California Southern Miss game CANCELLED
- Thread starter Hokie Fan
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There is also talk of canceling AU/LSU game. Will let everyone know if I hear anything here in AU
:cursin: :cursin:
:cursin: :cursin:
not that this will have anything to do with the game Sat, but classes at AU have been cancelled through the weekend. Will let everyone know if I hear anything on the game.
:142lmao: :clap: :drinky: :drinky: :drinky:
:142lmao: :clap: :drinky: :drinky: :drinky:
Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville - Opening Statement
"Before we get started, let me give you my weather forecast for the next few days and what I have been told. When we play a football game the No. 1 concern is about safety. My understanding is that the eye of the hurricane is going to be somewhere around our vicinity around noon on Thursday and we'll see how much damage we have from there. Our administration will make that decision. If not, it looks like the other alternative is to move it to an open date. Obviously, LSU head coach Nick Saban and I both would love to play the game this week, but the No. 1 factor is safety and again, that's all we know. There won't be any decision made until after Thursday and in the next few days, we'll see what happens with the weather.
"In the business of football, last week we were successful in our first road trip in the conference. I thought we played well. We have a lot of room for improvement, but I was very pleased with how we played on the offense and defensive lines and that was our concern going into conference play. We made a lot of improvement there. We were very aggressive. We played hard and again I thought that we executed well on both sides, especially in the first half.
"The problem this week going into this game: No. 1, LSU is a very good football team one of the better ones that we'll play, if not the best, and they're very talented. They have a tremendous defense with some young players as we know on offense, but they're very talented. And again we've had some great games with them over the last few years and we would expect this one to be the same.
"For us, going into this week's preparation, we're going to have one problem and that's going to be preparation time. It looks like today will probably be the only day that we get to practice outside. As we hear from the weather reports, there will probably be no outside practice after today, so that's a little bit concerning because early in the season, you still need to work on technique and fundamentals. We're not near where we need to be in those areas and the only way you can do that is to have contact. You need plenty of area and room for practice to do that.
"Over the last few years the winner of this game normally has the better opportunity to get to Atlanta. I think it's a marquee game for both of us; we're looking forward to it. This will be a major test to see where we're at, especially with our offense and with a lot of the new defensive players having to play against a very athletic offense that we'll see in LSU."
On the possible disadvantages of moving the game because of weather
"You would always rather have an open date at the end of the season when you have a lot of injuries and a lot of guys beat up. When we get to that open date, that would be nine straight for us. If we took an open date this week, that means that our ninth game in a row would be our Alabama game, which is very tough. But there's really no way around it. We'll take what they give and go with it. It's one of those things we have no control over. It's one of those things that we'd love to play and we'll see where we're at this week and try to improve from there."
On the possible distraction of the hurricane
"Not really. It's a bit similar to what happened with 9/11. We didn't know what was going to happen until that Thursday, which would be the same time this week. But our players are pretty much focused and I'm sure LSU is the same way. This is a football game that we've all been preparing for and I'm sure they prepared for this game some during the summer as we have. When you get down to it, to win a game like this you have to have full concentration on either side of the ball. Hopefully, by the time we get to game time, everybody will be fully focused on the game and both will play well."
On possibly moving the game
"It's the home team's decision. (Auburn University President) Dr. Ed Richardson will make the decision for us. He wants to do what is best for the safety of our students, fans and LSU. This is a football game. When I got up on a Monday morning after Hurricane Andrew, I thought it was just high winds that night, but when I went outside, it looked like an atomic bomb had hit. We had to spend a month away from Miami just to have food and water and an area to practice for that season. I don't think it is going to be near as much devastation, but the way this one looks, it is pretty powerful and it could cause a lot of damage. If you look at something like this, it could take a couple of weeks to put everything back together. We'll just have to wait and see and go through Thursday. When Friday gets here, I'm sure we'll all have a pretty good idea of what is going to happen."
On possibly moving the game to November 6
"That is the only date. My understanding is they have a game after Thanksgiving, which is the only other weekend before the SEC Championship game and you have to have all your games played before then. The only other option is Sunday and that has been brought up. That would be a possibility. That is not our decision. When you change a game from Saturday to another date, that goes to the conference office. Dr. Richardson will make the decision if we will play Saturday and after that, it goes to the conference's office.
On Marcus Randall's last performance at Jordan-Hare Stadium
"The biggest thing was that it was his second start. He came in here and we played a good football game and caused him to make some mistakes. He's more experienced now. He's older and understands the offense more. I would imagine we would see a whole lot different quarterback in him than what we saw that week."
On how to prepare for Marcus Randall and JaMarcus Russell
"We don't prepare for quarterbacks. It's almost impossible in that short of a time to do that. You prepare for an offense. You have to be cognizant of who's in the game. JaMarcus is very athletic. We recruited him. He's very athletic in and out of the pocket and can throw the ball well, but so can Marcus Randall. We'll defend the offense and we'll have to go by who is in the game. We'll try to make some adjustment by how we call the defense, but not by how we play a different quarterback."
