- The team looked really good. Analyzing the Arky St game in a vacuum, the issues were minimal.
- AU can't beat TAMU nor LSU while simultaneously playing Arky St. It just doesn't work that way. I have no clue if we'll win this Saturday, but I'd have to dig deep to find major flaws with a 51-14 W. 1) Jeremy Johnson was nowhere near the football. 2) Sean White was under center for most of the game and he gives us the best chance to win in September. Good and Good.
- Considering we were only 7 days removed from a Clemson game where Gus had to really dig deep and pull out all the stops to ensure defeat*, the Arky St plan looked like a revelation.
*think about it...we had 22 QB substitutions v. Clemson. With 10-or-fewer, we'd have scored 21+ and won.
Put another way: If you have an infinite number of chimpanzees typing on an infinite number of typewriters, one of them will eventually replicate the entire works of Shakespeare. Likewise, if you have an infinite number of Guses working on an infinite number of offensive game plans vs Clemson's D, one of them will eventually score less than 20 points.
- On 9/3, we found a Gus that gave us Shakespeare.
- Clemson rant over.. solid plan vs Arky St!
Offense
- Sean White played very well. He rushed a couple passes off his back foot with no pressure, but looked more comfortable in Game #2. Not as anxious/jittery. I don't know if that's due to the opponent or due to a Soph QB with a handful of starts getting exponentially better from one game to the next. Judging by his poise last season, I think it's the latter. We'll know more Saturday.
- He did throw his first Red Zone TD!! That was the PERFECTLY thrown pass to Tony Stevens in the end zone late in the 3rd. The pass that Tony Stevens didn't realize he had caught until a full 2 seconds after the play... he just looked down and thought a pigskin had magically grown out of his rib cage. That's the pass I'm referencing. That was a perfect pass by SW!!!
- Kerryon/Kam were great! The WRs blocked better... Kyle Davis/Darius Slayton obviously flashed for Freshmen. It appears that Kyle Davis may be kinda good at football.
- Jason Smith got in very late. I think he was the 10th/11th WR if you based it off when they entered the game (he was the last WR off the pine... whatever # that is). So I wouldn't expect much from him this weekend... but the other guys appear to be ok.
- The OL was better even after accounting for the opponent. They aren't where they need to be, but it was improved.
- JF3 is really fast! And Gus really wants him to be the man! It seems that his knowledge of the playbook is very limited at this time. And I'm not sure what throws he can consistently make. So he may get there... but it doesn't appear to be happening in the next week or two. I'd expect SW under center for most of the game vs TAMU.
But JF3 does have a different gear!! I'm just not sure how to use it at this point considering his (probable) other limitations.
Defense
- The first 40 plays for Arky St netted 163 yards. That included the 68-yarder down the seam where there appeared to be comm issues between LB/S.
- So very little to pick over in this one when the other 39 plays net 95 yards. Obviously, there were a couple issues in the middle of the field in our zone that contributed to a couple long gainers for Arky St.
- Aside from that, Arky St tried to gain yards on the perimeter (this wasn't a game for the DTs). Our LBs made that task much more difficult than it would've been last season. Although cut backs can/will burn them, the urgency/speed of the LBs sideline-to-sideline is so much better.
- The DEs and S also did a good job with minimizing perimeter plays. Marlon Davidson/Carl Lawson had more than a couple plays when they used their speed/smarts to force the RB to cut inside and be annihilated by a trailing LB or S.
- Freshmen Report #2: Marlon and Derrick Brown still appear to be keepers. Same as Game #1. DBrown's harder to follow in the muck but he's really strong and will be in the top-4 DT rotation beginning this weekend with Monty/DRussell/Devaroe.
- Devaroe Lawrence must've had a nagging injury as he did not play.
TAMU Game
- This has turned into the annual contest where Kevin Sumlin and Gus Malzahn take turns fighting over who can do less with more. Sumlin is kinda the Gus of Texas (or Gus the Sumlin of... Auburn).
- It's not that they're dumb. It's that they'll do one really big, really good thing in their career and will follow-up with 5 really ignorant moments/games. Than they do another really big thing to buy some time. And, subsequently, they forget about the next 5 things on their plate because they're still thinking about how awesome that one really cool thing turned out.
- If you think three is a trend, this is our year to screw the pooch. 2013: The Away game that said, "Hmmm.. we may have something here". 2014: The Home game where Duke got hurt and the other 10 guys on O started crying and we finally regained composure just long enough to come back but finally lose when our 4-year starter at Center snapped the ball up his butt against a defense with 11 guys literally lying down on the ground and panting. 2015: The Away game where no one gave us a chance... and probably no one watched. TAMU had some awesome new QB. That QB turned every 12-yard run into 5 yards by doing a baseball slide when the nearest defender was 10 yards away. He kept throwing picks. Carl said He Back!! And Good Gus somehow managed Shakespeare with JJ behind center.
