbles and throws balls that would be, and have been, intercepted by a competent defense.
I am happy for him, but he’s still the same guy. No thanks.

[WiregrassTiger]

I didn't watch much, but I saw some here and there.  Was sick and slept through the AU game, but granted, I didn't know for sure when it was on anyway and since I ditched DirecTV in December I really had no idea where to watch it if I'd wanted to or been awake.   

Of what I saw and heard...

A Cautionary Tale
Bryan Hardcider opened his AU tenure with back-to-back 60-point efforts. Read nothing into week one cupcake feasts. Not here, not there, not anywhere.

Things That Are Ass
Florida. Florida is ass and Napier's seat just got warmer

Clemson. Clemson is ass. And it's hilarious

LSU. LSU is ass.  When your head coach goes on record saying the team is gonna beat the heck out of FSU that trickles down to the players.

Deion Sanders. Deion is ass. Yes his team won. Could have been a great story. All the bullshit coming from his mouth was unnecessary and ruined it. Not openly rooting for him to fail yet, but not far off. I won't hate it when somebody smacks the buffaloes back to reality.

Things That Are Not Ass
Former Auburn quarterbacks are not ass.
Bo Nix was 20-23 for 287 and 3TDs in the first half and one second half series at Oregon.

TJ Finley proved Kaos right by playing like he was always capable of playing leading Northern Eastern Texas State AT&T to a win over Baylor. Finley was 22-30 for 297 and three TDs. In the highlights I saw, he showed the arm Kaos told you he had. Given a gameplan that didn't require him awkwardly running around (or dodging defenders as soon as the snap reached him) Finley displayed a calm presence in the pocket. He was everything Kaos thought he was. Once again, right.   

Duke. Duke was not ass. I've never liked Dicknose Swinney and it was refreshing to watch him flounder as the Devils snatched that game away.

That's about it.

In the not ass section, you should have mentioned Duke QB Riley Leonard who would definitely had been the AU qb the last two years had Gus offered. But, he was under the radar, I’ll admit. Even though he was the best HS qb I have ever personally witnessed. And athletic enough to have basketball offers. Never offered but I understand overtures from Lord Bruce. We’re talking numerous 30 point games in 7A. Killer looking shot, speed, dunking. The whole package.

Also, in the not ass part, is there a reason that you did not mention my posting?

[WiregrassTiger]

You are still wrong about Finley. Watch the highlights from the Baylor side. He’s still the same guy. He fumbles and throws balls that would be, and have been, intercepted by a competent defense.
I am happy for him, but he’s still the same guy. No thanks.

  He’s no Jeremy Johnson, that’s for sure.

[Snaggletiger]

Additional random thoughts.

As stated above, tough to take away much, other than Auburn did what it was supposed to do against a much, much less talented club. 

Thorne looked calm, cool, collected & poised.  That's about it.  Not very accurate, and any of you that were there, please correct me if I'm wrong.  But, he doesn't look to have a strong arm. It looked like every pass kind of floated.  Looked that way on TV, anyway.  The change up to Ashford was nice, but I sure don't want him throwing many passes either.

I'd love to see a number on how many guys got in the game.  They substituted early and often.  I had the roster pulled up all game just to see who some of these guys were.  Do Tyler Johnson, Griffin Speaks, Justin Jones and Champ Anthony ring a bell to anyone? They got Alston and Battie off the field after the first 2-3 series. 

Beth Mowinzh needs to use her mouth for what it was intended.  Eating pussy and calling girl's softball games.

We have Spectrum.  They will be receiving the return of 4 cable boxes tomorrow.  We won't have Spectrum anymore.

Never buy a steak from Publix.  I love me some Publix.  They know me by name, and people come to me to ask where certain items are.  Aisle 4, half way down on the right, second shelf from the bottom.  Do not axe me where the steaks are.  They consistently have the worst cuts of meat on the planet.  There are 2 places I normally get my cow from, but they are closed on Sundays, and sometimes, I get a hankerin' for a big steak.  I will settle for a hamburger from now on.

