SEC Pre(dicition) Season: Auburn
- Thread starter WMack4Bama
- Start date
Honestly, I think picking them on last years record(what most pundits are doing) is about as sketchy as picking them last year based on 2012 record.
Scheme wise they are sound and difficult to defend, but D coordinators are now a year ahead of last year. Depth and experience wise I don't think they are overall any better.
schedule wise they are much worse off. They were honestly a 4 loss team last year and with two of the luckiest play is history managed to only lose 2. That is what I base my 4 loss and 4th in the west prediction.
Scheme wise they are sound and difficult to defend, but D coordinators are now a year ahead of last year. Depth and experience wise I don't think they are overall any better.
schedule wise they are much worse off. They were honestly a 4 loss team last year and with two of the luckiest play is history managed to only lose 2. That is what I base my 4 loss and 4th in the west prediction.
They are being paid to win, not lose. So, if you are right, the barn got their money's worth again this year.
It's hard to predict the barn because they do seem to have a horseshoe up their..... However, I don't think Artis-Payne or Grant can produce as well as Mason and that will hurt their other options. I also don't see their defense improving and may backslide some, if that's possible.
As for stopping their offense I've been dumb founded that Alabama didn't do it or seem to know how to do it. The way you stop it is the same way you stop the Wishbone, penetration and forcing the QB to make his read a little too quickly. We did it to perfection against LSU in the BCSCG with Jordan Jefferson, who is equal to or better than Marshall.
Despite what some think about our defense I think the key will be the play of our NG, who is a critical component in run stopping and pass rushing in Coach Saban's defense.
As for stopping their offense I've been dumb founded that Alabama didn't do it or seem to know how to do it. The way you stop it is the same way you stop the Wishbone, penetration and forcing the QB to make his read a little too quickly. We did it to perfection against LSU in the BCSCG with Jordan Jefferson, who is equal to or better than Marshall.
Despite what some think about our defense I think the key will be the play of our NG, who is a critical component in run stopping and pass rushing in Coach Saban's defense.
Jordan Jefferson doesn't compare to Marshall as far as being a running QB. NM is a great athlete playing QB. That's why he is poor at passing.
Last edited:
He beat us with his arm and legs in 2010 and 2011. The point is LSU tried a lot of option plays in the BCSNG but we were ready for them and shut them down by forcing him to make the pitch when he didn't want to.
LSU's offense that beat us with Jordan Jefferson was very different than what AU is running now. Of course there are some similarities but I don't remember LSU putting up over 300 yards rushing against us or leading the nation in rushing. The main reason for that is because of what my original point was, that NM is a superior athlete to JJ IMO. Better QB? Maybe, maybe not. But much better athlete IMO.
LSU in 2010 rushed for 225 yards
LSU in 2011 rushed for 148 yards
AU in 2013 rushed for 296 yards
Last edited:
I think AU will lose 4 games minimum.
Gus is a pretty smart coach and he will try take advantage of teams preparing for last years offense which was not really what he wants to run.
They will come out passing much more than last year and it will yield some big plays and perhaps win a close game early.
By mid-season after a loss to LSU, reality sets in that NM is just not going to win games by passing so they go back to last years MO but everyone is ready for it. They will go 2-2 against LSU,MSU,USC,OM. Playing at GA will get them a loss.
Whatever the records are come Nov 29, they will not leave Tuscaloosa with a win. Not this year.
To keep from losing more than 4, they will have to go practically injury free in the starting groups. If they lose a Dismukes,Coates,Wright, Therezie, NM, it will be a major blow.
Gus is a pretty smart coach and he will try take advantage of teams preparing for last years offense which was not really what he wants to run.
They will come out passing much more than last year and it will yield some big plays and perhaps win a close game early.
By mid-season after a loss to LSU, reality sets in that NM is just not going to win games by passing so they go back to last years MO but everyone is ready for it. They will go 2-2 against LSU,MSU,USC,OM. Playing at GA will get them a loss.
Whatever the records are come Nov 29, they will not leave Tuscaloosa with a win. Not this year.
To keep from losing more than 4, they will have to go practically injury free in the starting groups. If they lose a Dismukes,Coates,Wright, Therezie, NM, it will be a major blow.
I think Gus recognized that people are gunning for them this year, and that's why he worked so hard to get Marshall and Johnson ready for passing the ball more often this year, and it'll be more balanced to the point where it'll be even harder to guess what they'll do on each series throughout the game. The Arkansas game will tell us a lot about their offense. Arkansas use 4-3 format, and they didn't like to blitz a lot last year, and you can expect that to change this year. Look for them to be aggressive up front against Auburn,and there will be lot of pressure coming from linebackers and safeties to force them to make play down the field. SO we'll see Auburn throwing a lot in that game,and we might get a chance to see them showing their " hands" and by the time they get to Alabama, teams will figure them out for most part.
I think we have an extra official this year to halt the lineman downfield and illegal movements and such.
Yes we do but only in ***one*** officiating crew as an experiment. I really hope they have that extra ref when the barn plays in Tuscaloosa.
There is no point in bringing up how to stop the HUNH because we all know by now, and you can bet that the coaches around the league have been thinking the same things, so I expect that any team with a good D will make the necessary adjustments to at least slow them down. They aren't a bunch of Supermen, and they can be beat with the right approach on defense.
the no-huddle isn't impossible to stop...I just feel our defense is kinda geared for pro-style offenses and we just don't see many of those from our real competition anymore.
I understand that LSU's offense is not the same as AU's offense. What I'm trying to point out is that LSU ran a lot of option when Jefferson was the QB. In the 2010 and 2011 game Lee played QB in those games as well.
During the BSCNG that we won against LSU they tried running more of an option attack than they had in the past because they went with Jefferson exclusively. We stuffed everything they tried to do with the option because we were more prepared for it and attacked with defensive penetration forcing Jefferson to make the wrong decisions.
My overall point is you have to attack option type offenses, which AU's offense is.
The biggest difference in LSU's offense when Lee and Jefferson shared QB responsibility was that LSU was a little schizophrenic offensively whereas AU is committed to an option style offense.
Last edited:
Auburn has an offense. I'm not sure what LSU was in the period. They just outhustled us in a few games with a pretty haphazard offensive scheme (but supremely talented skill in it).
NM is a much better athlete than JJ is IMO. His running ability was the real driving force behind that offense. He was bad as a passer last year either hitting his open WR or being way off target. I'm betting they come out passing more this season but his int's are probably going to go up as well.
We "stuffed" LSU's offense because JJ is like a statue compared to NM lol. The real athletic QB's we have played, Cam, JFF, and NM, we have never really stopped. JJ is not in the class of any of those guys. That's why it looked like we more prepared when we shut JJ and LSU down.
Latest threads
-
No. 1 Visits Tuscaloosa for Second Straight Week as Alabama Hosts Top-Ranked Texas A&M- Started by Diamond Tide
- Replies: 0
-
-
I'm Declaring the Emporer has no clothes (NCAA rules implosion)- Started by BamaNation
- Replies: 14
-
Home-and-Home Series Wraps Up as Alabama Welcomes UAB on Tuesday
- Started by Diamond Tide
- Replies: 1
-
-
A huge win today at my doctor's office...- Started by uafan4life
- Replies: 4