However the seemingly brain dead Auburn coaching staff did not use Bigsby on a 4th and 1 that literally turned the entire game in the first half with Auburn up 14-7. First they should not have gone for it anyway with the lead over a lesser team and needing a win BADLY. Second, if they were going to go for it, GIVE IT TO TANK. I mean are these coaches so dense that they did not see the look on Tank Bigsby's face? STOP OVERCOACHING and just give him the D*** BALL. Instead they try an over-the-top pass with a nervous not-that-accurate backup quarterback into triple coverage. Folks yes new coaches can overcome bad first seasons as you can read ad nauseum on other Auburn sites but I have real doubts about overcoming the absolute BRAIN DEAD calls I have seen from this staff over the last two weeks.
The goal is to WIN THE GAME. Again you chuck the game plan and remember the basics of the sport you are coaching and do the right thing for the team to GET THE WIN. This coaching staff looks really bad after the last two games. There is no other way to say it folks. Football has changed a lot but if you have the better team and you are running the ball well especially against a lesser team, you keep running the football. I mean that is Football 101. If these coaches cannot see that then again I have real doubts about these coaches going forward. I mean I did not say Malzahn was wrong all the time. This is a Malzahn game, you just run the ball down their throats the whole game. His problem was he could not pass against better teams and now we have a coaching staff that can or will not run the ball enough against anybody (???). I mean it is just unbelievable to have a job that pays MILLIONS OF DOLLARS and the coaches Auburn hires cannot find a dime of common sense.
They might say hey we do not like our running backs to carry the ball 30 times and that is legitimate although I would argue every once in a while you have to do it to avoid disasters like this game but whatever. That is still no excuse, Jarquez Hunter who has proved himself throughout the season only got FOUR CARRIES as well??? I am literally shaking my head writing this. What in the he!! is wrong with these coaches? You also had your backup making his first start for you on the road and he needed help yet you throw the ball 30 TIMES??? Meanwhile Bigsby only touched the ball three times in the fourth quarter and none on Auburn's last possession??? Again this is ELEMENTARY stuff here, how can a good football coach or coaches not understand these tenets of the game?
It was the whole team as well, the defense I guess played better albeit against maybe the worst offense in the SEC. However they let a third string FCS quarterback go 10 for 15 for THREE TOUCHDOWNS. South Carolina has a terrible offense, period, but the only weapon they had in that offense was NUMBER 11 ZaQuandre White who led the Gamecocks in rushing AND receiving. It seemed pretty obvious early on that we should pretty much ADJUST whatever the stupid game plan was coming in and do everything we could to take away NUMBER 11. I mean whaaat the heeeck??? I mean raise your hand if you watched the entire game and noticed that NUMBER 11 was making all their plays? I think I see a lot of hands raised. His teammates put the man on their shoulders after the game!!! How many times do you see that nowadays? I guess common sense from coaches is just too much to ask.
I said that I thought the coaches had ruined everything positive from earlier in the season in last week's collapse and well I think if there was any doubt to the truth of that statement it is gone now. Literally three weeks ago I asked "is something special happening in Auburn?" THREE WEEKS AGO! I could not in my worst football nightmares envision what has happened since I wrote that post on Halloween. You can see the cracks in the good part of the season as well. Bo Nix's unbelievable playmaking was the biggest factor in the LSU win and Auburn played just as bad a second half on offense against Ole Miss as they did against anybody. The Rebels had every chance to come back like State but could not capitalize. The overall question is now just being shouted louder, i.e. what is the identity of this coaching staff? What do they do well? Can anyone answer that question? I really cannot.
Of course when it rains it pours with the evil empire heading to Auburn next week. It is looking like it will be one of the worse beatdowns in this rivalry in Auburn. Everyone keeps saying how Bama is not that good while their quarterback had almost 600 yards passing against Arkansas. To be accurate Bama quarterback Bryce Young set all kinds of school records Saturday going 31 OF 40 FOR 559 YARDS AND FIVE TOUCHDOWNS. This is the perfect setup for an epic blowout as one team is down and out and the other team is talented but has yet to really put it all together. I am again not sure how much of this game I will be able to stomach. It really does look like the perfect storm to me. I really think $aban and company will really have the Tide ready to make a statement while I assume the Auburn coaches will do the thing that makes the least sense... T.J. Finley is in no way ready for a game of this magnitude and Auburn's defense is even less ready.
The only thing positive I can possibly see for Auburn football the rest of 2021 is getting a bowl game against a team just as bad and disappointing, maybe an all SEC bowl game playing Florida? That is about it. Auburn is currently rated pretty low overall and compared to the rest of the conference in recruiting. Yes they get those rankings wrong some of the time but they usually get the low rated teams right... That brings us to the title of this post, is the whole Harsin era over before it ever really began? I know in many quarters that would be labelled a ludicrous question and that you could not possibly be able to ask that question or pass judgement on a first year staff. I have heard the bad first years of many football coaches brought up in relation to this ridiculous take. HOWEVER just about everyone of those coaches who ended up being successful brought in big or at least very good recruiting classes after that bad first year.
Also coaches are given less and less time to show something ESPECIALLY on the recruiting trail. Just about every Auburn coaching change that has been made in the modern era was made for recruiting or it was one of the big factors. Bryan Harsin is going to have to build a very good team in basically two years after this disaster of a season, after what looks like a sub par recruiting season, after probably losing several decent players to the transfer portal, and after most likely shaking up his coaching staff. Does anyone think he is going to be able to do that? Coaches only get three or four years now and thanks to former AD Jay Jacobs Auburn and Harsin will be on the road at Georgia and Bama next season so there will most likely be no wins in those games next year. If you throw in a couple of bad coaching efforts in next season like this season in addition to those likely rivalry losses it will be 2023 or bust for Harsin with Gus Malazahn's last recruiting class as his seniors.
Call me crazy, call me whatever but I do not see it happening. I think it is over before it really began for Bryan Harsin at Auburn. I hope I am wrong.
No comments:
Post a Comment