I have an interesting take on Auburn with a West Coast view. After Auburn, I moved to Eugene Oregon and lived there for 2 decades before moving back to the South recently.
I know you guys hate the Ducks, it's like the Auburn vs UGA rivalry, but I will give an honest take on Auburn by someone with a Left Coast POV.
Do you think it's fair to play 8 conference games (not 9) and be able to play a patsy before your big rivalry games in November? Does this have a material effect on wins/losses and team overall health?
Let me take a stab at this. The tweet only talks about true road games. Since 2000, we've played the following. Remember, some of these were when teams still only played 11 game seasons. I'll also include upcoming games:
2001: at Syracuse 2002: at USC, vs. Syracuse 2003: vs. USC, at Georgia Tech 2005: Georgia Tech 2006: vs Washington State 2007: vs Kansas State 2008: at West Virginia 2009: vs West Virginia 2010: vs Clemson 2011: at Clemson 2012: Clemson (neutral site) 2013: vs Washington State 2014: at Kansas State 2015: Louisville (neutral site) 2016: vs Clemson 2017: at Clemson 2018: Washington (neutral site) 2019: Oregon (neutral site) 2020: North Carolina (neutral site) 2021: at Penn State 2022: vs Penn State 2023: at Cal 2024: Cal
I listed those out to basically show that AU does make an effort to play a Power 5 non-conference game every year (exception was 2004) and has some cool home/home series upcoming. Some may ask "Why did WSU go to Auburn twice with no return visit?" The answer is simple: WSU's stadium is too small. I can guaran-damn-tee you Auburn would bring at least 15k fans to Pullman. That 32k seat high school stadium just won't cut it. If you need proof of how AU travels for big non-conference games, understand that we took 15k fans to Manhattan, Kansas for a Thursday night game in 2014, 15k for a Thursday night at West Virginia in 2008, and nearly 30k fans to USC for a Labor Day night game in 2002. For a new venue/opponent, our folks will spend money and travel.
As for the 8 vs 9 conference game thing, you have to understand two things:
1) Malzahn and Saban are the only two coaches in the conference pushing for it. Most fans would love it though.
2) That extra guaranteed home game is huge for some of the towns these schools live in. Remember, the economies Seattle, Los Angeles, Phoenix, etc don't revolve around college football. The cities of Auburn, Tuscaloosa, Fayetteville, Knoxville, Clemson, etc absolutely do. That one extra home game can mean millions of dollars to the local economy and be the difference between a business making it or not.
Finally, don't blame the SEC for figuring out that playing a patsy in November is smart business. Go yell at the Pac-12 scheduling office for backloading the conference schedule on y'all. Even if we moved to a nine game conference schedule, we'd still play a cupcake that week. Just take off a cupcake in September or October to make the trade. And the thing is, I don't hear people yelling about it being unfair to the SEC when AU played a conference game to start the season in 2015 or that the biggest game of the Eastern Division's year is in week 2 this season (UGA/South Carolina). That's just the way it rolls man.
Wanted to join and talk a little Kickoff game with you all. My job is based in Seattle though I work remotely, so travel up there quite a lot and love the area. Wish this was a home/home instead of a neutral site as does most of the AU fan base. Also, I'm a Pac-12 after dark junkie with an unnatural disdain for USC (except for the Song Girls....they can stay).
As for the game, I think as other's have said on here it largely comes down to the O-line play on both sides. If our O-line gels quick enough to give the QB time to throw and open some running lanes, then I think Auburn wins by 7-10. If it doesn't and UW's line is able to handle our front 7, then UW wins by the same amount. I believe this game is going to be a defensive slugfest though and likely a pretty low scoring affair.
The one overlooked factor may be the kicking game. We will breaking in a new punter (former Aussie rules football professional player) and a new kicker (redshirt freshman). Both have huge legs, but no idea how they will react to game situations. Traditionally Auburn has had a strong kicking game, but punting lacked last year and the coverage unit sucked giant donkey balls. How does UW look there?
@oregonblitzkrieg 2019 looks interesting for Auburn. Most expect a legacy QB (who is still in high school football right now) to take over and start day 1. I am not one of those people. Gus has a hard time trusting freshmen. He likes playing players he trusts over players he SHOULD take last seasons second UGA game, or the embarrassment of getting manhandled by UCF. Kerryon Johnson who Auburns offense revolved around was injured vs Bama when Auburn beat the #1 team in 2 out of 3 weeks. Once KJ was injured, Gus should of gone to the next man up in the RB rotation, and he simply didn't. As far as the DL goes, I wouldn't expect much of a drop off. Auburn has recruited incredibly well in that position. There is talent for days on the DL and they aren't just juniors and seniors. So while I expect a huge drop off from the QB spot, I wouldn't be expecting a huge drop from the DL.
