Good morning, friends.
The sun has risen on another perfect fall morning in east Alabama, which is a beautiful sight indeed. We need this.
It's a reminder to keep everything in perspective ...
Naw, man, the heck with that.
I've said many times that I've never seen an Auburn team as inept and lifeless as the 2012 team after home losses to Texas A&M (63-21) and Georgia (38-0). As bad as the Tigers' flogging at the hands of Penn State was just one day ago, this team isn't operating at that pitiful level. I didn't see quitting from the players this weekend. I didn't see helplessness from the players this weekend.
No, what I saw is a mentally fragile team unable to find a new, better level of performance or fight when the situation turned dire. You are right to expect that from a team with this many upperclassmen, absolutely, and it's shocking to me that we didn't see it inside Jordan-Hare Stadium. We can (and will) spend the entire next week talking about the operational things that went wrong — there were a bunch — but to me the biggest problem was the lack of REAL RETORT to Penn State's terrific second-half performance.
"Things happen in football, and how you handle it, is really the key to the success of your football team," Bryan Harsin said after the game.
That was a fine statement. I agree.
Then Harsin continued.
"I don’t think it was the (team's spirit)," he added. "I think it’s when you look at it, it is pretty matter-of-fact. It comes down to the fact that we have to be in the right gaps or run the right routes. You have to execute."
Harsin must pump the brakes after that one. This loss did not come down to execution, although there's a way to frame things that way. It's just too convenient an explanation for things that go wrong in sports. Blaming execution means the overall plan was primo, but it wasn't (or couldn't be) followed. There are times when that's true. Yesterday was not one of those times.
Almost everything I saw wrong yesterday centers on the coaches and the staff. The four turnovers? Maybe not — and they certainly played a big role in how quickly things decayed during the second half.
Still, the Tigers clearly were the less-talented team yesterday. They also were the less-prepared team yesterday. They also showed less guile and less fortitude than Penn State. That's actually on the coaching staff. Those are systemic failures set in motion days ago, weeks ago, months ago.
Sure, we're only three games into this season. Yes, there is much football left to be played. Texas A&M rebounded nicely yesterday after the home loss to Appalachian State a week earlier. Good teams can find a new, better level and use it to turn things around. And it's not just other programs — Auburn built a pair of great retorts during a 2013 season that ultimately yielded a trip to the BCS title game. It can be done.
But will it be done in this case? This team lacks playmakers on offense and remains inconsistent on defense. Those are critical needs.
The optimist says this weak performance against Penn State creates the perfect attention-getter for a coaching staff that needed one. Missouri is just so-so and LSU has its own problems. The path to 4-1 is clear.
The realist thinks the lack of talent and the mental fragility will continue to drag this team down, down, down. Those two obstacles create a massive chasm between where this team is and where this team needs to be during the next nine games.
There's still time. I'm content to wait and observe.
This sure looks a lot like 2008, though. We've seen this before — and that team finished with five wins.
The sun has risen on another perfect fall morning in east Alabama, which is a beautiful sight indeed. We need this.
It's a reminder to keep everything in perspective ...
Naw, man, the heck with that.
I've said many times that I've never seen an Auburn team as inept and lifeless as the 2012 team after home losses to Texas A&M (63-21) and Georgia (38-0). As bad as the Tigers' flogging at the hands of Penn State was just one day ago, this team isn't operating at that pitiful level. I didn't see quitting from the players this weekend. I didn't see helplessness from the players this weekend.
No, what I saw is a mentally fragile team unable to find a new, better level of performance or fight when the situation turned dire. You are right to expect that from a team with this many upperclassmen, absolutely, and it's shocking to me that we didn't see it inside Jordan-Hare Stadium. We can (and will) spend the entire next week talking about the operational things that went wrong — there were a bunch — but to me the biggest problem was the lack of REAL RETORT to Penn State's terrific second-half performance.
"Things happen in football, and how you handle it, is really the key to the success of your football team," Bryan Harsin said after the game.
That was a fine statement. I agree.
Then Harsin continued.
"I don’t think it was the (team's spirit)," he added. "I think it’s when you look at it, it is pretty matter-of-fact. It comes down to the fact that we have to be in the right gaps or run the right routes. You have to execute."
Harsin must pump the brakes after that one. This loss did not come down to execution, although there's a way to frame things that way. It's just too convenient an explanation for things that go wrong in sports. Blaming execution means the overall plan was primo, but it wasn't (or couldn't be) followed. There are times when that's true. Yesterday was not one of those times.
Almost everything I saw wrong yesterday centers on the coaches and the staff. The four turnovers? Maybe not — and they certainly played a big role in how quickly things decayed during the second half.
Still, the Tigers clearly were the less-talented team yesterday. They also were the less-prepared team yesterday. They also showed less guile and less fortitude than Penn State. That's actually on the coaching staff. Those are systemic failures set in motion days ago, weeks ago, months ago.
Sure, we're only three games into this season. Yes, there is much football left to be played. Texas A&M rebounded nicely yesterday after the home loss to Appalachian State a week earlier. Good teams can find a new, better level and use it to turn things around. And it's not just other programs — Auburn built a pair of great retorts during a 2013 season that ultimately yielded a trip to the BCS title game. It can be done.
But will it be done in this case? This team lacks playmakers on offense and remains inconsistent on defense. Those are critical needs.
The optimist says this weak performance against Penn State creates the perfect attention-getter for a coaching staff that needed one. Missouri is just so-so and LSU has its own problems. The path to 4-1 is clear.
The realist thinks the lack of talent and the mental fragility will continue to drag this team down, down, down. Those two obstacles create a massive chasm between where this team is and where this team needs to be during the next nine games.
There's still time. I'm content to wait and observe.
This sure looks a lot like 2008, though. We've seen this before — and that team finished with five wins.
