Again unless you counted Jamar Travis and Derrick Lykes (who was kicked off the team before fall practice) as legitimate SEC defensive tackles which I do not, Auburn entered the spring with only two legitimate yet unproven defensive tackles on its ENTIRE roster. How in the world can it come to that for a program like this? The fault mostly lies on the nightmarish last two recruiting classes of the Tuberville regime however I still wonder why Chizik and company did not bring in a few more bigger bodies the last two years. I will always believe the game is won in the trenches (as Auburn proved once again last year) so I always want one more defensive or offensive tackle over another small wide receiver. It seems obvious that is what should have been done here.
It was especially obvious as Utah State ran all over us on Saturday. It also became obvious that our linebackers are ordinary and not coached particularly well. I do not see one All-SEC player right now or in the future from our current linebacking corps. I do see talent in our secondary but like all the units it is hamstrung by our current defensive philosophy but hey do not take it from me, here is former Auburn safety Rob Pate’s review of our defense on Saturday...
“I am continually amazed at the lack of desire to confuse, blitz, be multiple, stack the box and make young, inexperienced QB's beat us their arm? There was no reason in the world to have our corners playing 10-12 yards deep, allowing a QB that's never attempted a collegiate pass to build confidence with each uncontested throw to the flat for 10-15 yard gains. Granted, if our defensive backs made an open field tackle at any point in the game, perhaps the yards after catch would have been less...nonetheless, why give a freebie to a newbie? Why not make the guy figure out where the next blitz in coming from? Why not bring more rushers than they have blockers and let your cover men run with receivers? Give the corners and safeties the opportunity to run stride for stride with WAC receivers (cause God knows they couldn't tackle WAC RB's) and make a Frosh QB beat you down the field repeatedly with precision passing under pressure? Sorry...I don't get the philosophy!”
I cannot say it much better than that. It would also seem that playing a more gambling style of defense would fit in better with our offensive philosophy as well. We gamble and we can either get a quick three and out or give up a big play. However if we give up a big play we get our offense who wants to run as many plays as possible back on the field. The worst possible outcome appears to me is to give up multiple 15+ play drives for scores. Of course I wanted to fire Ted Roof last year when we were winning every game because of this stupid philosophy (and the year before). It has been the same for three years and the only question is how long we are going to have to suffer through it before a change is made. Last year our defense got the job done but it could have been a lot better. Case in point was the national championship game where Auburn dominated the line of scrimmage like few teams ever have yet still gave up almost 400 YARDS PASSING.
Unfortunately I think these last few paragraphs will become a reoccurring theme throughout the season. First the coaching is awful but even if by some miracle it improves I am not sure we have talent to stop most of the good teams we will play this season. Hopefully Carter and Whitaker can play better than Saturday and maybe true frosh Blackson, Sigler and Wright are all good players and can grow up fast. Hopefully Eltoro Freeman and somebody else stepping up can save our linebackers. If not, the only solution is to recruit more defensive tackles and bigger linebackers and a lot of them and then bring in somebody who can coach them up.
Offensively, there were not many surprises either. I was not a Barrett Trotter fan to begin with but he has won me over by his play every time he has gotten into a game since A-Day last year. I have seen a lot of backup quarterbacks come into games over the years and not many of them displayed the mental toughness Trotter has shown. He displayed it again on Saturday helping rally Auburn to the win.
I also knew that Trooper Taylor would have his guys ready and it looks like Emory Blake and Travante Stallworth are ready to step in for Adams and Zachary. Trovon Reed also showed glimpses of the playmaker he has been hyped to be for two years. Unfortunately it appears Auburn will become increasingly reliant on Trotter and these wide receivers.
We know Dyer and McCalebb are playmakers but their great plays last season (and for McCalebb the season before as well) were made behind one of the best offensive lines in Auburn history. The current Auburn offensive line looks pedestrian at best. Like our current linebacking crew you just do not see any All-SEC talent on this line. I cannot say that about Christian Westerman and Greg Robinson and maybe some of these other young guys will grow up like Mike Berry and Byron Isom did but right now it does not look good. This looks like an average offensive line at best that has never played together before. They are not going to be able to impose their will running the ball like last year’s group. I do not think that is a stretch when you cannot even rush for 100 yards as a team against Utah State.
My official prediction for this season was 6-6 but right now I am having a hard time finding six wins. I still think it is possible but if so it has to begin this Saturday against State. State is stronger than usual but they are not a powerhouse and we have them at home. Considering the fact that I do not think we have much of a chance against some of our bigger rivals this year I think this game against State is much bigger than usual.
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