Why should we be that worried? We aren't the coaches. We aren't the players. Besides listening to all of the blowhard naysayers scream and shout about how they've been right the entire time, why should we believe that this season is finished?
Surely the problems can be fixed, right?
Auburn...
- Anyone need me to shed light on what happened yesterday? Offense didn't score enough points, and the defense was gashed for 600+ yards. At least, that's what I thought happened.
- How could this situation be fixed? That's the scariest question I've asked in the past three years.
- Our problems yesterday weren't necessarily schematic. We had guys in position a good bit of the time. It's FBS football. We'll leave guys open sometimes. They'll hit big plays every now and then. Make a good run. Make a good catch. But all in all, we seemed to be around the ball the same way other teams are around the ball.
We just didn't tackle. How many times did you bang your fist against a hard object after our defenders were able to hit their running back four yards in the backfield only to let him take off for a big gain? How many times did you scream when that true freshman receiver would catch the ball with two defenders less than two yards away from him, yet he still took it down field?
Our problems are fundamental. We can't tackle. We can't pursue. We can't wrap up. We can't put pressure on the quarterback. We can't break up passes. We can't cover a receiver man-to-man. We can't play zone. We can't get off blocks.
We had a few good plays. Like on Clemson's first drive when Darren Bates made the tackle for a loss. Except Bates had a fistful of jersey and held on for dear life. Great effort on Bates's part, but that was by no means a good tackle.
Or that one time Holland was maybe three yards in front of a ball carrier going to the outside but took a pursuit angle reminiscent of a high school player.
Or that time Nosa Egua shed his blocker like he was a rag doll but completely whiffed on the running back that was arm's length away.
Or that time Eltoro Freeman shot the gap perfectly on a blitz and smacked into the ball carrier but didn't use his arms to wrap up. The guy just kept running.
Fundamentals.
- How do you fix fundamentals and technique four weeks into the season? How do you fix problems that should have been taught two years ago for Darren Bates, Neiko Thorpe, Eltoro Freeman, T'Sharven Bell and Jonathan Evans? One year ago for Nosa Egua, Kenneth Carter, Jeffrey Whitaker, Corey Lemonier, and Jake Holland?
- Well you could start doing tackling drills now. Running pursuit angles. Teaching how to gang tackle. Teaching the basics especially with a week to prepare for Florida Atlantic. But those drills will take time to develop. And that's assuming the coaching staff knows how to teach them in the first place. We can't be so sure they do know. Our team isn't tackling and seemed to get by last year with numerous veterans who had gone through Tuberville's program.
- You could continue to play it safe. Hang back ten yards off the ball. Let the opposing offense come to you. Eat clock. Pray they make a mistake. Set them up for a mistake. Let the offense continue to score 40+ points. But you can't ask the offense to score 40+ points a game in the SEC. That's never worked. A defense has always come with the offense no matter how potent.
- So finally, you could ask the offense to change its mentality. An offense that is the most vaunting offense in college football. An offense that features a top three running back in the SEC. An offense that despite replacing four offensive linemen, a legendary Heisman winning quarterback, and a go-to receiver still manages to produce 400+yards a game. An offense that while replacing that many players also has to overcome having the ball for 22 minutes against Utah State, 23 minute against Miss State, and 23 minutes against Clemson.
- 23 minutes a game.
- Now, some may laud the effort of Malzahn's offense. Some may say it's an amazing feat for this offense to continue to score points and get yards while averaging 23 minutes a game.
- Some may say they score too quickly. They don't eat enough clock. The defense isn't good enough to get off the field, so it's up to the offense to slow down.
- That scares me. We have the #1 offensive coordinator in the country, and we may have to ask him to hold back because the defense hasn't gotten their act together in three seasons.
- Some people are okay with that. What's best for the team outweighs the good of the coordinator.
- Though, I remember a coach a few years ago who had that mentality. We grew tired of him.
Clemson...
- Are you really okay with your head coach appealing to Alabama in the midst of your big victory? You stop the nation's longest winning streak. You move to 3-0. You earn the admiration from the ESPN talking heads. You set yourself up for a run for the ACC title.
And your coach brings up Alabama? The same Alabama team that squashed your dreams in 2008 in the Georgia Dome?
