Al Borges Quotations

We lacked rhythm. We dropped the ball or we made a bad throw or we had a protection breakdown seemed it was something different every time.

We've got good enough talent that we should have represented ourselves better than that. We've had a pretty good spring - we've been playing better than that - but today we weren't very good.

Right now, Brandon is our starting quarterback and I would never challenge that position at this point. He's going to be our starting quarterback until he proves he can't be. With a year of experience now, he's that much better.

He looked pretty good. When we gave him some room to run, I think he did a pretty nice job. He's going to be a really good football player once he learns our offense more.

He's going to be a guy when we get to game-planning, we're going to make him more of a part of it. I think his receiving speaks for itself. He's got to develop as a blocker and he's not half bad.

He's been a really solid player. His receiving skills have improved. He could play a little bit of a Ronnie Brown role, but I don't know that he would exclusively do that role.

He was going along pretty good there. I was hoping that we would continue with him this last week, but I don't think he'll miss a beat, as long as he feels good, and it seems like he does.

He did a wonderful job considering he found out less than an hour before the game. We tried to keep it as low maintenance as we could.

I think we put too much pressure on Brandon, you know? I take full blame for that. I think we probably could have run it a little better than I gave us credit for. In the second half I think we showed some signs of running the football. When you only have (23) rushes for 50 yards, that's partly play-calling, too.

I remember what it was like to be a young coach. Sometimes you get caught up in how many points you score or how many yards you can gain. Let me tell you, it doesn't matter if you score 60 points and they score one more than you.

It doesn't put you so far out of position you can't catch up. I think come spring time, he'll get a shot to show what he's got.

That was my intent. We weren't going to come out and start flinging balls all over the lot. We're not going to put it on him to win the game, particularly early in the game.

We were up 14-0. (We wanted to) see if we can't maul them a little bit, find out who our running backs are, maybe narrow it down. We didn't accomplish it and that is the disappointing thing.

We wanted to make the statement we can run the ball. In the first scrimmage, we wanted to be aggressive and take it to them. We accomplished our goal of getting pads on pads. We got physical.

Today was a make-a-statement day. In the first scrimmage, we wanted to come out and be aggressive and take the initiative with our running game. We accomplished our purpose today in that we got some pads on some pads, had some contact and we got physical.

(Trott) can catch a ball. When he becomes part of our depth, we're going to tap that. We're going to see what he can do. He's a very highly skilled receiver. If he comes around like I think he can come around, I see now reason why.

You know how no-pads (practices) are -- it's like glorified aerobics. It's not really football, but it's a good chance to see guys move around.

We can always facilitate not having a pure fullback. We'd rather have a guy that can give us the type of productivity that (departed senior) Jake Slaughter did, but if we don't, then we'll go to Plan B.

We'll get him more involved. No doubt about it.

We were rough around the edges there, not where we need to be.

We rushed the ball better this year than last year when we had two top five (NFL) picks. Why? Partly because the guy we replaced them with is pretty good. But they also understand the system better now.

This was a little more of a mix with run and pass. We were rough around the edges, but I think it was productive. At least we got some passes thrown today. I was kind of fired up about that.

The past couple of games he hasn't been the real Courtney Taylor. Now that he's feeling better, we're going to try to get out of him what we got a year ago.

We weren't too good today. We started out good, but we lost some momentum in there and had a heck of a time getting in synch.

We're going to try to get him where he can compete for the No. 2 spot. It's going to be very important this spring to see him come around and take that next step. From a fundamental standpoint, he's has gotten much better. Now, he's just got to understand the offense, make good decisions and show it under pressure and he can make a push for that spot.

Early on, the plan was to try and take as much pressure off as we possibly could by emphasizing the running game. We felt like we could run the ball pretty well. Once he got his feet on the ground, got set a little bit, we started opening up and letting him throw it.

It's a concern, but in a way it isn't. We have ways to facilitate not having a pure fullback. We have ways of using a second tight end, or using a second tailback, which we've done a lot in the last couple years anyway.

I told him on the sideline that there are days where you're not going to be sharp. Those are the days you almost have to will yourself. Even though your not playing the way you're accustomed to playing, you've got to find a way to eke out points.

It's a little atypical of Wisconsin because ... they've always been so stout on defense. They're a really good schematic team defensively and they'll have a good plan for us, I'm sure. With a lot of time to prepare, they'll come up with something. Never underestimate a Barry Alvarez-coached team.

It's not like we just stop. Now it's time to get the guys for 2007.

The nice thing about Auburn is you can replace good players with good players. We were lucky enough to do that.

It's nice to know you've got another guy who can really catch the ball and do something with it when he catches it. We'll find a way to explore that.

It's huge getting him back. Now we have two threats. We just have to keep him in one piece long enough so he can show what he can do.

It was a pretty good day for the first day back. Our throw and catch was not too bad for not throwing for a while. We made some really good plays. It usually takes you three or four days to get your rhythm back.

It was just a rough way to finish (the season). We just were so poor today. That was awful. We haven't played like that all year. We never got into a rhythm. So much about offensive football is about being in sync, putting successful plays back to back to back, and we just never did it.

After that display in the bowl game, we need to get back to hard-nosed, kicking a little tail and doing what we do. You play that badly, you don't just let it pass. I know it's last year's team, but it creates a mentality for the future.

That's always in our plan once in a while, just to keep the safeties from coming down. Sometimes it works, sometimes it don't.

I'm out of my head about this. I cannot believe we got all these guys. We got basically everybody we wanted. We got some really great players. This is going to be fun.

He still needs some refinement in his blocking, but he's every bit of the receiver we thought he'd be. That jumps out at you. He's easy to notice because he has that kind of capability.

He really is a selfless player. He does things that don't show up on the scoreboard sometimes, but coaches appreciate more than sometimes fans do. The fullback in our offense is a blocker. We are trying to get him in more into receiving.

The kid at times showed flashes of brilliance. He stood in there and threw some passes, put them on a dime with people in his face. Once he goes through those experiences, I think that guy could be a really, really good quarterback.

This is a good experience. It's not a nice experience. But it's a good experience to be in a bowl game and play under that kind of pressure and know now that you've experienced that and the next time it comes around, you'll be better prepared for it.

The last few practices, he looks like the CT (Taylor) of old. This is an unfortunate season for him because he has never gained a lot of inertia. I hope to be able to use him in this bowl game like we've used him in the past and hopefully get that kind of carry-over where a year from now he can have a phenomenal season, because he's certainly capable of doing that.