Let’s Discuss Texas A&M

[Wild Turkey]

With a new coach, I don't see 10-2. Auburn has a lot of talent to replace as well.

IMO, you guys made a major mistake with firing Gus. I wish Tennessee would have hired him.

He was 0-14 on the road against LSU, Georgia and Alabama. His bowl record was horrendous and the worst in our history. The o-line recruiting had been below average not just in the SEC but for P5 teams for over 4 years.

He is a very good man but you can’t do the above and keep your job at Auburn. If Tennessee had hired him they would be firing him in 3 years. The only things that saved Gus were Kevin Steele and the assistants that were former players at Auburn and they could recruit. Everything Gus was personally in charge of producing was average at best.

 

[Volbound1700]

He was 0-14 on the road against LSU, Georgia and Alabama. His bowl record was horrendous and the worst in our history. The o-line recruiting had been below average not just in the SEC but for P5 teams for over 4 years.

He is a very good man but you can’t do the above and keep your job at Auburn. If Tennessee had hired him they would be firing him in 3 years. The only things that saved Gus were Kevin Steele and the assistants that were former players at Auburn and they could recruit. Everything Gus was personally in charge of producing was average at best.

You are cherry picking his weakness. Let's see what he has achieved.

2013: 12-2 National Title Game Appearance
2014: 8-5 Finished ranked #22 (wins @ #20 Kansas, #15 LSU, #7 Ole Miss)
2015: 7-6 Unranked (Bad Year) Only highlights were wins @ #22 Texas A&M and win over Louisville in opener
2016: 8-5 Finished ranked #24. Schedule was brutal. Most losses were against top 10 teams. Auburn had Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, and Oklahoma on schedule (OU was bowl game).
2017: 10-4 Finished ranked # 10. Beat both Alabama and Georgia (1 of 2 times). Barely lost to Clemson and Georgia second time. Only embarrassment was the UCF loss in bowl game.
2018: 8-5 Finished unranked. Highlight was opening win over #5 Washington.
2019: 9-4 Finished ranked #14. Beat #11 Oregon, #5 Alabama, and # 17 Texas A&M. Were top ten team until he choked against Minnesota.
2020: 6-5 (6-4 against SEC Schedule)

Gus seems to choke a lot in Bowl Games such as Northwestern last year, Minnesota in 2019, and UCF in 2017. I will give you that. However, he had more seasons where Auburn finished in the polls versus not finishing in the polls. He beat Nick Saban 3x, more than anyone out there I think. He never had a losing season. He owned the series against Arkansas, Ole Miss, Miss State, and Texas A&M. Interestingly, his record against Georgia and LSU was about on par with the record against Alabama so I give you that.

However, as a Tennessee fan, I would take this performance in a heartbeat. Especially versus the trash coaching we have had. He wasn't losing regularly to Kentucky, Vandy, Missouri, etc. like some of our dumbass coaches have done. He actually had teams finish in top 20 and actually beat big-name opponents.

I think Auburn fans were expecting too much. I stand by my statement that I would hire Gus in a heartbeat as a Vols fan. He probably could get us back to relevance. Note that we have Alabama and Georgia as annual opponents and we have faired even worse against them then Auburn.

 

[Wild Turkey]

You are cherry picking his weakness. Let's see what he has achieved.

2013: 12-2 National Title Game Appearance
2014: 8-5 Finished ranked #22 (wins @ #20 Kansas, #15 LSU, #7 Ole Miss)
2015: 7-6 Unranked (Bad Year) Only highlights were wins @ #22 Texas A&M and win over Louisville in opener
2016: 8-5 Finished ranked #24. Schedule was brutal. Most losses were against top 10 teams. Auburn had Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, and Oklahoma on schedule (OU was bowl game).
2017: 10-4 Finished ranked # 10. Beat both Alabama and Georgia (1 of 2 times). Barely lost to Clemson and Georgia second time. Only embarrassment was the UCF loss in bowl game.
2018: 8-5 Finished unranked. Highlight was opening win over #5 Washington.
2019: 9-4 Finished ranked #14. Beat #11 Oregon, #5 Alabama, and # 17 Texas A&M. Were top ten team until he choked against Minnesota.
2020: 6-5 (6-4 against SEC Schedule)

Gus seems to choke a lot in Bowl Games such as Northwestern last year, Minnesota in 2019, and UCF in 2017. I will give you that. However, he had more seasons where Auburn finished in the polls versus not finishing in the polls. He beat Nick Saban 3x, more than anyone out there I think. He never had a losing season. He owned the series against Arkansas, Ole Miss, Miss State, and Texas A&M. Interestingly, his record against Georgia and LSU was about on par with the record against Alabama so I give you that.