On LSU's propensity to blitz
"They play a lot of man-coverage; sometimes they blitz and sometimes they don't. They have a lot of speed and play a lot of different players in the secondary. They blitz secondary people more than most people, which normally gives you a lot more speed at linebacker or on the defensive line. The thing that makes them so good is that they are great on the defensive line. They have been very dominating with their defensive line. They get as good a four-man rush than some people do with a five- or six-man rush. Blitzes are good, but what they do is their corners are so good, they can blitz and they can take away the deep throw and short throws."
On turning 50 the day of the game
"I hadn't even thought about it. There's times when you feel like 50 in this business and times you feel like 75. It's just time. I felt a lot older than 50 this time last year after the first two games and two neck surgeries. This year, I am a lot more relaxed and feel good about the team and the way we are playing. My health is a lot better. Hopefully, I'll be around 50 more years."
On being more consistent in the first two games
"We've played a lot of players. That has been what has been real important these first two games. We've played close to 70 in both games and that is hard to do this early in the season. It's real important because when we get through this stretch of nine games, we are going have injuries and guys are going to miss games and practices and younger guys are going to have to step up. I feel good about our depth. We are not as experienced as you'd like to be, but nobody is. We're much improved. I think guys have confidence in what we're doing and that is 90 percent of what a football team is made of. The one thing that I am pleased about, other than being 2-0 instead of 0-2, is we've been so much more consistent in how we've played. Guys have not continued to make the same mistakes. I know the competition has not been the same, but you still have to go out there and block the right guy or do the right thing as a quarterback. We've been much more consistent in the first two games."
LSU's blitz package
They like to blitz you on passing situations a lot, but they will blitz you on first down. They move their players around. They try to give you bad plays from alignment. The thing that you notice most is that they bring a lot of secondary. They bring free safety blitzes. Nick comes from a little bit of a pro background and he has a lot to do with their defense. He coaches a lot of the secondary. When you have corners like they do it makes it a lot easier to do that. They play man coverage and really force your quarterbacks hand and make you make a quick decision. The offense line has to do a tremendous job of blocking five, six or seven guys when they bring them. They do it all. They'll bring the house or a zone blitz. They will give you all kind of different looks. It is a very detailed defense that you have to work at preparing for.
On advantages to playing in the rain
"I don't think it would be an advantage for either one of us. Both of us want a fast track because we built our teams on speed and quickness. They have a big tailback that can run the ball. We've got some running backs that can run the ball. I don't think it would be an advantage either way if it's raining. There's no doubt the field is not going to be 100 percent. We are going to have some water on the field or it's going to be muddy. There is no way around that."
"Before we get started, let me give you my weather forecast for the next few days and what I have been told. When we play a football game the No. 1 concern is about safety. My understanding is that the eye of the hurricane is going to be somewhere around our vicinity around noon on Thursday and we'll see how much damage we have from there. Our administration will make that decision. If not, it looks like the other alternative is to move it to an open date. Obviously, LSU head coach Nick Saban and I both would love to play the game this week, but the No. 1 factor is safety and again, that's all we know. There won't be any decision made until after Thursday and in the next few days, we'll see what happens with the weather.
"In the business of football, last week we were successful in our first road trip in the conference. I thought we played well. We have a lot of room for improvement, but I was very pleased with how we played on the offense and defensive lines and that was our concern going into conference play. We made a lot of improvement there. We were very aggressive. We played hard and again I thought that we executed well on both sides, especially in the first half.
"The problem this week going into this game: No. 1, LSU is a very good football team one of the better ones that we'll play, if not the best, and they're very talented. They have a tremendous defense with some young players as we know on offense, but they're very talented. And again we've had some great games with them over the last few years and we would expect this one to be the same.
"For us, going into this week's preparation, we're going to have one problem and that's going to be preparation time. It looks like today will probably be the only day that we get to practice outside. As we hear from the weather reports, there will probably be no outside practice after today, so that's a little bit concerning because early in the season, you still need to work on technique and fundamentals. We're not near where we need to be in those areas and the only way you can do that is to have contact. You need plenty of area and room for practice to do that.
"Over the last few years the winner of this game normally has the better opportunity to get to Atlanta. I think it's a marquee game for both of us; we're looking forward to it. This will be a major test to see where we're at, especially with our offense and with a lot of the new defensive players having to play against a very athletic offense that we'll see in LSU."
On the possible disadvantages of moving the game because of weather
"You would always rather have an open date at the end of the season when you have a lot of injuries and a lot of guys beat up. When we get to that open date, that would be nine straight for us. If we took an open date this week, that means that our ninth game in a row would be our Alabama game, which is very tough. But there's really no way around it. We'll take what they give and go with it. It's one of those things we have no control over. It's one of those things that we'd love to play and we'll see where we're at this week and try to improve from there."
