My thoughts on the game and commentary since.

NutherT

Redshirt
Oct 14, 2007
429
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1. The Cornerbacks were not the problem Saturday, unless our awful scheme was a result of Torbush trying to "hide" their weakness. As has been pointed out by others and me already, our CBs were instructed to play a zone in the flats and let the WRs get behind them.

2. Zach Smith, as has been stated, is a liability. My suggestion: Put Mitchell at FS, Bonner at SS, and Smith at the Nickel. Smith would be like an extra linebacker and would not have to cover deep. It couldn't be worse than what we are doing.

3. Our D-line got manhandled. Auburn's center dealt with Kyle love. I am banking on this being just as much a result of Auburn's O-line than our D-line. We are still very young here and don't have any dominant DTs. Love is the closest thing.

4. Auburn's WRs and TEs have really mastered the art of sealing the outside. I'm pretty sure what they were doing should be considered holding, but it wasn't. We need to take note and do the same. They would hold a high block on our LB until just before the RB hit the line of scrimmage. Just when our LB would try to get off the block, the blocker would use his grip on our defender's collar to pull downward. Not enough to bring him to the ground, but just enough to make him lose his footing and keep him from having a burst to get to the runner. It was timed just right and worked masterfully.

5. We should continue to rotate quarterbacks. It's the only option we've got and it sorta works.

6. I love the wishbone. Thank you Dan Mullen

7. Dixon is back. I liked watching him run the other day about as much as I ever have. His balance seems improved with his weight loss.

8. We have got to start sending Bumphis, Heavens, Berry, etc. in motion to fake the handoff. There is no reason not to. It adds uncertainty and will result in big plays from time to time.

9. I love Marcus Green. The kid can block and run. He's going to be a weapon.

10. If you say the offense isn't dramatically changed since Croom, you are an idiot. If you say our QBs stand flat footed or hold handoffs too long, you are an idiot. That is the way the spread is run. Watch football from time to time.
 

Shmuley

Heisman
Mar 6, 2008
23,703
10,262
113
And the way the D was gassed at the end of the first half shows we're behind the curve on conditioning. Not saying we don't have the right guy there, just saying we're behind the rest of the conference on conditioning as a result of the crxxms debacle.
 

jackstefano

Redshirt
Dec 28, 2007
2,368
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Sort of odd to blame lack of conditioning on Croom. Especially with the rave reviews about the S/C coach since at least February.
 

graddawg

Sophomore
Jun 4, 2007
2,699
102
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I disagree to an extent. Let's say Auburn and Mississippi State signed guys who were equal in talent in the 2006 signing class. If the player at Auburn has had the best conditioning out there for 3+ years and the State player has been exposed to a SWAC conditioning program (assuming our S&C program under Croom was on par with our uniforms), 8 months of Matt Balis, no matter how good he is, will not make up for the difference in gains the players made prior to the new staff showing up in Starkville.

With that said, it is quite a stretch to blame our conditioning on Sly.
 

Columbus Dawg

Redshirt
Feb 23, 2008
1,642
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Love was a 2 star recruit with offers from Akron, Tulane, and Memphis. Conditioning is not his problem.
 

Eureka Dog

Redshirt
Feb 25, 2008
559
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59 rushing and 24 passing while MSU only ran 59.

AU coaches complained last week about their offense not moving fast enough. Well, they sped it up this past Saturday. Our offense is going to have to eliminate 3-and-out series. We're gonna need at least 6-7 plays on drives that produce no points.

First half offensive penalties really killed 2/3 drives ... "little" stuff like that really changes how many games are played out. (Duh?!)

On the AU TD run that put them back on top 21-17, Zach Smith took a really bad angle to the ball, otherwise they get about 15 yards on that play. If AU burns another minute during that drive we go into halftime trailing by 4 rather than 11. It probably wouldn't have mattered as for winning or losing, but having enough time to stick in that last TD before half was a big blow (Again, Duh?!) .... and really changed the play calling for both teams in the early part of the 3rd quarter.
 

maroonmania

Senior
Feb 23, 2008
11,075
720
113
according to what I read we gave up 5 drives for TDs of 72 yards or more. From about mid-second quarter on it seemed like the AU punter was not even needed. Also, as has been mentioned in this thread, we were manhandled physically on defense. I know things take time, but after all the stuff we've been hearing about the workout program, I was certainly hoping for better than being tossed around by the Auburn OL.
 

smellmyfinger

Redshirt
Dec 8, 2008
586
0
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If you watch the first Auburn drive of the game, in one of those plays their QB moves in front of our LB White #50 and takles him around the ankles. Is that legal? I've never seen that before. </p>
 

baen

Redshirt
Nov 11, 2007
66
0
0
One I would add is that our team speed is really poor. I despise the 3 man front, and agree with many of the opinions here that the defensive game plan was ill advised. But what I noticed all night long on both sides of the ball was that we are really, really slow. Or at least a lot slower than Auburn.
 

kired

All-Conference
Aug 22, 2008
6,963
2,250
113
Grabbed his foot or ankle if I remember correctly. Nice tackle by the QB. Wasn't the only time it happened against us & nothing was called - like someone else said, there was a lot of questionable blocks thrown by the AU recievers. Not saying it would have changed the outcome... but stuff that was called holding during the Jackson St. game would've been ok Saturday night. Guess you've just got to use it to your advantage when you can.
 

FQDawg

Senior
May 1, 2006
3,076
618
113
Our defensive problems were very much scheme related. We were rushing three guys most of the time, which led to several double teams. It also led to their QBs having all day to throw. No matter how good or bad our DBs are, and I do think we are weak there, no DBs can defend pass routes forever.

We needed to blitz more or find some other ways to pressure the QB. THe times we did get some pressure, we had good results.
 

uhhct1

Redshirt
Feb 24, 2008
131
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I noticed that when we blitzed and got pressure on Todd, we forced him to make errand throws. I wondered why we did not do that more often. What has happened to all these blitz packages we read about all preseason anyways??

On a side note, I met chris todd at the waffle house late saturday night/early sunday morning and he is a big douche.
 

therightway

Redshirt
Aug 26, 2009
1,801
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We cannot run a cover 2 with Smith at safety. I think that Smith has good smarts but does not have the ability for jump balls down the field. If you do run cover 2 you have to put pressure on the qb. There is that window between the flats and deep sideline that will be open if enough time is provided to run the safety off. By the way no secondary is good without a pass rush.