- We're favored. We're at home. We should win. We appear to have the team to win. This staff really needs to win! So I'd be moronic to predict a win. I will be pleasantly shocked if we have more points than them at the end of the game.
- If we're talking Xs and Os - assuming the outcome isn't already inevitable due to a Gus/Sumlin mid-week convo...
- 1) We need to pass to open up the run. Quick passes to limit their DEs effectiveness like last year could work but utilize down field as well. They'll be geared to stop the run... make 'em pay.
- 2) We do need to throw to the middle of the field assuming TAMU is still playing Jack Schitt at Safety as they've had for the past decade+. Kyle Davis should be able to exploit Schitt on a few vertical routes down the seam (if TAMU actually has a Safety this year for the first time this Century, alter #2).
- 3) Hope our OTs can hold up against their DEs... or scheme around it. But don't let it be your undoing (Gus did a good job in last year's game with this).
- 4) Make TAMU pass. They want to pass it but don't make it easy for them by forgetting the run. Stop the run first. I think we have the guys to do this.
- 5) Finish the job when you get to Knight. Knight will make our DEs miss but it can't be every time we get pressure. Along with pressure, we need a few sacks/TFLs.
- 6) Make Knight beat you passing underneath. If he nickel-and-dimes us to death like the 2nd coming of Peyton Manning, tip your cap. If he looks like Trevor Knight, take the 3-and-outs and hope we score on O.
This is a very important game for this staff... or it should be. We haven't beaten anyone at home in almost 2 years. If you continue to lose home games to the TAMUs of the world, even the most tried-and-true fan base will eventually tune out until Danjel Purifoy Time!!
These match-ups will tell us if we're still making this game way harder than it needs to be to sustain success.
WAR EAGLE!!!
Total Plays: 67 (63 in Nickel... 4 in Dime)
DT
M. Adams - 43
D. Russell - 24
D. Brown - 22
An. Williams - 22
M. Swain - 12
DE
M. Davidson - 45
C. Lawson - 35
B. Cowart - 22
P. James III - 22
J. Holland - 21
LB
D. Davis - 39
Tr. Williams - 37
D. Williams - 23
Mon. Atkinson - 21
Tre Threat - 10
CB
C. Davis - 57
J. Holsey - 37
J. Davis - 21
J. Broussard - 10
M. Taylor - 10
S
Tr. Matthews - 57
R. Ford - 56
St. Roberts - 38
N. Ruffin - 17
M. Boston - 16
TJ Davis - 10
D. Thomas - 10
- AU can't beat TAMU nor LSU while simultaneously playing Arky St. It just doesn't work that way. I have no clue if we'll win this Saturday, but I'd have to dig deep to find major flaws with a 51-14 W. 1) Jeremy Johnson was nowhere near the football. 2) Sean White was under center for most of the game and he gives us the best chance to win in September. Good and Good.
- Considering we were only 7 days removed from a Clemson game where Gus had to really dig deep and pull out all the stops to ensure defeat*, the Arky St plan looked like a revelation.
*think about it...we had 22 QB substitutions v. Clemson. With 10-or-fewer, we'd have scored 21+ and won.
Put another way: If you have an infinite number of chimpanzees typing on an infinite number of typewriters, one of them will eventually replicate the entire works of Shakespeare. Likewise, if you have an infinite number of Guses working on an infinite number of offensive game plans vs Clemson's D, one of them will eventually score less than 20 points.
- On 9/3, we found a Gus that gave us Shakespeare.
- Clemson rant over.. solid plan vs Arky St!
Offense
- Sean White played very well. He rushed a couple passes off his back foot with no pressure, but looked more comfortable in Game #2. Not as anxious/jittery. I don't know if that's due to the opponent or due to a Soph QB with a handful of starts getting exponentially better from one game to the next. Judging by his poise last season, I think it's the latter. We'll know more Saturday.
- He did throw his first Red Zone TD!! That was the PERFECTLY thrown pass to Tony Stevens in the end zone late in the 3rd. The pass that Tony Stevens didn't realize he had caught until a full 2 seconds after the play... he just looked down and thought a pigskin had magically grown out of his rib cage. That's the pass I'm referencing. That was a perfect pass by SW!!!
- Kerryon/Kam were great! The WRs blocked better... Kyle Davis/Darius Slayton obviously flashed for Freshmen. It appears that Kyle Davis may be kinda good at football.
- Jason Smith got in very late. I think he was the 10th/11th WR if you based it off when they entered the game (he was the last WR off the pine... whatever # that is). So I wouldn't expect much from him this weekend... but the other guys appear to be ok.
- The OL was better even after accounting for the opponent. They aren't where they need to be, but it was improved.
- JF3 is really fast! And Gus really wants him to be the man! It seems that his knowledge of the playbook is very limited at this time. And I'm not sure what throws he can consistently make. So he may get there... but it doesn't appear to be happening in the next week or two. I'd expect SW under center for most of the game vs TAMU.