1. I got tired of being in the south so I thought what is the furthest from my home that I could get that would be as different as possible. And Eugene Oregon with all their hippies are as different from the small town in the south as I could possibly find. Rivalry hatred aside, Eugene isn't that bad. 2. The UW DL is a real advantage on the Auburn OL. In years past, this simply wouldn't of been the case. But Auburn went through some BS along the coaching side of the line. The OL coach JB Grimes was the OL coach. He was pushed out for Malzahns buddy Herb Hand. Hand was supposed to be a far superior recruiter than Grimes, with only a slight drop on the coaching side. That's couldn't of been further from the truth. Hand not only didn't really bring the talent in, he was a HORRIBLE coach. Auburn like Penn State gave up record numbers in the sacks allowed category under Herb Hand. Texas thought they stole Hand from Auburn, in reality 99.999% of Auburn people were thrilled to see him leave. Most fans expected a big name OL hire when Hand went to Texas. Unfortunately, Gus rehired the coach he forced out for Hand. So back to Grimes. What side is stronger? Neither. Prince Tega the LT started there a few games last season before being sat in favor of a better player. LG is a new starter, C is a new starter, RG has a few starts under his belt, and RT is a new starter. Auburn replaces 4 of the 5 starters from last season. There really isn't a stronger side. Is there quality depth? LoL, no. There may be quality that isn't known about. I mean Auburn MAY have an All American that has no experience... But that's it. How confident am I? In our OL? On a scale of 1 to 10, my confidence in the OL is about a 2 or 3. Auburns OL will be the difference in a playoff run and fighting to finish .500. 3. Stidham was running for his life most of last season, and still put up the 2nd best passing season in Auburns history. But if you want to see how he handles pressure differently, watch last year's Clemson game, then watch the UGA (game 1) or the Bama game. He matured greatly during the season. However, to answer your question, I would have to see the starting lineup for the OL. There is a chance the RG will slide over to center and one of the RTs will slide inside to RG. If that happens, I think Stidham will fare better than leaving the center exposed as it will be if you see Kaleb Kim as the starting center. If Horton slides over, Stidham will have a better game. 4. I used to be a SEC SEC guy. But then I lived outside the SEC for over 2 decades. I personally don't ascribe to that nonsense anymore. And UGA and Bama doing what they are doing doesn't help Auburn in the least. A. They get 90% of the recruits they want. Auburn is left with a lot of their top targets being taken. And B Auburn plays both Bama and UGA every single year. On the road in the same year and at home at the same year. Plus it's in the last month of the season. So say Auburn is undefeated going into UGA this year, they will play UGA, no body team, Bama and if they win them, UGA again. So if Auburn wins their division of the SEC, they play UGA a second time in less than a month. So UGA and Bama balling out like they are doesn't help Auburn in the least. It hurts them.
@HorrifyinglyAlluring I personally want to play 9 conference games, as does the Auburn coach. So you are preaching to the choir on that one. Also Auburn doesn't play a cupcake before our rivalry games. This season it's Texas A&M before UGA. Then a cupcake before Bama. In the last few seasons it hasn't had any effect on team health or who wins the next game. As far as true road games, Auburn simply doesn't travel to the left coast. In the 20 years I lived in Eugene, there was nothing more I would of loved to see than my Auburn Tigers putting the smack down on the Ducks in Autzen. But no. The former AD was a good ole boy who never has left Alabama, the new AD is a young man from Notre Dame. So Auburn very well may start doing true road games.
@Pitchfork51 you will find a great majority of Auburn people without question ABSOLUTELY want Lindsey being in charge of the offense. Auburn people want Gus to be the head coach and have NOTHING TO DO with the offense.
<@AuburnFan Auburn absolutely does not have the best front 7 in college football. Most likely not even the SEC. But keep viewing everything through them orange and blue shaders there bro... <b>
OK guys, I'll check back in a bit for anything else
I have an interesting take on Auburn with a West Coast view. After Auburn, I moved to Eugene Oregon and lived there for 2 decades before moving back to the South recently.
I know you guys hate the Ducks, it's like the Auburn vs UGA rivalry, but I will give an honest take on Auburn by someone with a Left Coast POV.
Do you think it's fair to play 8 conference games (not 9) and be able to play a patsy before your big rivalry games in November? Does this have a material effect on wins/losses and team overall health?