[wesfau2]

Thorne looked calm, cool, collected & poised.  That's about it.  Not very accurate, and any of you that were there, please correct me if I'm wrong. 

There were some throws that were obvious misreads by either the QB or WR.  Remember both of those guys have to make the same/correct read for the passing scheme to work.  It will get better with repetition.

[Snaggletiger]

ore random musings.

Clemson: Apparently ass.  Couldn't watch. Did I mention we have Spectrum? 

LSU: I said numerous times that this is the most overrated team in the nation. I picked FSU in that one, but for most of the first half, I thought I'd be eating my words.  LSU is more talented overall than I thought.  They've got some big time athletes, but so does FSU, and the Noles just got the momentum, and to their credit, took complete control in the second half.

Deion: Did that win surprise a lot of people, me included?  Yep.  But Jimminy Christmas, somebody stuff a sock in Prime's mouth.  The world is not against you. Every press conference and every interview doesn't have to be, "I told you so. We comin'! We comin'!" 

[GH2001]

I didn't watch much, but I saw some here and there.  Was sick and slept through the AU game, but granted, I didn't know for sure when it was on anyway and since I ditched DirecTV in December I really had no idea where to watch it if I'd wanted to or been awake.   

Of what I saw and heard...

A Cautionary Tale
Bryan Hardcider opened his AU tenure with back-to-back 60-point efforts. Read nothing into week one cupcake feasts. Not here, not there, not anywhere.

Things That Are Ass
Florida. Florida is ass and Napier's seat just got warmer

Clemson. Clemson is ass. And it's hilarious

LSU. LSU is ass.  When your head coach goes on record saying the team is gonna beat the heck out of FSU that trickles down to the players.

Deion Sanders. Deion is ass. Yes his team won. Could have been a great story. All the bullshit coming from his mouth was unnecessary and ruined it. Not openly rooting for him to fail yet, but not far off. I won't hate it when somebody smacks the buffaloes back to reality.

Things That Are Not Ass
Former Auburn quarterbacks are not ass.
Bo Nix was 20-23 for 287 and 3TDs in the first half and one second half series at Oregon.

TJ Finley proved Kaos right by playing like he was always capable of playing leading Northern Eastern Texas State AT&T to a win over Baylor. Finley was 22-30 for 297 and three TDs. In the highlights I saw, he showed the arm Kaos told you he had. Given a gameplan that didn't require him awkwardly running around (or dodging defenders as soon as the snap reached him) Finley displayed a calm presence in the pocket. He was everything Kaos thought he was. Once again, right.   

Duke. Duke was not ass. I've never liked Dicknose Swinney and it was refreshing to watch him flounder as the Devils snatched that game away.

That's about it.

Point number 1 is true but I do not see many Auburn fans doing too much chest beating or predicting based off of it. The national media certainly isn't. We won't know the extent of how decent this team is really until probably October. Auburn handled their business while staying mostly in base sets, emptied the bench, didn't look bad doing it and got out unscathed. That's fine by me.

Ive never hated Bo or TJ, and I don't begrudge any player getting out of toxic or dysfunctional situations (Bo-AU, TJ - AU/LSU) and getting their bearings straight somewhere else. Hope they both do well going forward.

[GH2001]

ore random musings.

Clemson: Apparently ass.  Couldn't watch. Did I mention we have Spectrum? 

LSU: I said numerous times that this is the most overrated team in the nation. I picked FSU in that one, but for most of the first half, I thought I'd be eating my words.  LSU is more talented overall than I thought.  They've got some big time athletes, but so does FSU, and the Noles just got the momentum, and to their credit, took complete control in the second half.

Deion: Did that win surprise a lot of people, me included?  Yep.  But Jimminy Christmas, somebody stuff a sock in Prime's mouth.  The world is not against you. Every press conference and every interview doesn't have to be, "I told you so. We comin'! We comin'!"

