The Goat Pen

Bama usually has a solid OOC season opener - VA Tech, Michigan, Ped State, Clemson. This is atypical.

West Virginia is fine. The Mountaineers were down last year, but they are expected to be improved.

Isn't Southern Miss one of the teams that you say "always gives Bama fits"?

They play us very hard; physically. Usually a close game until the 3rd quarter, when we wear them down and end up winning by 2 or 3 TDs.

The Mountaineers have gone 5-7 and 4-8 since joining the Big12. I think most are predicting something of a bounce-back season for them. Something in the 7-5, 8-4 range. If not, Holgerson will be fired.

Do the Mountaineers still run the hurry up spread offense? If so, they have a very slim chance.

I keep hearing how great Jacob Coker is and how he is such a fabulous QB he will win the starting job at Bama. Some are projecting him a Heisman winner and first round NFL draft pick after next season. He isn't even on campus yet. I did some checking: He was a 3 star recruit ranked #44 QB out of high school.

http://auburn.scout.com/a.z?s=6&p=8&c=1&nid=4878408

In his career at FSU, he had 21 completions on 41 attempts, with a total of 395 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT. You gotta figure that was all in a mop up role, with the Noles being ahead by at least 3 TD's at halftime against nearly all their opponents.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/pla ... acob-coker

With stats like that, why the messianic expectations for him among Bama fans?

1) Nick Marshall was a corner at Georgia before he came to Auburn. Or did he have a stop at a CC? I dunno. I don't keep up with AU players too much.
2) Fans are fans. They get hyped over things - often hype with unrealistic expectations. Blogs want readers and magazines want subscriptions sold.
3) Why would you care if Bama fans think Coker will be great?
4) Finally, with Saban's system, the QB, doesn't have to carry the team on his shoulders.

AlabamAlum wrote:1) Nick Marshall was a corner at Georgia before he came to Auburn. Or did he have a stop at a CC? I dunno. I don't keep up with AU players too much.
2) Fans are fans. They get hyped over things - often hype with unrealistic expectations. Blogs want readers and magazines want subscriptions sold.
3) Why would you care if Bama fans think Coker will be great?
4) Finally, with Saban's system, the QB, doesn't have to carry the team on his shoulders.

1. The difference between Nick Marshall and Jacob Coker is Auburn fans had very few expectations about Marshall. I was at his first game, and the Auburn fans I talked to in the stands had the same feeling I did - we were just hoping he wouldn't be a total screw up like Keihl Frazier, Barrett Trotter and Clint Mosely before him.

2. Agreed. I think that answered my question.

3. I care because, now that I live in Alabama, I am supposed to know such things to carry on conversations with 3/4 of the state's citizens. Being the man of peace that I am, I wish to understand them.

4. Agreed. Although I hear Kiffen's system may put considerably more weight on the QB's shoulders than Nussmeyer's did.

1) My point about Marshall is that star ratings and past performance at another school mean little.

2) Correct.

3) I think you just wanted to post a quick troll.

4) Kiffin will not change the offense any more than any of the previous OCs.

"With stats like that, why the messianic expectations for him among Bama fans?"

All of the projections you listed don't qualify as messianic at Bammer (yes, Bammer)....

I haven't heard such rave reviews of an incoming Bama QB since Tyler Watts and Freddy Kitchens.

Our equivalents were Kodi Burns and Keihl Frazier.

I'm not sure I understand your take on this. Evidently you are skeptical as to the veracity or possible fulfillment of these reviews, but I would think that goes without saying, as you yourself classify these reviews as nothing short of raving. So what am I to make of your... incredulity? Umbrage? What??

AA says I'm trolling. But I was just trying to figure out why Bama fans are so gaga over this guy. I thought maybe he had done something to deserve the hype that I was not aware of. But I accept AA's bullet point that fans are fans, and are therefore going to be very optimistic about their next QB. That will be especially true of Bama fans. That is VERY rarely true of Auburn fans, since we rarely have a QB that excites us during the preseason. Jason Campbell, Cam and Marshall were great QB's, but few Auburn fans expected them to be half as good as they turned out to be.

So, to summarize:
1. I am not expecting Coker to be as fabulous as his fans expect, although there's always that possibility. I agree with AA that with QB's, like stocks, past performance does not guarantee future performance - both good and bad.
2. Given what I saw during Bama's A-Day game, I am not impressed by Bama's current crop of QB's. Either their QB's are very bad or their defense is the greatest in school history. The former would be surprising since Bama is three deep in 4 and 5 star players at every position, including QB. I particularly see a baseball cap and clipboard in Simms' future.

Now I'm even more confused. You characterize Bama fan's assessment of this guy as "raving", and yet you then admit it's possible that there may be some basis in fact for their assessment, in which case they would not be raving. But then you say you understand that fans are prone to such overvaluation of their recruits. So again I axe: Are you confused? Bemused? Scornful? Empathetic? So far it appears to be a farrago of jibberish (not the Bama fan's assessment, but rather your mentioning/questioning/whatever of it whatsoever). I'm starting to think that perhaps AA was correct in his assessment (see bullet point #3 in his second bullet pointed post)...

It was a quick troll; nothing wrong with that. But let's call it what it really was.

So again I axe: Are you confused? Bemused? Scornful? Empathetic?

1. Informed.
2. Unimpressed.
3. Guardedly optimistic.

I see you have trouble perceiving balance and nuance.

If it would make you and AA feel better, I could post in the style of that LSU fan from way back in the cnn/si board days... what was his name?... he was hilarious in his forthright and profane homerism.

I would say that's pretty close to your posting style right now. Except the hilarious part...

What are your feelings on racism, Prof?