I had the wrong idea about the Auburn game.

[drunkernhelldawg]

Re-watching it last night, I was struck by how even the game really was and how we benefited from a few fortunate plays. The game ended on the fumble after the kickoff return in the fourth quarter. This followed a touchdown that we were lucky to get through a pass interference call on fourth and six from the 32. Not trying to be negative, but just saying that keeping our play at a high level is a constant challenge.

I actually missed the first part of the game because I had a meeting. I had replayed the part I missed, but I suppose I was distracted and didn't watch it closely. The second and third quarters were not well played by our team, especially the second quarter. I will no longer say that we dominated AU in this game. I'll just say we won the game, TG.

[Political Hack]

we beat the number 2 team in the nation without having to play our best. We haven't been pushed to our limits yet.

I will say that our players made those plays... knocked the ball out on the kick return, hit the ball to get the INT, stripped he ball on the 1st quarter fumble, etc... our guys won by making more plays than them. not because we were fortunate.

[ShotgunDawg]

Yes, Auburn is very good

[defiantdog]

We managed the clock like a veteran team should, and we made the big plays when we needed them. I didn't see anything being fortunate. We didn't randomly recover fumbles from players just dropping the ball.... that would be fortunate. Give our team credit, they played their asses off in that game.

[cheewgumm]

I'm not syaing that you are saying this, but I hate the "They gave it to you", or "They gave us 21 points.".

Our guys tipped the ball that led to the INTs, our guys made hits that caused fumbles, etc..etc..etc..

You mention the "lucky" play of interference on D Wilson. If he doesn't interfere, we catch it for the 1st down. That's not luck. It's tackling a bigger receiver to keep him from catching the ball.

I just love these arguments of "take away X, Y and Z" and it's a different ball game. Well, no shit. If that is the case, can we take away our turnovers and bad plays as well?

[MetEdDawg]

I think probably our best all around game in conference so far has been the TAMU game. We pretty much did whatever we wanted to offensively. And defensively we got tons of pressure.

But even then we still had two turnovers, gave up over 500 yards of total offense, and still won by 17. If we actually played a full game with no turnovers, we can beat anyone anywhere and that should scare teams. We've not even played a complete game and haven't won by less than 14 points.

[maroonmania]

I believe Auburn is as good or better in every way than they were last year except for RB. Artis-Payne is pretty good but he is no Tre Mason. But defensively and at wideout they are better, and QB and OL is as good.

[ShotgunDawg]

Us and Auburn are very similar team, but don't ever apologize for winning a big game. Our guys did exactly what they needed to do, and that's all they were asked to do.

[Goat Holder]

No doubt. I don't want to see them again, in the off-chance 2 SEC teams make the playoff. Take away the pass interference penalties and we are basically equal on a neutral field.

But f*ck it, when it comes to bragging to Auburn homers, we went in dry and made them like it.

[msstate7]

They gave us 4 turnovers. We gave them 4 turnovers. The difference in the game is we converted in the redzone and they did not. We didn't stop them by accident in the redzone either. They were the best redzone offense coming into that game and we were the best redzone defense. They're now #2 in redzone offense. We're still #1.

(Rankings are sec rankings)

[AlmostPositive]

We want Auburn to be good. Good enough to beat OM and AL. If we happen to slip up against one of them, they could hand us the SECW.

I know everyone is already aware of this, but the Playoff voting does make everything more intensely interconnected than before.

[drunkernhelldawg]

I'm not syaing that you are saying this, but I hate the "They gave it to you", or "They gave us 21 points.".

Our guys tipped the ball that led to the INTs, our guys made hits that caused fumbles, etc..etc..etc..

You mention the "lucky" play of interference on D Wilson. If he doesn't interfere, we catch it for the 1st down. That's not luck. It's tackling a bigger receiver to keep him from catching the ball.

I just love these arguments of "take away X, Y and Z" and it's a different ball game. Well, no shit. If that is the case, can we take away our turnovers and bad plays as well?

