Plain Trouble on "Da Plains" (all AU posts here) - old

Re: Plain Trouble on "Da Plains" (all AU posts here)

rgw said:

The thing about Miles is that he had better than 29-13 talent levels over the last four years. I don't think it is absurd to say that Malzahn's 34-16 record is about on par with their roster quality of Auburn in his four years. They vastly overachieved in 2013 relative to that roster...other than the QB, that was basically the same team that went 0-8 in the SEC the year prior. 2014 was the regression to the mean but even so, they got into November with a shot at making the playoffs. They've really overachieved this year considering that they had a ton of tailback attrition and no QB who really can do everything they need out of the position.

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I think Sean has at least proven that this offense can work with a more traditional QB (not that Sean's a statue back there, by any means). We were humming along fine until injuries caught up and exposed how thin we are in the backfield.

We really need to hook Stidham this cycle and Gatewood the next to shore us up at QB. Missed badly on JJ and JF3. Queen has been hurt. Don't quite know what to make of Woody yet.

Re: Plain Trouble on "Da Plains" (all AU posts here)

AUDub said:

I think Sean has at least proven that this offense can work with a more traditional QB (not that Sean's a statue back there, by any means). We were humming along fine until injuries caught up and exposed how thin we are in the backfield.

We really need to hook Stidham this cycle and Gatewood the next to shore us up at QB. Missed badly on JJ and JF3. Queen has been hurt. Don't quite know what to make of Woody yet.

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White has been your best QB for 2 seasons, but you have good White and bad White. When good White takes the field, your offense hums. When bad White takes the field, your other play makers can't carry the load. Such is a Malzahn offense. You must have good/great QB play to win, and a dominant RB.

Re: Plain Trouble on "Da Plains" (all AU posts here)

B1GTide said:

Everyone would get a college campus, but an entire city? :conf2:

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i take it you've never been to auburn

Re: Plain Trouble on "Da Plains" (all AU posts here)

AUDub said:

I think Sean has at least proven that this offense can work with a more traditional QB (not that Sean's a statue back there, by any means). We were humming along fine until injuries caught up and exposed how thin we are in the backfield.

We really need to hook Stidham this cycle and Gatewood the next to shore us up at QB. Missed badly on JJ and JF3. Queen has been hurt. Don't quite know what to make of Woody yet.

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Right, they have to capacity to work without a great QB runner but they have a ton more wiggle room when they do have that kind of QB though. Just had a razor thin margin this year. Once it was clear that Franklin was further behind as a passer than even Marshall in 2013, it was clear that it was on Sean White to make it work. He's been injury prone and injuries got em again. Tailback attrition was already a problem; couldn't afford a ton of bumps and bruises there but the offensive mix meant putting the workload on them anyway. Auburn has kinda had some bad breaks. I thought all along that UGA and Alabama were going to shut them down a bit but figured that at least in the UGA game that their defense would keep the score low enough that it didn't matter. Can't fault the defense in a game where you lost while giving up 13 points, ya know?

Re: Plain Trouble on "Da Plains" (all AU posts here)

B1GTide said:

White has been your best QB for 2 seasons, but you have good White and bad White. When good White takes the field, your offense hums. When bad White takes the field, your other play makers can't carry the load. Such is a Malzahn offense. You must have good/great QB play to win, and a dominant RB.

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Good White is Not Injured White. Problem is White is rarely not injured.

Re: Plain Trouble on "Da Plains" (all AU posts here)

rgw said:

Good White is Not Injured White. Problem is White is rarely not injured.

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This. When healthy and we're not running the 3-5 headed franken-QB, Sean has proven to be adequate. Not great, but his throws are accurate, he's mobile enough to pick up yards when things break down and he won't lose any games for us due to boneheadedness.

Re: Plain Trouble on "Da Plains" (all AU posts here)

AUDub said:

This. When healthy and we're not running the 3-5 headed franken-QB, Sean has proven to be adequate. Not great, but his throws are accurate, he's mobile enough to pick up yards when things break down and he won't lose any games for us due to boneheadedness.

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If he is injured that often, time to turn the page. Woody thinks that he is ready:

"Preparation is key," Barrett wrote in a since-deleted tweet. "I've been Patient enough. Now it's my time. Blessings, and faith #1 #InWoodyBWeTrust

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Re: Plain Trouble on "Da Plains" (all AU posts here)

B1GTide said:

If he is injured that often, time to turn the page. Woody thinks that he is ready:

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Heard an (insofar unconfirmed) report of Sean having a torn labrum today. We may very well have to burn Woody's redshirt and that may be what that tweet means. JF3 won't know what to make of a swarming defense like Bama's taking away all of his running lanes and making him pay hard for every less than accurate throw.