Let me take a stab at this. The tweet only talks about true road games. Since 2000, we've played the following. Remember, some of these were when teams still only played 11 game seasons. I'll also include upcoming games:
2001: at Syracuse 2002: at USC, vs. Syracuse 2003: vs. USC, at Georgia Tech 2005: Georgia Tech 2006: vs Washington State 2007: vs Kansas State 2008: at West Virginia 2009: vs West Virginia 2010: vs Clemson 2011: at Clemson 2012: Clemson (neutral site) 2013: vs Washington State 2014: at Kansas State 2015: Louisville (neutral site) 2016: vs Clemson 2017: at Clemson 2018: Washington (neutral site) 2019: Oregon (neutral site) 2020: North Carolina (neutral site) 2021: at Penn State 2022: vs Penn State 2023: at Cal 2024: Cal
I listed those out to basically show that AU does make an effort to play a Power 5 non-conference game every year (exception was 2004) and has some cool home/home series upcoming. Some may ask "Why did WSU go to Auburn twice with no return visit?" The answer is simple: WSU's stadium is too small. I can guaran-damn-tee you Auburn would bring at least 15k fans to Pullman. That 32k seat high school stadium just won't cut it. If you need proof of how AU travels for big non-conference games, understand that we took 15k fans to Manhattan, Kansas for a Thursday night game in 2014, 15k for a Thursday night at West Virginia in 2008, and nearly 30k fans to USC for a Labor Day night game in 2002. For a new venue/opponent, our folks will spend money and travel.
As for the 8 vs 9 conference game thing, you have to understand two things:
1) Malzahn and Saban are the only two coaches in the conference pushing for it. Most fans would love it though.
2) That extra guaranteed home game is huge for some of the towns these schools live in. Remember, the economies Seattle, Los Angeles, Phoenix, etc don't revolve around college football. The cities of Auburn, Tuscaloosa, Fayetteville, Knoxville, Clemson, etc absolutely do. That one extra home game can mean millions of dollars to the local economy and be the difference between a business making it or not.
Finally, don't blame the SEC for figuring out that playing a patsy in November is smart business. Go yell at the Pac-12 scheduling office for backloading the conference schedule on y'all. Even if we moved to a nine game conference schedule, we'd still play a cupcake that week. Just take off a cupcake in September or October to make the trade. And the thing is, I don't hear people yelling about it being unfair to the SEC when AU played a conference game to start the season in 2015 or that the biggest game of the Eastern Division's year is in week 2 this season (UGA/South Carolina). That's just the way it rolls man.
Strange question. Did you get a masters degree @ TCU?
I have an interesting take on Auburn with a West Coast view. After Auburn, I moved to Eugene Oregon and lived there for 2 decades before moving back to the South recently.
I know you guys hate the Ducks, it's like the Auburn vs UGA rivalry, but I will give an honest take on Auburn by someone with a Left Coast POV.
Do you think it's fair to play 8 conference games (not 9) and be able to play a patsy before your big rivalry games in November? Does this have a material effect on wins/losses and team overall health?
Let me take a stab at this. The tweet only talks about true road games. Since 2000, we've played the following. Remember, some of these were when teams still only played 11 game seasons. I'll also include upcoming games:
2001: at Syracuse 2002: at USC, vs. Syracuse 2003: vs. USC, at Georgia Tech 2005: Georgia Tech 2006: vs Washington State 2007: vs Kansas State 2008: at West Virginia 2009: vs West Virginia 2010: vs Clemson 2011: at Clemson 2012: Clemson (neutral site) 2013: vs Washington State 2014: at Kansas State 2015: Louisville (neutral site) 2016: vs Clemson 2017: at Clemson 2018: Washington (neutral site) 2019: Oregon (neutral site) 2020: North Carolina (neutral site) 2021: at Penn State 2022: vs Penn State 2023: at Cal 2024: Cal
I listed those out to basically show that AU does make an effort to play a Power 5 non-conference game every year (exception was 2004) and has some cool home/home series upcoming. Some may ask "Why did WSU go to Auburn twice with no return visit?" The answer is simple: WSU's stadium is too small. I can guaran-damn-tee you Auburn would bring at least 15k fans to Pullman. That 32k seat high school stadium just won't cut it. If you need proof of how AU travels for big non-conference games, understand that we took 15k fans to Manhattan, Kansas for a Thursday night game in 2014, 15k for a Thursday night at West Virginia in 2008, and nearly 30k fans to USC for a Labor Day night game in 2002. For a new venue/opponent, our folks will spend money and travel.
