Looking Forward - Quiet Optimism
by KoolBell777 on Oct 16, 2011 10:38 AM CDT
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I saw something in the highlights, and after watching the replay early this morning. I saw a shift, a very significant shift if you are an Auburn fan. One that is fully camouflaged, if you are just looking at the stats.
First I want to say congratulations to the defensive players and coaches. What a great game plan, and execution of that plan was very well done. Eltoro Freeman may have had his best game, from a recognition stand point. Corey Lemonier was a disruptive force, and Nosa Eguae played very well for the most part. For those three to stand out, the others have to be playing their roles. Played them to near perfection they did, I now await the "hat in hand" post from a certain individual, who had been more than a little frustrated earlier in the season.The defense is now ranked higher than the offense nationally, and it happens to be because it is improving by leaps and bounds.
Now onto the shift I mentioned earlier.
Looking back at some of the problems Barrett Trotter had throwing the ball, especially over the middle, I was becoming more and more frustrated that there wasn't any improvement being shown on the field, during competition. We are not privy to practice, so we could only judge by what we have seen, and some minor irritation was developing with pass attempts across the middle at the mid-level.
Trotter, for whatever reason would throw the pass too hard, and bounce it, or throw behind his receiver. With several games to judge by, I wasn't seeing improvement there, and it must have been clearly evident to the opposing teams as well. Sometimes I thought the reason Trotter wasn't throwing to the open man underneath, was because he didn't have the confidence to do so. After three weeks, he had to be seeing them, it was blatantly obvious as a fan, and we know he saw the film each week. The lack of improvement ultimately led to Moseley starting the second half against the Gators.
Last night in the game against the Gators, Clint Moseley threw to Lutzie, a perfect strike across the middle at about 18 yards. That single play sent off a message in BOLD TYPE that the defensive backs would have to play back, therefore opening the run game. Because of the effectiveness of the passing game with Clint Moseley, we saw several things last night we haven't seen since the second quarter against Clemson. Running plays with some significant gains on second down, and Onterio McCalebb scored his first rushing TD of the season.
Yeah, I now have some optimism about the rest of the season. The toughest part, and we'll be ready.
WAR EAGLE!
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I think
During the second half of the Clemson game, while posting from the stands of Memorial Stadium, I started seeing Trotter playing in a manner that I, at least, didn’t like, I then saw the same pattern in games since. I was glad that Mosley was able to take a few snaps last night and even more pleased that he was able to make positive decisions resulting in positive plays. Sure, he has room to improve, but with a different quarterback, the entire offense, in essence, has to get accustomed to a different guy leading the pack. This should only improve as Mosley’s playing time expands. Don’t get me wrong, I like Trotter and Frazier and think they each bring something different to the table. But, as CGC has stated, we need to go with whomever gives AU the best chance to win.
Auburn Tigers -- YOUR 2010 Football National Champions!! DWWD!!
several upsides to starting moseley
one he was more productive than trotter has been of late and more importantly LSU will only have 8 passes on film of him! 9 if you count the trick play from early in season. Still a long row to hoe next week, but stranger things have happened. Maybe miles eats some bad grass this week.
"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass...and I'm all out of bubblegum."
You never know what each week will bring
…and who knows how Mosley is going to look against an aggressive, swarming LSU defense.
With that said, Mosley showed something. And that something is definitely more than the much smaller something shown to us by Trotter and Frazier at this point.
Chizik said it best — we gotta’ go with our best chance to win. So, hopefully, Mosley it is.
Now, if we can just continue to see improvement out of our defense.
"The ball will be spotted at the six-inch-yardline."
My concern..
….is feeding a WAY inexperienced Moseley to the LSU D. We might want to put who’s most expendable out there…
......Drowning in cool elixir.
by Acid Reign on Oct 16, 2011 1:45 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
True
But there’s the endless debate — do we approach this as a likely loss, and try to keep the damage to a minimum; or do we go balls out and play like our hair’s on fire?
As much as I’d like to say the latter, philosophically, there’s a big part of me that agrees with you.
"The ball will be spotted at the six-inch-yardline."
It's hard to imagine how Mosley could be worse than Trotter. In his few pass attempts, he
at least looked more decisive than Trotter.
Quiet Optimism is an entirely appropriate thought
We have all been excited about our last two recruiting classes. Our young players are starting to show signs that our excitement was warrented. If the cupboard had not been so bare, many of these players would have had the opportunity to grow both physically and mentally prior to assuming a significant role on the team.
I believe we will continue to have ups and downs throughout the balance of the season but I believe we will see more highs than lows.
The next two years should be great as we reach the point where AUBURN consistantly reloads rather than rebuilds
Veni vidi vici 22-19
Agreed
AubTigerman
"The reason you come to Auburn is because of Auburn people.This is a special place, from the coaches all the way to the fans" - Andrew McCain OT
I couldn't help be feel that the entire offense let out a sigh of relief with Mosely taking the field.
Even Trotter looked more comfortable. You know what else, I’m done being nervous about the Offense. Throw the kids out there and let them play! War Eagle!
by Tiger on the mountain on Oct 17, 2011 9:02 AM CDT reply actions
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