Yeah. We made a lot of critical plays. That guy did a good job on Wilson for most of the game. I'm proud we won the game, but I had had the idea that we dominated. I realize that I'm catching up with those who already knew what I finally saw last night. JRobb was the x factor, answering that AU score with his running to get us back up two scores. We even made the play on a field goal on that drive.

[RougeDawg]

Yes, Auburn is very good

Auburn is the 2nd best team in the west, and 3rd is way behind. The reason I say this is Auburn has a talented, experienced team with the 2nd most balanced offense in the SEC. The 3rd best team is Bama because their OC doesn't call plays to their strengths. The remaining teams in the west are relatively one dimensional on offense, and final records will indicate this. You stack the box on us or auburn, we play action and hit you deep. Same almost goes for Bama but their QB is a step or two below Dak and Nick. If you sit back in zone against us or Auburn, we run over you. Bama can also. The remaing 4 west teams can be defensed one certain way and be forced to try to beat you in a way that their offense cannot execute effectively.

This is why I say auburn rolls this week. They are the 2nd most balanced offense in West. OM's defense will not be able to handle the balance. LSU was a physically one dimensional team and couldn't stop them. Bama was unstoppable while they were running the ball against OM. Kiffin just f*cked them thinking he was the OC for TXTech in the 2nd half of that one. Auburn will have their way with the smaller OM defense. And Auburns defense will shut down Bro and Co, because Bucky's offense has been figured out and AU has an experienced physical D.

Here's a stat that just about every person is forgetting. If you don't think OM's offense has been figured out, look at its output the last 3 SEC games: 20, 21, 7 points and the 21 coming against the shitty A&M defense.

[FlabLoser]

They gave us 4 turnovers. We gave them 4 turnovers. The difference in the game is we converted in the redzone and they did not. We didn't stop them by accident in the redzone either. They were the best redzone offense coming into that game and we were the best redzone defense. They're now #2 in redzone offense. We're still #1.

(Rankings are sec rankings)

Strong post.

Regarding this thread, I'll apologize for winning as much as other teams & fans respect how many games we "almost won" over the years.

[C222]

Yeah. We made a lot of critical plays. That guy did a good job on Wilson for most of the game. I'm proud we won the game, but I had had the idea that we dominated. I realize that I'm catching up with those who already knew what I finally saw last night. JRobb was the x factor, answering that AU score with his running to get us back up two scores. We even made the play on a field goal on that drive.

We had 4 turnovers and beat the #2 team in the country by 15. We dominated them.

[HoopsDawg]

I believe Auburn is as good or better in every way than they were last year except for RB. Artis-Payne is pretty good but he is no Tre Mason. But defensively and at wideout they are better, and QB and OL is as good.

I agree with some of this. I think their pass rush is slightly worse due to the loss of Dee Ford. And I think their running game is definitely worse due to the loss of Jay Prosch, Greg Robinson and Tre Mason (as you mentioned). Their passing game is definitely improved thanks to Duke Williams and the development of Nick Marshall.

When I watched the replay I almost wondered how we won. The 4 turnovers we created were huge. The penalties favored us and were very timely. And AU barely missed a TD on a slight over-throw. We are a very similar football team to AU.

[Offshore Dawg]

We want Auburn to be good. Good enough to beat OM and AL. If we happen to slip up against one of them, they could hand us the SECW.

I know everyone is already aware of this, but the Playoff voting does make everything more intensely interconnected than before.


Duh,,, if we loose 2 and Auburn wins out, guess who goes to Atlanta !!

[messageboardsuperhero]

IMO, Auburn wins fairly easily if they take care of the ball and don't let anything over the top or behind them defensively.

UM isn't going to be able to sustain drives the length of the field on Auburn's defensive front very much. It'll be tough for UM to score unless Auburn gives them a short field or a cheap TD. Make them earn every yard and Auburn wins- even without putting up more than three or four TDs.