As for the 8 vs 9 conference game thing, you have to understand two things:
1) Malzahn and Saban are the only two coaches in the conference pushing for it. Most fans would love it though.
2) That extra guaranteed home game is huge for some of the towns these schools live in. Remember, the economies Seattle, Los Angeles, Phoenix, etc don't revolve around college football. The cities of Auburn, Tuscaloosa, Fayetteville, Knoxville, Clemson, etc absolutely do. That one extra home game can mean millions of dollars to the local economy and be the difference between a business making it or not.
Finally, don't blame the SEC for figuring out that playing a patsy in November is smart business. Go yell at the Pac-12 scheduling office for backloading the conference schedule on y'all. Even if we moved to a nine game conference schedule, we'd still play a cupcake that week. Just take off a cupcake in September or October to make the trade. And the thing is, I don't hear people yelling about it being unfair to the SEC when AU played a conference game to start the season in 2015 or that the biggest game of the Eastern Division's year is in week 2 this season (UGA/South Carolina). That's just the way it rolls man.
Strange question. Did you get a masters degree @ TCU?
I feel like I'm missing a joke here somewhere. But no, got both my Bachelor and Masters from Auburn. I do live in Texas though.
I have an interesting take on Auburn with a West Coast view. After Auburn, I moved to Eugene Oregon and lived there for 2 decades before moving back to the South recently.
I know you guys hate the Ducks, it's like the Auburn vs UGA rivalry, but I will give an honest take on Auburn by someone with a Left Coast POV.
Do you think it's fair to play 8 conference games (not 9) and be able to play a patsy before your big rivalry games in November? Does this have a material effect on wins/losses and team overall health?
Let me take a stab at this. The tweet only talks about true road games. Since 2000, we've played the following. Remember, some of these were when teams still only played 11 game seasons. I'll also include upcoming games:
2001: at Syracuse 2002: at USC, vs. Syracuse 2003: vs. USC, at Georgia Tech 2005: Georgia Tech 2006: vs Washington State 2007: vs Kansas State 2008: at West Virginia 2009: vs West Virginia 2010: vs Clemson 2011: at Clemson 2012: Clemson (neutral site) 2013: vs Washington State 2014: at Kansas State 2015: Louisville (neutral site) 2016: vs Clemson 2017: at Clemson 2018: Washington (neutral site) 2019: Oregon (neutral site) 2020: North Carolina (neutral site) 2021: at Penn State 2022: vs Penn State 2023: at Cal 2024: Cal
I listed those out to basically show that AU does make an effort to play a Power 5 non-conference game every year (exception was 2004) and has some cool home/home series upcoming. Some may ask "Why did WSU go to Auburn twice with no return visit?" The answer is simple: WSU's stadium is too small. I can guaran-damn-tee you Auburn would bring at least 15k fans to Pullman. That 32k seat high school stadium just won't cut it. If you need proof of how AU travels for big non-conference games, understand that we took 15k fans to Manhattan, Kansas for a Thursday night game in 2014, 15k for a Thursday night at West Virginia in 2008, and nearly 30k fans to USC for a Labor Day night game in 2002. For a new venue/opponent, our folks will spend money and travel.
As for the 8 vs 9 conference game thing, you have to understand two things:
1) Malzahn and Saban are the only two coaches in the conference pushing for it. Most fans would love it though.
2) That extra guaranteed home game is huge for some of the towns these schools live in. Remember, the economies Seattle, Los Angeles, Phoenix, etc don't revolve around college football. The cities of Auburn, Tuscaloosa, Fayetteville, Knoxville, Clemson, etc absolutely do. That one extra home game can mean millions of dollars to the local economy and be the difference between a business making it or not.
Finally, don't blame the SEC for figuring out that playing a patsy in November is smart business. Go yell at the Pac-12 scheduling office for backloading the conference schedule on y'all. Even if we moved to a nine game conference schedule, we'd still play a cupcake that week. Just take off a cupcake in September or October to make the trade. And the thing is, I don't hear people yelling about it being unfair to the SEC when AU played a conference game to start the season in 2015 or that the biggest game of the Eastern Division's year is in week 2 this season (UGA/South Carolina). That's just the way it rolls man.
Strange question. Did you get a masters degree @ TCU?
While I respect auburn fan enthusiasm au2xguy is right..Ms St is better on D Line...Keep y’all eyes on J.Simmons, he is a monster. K..St is in for treat 1st game and can not wait. Wish they had a bored like y’all do.....but they do not...
Looking foreward to this game with huskies and auburn
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Hi Gus!!
Absofukinglutely true...
Looking foreward to this game with huskies and auburn