But JF3 does have a different gear!! I'm just not sure how to use it at this point considering his (probable) other limitations.
Defense
- The first 40 plays for Arky St netted 163 yards. That included the 68-yarder down the seam where there appeared to be comm issues between LB/S.
- So very little to pick over in this one when the other 39 plays net 95 yards. Obviously, there were a couple issues in the middle of the field in our zone that contributed to a couple long gainers for Arky St.
- Aside from that, Arky St tried to gain yards on the perimeter (this wasn't a game for the DTs). Our LBs made that task much more difficult than it would've been last season. Although cut backs can/will burn them, the urgency/speed of the LBs sideline-to-sideline is so much better.
- The DEs and S also did a good job with minimizing perimeter plays. Marlon Davidson/Carl Lawson had more than a couple plays when they used their speed/smarts to force the RB to cut inside and be annihilated by a trailing LB or S.
- Freshmen Report #2: Marlon and Derrick Brown still appear to be keepers. Same as Game #1. DBrown's harder to follow in the muck but he's really strong and will be in the top-4 DT rotation beginning this weekend with Monty/DRussell/Devaroe.
- Devaroe Lawrence must've had a nagging injury as he did not play.
TAMU Game
- This has turned into the annual contest where Kevin Sumlin and Gus Malzahn take turns fighting over who can do less with more. Sumlin is kinda the Gus of Texas (or Gus the Sumlin of... Auburn).
- It's not that they're dumb. It's that they'll do one really big, really good thing in their career and will follow-up with 5 really ignorant moments/games. Than they do another really big thing to buy some time. And, subsequently, they forget about the next 5 things on their plate because they're still thinking about how awesome that one really cool thing turned out.
- If you think three is a trend, this is our year to screw the pooch. 2013: The Away game that said, "Hmmm.. we may have something here". 2014: The Home game where Duke got hurt and the other 10 guys on O started crying and we finally regained composure just long enough to come back but finally lose when our 4-year starter at Center snapped the ball up his butt against a defense with 11 guys literally lying down on the ground and panting. 2015: The Away game where no one gave us a chance... and probably no one watched. TAMU had some awesome new QB. That QB turned every 12-yard run into 5 yards by doing a baseball slide when the nearest defender was 10 yards away. He kept throwing picks. Carl said He Back!! And Good Gus somehow managed Shakespeare with JJ behind center.
- We're favored. We're at home. We should win. We appear to have the team to win. This staff really needs to win! So I'd be moronic to predict a win. I will be pleasantly shocked if we have more points than them at the end of the game.
- If we're talking Xs and Os - assuming the outcome isn't already inevitable due to a Gus/Sumlin mid-week convo...
- 1) We need to pass to open up the run. Quick passes to limit their DEs effectiveness like last year could work but utilize down field as well. They'll be geared to stop the run... make 'em pay.
- 2) We do need to throw to the middle of the field assuming TAMU is still playing Jack Schitt at Safety as they've had for the past decade+. Kyle Davis should be able to exploit Schitt on a few vertical routes down the seam (if TAMU actually has a Safety this year for the first time this Century, alter #2).
- 3) Hope our OTs can hold up against their DEs... or scheme around it. But don't let it be your undoing (Gus did a good job in last year's game with this).
- 4) Make TAMU pass. They want to pass it but don't make it easy for them by forgetting the run. Stop the run first. I think we have the guys to do this.
- 5) Finish the job when you get to Knight. Knight will make our DEs miss but it can't be every time we get pressure. Along with pressure, we need a few sacks/TFLs.
- 6) Make Knight beat you passing underneath. If he nickel-and-dimes us to death like the 2nd coming of Peyton Manning, tip your cap. If he looks like Trevor Knight, take the 3-and-outs and hope we score on O.
This is a very important game for this staff... or it should be. We haven't beaten anyone at home in almost 2 years. If you continue to lose home games to the TAMUs of the world, even the most tried-and-true fan base will eventually tune out until Danjel Purifoy Time!!
These match-ups will tell us if we're still making this game way harder than it needs to be to sustain success.
WAR EAGLE!!!
Total Plays: 67 (63 in Nickel... 4 in Dime)
DT
M. Adams - 43
D. Russell - 24
D. Brown - 22
An. Williams - 22
M. Swain - 12
DE
M. Davidson - 45
C. Lawson - 35
B. Cowart - 22
P. James III - 22
J. Holland - 21
LB
D. Davis - 39
Tr. Williams - 37
D. Williams - 23
Mon. Atkinson - 21
Tre Threat - 10
CB
C. Davis - 57
J. Holsey - 37
J. Davis - 21
J. Broussard - 10
M. Taylor - 10
S
Tr. Matthews - 57
R. Ford - 56
St. Roberts - 38
N. Ruffin - 17
M. Boston - 16
TJ Davis - 10
D. Thomas - 10
