Afterthoughts: Back on Track!!
by CapnVegetto on Nov 2, 2009 10:43 AM CST
15 comments
Auburn is back. An excellent win over a superior-on-paper team Saturday laid to rest a lot of the critics of the coaching staff and the team itself......at least for a while. For the first time in 3 weeks Saturday, Auburn showed up to the game ready to play. The defense looked better than they have all year. The offense looked brilliant at times, stagnant at times. Overall though, we once again saw a glimpse of the 5-0 Tigers as opposed to the 0-3 Tigers.
Our glaring weaknesses remain the same: We have no quarterback. Chris Todd had a good game, but if you were actually watching the game, you would see that his numbers were very little of Todd's doing, and moreso of his receivers and backs making plays for him. Todd's arm is still weak and floaty. Put in Caudle you say? I don't know. There are 2 schools of thought here:
1. If the coaches are saying Todd is the best chance to win, then you believe them and are afraid because if Todd is the BEST QB AVAILABLE TO PLAY right now, then Caudle's MO is correct. He will get interception happy when pressured and make huge mistakes. If that is the case then blame Tuberville and co. for lack of recruiting. Many have said that the best QB on the team in Barrett Trotter, but he can't stay healthy. If he can manage to get through spring not hurt, he'll have a shot next year. What about Tyrik Rollison? He's redshirted, waiting his turn. Why not bring him in now? I think the coaches believe in Trotter, and want the extra year of eligibility for Rollison. Trotter will be a junior next year, if he does well we've got him for 2 years, then we've got Rollison for 2 years. Or maybe Caudle will wake up and win the job. Athletically, Caudle is there. He's got a great arm, and can run. He can't run like Rollison, but he can run. We'll have to see.
2. The other school of thought is simple SCS, otherwise known as Stubborn Coach Syndrome. It's simply the coach saying 'I know more than the fans and the media, so I'm not going to start Caudle because that would be caving to pressure!' If this is the case, then I have one thing to say to the coaching staff: DON'T BE A BUNCH OF IDIOTS. Give your team the best chance to win. Don't try to show that you're smarter than everybody else. Don't be like Sean Payton at the Saints last year. Don't sacrifice wins for your team because you want to prove to the media and the fans that you know more than them. I've seen a little bit of this in Gus Malzhan. I hate to badmouth him, but he's made some really questionable playcalls the last couple of weeks. Gus.....when it's 3rd and 5, you don't have to go down the field every time. You don't have to call a double reverse wildcat formation pass play to Kodi Burns. Just get the damn first down Run a quickout past the line and throw it. Throw a halfback screen. WR screen. Give your guys a chance. Stay on the field. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we're taking shots down the field and making some big plays. But there are times to do it, and times not to. Quite simply, there's nothing wrong with taking a shot, even on 3rd and 5. But don't do it so much that you're sacrificing a chance to just stay on the field.
Next week we have Furman, which should be a gimme win. Hooray for homecoming, and a 7 win season, which is what most of us predicted anyway. Can we beat Georgia? I think so. Can we beat Alabama? Yes we can. It all depends on which Auburn team shows up. One thing is for sure, the OL better save their best game of the year for Alabama. Otherwise, Chris 'I-hold-the-ball-too-long' Todd will get slaughtered.
Looking forward to a nice, stress-free weekend of Auburn football. Great win Saturday!!! I'm ready to get back in the Bowl fray. War Eagle!!!
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I Personally
Am still in full support of Todd. I don’t think Caudle is better than Todd in any way… hell, Todd has shown he can run just as much as Caudle can. I love the way our quarterbacks are looking for the future. I think Trotter should take the job next year, though if Rollison shows the passing ability he could be a dangerous QB in Malzahns system. And of course you also have to ask, will the staff give Kodi any chance to play quarterback in his final season?
If hip hop is dead, then it happened the day that Dilla died.
-Akrobatik
Todd>Caudle
it shouldn’t really be a question at this point. As for next year, it’s Caudle’s job to lose and something tells me he will. Trotter or Rollison, it’ll probably go Rollison’s way.
As for the Sean Payton analogy, as a Saints fan, I completely see the comparison. Trying to get too clever with the running game on short yards, ug, I can’t stand it. If you watch the Saints this year, they do a lot less finesse on the ground.
School 2 must be Bammers
only a Bammer would think the AU coaches would make
such decisions….
Wake up and smell the hurry up offense…
Caudle is a very good athelete that makes very poor decisions, it is obvious,even to Bammers….
That is why a Bammer would say play Caudle…
Now Caudle may come around like UT Crompton…
but a what cost?…
There was no reason to play Todd unless he is AU’s best
chance to win.. No reason at all…
and to question CGM play calling… must be a
Bammer fan there too…. or a Moron…
WDE
Uh?
what?