However, as a Tennessee fan, I would take this performance in a heartbeat. Especially versus the trash coaching we have had. He wasn't losing regularly to Kentucky, Vandy, Missouri, etc. like some of our dumbass coaches have done. He actually had teams finish in top 20 and actually beat big-name opponents.

I think Auburn fans were expecting too much. I stand by my statement that I would hire Gus in a heartbeat as a Vols fan. He probably could get us back to relevance. Note that we have Alabama and Georgia as annual opponents and we have faired even worse against them then Auburn.

Terry Bowden and Gene Chizik had undefeated seasons if you are keeping score.

Gus had to go.

 

[Volbound1700]

Terry Bowden and Gene Chizik had undefeated seasons if you are keeping score.

Gus had to go.

Terry Bowden was not fired for football reasons (at least that wasn't the reasoning) but rather for an off-the-field scandal.

Gene Chizik went 3-9 his last season there and his teams were not competitive after... wait for it... Gus Malzahn left as Offensive Coordinator.

 

[Knight&Day]

2017: 10-4 Finished ranked # 10. Beat both Alabama and Georgia (1 of 2 times). Barely lost to Clemson and Georgia second time. Only embarrassment was the UCF loss in bowl game.

Idk if I'd call a 10-3 P5 team losing by one score to a 12-0 G5 team "embarassing", but ok.

Gus seems to choke a lot in Bowl Games such as Northwestern last year, Minnesota in 2019, and UCF in 2017.

How was the 2017 bowl game a choke? The better team won.

 

[batchaps4me]

How was the 2017 bowl game a choke? The better team won.

The better team did win that day, no doubt about it. Gus failed to take a more talented group of players(based on recruiting rankings) with relatively infinite resources and produce an inferior team. Y'all were better and your win was no fluke so this is not a slight to UCF. But the fact of the matter is that the difference between us was coaching and to be more specific, lack of development of talent/not utilizing the available talent effectively.

 

[Wild Turkey]

The better team did win that day, no doubt about it. Gus failed to take a more talented group of players(based on recruiting rankings) with relatively infinite resources and produce an inferior team. Y'all were better and your win was no fluke so this is not a slight to UCF. But the fact of the matter is that the difference between us was coaching and to be more specific, lack of development of talent/not utilizing the available talent effectively.

After playing Georgia/Bama/Georgia back to back to back we barely fielded a team. I’ve never felt sorry for a o-line before but there were two guys playing that could barely walk, our running backs were depleted and our best corner skipped the game for “business reasons”.

Perfectly typical for a Gus Malzahn team that never recruited depth and killed most of our guys that lived in the trenches. His player management was horrible and we deserved that loss because of it.

It was even worse in the Sugar Bowl when we lost our one half ass QB White on the first drive. We had one RB which a gimped leg.

I do not miss Gus and if players were smart they wouldn’t either because he tried to kill them.

 

[Codaxx]

They had a good season last year but it’s not like they beat anyone special and they way over hyped it. I’m hearing favorable schedule BS but I’m also hearing they have to reload at key positions.

So how are they going to do?

Overrated
Replacing most of the OL and a 4 year starter at QB… WR are already weak

DL was supposed to lead the way, than Jackson McKinley thought selling ketamine was more interesting than football. It’s is a Jimbo team, so I wouldn’t be shocked if he played.

 

[Deep Creek]

Overrated
Replacing most of the OL and a 4 year starter at QB… WR are already weak

DL was supposed to lead the way, than Jackson McKinley thought selling ketamine was more interesting than football. It’s is a Jimbo team, so I wouldn’t be shocked if he played.

Well if you can steal crab legs and get by with it, why not selling ketamine?

 

[Wild Turkey]

Overrated
Replacing most of the OL and a 4 year starter at QB… WR are already weak

DL was supposed to lead the way, than Jackson McKinley thought selling ketamine was more interesting than football. It’s is a Jimbo team, so I wouldn’t be shocked if he played.

I don't know last time I trusted you I drafted Texas' Defense in my fantasy league and that was a disaster.

 

[batchaps4me]

After playing Georgia/Bama/Georgia back to back to back we barely fielded a team. I’ve never felt sorry for a o-line before but there were two guys playing that could barely walk, our running backs were depleted and our best corner skipped the game for “business reasons”.

Perfectly typical for a Gus Malzahn team that never recruited depth and killed most of our guys that lived in the trenches. His player management was horrible and we deserved that loss because of it.