[Bo Darville]

They gave us 4 turnovers. We gave them 4 turnovers. The difference in the game is we converted in the redzone and they did not. We didn't stop them by accident in the redzone either. They were the best redzone offense coming into that game and we were the best redzone defense. They're now #2 in redzone offense. We're still #1.

(Rankings are sec rankings)

This was absolutely the difference. The game was very evenly played. Look at yards, turnovers, TOP, etc. The difference was they turned it over and we scored touchdowns, then we turned it over and they attempted field goals (making 2 of 3).

[FISHDAWG]

They gave us 4 turnovers. We gave them 4 turnovers. The difference in the game is we converted in the redzone and they did not. We didn't stop them by accident in the redzone either. They were the best redzone offense coming into that game and we were the best redzone defense. They're now #2 in redzone offense. We're still #1.

(Rankings are sec rankings)

well stated 7 ... not to mention we held them to 23 points ......the better team won

[Tripp McNeely]

We had 4 turnovers and beat the #2 team in the country by 15. We dominated them.

...and if you count Jamoral's muff, it was 4 TOs on 4 straight possessions. It was much worse than the score indicated.

[Johnson85]

I will no longer say that we dominated AU in this game. I'll just say we won the game, TG.

We didn't dominate them, but we were on the edge of dominating them. I will say that Auburn is the only team we've played this year that I would be concerned with if we played them again. I think we're solidly better, but Malzhan is a good coach and when combined with how hard it is to beat teams two times in a row, I think it'd be close to a toss-up in a second game.

[dawgs]

I've watched us lose too many big games where we played hard and pretty decent but lost on a couple of key breaks going against us to start apologizing for those breaks going our way.

[BulldogBear]

Strong post.

Regarding this thread, I'll apologize for winning as much as other teams & fans respect how many games we "almost won" over the years.

Hear, Hear!

[Barking 13]

I've watched us lose too many big games where we played hard and pretty decent but lost on a couple of key breaks going against us to start apologizing for those breaks going our way.

This.. all day...

[msstate7]

I don't think drunkern was apologizing for winning. I think he's just stating that we were a little fortunate.

Of course, drunkern is a liberal so he may be apologizing like Obama does for the U.S. haha (just a joke)

[Barking 13]

And to add to the TSUN / Barner game, the two most hated teams (for me anyway).. I hate AU less... I want to see an epic (as the other post alluded to) Skull17ing, and boo-boo's helmet covered in hunks of grass...

[engie]

They gave us 4 turnovers. We gave them 4 turnovers.

We GAVE them 4 turnovers. We FORCED all 4 of theirs. Big and important distinction. Marshall's 2 INTs were both tipped balls at the line of scrimmage. We forced 2 fumbles as well. Dak's 2 INTs were just terrible reads on his part looking for the back shoulder when he should have seen over the top. Graham's botched punt was on him. As was the fake punt.

[chainedup_Dawg]

They gave us 4 turnovers. We gave them 4 turnovers. The difference in the game is we converted in the redzone and they did not. We didn't stop them by accident in the redzone either. They were the best redzone offense coming into that game and we were the best redzone defense. They're now #2 in redzone offense. We're still #1.

(Rankings are sec rankings)


This. I know I bolded two sentences of this statement but the whole thing really

[drunkernhelldawg]

I'm damn glad we won, of course, and "apologize for winning" is a strange idea. I was just surprised at some aspects of our game that day. Everybody knows that I'm for State 100 percent.

[IMissJack]

I really want us to put together a crisp game like the first 3 quarters of the LSU game against ARK. We have not played our best the last 2 games.

[Schultzy]

I'm damn glad we won, of course, and "apologize for winning" is a strange idea. I was just surprised at some aspects of our game that day. Everybody knows that I'm for State 100 percent.

Then stop apologizing. I can't remember any single time in history when any one apologized for beating us. We forced turnovers and gave them some.

We killed them early and earned the penalties they were forced to commit.

Not to mention the other 150 plays from scrimmage.