"Jay Jacobs can't go to the bathroom without Bobby Lowder's permission" - Paul Finebaum
by GumptownTiger on Nov 3, 2009 9:14 AM CST up reply actions
2 cents
I think number 1 and 2 are somewhat off. I think the situation with Todd is that of confidence. This season can only go as far as Todd can take us. The coaches showing confidence in him is the only choice they have. At this point and time, he is the only SEC caliber QB on our roster.
As for Trotter, it’s all speculation, as it is with Rollison. Did anyone really think Todd would come in and win the QB situation this year? I had thoughts that he might, but I wouldn’t have bet on it. I think the same goes for next year. The best QB will win the job. I don’t think the coaching staff is holding out Rollison because they want to save him, I don’t think they think he is ready. Why waste a redshirt on another freshmen QB in the SEC with some of the best defenses you have./had to play coming up (LSU, ole miss, Alabama). Wouldn’t be fair to him or our the other players on the offense.
I do think we can beat the teams on the remaining schedule, even Alabama, but the defense will have to play well and probably score points in order for that to happen.
Good points but.....
I don’t see Rollison or Trotter as options right now. You’re right….if Rollison understood the offense he’d be starting right now instead of Todd. He had his shot in spring, and although he is athletically superior to any QB on the team, he’s just not there yet. That’s why he’s redshirted. He’s got a year to watch and learn. Right now, he is the BEST option on the team for Malzhan’s system, but he is completely raw and uncoached. Not a good idea to bring him in this year.
Trotter is another story. Since he’s been at AU, he’s been hurt. Only ball we’ve seen him play is A-Day and spring ball. This spring he blew out his knee again, and he’s at maybe 70% right now. That’s why you see him on the sidelines not in pads earlier this year. I really think next year that the QB competition will be between him and Rollison, with Rollison winning. Trotter is more of a pro-style pocket passer whereas Rollison is an athletic dual-threat guy.
Caudle was extremely highly touted out of high school, has a great arm, and runs fairly well, but just quite simply can’t grasp the decision making part of playing QB from what I understand. When he’s under pressure, he makes bad decisions and throws interceptions, which is a bad thing in the SEC.
Right now, Todd seems like the best option on paper. The only thing that makes me question it is the TD drive orchestrated by Caudle at the end of the LSU game. Of course, we were down by 30 points or so, and there was basically no pressure, so Caudle looked like the man. I think that right now the coaches believe that if Caudle were put in a pressure situation, it would be totally different then at the end of the LSU game.
However, Todd was SO BAD during that 0-3 streak that myself and most of the Auburn nation was to the point of like “Well hell, is Caudle going to be WORSE?? I don’t think so.” Let’s face it: Todd sucks. He is BAD. But if he’s the best option we have available to us right now, then go with him. We can still win 7 or 8 games and hope for better next year.
Help wanted: SEC caliber QB at Auburn! Benefits: free education.
I agree with most everything you said......
except for…Trotter is more of a prostyle pocket passer….no Trotter was recruited out of a shotgun only spread offense and was recruited as a dual threat spread QB and no Todd doesn’t suck the implosion which started at Rkansas had as much or more to do with the offensive line as it did the QB. I believe personally that Isom’s suspension, while maybe necessary, did more to screw up the chemistry up front than we will ever know and it took a while to get it back. The UK game was lost in such a deflating way that the team faltered severely……the team not just the QB.
I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU
I think Trotter might have been originally that.......
……but he’s blown his knee out twice since he’s been at Auburn. Will he be able to run? I doubt it. He’s relegated to pocket passer now, I think, because of what’s happened since high school.
Time will tell.....
but RB’s come back from ACL tears all the time now (Carnell is an example of this) and Caudle has shown he can run pretty well on repaired knees. As far as what Trotter was originally…….over 1000 yards on the ground and 13 rushing touchdowns in his last two years in high school doesn’t leave much doubt as to what he was recruited as.
I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU
You could be.....
……Willis McGahee blew out his knee in his last college game and now he’s starting in the NFL. I just dunno….I mean he’s not doing his getting hit by a 400 lb. lineman in a game, he’s doing it in PRACTICE. That raises a lot of durability questions. But we’ll see!
all speculation
Which all goes back to my original point. It’s all speculation. We don’t have access to what the coaches do. All We have is message boards and hearsay..(our press doesn’t even have access to practice anymore). As far as Rollison and Trotter, I can’t say I know anything, only what i’ve read and that isn’t saying much… I also read how Kodi Burns was supposed to be the next big thing at QB when he came to AU.
Todd isn’t that bad, but he does need help, a good running game, protection and a few good plays from WRs in the open field. The only way to know if Todd is as bad as he looks is to see the game tape from different angles and see did he make the wrong read, did he miss the open guy.. and even then you have to know, did the WR run the correct route, did the RB block the correct man, ect…
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