My 2009 AU Football Wishlist

by WarEagle86 on Jun 17, 2009 1:50 PM CDT Comment 13 comments

1. Will the REAL Wes Byrum please stand up? With a more effective kicking game last year our record could have been dramatically different.

2. I want to see the offense run more smoothly; I'm not expecting 45 point games week in and week out but we're due for some serious polishing up on this side of the ball.

3. I want a QB to lead this team with toughness, intensity, and confidence.

4. I want my QB to be better protected this year. (yes, even you Ziemba)

5. I want our time of possession up from last year to prevent a weary defense later in the year.

6. I would like to see some intensity from Chizik on the sidelines this year. I don't want him biting people's heads off but I'd lke to see some fire there.

7. Could we please try to implement play action a little more? If I'm wrong I'm wrong but with our backs we should be able to utilize this offensive tool much more than we did last year.

8. More passing TD's.

9. Fewer nasty 3rd and long situations.

10. Toomer's Corner rolled a few more times. (Especially on Thanksgiving Weekend)

I know this is a bit long, perhaps selfish even; but these are just my 2 cents worth. What do you guys want to see? What do you expect?

0 recs | Comment 13 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

As for #7 on the list, our RBs have to actually show that they can effectively run the ball for the play action to work. Last year, our RBs (yes, a lot of it was the offensive line’s inability to block) were getting tackled at the line or behind the line of scrimmage. The defenses we played never had to respect the running game because well, we didn’t have one last year. We have to be able to pick up positive yardage on running plays, and I fully expect that our running game will be ten times better than it was last year IF (huge IF) our O-line can stay healthy.

by mspirate on Jun 17, 2009 2:12 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Touche, I firmly believe our running woes last year had the O-line to blame 95% of the time. The O-line was atrocious.

War Eagle

by WarEagle86 on Jun 17, 2009 2:31 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

"IF (huge IF) our O-line can stay healthy."

or make it through two consecutive plays without a penalty, or have any basic idea of what the hell they are doing.

"Jay Jacobs can't go to the bathroom without Bobby Lowder's permission" - Paul Finebaum

by GumptownTiger on Jun 17, 2009 2:35 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Offensive line play....

degraded on offensive scheme and didn’t do a good job from the spread formation. However, the times when AU lined up in the Ace formation or the power I, the offensive line looked like the O-line of old. If you need visual proof the Vandy game is a fine example. The play calling was also suspect as many of us vented on during the live threads…….but I digress. The O-line should be back to 2007 Gator Game form…..yes I really believe this.

I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU

by Todd92 on Jun 17, 2009 2:54 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree 100% with the statement about Wes Byrum.

Good list overall.

by Jumpn_JackFlash on Jun 17, 2009 3:04 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

#10

Thats all I effing care about.

by wareagle08 on Jun 18, 2009 11:10 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Time of possession will go down!

When you see Gus’s offense for a few games you will see that our time of possession will be low. You will also see that that is a stat you will no longer care about. When you run 80 plays quickly, your defense will play more and be on the field a lot. Our defensive stats will suffer. The difference is that the offense is draining the opponents defense and scoring points.

Last year Tulsa gained 540 yards at Arkansas and Alabama, who got their 13th championship for having a pretty good season, only gained 410. Bring it on!

by Oh Nine on Jun 19, 2009 10:04 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

If a team cannot pass, then the defense can stack the box up front and there will be no running against that. It was not all the OL’s fault.

Kodi must prove he is a threat in the air if we are going to run effectively. But I agree that we did not run QB options very much last year. Only one reverse per game. The WRs dropped short dumps. And kicking hurt us. Not just field goals, but short punts and kick offs as well gave us lousy field position.

We have a solid OL this year, even if it is one man deep with a few backups to draw on. The WRs seem to be an improvement simply because we now have coaches who give a darn about that position.

I am disappointed in QB play and wonder what people are doing after New Years. There are months of down time to improve technique, read playbooks, etc.

Malzahn’s offense can work with who we have, but Kodi will have to make some passes to keep the defense a little honest. I like Malzahn’s multiple options with RBs and WRs both available to carry the ball.

by KungFuPanda9 on Jun 19, 2009 10:12 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Touche on Burns, O-Line...

I’d like to see Kodi show some significant improvement in his passing EARLY this year or I will be stepping off of the Kodi Burns express.

And also, you’re right about the O-line situation, we didn’t give them much help last year with the way our offense operated as a whole. There’s def enough blame to go around, twice.

War Eagle

by WarEagle86 on Jun 19, 2009 2:52 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I am already off the Kodi Burns express. If he comes out at practice in August and shows significant improvement and shows that he can effectively run Gus’ offense, then great. But the guy has had TWO full years to step up and show that he deserves to be the QB of this team and has yet to do it. If Malzahn can’t coach him up to be a good college QB and improve his mechanics, then who can? And how long can we keep waiting on him? At some point, we have to move on, and I believe this coaching staff is smart enough to know that. If he doesn’t show signs significant signs of improvement in the first two weeks of August practice and Gus doesn’t think he can run his offense effectively, he’s got to move on, and I’m sure he will. To be successful in any league, you have to have a QB (as everyone knows). I think Neil is the starter for the La. Tech game.

by mspirate on Jun 19, 2009 3:12 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree

I think that this coaching staff is going to have very little patience with Kodi Burns. They can ill afford waiting on a player to develop as they’ll all be job hunting sooner rather than later if they waste away the majority of a season letting someone self destruct week after week.

War Eagle

by WarEagle86 on Jun 19, 2009 10:20 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

My wish

is that Neil Cudle gets an actual chance this year. Same thing I was wishing last year around this time…

by SandMountainTiger on Jun 19, 2009 12:21 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Neil gets the start....

gets hurt half way through the season……in comes Rollison AND THE PROSPERITY BEGINS!!!!!!!! Neil I believe proves to everyone that he can play in the SEC while he’s in there….but will go down. Hate to say it, but that’s my gut feeling.

I've seen good TEAMS beat teams with great individuals.

by Indytiger1 on Jun 19, 2009 5:07 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs