2015 Birmingham Bowl Review: Defensive Stand

Birmingham Bowl MVP Jovon Robinson

Auburn 31  Memphis 10.  Well the game went pretty much as expected when Auburn had the ball.  I knew Gus would run the ball close to 60 times and not throw much against the smallish Memphis defense and that is exactly what happened.  However I certainly did not expect the Auburn defense to play that well.  I will have to join the many other Auburn sites in congratulating the defensive coaches especially interim coordinator Lance Thompson on a job well done.  I saw the highlights from the Memphis win over Ole Miss, Paxton Lynch was awesome in that game.  You have to give credit to the Auburn defense for making him look like a bum yesterday.  

It is also definitely hard to get a team that had a disappointing season that ended with losses to its major rivals up for a bottom-of-the-barrel bowl game.  The players are college students that ssshhhh would really rather go home on Christmas break than go through practices for the Birmingham Bowl.  However the coaches were still able to get the team to play hard even with all that going on.  Auburn certainly did not play that hard earlier this year in the Outback Bowl.  I knew Gus wanted this win bad though for that winning season.  That is always a big deal for a coach.

Now of course they did play a much better opponent in the Outback Bowl and Auburn has tons more talent than Memphis and should beat them like that.  Ole Miss should too but ran into a hot team on a down day.  The coaches and the players should get their due credit but every Auburn site desperate for something positive to happen to this football team is of course taking it too far.  It is always better to win than to lose but none of Auburn's current issues were solved yesterday.  In fact all of Auburn's issues on offense were on full display yesterday.  They were just obscured by the small Memphis defense and the Auburn defensive effort.

With that said lets get to the good, the bad and the ugly from the 2015 Birmingham Bowl...

THE GOOD
This was like I said above the Auburn defense.  This defense held Memphis to only 13 first downs and only 205 yards of total offense (!!!).  They held top NFL prospect Paxton Lynch to only 16 of 37 passes completed for only 108 yards (!!!).  On top of that they also held Memphis to under 100 yards rushing.  Finally, Memphis only scored because of Auburn turnovers on offense.  The defense basically pitched a shutout.  That is pretty much complete domination and a great accomplishment against any team.  It has been a long time since an Auburn defense turned in a performance like that.

Also good is that Auburn coach Gus Malzahn after the game confirmed that a defensive coordinator had finally been hired in Kevin Steele though rumors had already leaked before the game.  Steele was the LSU defensive coordinator this past season and is a veteran experienced coach.  Most Auburn fans are calling this a big win.  I am not as convinced.  People will call me negative but I said the same things when LSU hired him a year ago.  Steele is a good position coach and recruiter but has absolutely nothing good on his resume as a defensive coordinator or head coach. 

Steele was defensive coordinator at Bama during Saban's first year before being demoted and then turned in three poor years as defensive coordinator at Clemson before being fired.  Before that he went 1-31 in the Big 12 as Baylor's head coach.  He turned in a decent season this year at LSU but in the three critical games in November his defense gave up 30 or more points in all of them and LSU lost to Bama, Arkansas and Ole Miss.  The facts are the facts people, there is nothing in this guy's resume that says he will be a good defensive coordinator, nothing.  I guess it is still a win as I think he is better than most of the other candidates but it is not near the win or sure thing people are thinking it is. 

The other good from the game was the Auburn running attack.  Jovon Robinson took MVP honors with a lot of hard running and had 126 yards on 27 carries and a touchdown.  Peyton Barber finished his solid season breaking the 1000 yard barrier.  That makes it seven years in a row Auburn has had a 1000 yard rusher.  Kudos to Barber... the guy worked extremely hard all season,  carried the team to some wins early and from all reports is a great person.  He is the kind of guy that personifies Auburn football to me and he would be my offensive MVP of the season.  Carl Lawson is the best player on defense but I would actually go with Montravious Adams as our defensive MVP.  The guy was a warrior in the trenches all year long.  The question now is if he and Lawson are turning pro.

THE BAD
The Auburn Wing-T offense bullied and finally wore down the Memphis defense.  Just like all year if Auburn can run the ball they have a chance to win.  Just like all year the passing game was pretty much a joke.  When your punter has the longest completion on the day I think that pretty much says it all.  I understand everyone hates Jeremy Johnson but I do not understand bringing back a rusty Sean White for the bowl game.  Other than two disastrous series against Georgia he had not played since October.  That just does not make any sense to me and sure enough he tossed two horrible interceptions, one a pick-six.

