Auburn: Facing 5 Sr OL Again

[confucius say]

For the third time in 5 games, our opponent starts 5 senior OL. Ull and KSU were other two (notice a trend). Not a good year for your entire DT position to consist of 5 freshmen, 1 converted ol sophomore, and 2 seniors (that is counting autry).

[StarkVegasSteve]

Our D line needs to grow up in a hurry Saturday night. I'm sure Shoop has a gameplan to do a lot of blitzing, but as many have stated this week the key to getting a win on the Plains is to get pressure in Nix's face and make him uncomfortable. We'll have to be able to do that when only sending one extra defender.

[Tbonewannabe]

These freshmen are definitely learning something. It will pay off at some point, it just might be a year or so away.

[Ari Gold]

Don’t give up big plays for TDs and make them kick FGs

[Tbonewannabe]

Don’t give up big plays for TDs and make them kick FGs

I think Shoop is going to have to gamble some to keep this game close. We very well might play bend don't break to shorten the game and eat up clock though.

[Todd4State]

These freshmen are definitely learning something. It will pay off at some point, it just might be a year or so away.

I think they've done OK as a unit personally. Of course the bar wasn't set high preseason.

[confucius say]

Agree ari, play action from them and deep shots scare me. Especially against 29.

I will add, they hurt Aggie in the return game. No funny business there.

[Jack Lambert]

Next season those four teams are going to be in trouble.

[Jarius]

Agree ari, play action from them and deep shots scare me. Especially against 29.

I will add, they hurt Aggie in the return game. No funny business there.

Bo Nix scares me less than literally any other quarterback we will play this year. They will run it down our throat because they have zero chance of being effective throwing the ball with him. He is not good.

[Scared_Hitless]

Win 1st down whatever it costs, it is time for these great corners to earn that title. Put them on an island and win 1st down and we have a shot. Cannot allow them to be in 2nd and 4 or 5 all night.

[Dawgfan77]

They maybe SRs and they may win but a JB Grimes OL doesn?t scare me one bit.
FYI. He was Croom OL coach here

[Gutter Cobreh]

Bo Nix scares me less than literally any other quarterback we will play this year. They will run it down our throat because they have zero chance of being effective throwing the ball with him. He is not good.

I concur. If we can bring some pressure and make him move from the pocket, he's useless. He seems fairly accurate when given time, so if we can limit their ground game and flush him from time to time - I think we've got a puncher's chance.

[Jarius]

I concur. If we can bring some pressure and make him move from the pocket, he's useless. He seems fairly accurate when given time, so if we can limit their ground game and flush him from time to time - I think we've got a puncher's chance.

I think their running game will wear us down and they will eventually wear us out. I don’t think Bo Nix will have much to do with it though.

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

I concur. If we can bring some pressure and make him move from the pocket, he's useless. He seems fairly accurate when given time, so if we can limit their ground game and flush him from time to time - I think we've got a puncher's chance.

Problem is our front 4 is basically useless at pass rush, and if you blitz anywhere but up the middle you're vulnerable to a big up the middle hand off... and if you do flush him, well now you've got a good runner with not very many guys on D left to tackle him/cover the receivers (if you blitz 2 that's 6 men he's rolling away from, and only 5 DBs on the field to tackle him). If we had Abram I'd feel better... if our CB's had shown good ability to get off blocks and make tackles I'd feel better...

Honestly? I might just try to keep him in the pocket. 1) We'd be able to keep LBs near the LOS to help the DTs, 2) the LBs would be near the LOS to take away a Nix scramble before he gets far, and 3) we'd be able to keep S over the top so a missed tackle on the edge/ blown assignment doesn't result in a TD. Will Nix have time? Yes. BUT, we can still bring 1-2 men blitzes from different angles to check his pre snap ability to set protection, and if we keep containment he'll still have to throw to beat us.

There's 3 options: 1) Auburn runs it down our throat and they don't need to pass, 2) We take away the run and make Nix beat us from the pocket with his arm, 3) we take away the run, get pressure on Nix, and force him to beat us with his legs. I think it's REALLY hard to even do 3) with our problems on the DL and secondary, and even then with his legs I'm not sure flushing him to the field is a good thing for us. I'd go 2 and try to mix and match my coverage to get an int. Keep S over top so they can't score from far out, then make them score from the red zone where our D is closed off and you can blitz more aggressively. Hold them to FGs and we have a shot.

[Todd4State]

Problem is our front 4 is basically useless at pass rush, and if you blitz anywhere but up the middle you're vulnerable to a big up the middle hand off... and if you do flush him, well now you've got a good runner with not very many guys on D left to tackle him/cover the receivers (if you blitz 2 that's 6 men he's rolling away from, and only 5 DBs on the field to tackle him). If we had Abram I'd feel better... if our CB's had shown good ability to get off blocks and make tackles I'd feel better...

Honestly? I might just try to keep him in the pocket. 1) We'd be able to keep LBs near the LOS to help the DTs, 2) the LBs would be near the LOS to take away a Nix scramble before he gets far, and 3) we'd be able to keep S over the top so a missed tackle on the edge/ blown assignment doesn't result in a TD. Will Nix have time? Yes. BUT, we can still bring 1-2 men blitzes from different angles to check his pre snap ability to set protection, and if we keep containment he'll still have to throw to beat us.

There's 3 options: 1) Auburn runs it down our throat and they don't need to pass, 2) We take away the run and make Nix beat us from the pocket with his arm, 3) we take away the run, get pressure on Nix, and force him to beat us with his legs. I think it's REALLY hard to even do 3) with our problems on the DL and secondary, and even then with his legs I'm not sure flushing him to the field is a good thing for us. I'd go 2 and try to mix and match my coverage to get an int. Keep S over top so they can't score from far out, then make them score from the red zone where our D is closed off and you can blitz more aggressively. Hold them to FGs and we have a shot.

If we're smart we'll try to keep him in the pocket. I'm sure we'll still find a way to whiff on the sack even if he's wearing concrete shoes.

[NCDawg]

If we're smart we'll try to keep him in the pocket. I'm sure we'll still find a way to whiff on the sack even if he's wearing concrete shoes.

From what I've seen, we're not a very good blitzing team. We really need 2 or 3 really good LB's instead of just one.

[Todd4State]

From what I've seen, we're not a very good blitzing team. We really need 2 or 3 really good LB's instead of just one.

I agree with the way Shoop is handling our defense. And I hate "bend but don't break".

[chef dixon]

Our D line needs to grow up in a hurry Saturday night. I'm sure Shoop has a gameplan to do a lot of blitzing, but as many have stated this week the key to getting a win on the Plains is to get pressure in Nix's face and make him uncomfortable. We'll have to be able to do that when only sending one extra defender.

Easier said than done, I mean good lord will Auburn nation pony up and get that kid some ProActiv.