Auburn vs. Miss. St. In Game Thread

[The Prowler]

I watched several other games today. 

I saw a lot of bad football teams (FSU, Miami, SCar, Mizzou, Texas, OU) but the guys playing offense on all those teams looked like football players.  We have one, maybe two, on offense who look like they have any clue.  I can't speak for the receivers at all because none of them look like they've been coached to do a single damn thing.  But Boobie Miles has the potential to be a good back.  Beyond that?  Who the hell knows. 

I saw a kid come off the bench at South Carolina, stand in the pocket, make throws in the middle of the field. I saw him read the field, make the throws. I saw him play with guts and heart and lead his team to a win. 

I saw an overmatched Texas team suck its guts up and take down Oklahoma.

I saw a Miami team that was down 27-7 with five minutes left in the third, but it kept grinding because the coaching staff there appeared to have a motherfucking clue. 

This football program is SQUANDERING some of the best talent this program has ever had.  Against my better judgment I ended up watching a good bit of the clusterfuck in shitsville and it was as sickening as anything I've ever seen. 

Our offensive coaching staff is straight up amateur hour.  Kodi Burns -- nice kid, but show me his resume -- is fucking co-offensive coordinator.  I like Kodi, but what the hell?  He was never a receiver (except in name) and our entire passing game is abysmal.  They're not idiots.  The gameplans they devised last season against UGA and UA were good (but they had Kerryon).

Stidham has gone backward.  Name a single quarterback (other than Nick Marshall) who has improved in this one-note offense.  Stidham is ruined.  He's waddling, turtling damaged goods.  The next time he makes a second read will be the first time he makes one.  But who the fuck is behind him? 

I watched part of Bama's game and admit to being a little underwhelmed by Tullahoma Tortinelli because most of his throws went to receivers who had nobody near them.  "Those are easy," I said to myself.  And then I watched Stidham overthrow -- by a lot -- receivers who had multiple steps on the DBs and one who was so open the camera panned back and there was nobody within 30 yards.  Nobody. within. 30. yards. And Stidham airmailed the ball so far out of range that you couldn't even see it come down.  I knew at that moment we were screwed. 

I know we're stuck with that fucking fool's gold Gus. 

I love Auburn, but he makes it really, really hard for me to care. 

I love Auburn, I don't care about Auburn football for the time being, it'll likely be that way until we get a new HC.

[Jumbo]

Gus has taken joy out of football for me. I can’t believe we gave that no talent ass clown a fucking 7 year deal. We look like a monkey fucking a football all night long. I’m also ready for Rod & Stan to go, they bitch and complain the entire fucking game.

[The Prowler]

Gus has taken joy out of football for me. I can’t believe we gave that no talent ass clown a fucking 7 year deal. We look like a monkey fucking a football all night long. I’m also ready for Rod & Stan to go, they bitch and complain the entire fucking game.

Listening to Rod & Stan, the Referees beats Auburn 28-0 every game.

[The Six]

We have no plan on offense. Nothing beyond what any other high school coach schemes. Three straight games less than 100 yards rushing. That's not rhythm. That's not playcalling. That's guys not executing because they aren't taught what to do. 

I fear we are gonna give Jeremy PruittSaban his signature win next week. 11 am kick off. Coming off a loss. Apathy setting in - you can see it. Defense was on the field for 40 damn minutes. Against a one-dimensional team that will finish 7-5 at best. 

[GH2001]

Listening to Rod & Stan, the Referees beats Auburn 28-0 every game.

And that’s homerism horseshit. Penalties and calls get magnified when you already suck and are digging your own grave. We lost because we fuckin sucked. The calls were secondary. End of story. 

[The Six]

We are an average program that caught magic four times in the last 30 years (93, 04, 10, 13). And the hope to catch that magic again fuels an impossible set of expectations which make watching this like riding a rollercoaster backwards in the rain.

