Question: How will the Barn do this year?

TheRealPokeChop

Hall of Fame
Jul 7, 2010
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just speaking on while at South Carolina they were ranked 90th in defense for explosive plays the season before he was there. each season after they were 14th, 16th, 18th and 8...the season after he left they dropped to 40th. even back with Miss State, and Alabama those teams were among the league leaders in tackles for loss and turnovers. his defenses put up pretty good numbers for the talent he had. i still say he's a heck of a coordinator and a huge upgrade for them.
I dont mean he's not a good coordinator, but he's a but the term i would use is good with not other amplifiers there. :) Mustache guy was a good D coordinator by the stats too before he got to Auburn last year.
 

rgw

Suspended
Sep 15, 2003
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I think Auburn is going to be a relative surprise in 2013. When you go 3-9, a simple 6-6 bowl-eligible turnaround year is considered an improvement. I think they go a bit beyond that and get to 7 or 8 wins in the regular season. Like Malzahn's offense or not...the guy is an expert at keeping opposing defensive staffs off balance and he has a penchant for calling the absolutely perfect gadget play at the most ideal time. He's also shown that he can keep his offenses effective even when he doesn't have much going on at quarterback. Chris Todd set several school records at quarterback and he was not good at all. They were a high scoring team against everyone but the elite SEC teams in 2011 with an even worse quarterback situation.

The question of whether they will simply win the games they reasonably can or be competitive with the top tier is on Ellis Johnson's work on defense.
 

GrayTide

Hall of Fame
Nov 15, 2005
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IMO Malzahn is vastly overrated as a HC, but also IMO he is a major improvement over Chizik. The facts are overwhelming in both instances, their reputations are due almost solely to the performance of Cam Newton. Given equal talent Chizik is a 5-6 win HC and Malzahn is an 8-9 win HC.
 

rgw

Suspended
Sep 15, 2003
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Considering Malzahn won 10 games in his first year as a head coach, I don't think you can diminish his ability to lead the ship. Of course, the SEC is the ultimate litmus test.
 

bonehouse81

All-SEC
Jun 30, 2006
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I think Auburn is going to be a relative surprise in 2013. When you go 3-9, a simple 6-6 bowl-eligible turnaround year is considered an improvement. I think they go a bit beyond that and get to 7 or 8 wins in the regular season. Like Malzahn's offense or not...the guy is an expert at keeping opposing defensive staffs off balance and he has a penchant for calling the absolutely perfect gadget play at the most ideal time. He's also shown that he can keep his offenses effective even when he doesn't have much going on at quarterback. Chris Todd set several school records at quarterback and he was not good at all. They were a high scoring team against everyone but the elite SEC teams in 2011 with an even worse quarterback situation.

The question of whether they will simply win the games they reasonably can or be competitive with the top tier is on Ellis Johnson's work on defense.
Good post. Malzahn does more with less, and he's an impressive schemer on offense. I think 7 wins is most likely.
 

BamaMoon

Hall of Fame
Apr 1, 2004
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The thing we hated to see in 2010 may work in our favor over time.

When the Barn tasted the high life during Scamgate now they believe they should be able to do it regularly (despite history saying otherwise).

I too think Gus is a big improvement, but if they go 7-5, 8-4, 10-2, 9-3, 8-4 over the next five years or so and lose to Bama most of those years does anyone really think the Barn masses will be o.k. with the Gus Bus then???
 

bamamc1

Hall of Fame
Oct 24, 2011
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I believe they will struggle with Wazzu. Might not lose, but they'll struggle. Reason being Leach is in year two, so the players are familiar with his system. Auburn's defense was bad last year. I can't trust Ellis Johnson to fix it in less than 8 months. Then, you consider their QB situation. They better name a starter soon, or they'll have more offensive issues than most expect.
I agree with this^^^^^. Leach will put some points on the board. You can bank on that. If they do lose this one, it could be a repeat of last year.
 

RTR91

Super Moderator
Nov 23, 2007
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Considering Malzahn won 10 games in his first year as a head coach, I don't think you can diminish his ability to lead the ship. Of course, the SEC is the ultimate litmus test.
When Gus was hired, a coworker asked me about his experience as a head coach. This coworker doesn't know all that much about football. We looked at Arkansas State's records under Freeze and Malzahn. Freeze went 10-2, and Malzahn went 9-3. Prior to Freeze's hiring, ASU went 6-6 (2008), 4-8 (2009), and 4-8 (2010). The pessimist in me wonders how much of Malzahn's 9-3 record came from Freeze's 10-2 record.
 

TideEngineer08

TideFans Legend
Jun 9, 2009
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6-6 with a win over Western Carolina does not get them to a bowl does it? Don't you still need 6 Div 1 wins?
I think they changed that rule, Jon. I know it used to be that you could count one D1AA win every 4 years toward your bowl eligibility. Not sure if Auburn has already done that in the past 3 seasons, though.

As for how they will do, I would love to see the Pirate get them in week 1. The hilarity that will ensue will be priceless. I don't think they have more than 6 wins in the tank, if all goes well. Unless something bad injury wise happens to teams like Arkansas, Tennessee, and Ole Miss.
 

RTR91

Super Moderator
Nov 23, 2007
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I agree with this^^^^^. Leach will put some points on the board. You can bank on that. If they do lose this one, it could be a repeat of last year.
For clarification: Wazzu's defense won't be very good either because Leach isn't big on D. However, I trust his offense to score more than I trust Auburn's defense to stop it. With no QB, I trust Wazzu's defense to make enough plays to stop Auburn.

The game will be ugly with a very high score.

6-6 with a win over Western Carolina does not get them to a bowl does it? Don't you still need 6 Div 1 wins?
WCU is in FCS (the former D-1AA). Auburn will be fine with a 6-6 record.
 

ALA2262

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Aug 4, 2007
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I think they changed that rule, Jon. I know it used to be that you could count one D1AA win every 4 years toward your bowl eligibility. Not sure if Auburn has already done that in the past 3 seasons, though.

As for how they will do, I would love to see the Pirate get them in week 1. The hilarity that will ensue will be priceless. I don't think they have more than 6 wins in the tank, if all goes well. Unless something bad injury wise happens to teams like Arkansas, Tennessee, and Ole Miss.
The 'every 4 years' rule you refer to prohibited 1A teams from PLAYING a 1AA team more than once every 4 years. That was eliminated on the EXACT same day that the 12th game was added. Didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what that was all about. The 1AA schools have the majority vote so they voted themselves an annual payday game.

The limitations, in the form of scholarship requirements for the 1AA team, in order to count a 1AA win toward Bowl eligibility have been removed also. A team that has one 1AA win will be given priority over one that has two 1AA wins.

http://espn.go.com/college-football...l-game-tiebreakers-include-fcs-wins-5-7-teams
 
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