Morning after thoughts: MSU @ au

[AustinDawg]

Good morning Gents and Ladies,
hopefully we can have a few more consolidated threads today! Here are my thoughts from the game.

1. Any win is a good win!
We went on the road, and won a divisional game, while not playing our best. That shows we've come a long way.

2. Why do we take our foot off the gas?
I thought after last year's LSU game that Dan had learned to keep being aggressive. It looked like we weren't pushing to score as much in the second half and started coasting.

3. The OL did well in pass protection, but we need to develop some form of consistent running game.
Dear had a nice catch and run early, till snagged by the turf monster, but was he put back in the game after? While I like Shumpert, it does seem like he moves more slowly than others and is late on hitting holes and tries to tiptoe too much.

4. We had a couple of great defensive stops in the red zone.
That being said, we also allowed auburn to basically move up and down the field in the second half (until they started passing). While we did bring some pressure it looks like we played a very conservative defense, particularly in the 2nd half with the lead. I worked, but was tough to watch.

5. Let's go beat those aggies!
Grats to the auburn fans for staying the whole game. If we get a 2td lead against aTm their fans will get quiet and then slowly leave. We need to jump on them early

6. Clutch (and good looking FG) by Graves

 

[BoDawg.sixpack]

That 44 yard field goal was as straight and effortless as any

I've seen at that distance since Westerfield.

 

[patdog]

I don't think we so much took our foot off the gas in the 2nd half as the offense just didn't have the ball that much and didn't execute as well when it did. I thought a huge play that completely changed how the 2nd half played out was the Walley fumble on the 4th down conversion. Am I the only person who saw a blatant uncalled facemask right as he started to fumble the ball? Refs make that call and we've got the ball 1st and 10 inside their 15. Score there and the game is completely out of reach for Auburn. Instead they drive down and get a field goal and get some life.

Agree about the OL. Very good in pass protection. I don't think the lack of a running game is all on them. Shumpert just isn't getting the job done. Holloway looked great when he ran the ball. It's time for Lee and/or Williams to get their chance.

Can't say much bad about the defense when we only gave up 9 points. But it was frustrating seeing Auburn get so much between the 20s and take so much time off the clock. You know it just killed Gus to play that style of offense, but he realizes that's his only chance to win games.

Agree with Bodawg about the field goal. Graves is doing an outstanding job this year.

 

[AustinDawg]

With regards to the 4th down call, that WAS a pretty gutsy call. We ended up making a great play call, and then Wally got stripped. It did seem like he moved to get both hands over the ball, but it still came out. That was a huge play.

I also agree about the defense, it's hard to criticize the number of points they gave up, but they did give up a lot of yards and basically allowed auburn to keep our offense off the field.

Thanks Bo and Pat! (I updated the original post to include FG kicking)

 

[Shamoan]

389 yards by the defense was great on the road regardless of circumstance. im a it concerned about the tackling, but we are doing just enough.

 

[Strike.sixpack]

389 yards by the defense was great on the road regardless of circumstance. im a it concerned about the tackling, but we are doing just enough.

Yep and they ran 82 plays I believe. The avg yard per play this week was pretty close to what they had against LSU. I didn't like the sustained running drives but maybe we roped them in to eat clock themselves some as well. But would like to see that fixed.

 

[Original48]

I'm certainly not at practices but this guy should kick whatever distance.

 

[bulldognation]

Our guys tend to try to trip up the ball carrier which more often than not runs right through it. If you watch OM play, they will aim for hips and wrap up which seems to be far more effective. We've had 4 games under Diaz with tackling being an obvious deficiency every time. Why can't we figure this out?

 

[FlotownDawg]

If Graves tried that 52 yarder against LSU we are undefeated right now. His kicks have plenty of distance and they are straight as an arrow.

 

[#ShowOff]

-Tackling is an issue with defense.

-The OLine did a tremendous job with pass protection. Kudos to them last night. The run game isn't there...don't know if it's a mixture of Oline run blocking and Shump deficiencies or what.

-I love Gabe Myles.

-One of the best throwing games for Dak Prescott...looked sharp and crisp.

-I see good things about the defense and bad things too under Manny Diaz.

-Our Defense held a Gus Malzahn led Auburn team out of the endzone for the first time since he's been leading the sidelines there on a do or die night for his season.

 

[was21]

Mullen deserves credit for recognizing and adapting to what he has..in other words changing as the need dictates. A lot of corches don't do that and they fail. Now if he can only get the running game going...

 

[WhiteShepherd07]

Agree with all the points. We've got to get Dear and Lee more carries in the backfield. Just to point something out since I got corrected on the Rant is Auburn was shutout of an offensive td in 2011 iron bowl when Malzahn was Off Cord.

 

[was21]

Malzahn's situation is that the gimmicky offense requires total efficiency and timing and a QB to run it. Lack of it changes its total complexion..it won't work.