I will say a couple of his incompletions were on the coaching staff as they were one-read plays Gus runs every game and the other team can usually see from a mile away like the wheel route to the running back.  The Auburn passing game was bad in this game just like all season and ended the season ranked 102nd out of 128 NCAA FBS teams.  Unfortunately it does not seem like it will ever change under Gus Malzahn.  Auburn will always be as he has said himself a "run-based play action team".  He has made it clear, he is not changing.  I guess I need to stop whining about it. 

THE UGLY
That brings us to the ugly and that is Auburn's chances of turning this around next season running this offense regardless of defensive improvement.  It is just not rocket science.  Auburn's best years under Malzahn as coordinator and head coach were of course 2010 and 2013.  Yes in both instances the team had a dynamic playmaker at quarterback but also had the pieces all lined up around those stars.  First both teams featured a very good senior-laden offensive line.  They also had very good veteran H-backs.  In 2010 it was unsung hero Eric Smith and in 2013 it was juggernaut Jay Prosch. 

Both teams featured very good tight ends.  In 2010 it was sophomore playmaker Phillip Lutzenkirchen and in 2013 it was C.J. Uzomah and Brandon Fulse.  Finally they had stars at running back and wide receiver.  All the stars had to line up to win a championship in those years.  Now that is true of almost all championships but not all.  I think you have to have a philosophy but you have to tailor it to your personnel.  Every year regardless of the personnel Gus Malzahn is determined to run his Wing-T power run offense from the shotgun formation.  This season he stubbornly tried to run it without a tight end or experienced H-back.  He tried to power run from a three-wide set most of the time.  That is just dumb in my opinion.

Again Auburn did not have the personnel to execute this power-run offense.  I am all for it when Auburn has the personnel but they have not.  I am not saying pass all the time, I am not even saying pass half the time.  I am just saying throw the ball around 25 to 30 times a game.  The last two seasons Auburn has had a lot of playmakers at wide receiver.  The Tigers also have had some running backs that are very versatile and are great receivers out of the back field.  They were all criminally underused.  All I hear is bragging about 1000 yard rushers but when was the last time Auburn had a 1000 yard wide receiver? (NOTE: It was Ronny Daniels in Tub's first season in 1999 but even then it was only because Auburn had no running backs). 

Next season Gus is going to run this exact same offense.  There will be promises and innuendo in the offseason but come on people has anything changed since 2009?  Gus will run the same thing.  Auburn may or may not have a good offensive line depending on the decisions of juniors Shon Coleman and Avery Young.  If both go pro, then Auburn will not have a top tier offensive line.  The Tigers just do not have many great tackles waiting in the wings.  Braden Smith could step in if only one leaves but things look bad if both leave.  H-backs Chandler Cox and Kamryn Pettway should be better next year but Auburn still has absolutely no one with any experience at all at tight end. 

THE LAST WORD
Throw in a brutal schedule in 2016 to all that and what do you get?  Most likely a 7-5 team.  Again though that is who Gus Malzahn is unless the stars align.  You average the 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2015 regular seasons and you get... 7-5.  I looked at the blocking above, it might be good but it will not be good enough to run over really good teams.  The same quarterbacks as this year return along with a second string JUCO quarterback than can run the ball.  As for catching the ball Auburn loses start Ricardo Louis and right now things look pretty thin.  Only Jason Smith and Tony Stevens stand out and it is not like they had a whole lot of catches this season.

On the positive side, Auburn will return all these running backs except maybe Roc Thomas who has been rumored to transfer.  Auburn will have a better offense than this season most likely but again will not be good enough to run over the really good teams.  However Gus will try, you can bet the house on that.  I have really grown weary of watching this one-dimensional no-imagination offense so I am not really looking forward to next season right now at all.  It will just be more of the same "run-based play-action offense".  Oh well, at least the Tigers ended this season and hopefully their history at Legion Field with a win.  Happy New Year and War Eagle.