[Kaos]

From USA Today: 

Leath is the president at Auburn, but for most fans of the football program he is better known as the guy who gave Gus Malzahn a seven-year, $49 million contract — the vast majority of it guaranteed — to prevent his coach from going to Arkansas for a comparable silly money type offer. 

From the moment that deal was signed, however, it was easy to guess what was coming. While Malzahn is a good college football coach, he’s not been a consistently great one nor has he demonstrated a unique ability to lift Auburn above its historical norm. And while Malzahn has beaten Nick Saban twice — which is absolutely worth something — what happened last November was clearly more of a hot streak than a trajectory. 

By giving Malzahn that contract, however, Leath concluded not just that Malzahn was doing good work at Auburn but that he was doing irreplaceable work — a notion that was doomed right away and won’t be remedied anytime soon. 

While it’s possible there will be better days at some point in this long slog of a seven-year deal, the roller coaster is heading downward again after Auburn’s 23-9 loss to Mississippi State, dropping the Tigers to 4-2 and basically out of contention for the national and SEC titles in a year they started in the top 10. The offense — Malzahn’s baby — is 64th nationally in rushing offense, 99th in passing and 93rd in red zone conversions. In other words, it’s a mess. 

Unless the Tigers catch fire again or find another running back like Kerryon Johnson who can mask deficiencies with the offensive line, Auburn is probably headed for seven wins. In any other year, that might put Malzahn on the hot seat. This time, it just means Auburn is No. 1 in the Misery Index, a weekly measurement of knee-jerk reactions based on what each fan base just watched. 

[Kaos]

Listening to Rod & Stan, the Referees beats Auburn 28-0 every game.

What else are they going to talk about?  

The offense is offensive.  It's hideous. 
A slow, cro-magnon hillbilly was running right up the middle time after time. 
Special teams was special and not in the good way.  
We kicked field goals. Some. Whoopee shit.  

We got screwed when they handed State a touchdown at the end of the first half.  He didn't make it in and a drunken sorority girl would have seen that on the replay.  We got screwed again when Whitlow was two yards over the line before the ball came out.  A dead Canadian could have figured that out. On that slow ass hillbilly's last run, you can clearly see the State OL wrap both hands around a guy in a bear hug and tackle him to the ground.  Not called.  They would have scored anyway on that drive probably. 

Still, take away seven from them, add seven to us for the screwed up TDs and it's a different story. An unbelievably sucky story, but different nonetheless.  

I don't know what else you expect them to say when we are crapping all over the bed.  

[djsimp]

I had this uneasy feeling in my gut all day yesterday when the thought of the game crossed my mind. Almost like I knew Auburn would make another mediocre QB take a Heisman pose. Almost like I knew our offense, well would be offensive like K said. The is embarrassing to say the least. After the first two drives for AU, I stopped watching. My wife couldnt believe it. I try to be that optimistic guy/fan but I couldnt do it anymore. Its like emotional torture. I turned back on later to see Auburn looking like a bigger pile of shit and turned it right back off. So, I went and fixed a heavy drink and went to sleep shortly after. Now, with all that being said, I would bet that a large percentage of Auburn fans had a similar Saturday night. You know what, its gonna get worse and that may very well be the blessing in disguise. We need Gus to be gone and if it takes Auburn losing the remainder, then so be it. I wont be watching anyway. Until the Auburn shotcallers take a stand and correct the problem, I will not step foot back in Jordan Hare. I feel like I need to go to therapy.

[Kaos]

When I want to get a sense of just how spectacularly bad it is?  I go to AUFamily and check the topics.  It's the only time I ever bother going to that unicorn factory.  

If it's sort of bad there are a panty load of "It's just a game" and "These are just kids" and "I support my coach" threads.  I only saw one of those. 

When it's nuclear disaster bad?  Titan can't keep up with the banning/slashing/editing and you get topics like: 
Where is the fire?
Gus doesn't hate to lose
Uninspired, Unprepared, Underachieve
AU is irrelevant
Our head coach
Fire up the jets

That's all from today.