TCU's D is also of unwashed asshole and has been since the back 1/4 of last season. Go look - they are giving up nearly 50 a game since then. They are atrocious. I will be more impressed when Prime and his teacher's pet throw 40 on a team that usually gives up less than 25. What they did to TCU is par for the course for TCU the last 4-5 games. And this is now a TCU team without Max Duggan to bail them out.

[Snaggletiger]

There were some throws that were obvious misreads by either the QB or WR.  Remember both of those guys have to make the same/correct read for the passing scheme to work.  It will get better with repitition.

I hope so.  I'm not dogging Thorne here.  Happy as hell to have a signal caller with this much experience.  But, the reality is, after Saturday, he's a 59.5% career passer. 

[wesfau2]

Deion: Did that win surprise a lot of people, me included?  Yep.  But Jimminy Christmas, somebody stuff a sock in Prime's mouth.  The world is not against you. Every press conference and every interview doesn't have to be, "I told you so. We comin'! We comin'!"

Been a while since we had a CFB villain like him.  Not since Spurrier's heyday.  I'm here for it.

[Snakebite]

Additional random thoughts.

As stated above, tough to take away much, other than Auburn did what it was supposed to do against a much, much less talented club. 

Thorne looked calm, cool, collected & poised.  That's about it.  Not very accurate, and any of you that were there, please correct me if I'm wrong.  But, he doesn't look to have a strong arm. It looked like every pass kind of floated.  Looked that way on TV, anyway.  The change up to Ashford was nice, but I sure don't want him throwing many passes either.

I'd love to see a number on how many guys got in the game.  They substituted early and often.  I had the roster pulled up all game just to see who some of these guys were.  Do Tyler Johnson, Griffin Speaks, Justin Jones and Champ Anthony ring a bell to anyone? They got Alston and Battie off the field after the first 2-3 series. 

Beth Mowinzh needs to use her mouth for what it was intended.  Eating pussy and calling girl's softball games.

We have Spectrum.  They will be receiving the return of 4 cable boxes tomorrow.  We won't have Spectrum anymore.

Never buy a steak from Publix.  I love me some Publix.  They know me by name, and people come to me to ask where certain items are.  Aisle 4, half way down on the right, second shelf from the bottom.  Do not axe me where the steaks are.  They consistently have the worst cuts of meat on the planet.  There are 2 places I normally get my cow from, but they are closed on Sundays, and sometimes, I get a hankerin' for a big steak.  I will settle for a hamburger from now on.

You should visit Carmacks in Macon County next time you're this way.  Some of the best ribeye's I've ever gotten have been from that tiny grocery store.

[Snaggletiger]

You should visit Carmacks in Macon County next time you're this way.  Some of the best ribeye's I've ever gotten have been from that tiny grocery store.

Will have to check it out.  Isn't there a bus, or some such up that way, that they sell the meats out of?  I've heard folks talk about it.

[Snakebite]

Will have to check it out.  Isn't there a bus, or some such up that way, that they sell the meats out of?  I've heard folks talk about it.

There's a place over by the old Eastdale Mall that I think might be selling steaks out of a bus for cheap.  I'm too uppity for that shit.

[Kaos]

Point number 1 is true but I do not see many Auburn fans doing too much chest beating or predicting based off of it. The national media certainly isn't. We won't know the extent of how decent this team is really until probably October. Auburn handled their business while staying mostly in base sets, emptied the bench, didn't look bad doing it and got out unscathed. That's fine by me.

Ive never hated Bo or TJ, and I don't begrudge any player getting out of toxic or dysfunctional situations (Bo-AU, TJ - AU/LSU) and getting their bearings straight somewhere else. Hope they both do well going forward.

To point 1? That wasn’t directed at AU necessarily.  More to ole piss, arky, A&M, State, UA, UT. Their collective fanbases have seen all they need to see.  Milkweed is the next Heisman winner.  The Petrino experiment is an undefeated success.  Hooker should have been second string.  Kiffin is focused, sec furked.  They are all going 11-1 at worst, just being realistic.