Break It Down

[Snaggletiger]

I'm looking forward to 2 things Saturday.  First, getting some Auburn football cranked back up and seeing what we've got.  Second, having Lord Saybinz trot somebody the hell out there so every damn call to a sports talk show won't be, "I thank Two-er gots to be the man...whutchu' thank?"

As far as this AU team goes, I have to say I felt a good bit more confident going into last year than this one.  We knew the D would be solid.  We knew Stidham would be a significant upgrade.  We had a huge, experienced O-line coming back and a 240 pound, 1,000 yard rusher and Carry On back in the fold. 

This year, no problems with the D, the QB or the receivers.  The offensive line and inexperience at running back worry the hell out of me.  The coaches have said Kam is #1 but also that they won't run him 20 times in a game. (Believe it when you see it) If that's the case, we're going to see a Boobie get significant carries. Despite the corches' enthusiasm about the guy, he's still a completely unknown quantity.  If he's as athletic and aggressive as they say, I only hope he knows that the only thing that can hurt him, and us, is fumbling. On a positive note, after watching some of these young guys in person, we've got some shitcherpants speed that we can put on the field. 

The other thing is the Malzahn factor.  Yeah, I swore off trashing the man and I promise I won't go off until midway through the first quarter Saturday.  Just pointing out that we've been notoriously slow starters under Gus.  It normally takes 3-4 games for his teams to hit their stride.  And there is always the possibility that he takes over the show and thinks he can call the offense. Actually, that's not a matter of if, it's just when it will happen. 

Bottom line for me with this team, if the O-line has it's collective shit together, if the young backs play like veterans, and Malzahn lets his corches corch, it could be a special year.  If not, another 4 loss season.


What say you? 

  

[chinook]

I'm looking forward to 2 things Saturday.  First, getting some Auburn football cranked back up and seeing what we've got.  Second, having Lord Saybinz trot somebody the hell out there so every damn call to a sports talk show won't be, "I thank Two-er gots to be the man...whutchu' thank?"

As far as this AU team goes, I have to say I felt a good bit more confident going into last year than this one.  We knew the D would be solid.  We knew Stidham would be a significant upgrade.  We had a huge, experienced O-line coming back and a 240 pound, 1,000 yard rusher and Carry On back in the fold.

This year, no problems with the D, the QB or the receivers.  The offensive line and inexperience at running back worry the hell out of me.  The coaches have said Kam is #1 but also that they won't run him 20 times in a game. (Believe it when you see it) If that's the case, we're going to see a Boobie get significant carries. Despite the corches' enthusiasm about the guy, he's still a completely unknown quantity.  If he's as athletic and aggressive as they say, I only hope he knows that the only thing that can hurt him, and us, is fumbling. On a positive note, after watching some of these young guys in person, we've got some shitcherpants speed that we can put on the field.

The other thing is the Malzahn factor.  Yeah, I swore off trashing the man and I promise I won't go off until midway through the first quarter Saturday.  Just pointing out that we've been notoriously slow starters under Gus.  It normally takes 3-4 games for his teams to hit their stride.  And there is always the possibility that he takes over the show and thinks he can call the offense. Actually, that's not a matter of if, it's just when it will happen.

Bottom line for me with this team, if the O-line has it's collective shit together, if the young backs play like veterans, and Malzahn lets his corches corch, it could be a special year.  If not, another 4 loss season.


What say you?

 

marking down Snags as an over.  

[chinook]

I can't disagree with anything you typed. 

I just can't grasp my head around the RB position. Big unknown.  OL ...meh.  I'm a little more optimistic...thinking they'll come around fairly quickly after a tweak or two.  We might even see a TE catch a touchdown.  So that's a plus. 

I'm fairly confident we'll see a huge improvement in the kickoff/punt teams.  Carlson should be gooder or at least equal to his brother. 

[CCTAU]

I just can't grasp my head around the RB position. Big unknown. 

We have had a 1000 yd rusher for what, 9 years in a row. And you are buying into the medias bullshit about RB issues?

We find a guy every year. We'll be fine this year too.

It is the OL that is a ?.

[wesfau2]

We have had a 1000 yd rusher for what, 9 years in a row. And you are buying into the medias bullshit about RB issues?

We find a guy every year. We'll be fine this year too.

It is the OL that is a ?.

Agree here, mostly.

I'm not overly concerned about the OL, though.  There's plenty of talent there getting honed against the best DL they'll face all year...on a daily basis.

Gus is the X factor in my opinion.

[Snaggletiger]

We have had a 1000 yd rusher for what, 9 years in a row. And you are buying into the medias bullshit about RB issues?

We find a guy every year. We'll be fine this year too.

It is the OL that is a ?.

Actually, I haven't read or heard anything negative about our backs.  And I agree on the 1,000 yard rusher.  I'm sure somebody will step up.  I'm just worried early on about the inexperience factor.  Are they going to kick ass or go all Rock Thomas? 