It was even worse in the Sugar Bowl when we lost our one half ass QB White on the first drive. We had one RB which a gimped leg.

I do not miss Gus and if players were smart they wouldn’t either because he tried to kill them.

That was the thing with Gus that was frustrating, depth. With the rosters we had we never had a "next man up" team at any position except TE and Gus couldn't use them at all.

 

[Codaxx]

I don't know last time I trusted you I drafted Texas' Defense in my fantasy league and that was a disaster.

I can’t remember the last time I was high on the Texas defense.

 

[Thiefery]

so it seems they have two true freshmen starting along the OL (Foster at center and Fatheree at OT)

So a first year Center calling protections and snapping it to a first year starting QB? This is going to be interesting for sure

 

[Codaxx]

erso it seems they have two true freshmen starting along the OL (Foster at center and Fatheree at OT)

So a first year Center calling protections and snapping it to a first year starting QB? This is going to be interesting for sure

If that is true, that is a major problem. Fathered was considered a bit of a project. Kind of kid that needed a couple years. Foster has never played center. That would be a big jump.

 

[Thiefery]

If that is true, that is a major problem. Fathered was considered a bit of a project. Kind of kid that needed a couple years. Foster has never played center. That would be a big jump.

yep.. Fatheree is 6'8 and from what I remember, he doesn't have the footwork.. so it'll be interesting to see how he plays at Tackle. I was never on board on the Foster hype train.. Yes kid is built like his nickname (The Mountain) but his play was inconsistent. When I would watch his teammate HUDL (Hayden Connor), can't help but watch how Foster was going through motions next to Connor.
Going to be a real interesting season seeing how aggy plays with actual expectations from a successful covid season.

 

[Codaxx]

yep.. Fatheree is 6'8 and from what I remember, he doesn't have the footwork.. so it'll be interesting to see how he plays at Tackle. I was never on board on the Foster hype train.. Yes kid is built like his nickname (The Mountain) but his play was inconsistent. When I would watch his teammate HUDL (Hayden Connor), can't help but watch how Foster was going through motions next to Connor.
Going to be a real interesting season seeing how aggy plays with actual expectations from a successful covid season.

Center is just tough. Not easy to just jump in and play center, also usually make the line calls. Not a good combo to have a freshman QB and Center. That isn’t to say it can’t work, but I wouldn’t put even money on it working

 

[fordman84]

What are you two getting on about? Freshman center? Did you forget Luke is there? Why are you all worried about our depth, which is what the freshmen are. Unless they beat out the vets in front of them, which in that case...problem solved.

Meanwhile Jexas is sitting there with a freshman QB and freshman C, and y'all worried about A&M.

 

[fordman84]

yep.. Fatheree is 6'8 and from what I remember, he doesn't have the footwork.. so it'll be interesting to see how he plays at Tackle. I was never on board on the Foster hype train.. Yes kid is built like his nickname (The Mountain) but his play was inconsistent. When I would watch his teammate HUDL (Hayden Connor), can't help but watch how Foster was going through motions next to Connor.
Going to be a real interesting season seeing how aggy plays with actual expectations from a successful covid season.

Featheree's footwork is a plus for him because of his background in basketball, he has good quick feet. All he has to learn in the footwork for OL, but he as the foot speed and balance to do it. Not worried about him.

 

[Thiefery]

What are you two getting on about? Freshman center? Did you forget Luke is there? Why are you all worried about our depth, which is what the freshmen are. Unless they beat out the vets in front of them, which in that case...problem solved.

Meanwhile Jexas is sitting there with a freshman QB and freshman C, and y'all worried about A&M.

Texas has a RS-Freshman who started multiple games last season at Center. In fact the whole OL had starts a season ago. It looks like Hudson Card will be starting instead of Casey Thompson so, yes it's going to be similar situation at QB.

BTW just because you can play Basketball (especially at 6'8 towering over HS teammates) doesn't mean you have great feet. Wonder what the hit rate are for 6'8 or taller Tackles are?

 

[fordman84]

Texas has a RS-Freshman who started multiple games last season at Center. In fact the whole OL had starts a season ago. It looks like Hudson Card will be starting instead of Casey Thompson so, yes it's going to be similar situation at QB.

BTW just because you can play Basketball (especially at 6'8 towering over HS teammates) doesn't mean you have great feet. Wonder what the hit rate are for 6'8 or taller Tackles are?

his scouting report says he has great feet. I wonder what the care is if the 3rd string OL hits or not is. If you are on your 3rd string OL your season is already in danger.