Your leader claims that being an Alabama guy enticed karma to act on Clemson's behalf?
You may not care. I know Dabo doesn't. He's a bammer. That's what they do.
- Clemson doesn't scare anyone. This should be more directed at the analysts on ESPN who talked about how good Clemson looked. Utah State looked good too. So did Miss State. Miss State is now 1-2 and was shut down completely by LSU's defense.
- No one should be scared of Clemson. They only played Auburn.
Auburn Part 2...
- Dead last. Dead last in defensive statistics.
- Let's rephrase that so it's more accurate: We are the worst defense in the country.
- We have 2 sacks on the year.
- We have 1 interception on the year.
- We give up 36.1 points per game.
- We've given up 1603 yards in three games.
- Teams convert on 3rd down 64% of the time.
- Teams are 4 for 4 on 4th down conversions.
- We have 6 pass breakups against 107 attempts.
- We've given up 90 first downs.
- We've given up 13 touchdowns.
- We're worse defensively than Ole Miss, UAB, New Mexico St, and Washington St.
- We're the worst.
Florida...
- A lot of speed on this team. A lot of youth too (not an excuse for them!).
- Urban Meyer left Florida without a huge depth chart (75 scholarship players) but after pulling in top recruits year after year, Muschamp has had an easy time implementing his philosophy.
- The defense hits hard and plays fast. They blitz. They tackle. They struggle in the secondary. I remember his defense at Auburn looking similar.
- The bigger improvement is on offense. Weiss has given the playmakers a chance to get involved.
- This is a dangerous team in the SEC East. One opponent down. Can Georgia beat this team? I don't think so. Neither can Kentucky or Vanderbilt.
- If Florida can beat LSU or Alabama, I think we see them in Atlanta in December.
South Carolina...
- It's never easy playing a team that effectively runs the triple option. It's almost impossible to defend and requires tremendous discipline.
- But maybe next time Marcus Lattimore won't be the only player to show up.
- Sure, Lattimore was a beast and racked up 240 yards rushing. But at what cost?
- Last season, Lattimore had a few games where he single-handedly took over and dominated. And then afterwards, against teams like Auburn, Kentucky, and Arkansas, he disappeared. Was injured. Leg problems.
- Defensively, giving up 20+ points each game isn't going to cut it. The offense isn't that good.
- This is supposed to be the year for Steve Spurrier. It's going to take a lot of growing up for the Gamecocks to get to Atlanta.
Tennessee...
- Tyler Bray looks like he could be an all-american. Looks like he could be a top draft pick in a few years. But he doesn't have the surrounding talent. Definitely doesn't have the defense to help him.
LSU...
- I'll never understand how a team that has three bruising running backs running behind a veteran offensive line can't consistently open up the play action pass.
- I don't care what quarterback is under center. Multiple five star receivers running routes against a defense gearing up to desperately stop the run.
- Jarrett Lee should be hitting bombs all day long.
Florida St...
- I was extremely impressed by Jimbo Fischer's decision to keep running the offensive gameplan when their starting quarterback went out.
- He didn't give Trickett any time to be nervous. One second Trickett was on the sideline. The next (and his first play), he's asked to throw the ball from inside their own ten. Make a mistake and the game's over.
- Pushing the true freshman was the best decision of the night.
Oklahoma...
- Ok. I'm a believer. While the offense was stunted by the incredibly talented secondary of Florida St, the defense came through and delivered the wood play after play after play.
- The defensive linemen are big, fast, and strong. The linebackers are all over the field, and the secondary is as shut down as you can get. Besides that one play. Just forget about that one.
Oklahoma St...
- 12:06am.....kickoff.....who's playing (yawn) again......Tulsa's in Oklah (yawn) oma too.....(yawn).......sleep.
Final Thought...
- The year isn't over by any means. Arkansas, Alabama, LSU, South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee - All of these teams could beat up on each other.
This doesn't seem to be a year where you have to go undefeated to get to the SECCG. Win a few you aren't expected to and hope to God the other teams battle it out and you could find yourself in Atlanta.
We can't tackle, but we can at least try to find a way to win. That's still Chizik's M.O. Find a way to win.
This weekend's over. Time to stop doubting. Time to continue expecting Chizik's team to find a way to win.
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