[Godfather]

We have had a 1000 yd rusher for what, 9 years in a row. And you are buying into the medias bullshit about RB issues?

We find a guy every year. We'll be fine this year too.

It is the OL that is a ?.

Agree.  My main concern is still O-Line. I think we will be fine at RB we have plenty of horses back there someone has to be able to tote the rock.

I'm all aboard on the defense and the Stidham train.  With all the hype Stidham got last year, which I thought was vastly overrated (and was) I think he deserves it coming into this year.  I will be surprised if any one team scores more than 28 on this defense this year.

[Kaos]

I'm looking forward to 2 things Saturday.  First, getting some Auburn football cranked back up and seeing what we've got.  Second, having Lord Saybinz trot somebody the hell out there so every damn call to a sports talk show won't be, "I thank Two-er gots to be the man...whutchu' thank?"

As far as this AU team goes, I have to say I felt a good bit more confident going into last year than this one.  We knew the D would be solid.  We knew Stidham would be a significant upgrade.  We had a huge, experienced O-line coming back and a 240 pound, 1,000 yard rusher and Carry On back in the fold.

This year, no problems with the D, the QB or the receivers.  The offensive line and inexperience at running back worry the hell out of me.  The coaches have said Kam is #1 but also that they won't run him 20 times in a game. (Believe it when you see it) If that's the case, we're going to see a Boobie get significant carries. Despite the corches' enthusiasm about the guy, he's still a completely unknown quantity.  If he's as athletic and aggressive as they say, I only hope he knows that the only thing that can hurt him, and us, is fumbling. On a positive note, after watching some of these young guys in person, we've got some shitcherpants speed that we can put on the field.

The other thing is the Malzahn factor.  Yeah, I swore off trashing the man and I promise I won't go off until midway through the first quarter Saturday.  Just pointing out that we've been notoriously slow starters under Gus.  It normally takes 3-4 games for his teams to hit their stride.  And there is always the possibility that he takes over the show and thinks he can call the offense. Actually, that's not a matter of if, it's just when it will happen.

Bottom line for me with this team, if the O-line has it's collective shit together, if the young backs play like veterans, and Malzahn lets his corches corch, it could be a special year.  If not, another 4 loss season.


What say you?

 

Ifs and buts make candy nuts. 

[Snaggletiger]

Agree.  My main concern is still O-Line. I think we will be fine at RB we have plenty of horses back there someone has to be able to tote the rock.

I'm all aboard on the defense and the Stidham train.  With all the hype Stidham got last year, which I thought was vastly overrated (and was) I think he deserves it coming into this year.  I will be surprised if any one team scores more than 28 on this defense this year.

Last year, we had 27 scored on us by LSU (Can't believe our dynamic offense that day didn't rack up 50 on them).  TA&M scored 27 in a game that was out of hand.  Georgia put a legit 28 on us in the SECCG.  (Fuck Georgia) And UCF hung 34 on a D that was missing starters and generally didn't want to be in Atlanta that day.  Yeah, it's an excuse but it's also reality.  Not even sure why Holland suited up for that one.

[bgreene]

Agree.  My main concern is still O-Line. I think we will be fine at RB we have plenty of horses back there someone has to be able to tote the rock.

I'm all aboard on the defense and the Stidham train.  With all the hype Stidham got last year, which I thought was vastly overrated (and was) I think he deserves it coming into this year.  I will be surprised if any one team scores more than 28 on this defense this year.

I mostly agree with this.  O-line...meh, some concern.  I think Martin will do fine.  Not many times last year did he have any negative plays.  We should have played him more in the SECCG and we would have had a chance.

[chinook]

We have had a 1000 yd rusher for what, 9 years in a row. And you are buying into the medias bullshit about RB issues?

We find a guy every year. We'll be fine this year too.

It is the OL that is a ?.

i get that...and no i'm not reading what the paperboy drops by each evening.  

but I will say that none of us is screaming a RB's name heading in this season like we have previously...sometimes 2 names thrown in that mix. 

i'm not worried about 1k yards and that is probably expected with a Malazahn team at Auburn.  its just not established as our "it" factor.  that position isn't keeping our opponents up at night studying film...perhaps as the season goes along it will so...in time.

[AUJarhead]

Fuck Gus. 

(I took the under)

[jmar]

Not concerned about backs at all or Malzahn for that matter.

If our offensive line goes limp though, start worrying about Malzahn because he will start monkeying under the hood.

If we start off with a win, even an ugly one, I'll be stoked because we should hit our pace by LSU. 

[Buzz Killington]

fudge Gus.

(I took the under)

#metoo

[Buzz Killington]

Not concerned one iota about the backs.  The Martin brothers and Boobee will be just fine...assuming they have at least a crease to run through.