On the possible distraction of the hurricane
"Not really. It's a bit similar to what happened with 9/11. We didn't know what was going to happen until that Thursday, which would be the same time this week. But our players are pretty much focused and I'm sure LSU is the same way. This is a football game that we've all been preparing for and I'm sure they prepared for this game some during the summer as we have. When you get down to it, to win a game like this you have to have full concentration on either side of the ball. Hopefully, by the time we get to game time, everybody will be fully focused on the game and both will play well."
On possibly moving the game
"It's the home team's decision. (Auburn University President) Dr. Ed Richardson will make the decision for us. He wants to do what is best for the safety of our students, fans and LSU. This is a football game. When I got up on a Monday morning after Hurricane Andrew, I thought it was just high winds that night, but when I went outside, it looked like an atomic bomb had hit. We had to spend a month away from Miami just to have food and water and an area to practice for that season. I don't think it is going to be near as much devastation, but the way this one looks, it is pretty powerful and it could cause a lot of damage. If you look at something like this, it could take a couple of weeks to put everything back together. We'll just have to wait and see and go through Thursday. When Friday gets here, I'm sure we'll all have a pretty good idea of what is going to happen."
On possibly moving the game to November 6
"That is the only date. My understanding is they have a game after Thanksgiving, which is the only other weekend before the SEC Championship game and you have to have all your games played before then. The only other option is Sunday and that has been brought up. That would be a possibility. That is not our decision. When you change a game from Saturday to another date, that goes to the conference office. Dr. Richardson will make the decision if we will play Saturday and after that, it goes to the conference's office.
On Marcus Randall's last performance at Jordan-Hare Stadium
"The biggest thing was that it was his second start. He came in here and we played a good football game and caused him to make some mistakes. He's more experienced now. He's older and understands the offense more. I would imagine we would see a whole lot different quarterback in him than what we saw that week."
On how to prepare for Marcus Randall and JaMarcus Russell
"We don't prepare for quarterbacks. It's almost impossible in that short of a time to do that. You prepare for an offense. You have to be cognizant of who's in the game. JaMarcus is very athletic. We recruited him. He's very athletic in and out of the pocket and can throw the ball well, but so can Marcus Randall. We'll defend the offense and we'll have to go by who is in the game. We'll try to make some adjustment by how we call the defense, but not by how we play a different quarterback."
On LSU's propensity to blitz
"They play a lot of man-coverage; sometimes they blitz and sometimes they don't. They have a lot of speed and play a lot of different players in the secondary. They blitz secondary people more than most people, which normally gives you a lot more speed at linebacker or on the defensive line. The thing that makes them so good is that they are great on the defensive line. They have been very dominating with their defensive line. They get as good a four-man rush than some people do with a five- or six-man rush. Blitzes are good, but what they do is their corners are so good, they can blitz and they can take away the deep throw and short throws."
On turning 50 the day of the game
"I hadn't even thought about it. There's times when you feel like 50 in this business and times you feel like 75. It's just time. I felt a lot older than 50 this time last year after the first two games and two neck surgeries. This year, I am a lot more relaxed and feel good about the team and the way we are playing. My health is a lot better. Hopefully, I'll be around 50 more years."
On being more consistent in the first two games
"We've played a lot of players. That has been what has been real important these first two games. We've played close to 70 in both games and that is hard to do this early in the season. It's real important because when we get through this stretch of nine games, we are going have injuries and guys are going to miss games and practices and younger guys are going to have to step up. I feel good about our depth. We are not as experienced as you'd like to be, but nobody is. We're much improved. I think guys have confidence in what we're doing and that is 90 percent of what a football team is made of. The one thing that I am pleased about, other than being 2-0 instead of 0-2, is we've been so much more consistent in how we've played. Guys have not continued to make the same mistakes. I know the competition has not been the same, but you still have to go out there and block the right guy or do the right thing as a quarterback. We've been much more consistent in the first two games."
LSU's blitz package
They like to blitz you on passing situations a lot, but they will blitz you on first down. They move their players around. They try to give you bad plays from alignment. The thing that you notice most is that they bring a lot of secondary. They bring free safety blitzes. Nick comes from a little bit of a pro background and he has a lot to do with their defense. He coaches a lot of the secondary. When you have corners like they do it makes it a lot easier to do that. They play man coverage and really force your quarterbacks hand and make you make a quick decision. The offense line has to do a tremendous job of blocking five, six or seven guys when they bring them. They do it all. They'll bring the house or a zone blitz. They will give you all kind of different looks. It is a very detailed defense that you have to work at preparing for.
On advantages to playing in the rain
"I don't think it would be an advantage for either one of us. Both of us want a fast track because we built our teams on speed and quickness. They have a big tailback that can run the ball. We've got some running backs that can run the ball. I don't think it would be an advantage either way if it's raining. There's no doubt the field is not going to be 100 percent. We are going to have some water on the field or it's going to be muddy. There is no way around that."