Re: Plain Trouble on "Da Plains" (all AU posts here)

Do they really want to risk putting so much pressure on Woody early on and risk him becoming JJ2?

Re: Plain Trouble on "Da Plains" (all AU posts here)

AUDub said:

Heard an (insofar unconfirmed) report of Sean having a torn labrum today. We may very well have to burn Woody's redshirt and that may be what that tweet means. JF3 won't know what to make of a swarming defense like Bama's taking away all of his running lanes and making him pay hard for every less than accurate throw.

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If that's the case, I'm not sure what Gus should do. Is it worth burning WB's redshirt to play against Alabama A&M and then meet one of the best defenses (not trying to be arrogant) in the nation?

Almost think a combo of JF3 and JJ would be better.

Re: Plain Trouble on "Da Plains" (all AU posts here)

techster79 said:

Do they really want to risk putting so much pressure on Woody early on and risk him becoming JJ2?

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He has had all season to learn the offense, and will get a game against a patsy to acclimate, but I seriously doubt that he will be able to handle the speed of Alabama's defense in his first SEC game.

Re: Plain Trouble on "Da Plains" (all AU posts here)

RTR91 said:

If that's the case, I'm not sure what Gus should do. Is it worth burning WB's redshirt to play against Alabama A&M and then meet one of the best defenses (not trying to be arrogant) in the nation?

Almost think a combo of JF3 and JJ would be better.

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Wouldn't that be throwing in the towel against Alabama? What would the line be with those guys at QB for Auburn? Alabama by 30?

Re: Plain Trouble on "Da Plains" (all AU posts here)

B1GTide said:

Wouldn't that be throwing in the towel against Alabama? What would the line be with those guys at QB for Auburn? Alabama by 30?

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IOW, what it would be with a true freshman making his first road start.

Re: Plain Trouble on "Da Plains" (all AU posts here)

RTR91 said:

IOW, what it would be with a true freshman making his first road start.

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Good point - either way, without White Auburn is going to get smoked.

Re: Plain Trouble on "Da Plains" (all AU posts here)

B1GTide said:

Good point - either way, without White Auburn is going to get smoked.

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Exactly. No real win situation if White is out. Might as well keep the redshirt on Barrett for now, and let the older guys work together for the next two weeks.

Re: Plain Trouble on "Da Plains" (all AU posts here)

techster79 said:

Do they really want to risk putting so much pressure on Woody early on and risk him becoming JJ2?

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Shoot, we JJ eased in. Had two years as an understudy and was excellent when he played in relief of Nick Marshall. Started two games, one a low pressure affair against Western Carolina his freshman year, then a high pressure one against Arky as a a sophomore, and he was awesome. Then he faceplanted when he was asked to be the guy.

Put Woody in for what is basically the pre-season for next year and see what he has.

Re: Plain Trouble on "Da Plains" (all AU posts here)

He can throw 69 yards according to this video. https://youtu.be/EqZHd2f85is

Re: Plain Trouble on "Da Plains" (all AU posts here)

A trusted insider made a vague post just now: "don't count Woody out yet." This comes out after Lashlee publicly denied the rumor.

Sounds to me like he will see the field this year.

Also saying news about Sean soon, and not the good kind.

Re: Plain Trouble on "Da Plains" (all AU posts here)

RTR91 said:

If that's the case, I'm not sure what Gus should do. Is it worth burning WB's redshirt to play against Alabama A&M and then meet one of the best defenses (not trying to be arrogant) in the nation?

Almost think a combo of JF3 and JJ would be better.

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I believe JJ has played his last for Auburn. We brought in Queen as the third QB against LaMo.

Re: Plain Trouble on "Da Plains" (all AU posts here)

rgw said:

The thing about Miles is that he had better than 29-13 talent levels over the last four years. I don't think it is absurd to say that Malzahn's 34-16 record is about on par with their roster quality of Auburn in his four years.

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I understand the point, and I think it's valid to argue that Gus is a better on field coach than Les. Though it has to be noted that Gus seems about as good on the defensive side as Les is on the offensive side. I think that's weird since Les is technically an offensive guy but both seemed to be at the mercy of their coordinators when it came to LSU's offense and Auburn's defense. Anyway, the weird double standard part comes into play when one considers Les is the one recruiting better talent. That's part of the package.

So, honestly if Alabama had to have either Les or Gus coaching them would we really choose Gus? Or would we go with the proven recruiter and just hope he got a good offensive coordinator? I don't like seeing a guy's good recruiting being held against him anymore than I like seeing a guy being excused for not being as good a recruiter. That's just part of the job.