TIGER TALK REVIEW: Oklahoma Week

It’s once again time for TIGER TALK.

WHERE TO LISTEN: You can check here to see which radio station near you may be carrying the show. You also can click that link and get hooked into the stream through Auburn’s web portal.

WHERE TO WATCH: You can check here to see if the Tiger Talk Live Stream is active. I am told everyone can watch the stream on War Eagle + even if you’re not a paid member. I am not sure this is true. I will update this as conditions merit.

* I refer to Brad Law as “Not Andy” as a sign of affection. Though I had a beef with Brad for a number of years, that beef has been squashed. I said I’d begin referring to him as “Brad” on these reviews, which date back the Tuberville days on HABOTN, but he said he’d prefer I continue referring to him as “Not Andy.” So that’s the story.

AND WE BEGIN …

NOT ANDY makes an opening statement, no question asked. “We’ve got some improving to do, obviously, on both sides. Defensively, we’ve got to get off the field on third down. I know we’re young and all that, but it’s time for us to get better at some things that we should be executing. Our hands will be full this weekend.”

ANDY makes a statement about South Alabama’s time of possession. “I owned that I lost my composure on the first drive. Luckily, Coach Nix and Coach Davis and one of our analysts … spoke truth to me and calmed me down. My headset wouldn’t work. I was losing it. It cost us a timeout on the first drive. We planned to get in the huddle because we have two assistants over there (working for USA and would know the signs) … I couldn’t get in the huddle. The mic wouldn’t even work for us to tell the signalers. I wish I had been more composed.”

“I started our team meeting out … let me I own what I did. Now … defense. The thing that I think has re-occured was this long face like we’re not getting it done mentality after a drive. That’s got to stop. We’ve got to get over here and get it corrected and play the next (snap).”

“I thought our protection was really good Saturday. (Jackson Arnold) had plenty of time. He was able to stand in there and go through his progression. There were some times when he went through all the way to the last one. We’re going to have to win some one-on-one routes down the field to be in these next few games.”

THE SECOND SEGMENT

NOT ANDY asks about role of injuries on defense. “It always plays a factor, but you still expect the next man up … you expect us to not have as many busts as we had and us to tackle better. We need to be at full strength. That’s really nice, but that’s kind of a fantasy world to think you can be all year long.”

HERB in the house. I don’t understand his question. Hugh also doesn’t understand. “We scored on five of our first six possessions, which is pretty dang good. We had two possessions in the second half. It was very frustrating and concerning … for someone to keep the ball as long as they did on us. They converted a lot of third and fourth downs.”

ANDY asks if Jackson Arnold has done what has been expected of him in a general sense. “100 percent. We’re 3-0 and he hasn’t turned the ball over. You judge a quarterback by those two things, a large portion of it, anyway.”

“(Throwing the ball downfield) is the only thing he hasn’t proven consistently yet, but I believe in him.”

NOT ANDY asks about being patient when the other team has long drives. “Ten years ago, it would have been impossible for me. I was going to go tempo and get as many plays as I could. In that game the other day, I thought: We need to keep our defense on the sideline. How do we do that? Well, we take eight minutes off the clock and score points. That’s complementary football to me — where they don’t have to go defend so many possessions. We weren’t at our best (defensively) in my opinion. How do we help as a team? That’s to play complementary football.”

THE THIRD SEGMENT

ANDY makes a statement about Oklahoma. Hugh says he’s spoken with Arnold about the stadium. “He said it can get loud. It’s a quality stadium.”

TEDDY/TEDDI/TEDDYE, who is a girl, is in the house. She asks about how Freeze coaches Jackson emotionally for this game. Hugh notes that he took Liberty to Ole Miss. “I’ve experienced kind of what Jackson’s going through. Some are going to boo you. Some are going to still want to see you and hug you and cheer for you and pull for you. It’s a mixture. All that matters is your preparation. I don’t think it’s going to rattle him at all.”

ANDY asks about that game at Ole Miss. “You’re not quite sure what it’s going to be like until you do it. Truthfully, I feel like Jill and I received an incredible welcome. Most people, I choose to believe, are inherently fairly good even though there’s evil in the world.”

COURTLAND is in the house. He wants updates on Durell Robinson and Rayshawn Pleasant. “Durell, he’s going to be a while. That freak thing that happened with him .. they had to put a 12-inch incision in his thigh. Rayshawn, I expect him to be with us. I think he’ll be ready to go.”

THE FINAL SEGMENT

NOT ANDY asks about the rest of the OU team aside from the quarterback. “They went out and fixed some issue. It’s a really solid football team. They found the pieces they needed.”

ANDY asks about a Venables defense. “It’s physical. It’s downhill, physical football. Not as many fronts as we’ve had to face. They don’t need to. Their nickel is 6-5, 230. They’re big, they’re strong, they’re fast, deep. I think it’s a Top 10 team when I watch it.”

“We’re not going to back down. We’re excited about it.”

“I think the days of somebody running roughshod over this league are over. It’s more like the NFL. Who survives and is able to steal a few on the road and hold (serve) at home and put yourself in good position?”

PAIGE is in the house. She wants to know about Jackson taking things into his own hands running the ball and gets hit too much. “He’s a tough kid. I don’t want him taking unnecessary hits, either, unless it’s third or fourth down. He’s usually pretty smart on early downs on sliding and getting down and protecting himself.”

ANDY asks about the reduction of turnovers. “We didn’t seem to turn it over a lot until I got here. The drills that we do are the same. In the passing game, we haven’t forced balls into coverage and we haven’t had any of those freakish high balls that get tipped off a receiver’s hands. We had … all of that last year. I don’t know. I don’t talk about it a ton. We just drill it. That’s what we’ve done for years.”

NOT ANDY asks about avoiding analysis paralysis. “I don’t get hung up in a ton of data. My experience is … they’re over there getting ready, too.” (Hugh says he changes his team’s attack based on how the game is going, so the idea of OU figuring out what Auburn will do is wasteful.) “If your whole game plan is based on what somebody told you the data said, that’s good to have on a sheet of paper … but you’d better be able to understand your offense.”

Hugh offers a firm, congenial “War Eagle” to close.