Game 3 Review: Tough Thursday Night in Manhattan

The Auburn Tigers pulled out the win 20-14 in a real cat fight against Kansas State to kick off week four of the 2014 college football season.  This one was definitely ugly on both sides but an ugly win is a lot better than an ugly loss for Auburn fans.  I have to admit I was a little more confident about this one than I should have been.  Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder is one of the best there is and I should have known he would have the Wildcats ready to play.

Kansas State became only the second team to hold Auburn under 200 yards rushing since Gus Malzahn took over.  There is no doubt that this game video will be must-see material for everyone else on Auburn’s schedule.  You can guarantee it will be analyzed and dissected by all of Auburn’s upcoming SEC foes.  This game showed a lot, both good and bad, about this 2014 Auburn football team.  Here is what jumped out to this blogger on Thursday night in Manhattan, Kansas…



THE GOOD

The Auburn defense.  I was confident but I will say I started getting a little worried when word leaked out that senior safety Jermaine Whitehead had been suspended.  I have been worried about attrition in Auburn’s back seven on defense since this summer.  I do not think anybody had any idea how some of these freshman like Stephen Roberts and Nick Ruffin would respond.  The best news for Auburn on Thursday was they played well along with everyone else in the secondary and in the defense as a whole.

Auburn linebacker Kris Frost walked away with player of the game honors after some big plays including a forced fumble.  The Auburn defensive line dominated the line of scrimmage holding the Wildcats to only 40 yards rushing.  Kansas State hit some big plays through the air but were aided by the fact that they were able to get away with any holding they wanted to do but more on that below.

The Auburn passing game also shined late.  Auburn and head coach Gus Malzahn finally had to turn to the passing game and quarterback Nick Marshall delivered.  It looked bad early on as Marshall was off target on a few passes and then the Auburn wide receivers, including Duke Williams and Sammie Coates, had a case of the drops when Marshall was on target.  Combine this with a struggling running game and that is why Auburn only had a field goal in the first quarter.

The Tigers finally got on track when Marshall hit Ricardo Louis who then put a few nifty moves on some KState defenders to get in the end zone.  This was doubly good to see since I believe it is the first really good play Louis has had since the “Immaculate Deflection”.  Marshall then hit Duke Williams for another big touchdown and a game clinching 39 yard pass on 3^rd and 9 with under two minutes to go in the game. 

Marshall finished 17 of 31 for 243 yards and two touchdowns and one interception.  Williams went over 100 yards again and continues to be Auburn’s biggest playmaker at wide receiver.  Sammie Coates had a couple of catches and a big drop.  Marshall also overthrew Coates on what would have been a huge play early on.  Auburn has to find a way to get Coates back on track.  I am looking for the game where both Duke Williams and Sammie Coates have big nights.

 

 

 THE BAD

“In the aftermath of the first game in the past 13 that Auburn failed to rush formore than 200 yards, Gus Malzahn admitted that he might have been a little stubborn with the play-calling.”

 

I whispered it through out the summer and have said it in my last two game reviews but now I will shout it with conviction… Auburn is NOT going to be able to run like they did in 2013.  It is NOT going to happen.  Auburn has a very good offense and a very good offensive line but to be the best it can be it must be balanced.  Auburn will lose more than one game if they continue to try and win using last year’s offensive strategy.

Shon Coleman is NOT Greg Robinson and I don’t think he will be.  Avery Young is NOT Alex Kozan at guard and I don’t think Patrick Miller is as good as Young at tackle.  On top of that, Brandon Fulse is not anywhere remotely close to Jay Prosch at H-back.  Robinson and Prosch might be the two best at their position in Auburn football history.  That is one of the biggest reasons Auburn was able to steamroll everyone last season.

When that is readily apparent and Auburn has two wide receivers capable of playing on Sundays next season you have to wonder why the coaches who are much closer to this don’t get it.  Auburn took it to the next level in 2004 balancing the offense after Hugh Nall’s stubbornness the year before.  Auburn took it to the next level in 2010 as Malzahn himself moved the team from relying on Cam Newton’s running to Cam Newton’s passing.  This year Auburn must balance the offense to take it to the next level.

Kansas State proved both sides of this against Auburn.  They sold out to stop the run and they did.  However on the other side of that they were ripe for the picking through the air just like everyone else will be on Auburn’s schedule.  Auburn was able to expose this but I think Auburn can do a lot more damage through the air.  This will also open back up the run game.  I still think Jeremy Johnson is the quarterback best suited to lead a more balanced offense but Nick Marshall proved again against KState that he can do it as well.

 



 

THE UGLY

My ears perked up when I heard a Big 12 crew was officiating the game.  I knew for inter-conference match ups like this that usually using an officiating crew from another conference outside the two involved was the standard procedure.  I think everyone saw why after watching the game and seeing the final box score.  Officially, not one penalty was called on Kansas State.  The Wildcats were called for an illegal chop block but it was not counted due to it offsetting with an Auburn pass interference penalty.

In a game where Kansas State threw 40 PASSES and were obviously struggling with Auburn’s defensive line not ONE holding penalty was called on the Wildcats.  In a game where Kansas State quarterback Jake Waters threw many of those passes while scrambling after the play had broken down not ONE holding penalty was called. 

Ridiculous does not even begin to describe this officiating.  Downright cheating is much closer.  I understand football players cheat on every play but when say Gabe Wright is blatantly and visibly hauled down to the ground (multiple times) you really have to wonder what is going on here. 

Everyone else can point to all of KState’s missed opportunities on field goals and the ball that popped out of wide receiver Tyler Lockett’s hands in the end zone but I believe the officiating balanced things out.  I would think that how the game is officiated is part of the contract between the two schools and I believe that comes under AD Jay Jacobs.  I certainly hope Jacobs does not make that mistake again.

THE LAST WORD

Auburn has one more preseason game against Louisiana Tech before hitting a brutal steak of six straight tough conference games.  I certainly hope the coaches use it to work on the passing game.  It looks like the two games after next week look a little different as Mississippi State took down LSU in Death Valley last night.  Auburn will have their hands full with both games regardless.  One more week till the fun really starts.