We're back. We've got Auburn and SAmford this weekend, toe meets leather at 6 p.m. CDT Saturday.
Remember that this game will (only) be available IN THE STADIUM or on ESPN-branded streaming. It will not be televised.
LIST OF AFFILIATES AND LINKS
• PREDICTION: It's live. Fun.
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Hugh says John Cohen believes almost 10,000 fans made the trip to Cal last week. "I don't know what else to say (to the fans) other than 'thank you.'"
"It was a trip I think we can build upon. I thought we were sluggish this week, particularly on Tuesday. It takes a little toll on you."
ANDY asks about how the game played out. "I'm usually not wrong ... on the way a game plays out. I was wrong on that one. I thought it would be one of those 38-35 games. I'm extremely pleased that our defensive only gave up 10 points."
ANDY reminds us that Hugh said before the game that red zone would be the key to the game. Everyone says that. "We've got to be really, really stingy in the red zone and hold them to field goal." (Hugh says the Tigers' FG Block unit played great and affected some kicks.)
***COMMERCIAL BREAK***
JULIE/JULI is in the house. She asks who has surpsied the most on offense. "First name that pops out is Jeremiah Cobb on offense. The stage isn't too big for his demeanor. He really jump-stared that (last) drive. On defense, I'd say Eugene Asante. He's made the most of (his chances)."
HERB is in the house. He makes an observation first. It's a rambling mess. He asks about kicking field goals. Hugh says he feels good with "50 and in" with McPherson. He might consider a 60-yarder at the end of a half. As for the second touchdown play, Hugh said he instructed Thorne to take the shot to Fairweather if he was 1v1. "Don't throw it out of bounds. Give him a chance to go up and high-point it."
NOT ANDY asks about how he collaborates with Monty in real time. "To this point, I haven't gotten extremely involved. (Hugh says he also called the reverse.) There wasn't a whole lot to talk about (at Cal.) When we got to the 20, we immediately went to our 20-yard line landmarks. We studied all week and we know what we like (at each landmark)."
BUSTER is in the house. He's pleased with the team's effort. The question is about DK's status for this game. Buster says the defense is FAST AS CRAP, which seems like a denigration to me. GUFFAWS ALL AROUND. "We're still a work in progress. Our O-line was mauling our D-line. If we don't have the turnovers, we'd have rushed for another 250 yards. We've got to play better and we've got to coach better. Some of that is not (Thorne). We've got to coach (the wideouts) better and they've got to play better. Kameron Stutts ... he absolutely got after their tail. He was mauling them."
***COMMERCIAL BREAK***
BRUCE is in the house. It's not Bruce Pearl, sadly. His question is about QB rotations and if they have plays they know are coming. "Game One, there was a specific package for Robby. At Cal, we had a package for him — it was a two-back thing. There was a little too much in-and-out in that game. I don't think you'll see that again unless we don't have any juice."
NOT ANDY asks about the secondary and Kay Lee in particular. "Kayin Lee played well all game except for the knucklehead penalty we had. The first game we played was so clean. You go out there and we did everything the exact opposite."
ANDY asks about Samford's offense. "I went all the way back to the last time they played here ... four or five years ago. They moved it on Auburn then. They did everything in the world. It was polecats, quads, unbalanced. We're going to have to play."
NOT ANDY asks about how Auburn plans to affect the Samford QB. "We need to put pressure on him for sure, but they typically get the ball out very quickly. They'd rather be in the quick game. We need to get our hands up and get some tips."
ANDY asks about stopping the run last week. Hugh says it was about having a good plan and then executing. "We misaligned in the UMass game — a lot. We went from 18 in the UMass game to about five in that (last) game."
NOT ANDY asks about Var and Fair and who rises to the top at wideout. "We have to remind ourselves when we're not on the same page with the receiving corps. We had quite a few who weren't even here until the summer. Cam Brown didn't practice the first two weeks of camp. 5 and 6 ... they have the best understanding of what we're doing."
ANDY asks about Jay Fair. "He's a really good route-runner. Natural ball-catcher. Has enough quickness to separate and get open. Wish he had a bigger catch radius."
NOT ANDY asks about Samford's defense. "I don't know that they'll play us (with six defensive backs, which is their custom). I hope they can't stop our run doing that."
ANDY asks about Jarquez being back last weekend. "I'm excited to see what he'll become. The truth ... he left a lot of yards out there. I think he was really rusty and he was rushing ... he wasn't letting the blocks set up. He'll be fine this week. He's getting back into the flow of things. On some of the wide zones ... he was a little ahead of where he needed to be in regard to our offensive line."
NOT ANDY asks about Fairweather and Asante. "We've got to utilize (Rivaldo) more in the pass game. Eugene ... he gets a little chaotic, but you'll never have to question how hard he plays once the ball is snapped."
NOT ANDY asks for keys. Hugh says he wants Auburn to take care of the ball. And Auburn needs to stay balanced. Defensively, he wants Auburn to stop the run and then rally against the pass.
ANDY didn't give Hugh a chance to finish with a WAR EAGLE. Sad.
Maybe next time.
BE GOOD. BE YOU.
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