Down in the Dumps

The Auburn football program has entered the long, dark and uncertain offseason.  It all starts with their "reward" for getting bowl eligible and that is a trip back to the dank confines of Legion Field in Birmingham to play Memphis.  Auburn also enters bowl practice once again looking for a defensive coordinator as Will Muschamp has left Auburn for the third and final time to go to South Carolina as head coach.  Finally, to make things worse Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs and head coach Gus Malzahn appear to be completely bungling the whole process of finding a new defensive leader.

They seem unable to come to grips with the fact that Malzahn is on the hot seat next season after he and his staff have underperformed for two seasons in a row.   On top of that, there is the expected early exodus of several key junior players in the trenches on both sides of the ball plus a tough schedule awaiting in 2016.  Auburn has to open the season with the current #1 football team in the country, Clemson. The Tigers then close the season on the road in Athens and Tuscaloosa.  However home and away did not matter much this last season since Auburn was unable to even beat either of the Mississippi schools at home.  The Tigers will have to go on the road in Mississippi this next season and take on LSU, Arkansas and Texas A&M at home.

With this in mind, no proven defensive coordinator in his prime is going to come to Auburn no matter how much money Jay Jacobs throws at him.  I cannot believe these morons did not offer Travarius Robinson the coordinator position.  The guy is the #1 rated recruiter in the nation according to ESPN and is a good up-and-coming coach AND AN AUBURN ALUM.  The smart move was to take a calculated risk and make him the coordinator with veterans like Lance Thompson and Rodney Garner there to help and mentor.  The key thing is GETTING GOOD PLAYERS and keep continuity in the defensive staff.  It was obviously the best move to make in Auburn's current situation yet Jacobs and Malzahn managed to screw it up.

They let Robinson go and then humiliated themselves trying to buy Florida State defensive coordinator Charles Kelly.  As I am writing this they are now fumbling around trying to find some second tier guy to come in who will be nowhere close to as good as just hiring TRob.  Honestly you really have to wonder what is going through their heads.  Did they really think they were going to go out and grab some super coach?  Again, they seem to be refusing to face reality.  They can say till they are blue in the face how things are not that bad but the simple fact is Auburn is 2-9 in their last eleven SEC games and 0-5 at home in that stretch.

So now it looks like Auburn will be starting over on defense for the sixth time since 2008.  I am not sure if Auburn will ever have an actual good defense again.  Of course it might not matter much as it is likely Auburn will continue to run the same thing on offense with no changes.  Gus Malzahn has to be the most stubborn person I have ever seen and I will believe he will change anything on offense when I see it.  I wrote the following paragraph following the Outback Bowl in January:

"I am now starting to doubt whether things will change next season with Jeremy Johnson hopefully coming in for Marshall.  I fear another ridiculous quarterback "race" and the coaches continuing to try and run the ball the majority of the time.  It is obvious Auburn should be more balanced on offense but like I said above it was obvious this year as well.  Again, Malzahn is at a crossroad, will he take this chance to evolve and innovate the Auburn offense or will he continue to stubbornly stick with the 2013 playbook?  I believe the answer to that question and again him and his staff's ability to get better players on defense will determine his long term fate at Auburn."

The answer to the offensive question I posed in that paragraph was a resounding NO.  Malzahn has not and I believe will not change his offense.  Auburn's personnel might improve but I am wondering how much difference it will make.  The defenses around the SEC appear to have caught up with him and you just cannot beat anybody good without a solid passing game.  Auburn might have a better quarterback next season.  The running backs and H-backs should be better as well.  However the Tigers might be starting over at both tackle positions and have absolutely no one with any experience at all at tight end plus a ton of question marks at wide receiver.  I do not see a dominating offense coming out of that mix.

I guess I am getting ahead of myself though as Auburn still has one more game to play this season.  I have heard a few Auburn fans waxing nostalgic about Birmingham's Legion Field, Bama's alternate home stadium for so long and Auburn's bowl location this season.  I was there to see the last four "half and half" Iron Bowl games at Legion Field.  As I have reminded people many times though it was never really split evenly.  It was more like Auburn getting a third, Bama getting a third and the city of Birmingham getting a third.  That always guaranteed more Bama fans.  Legion Field was always an advantage for Bama especially after it was changed to artificial turf in 1970.

My first game at Legion Field was the 1984 "Wrong Way Bo" Iron Bowl.  As I have stated in a previous post: "It was a beautiful day. I remember wearing my brand new Auburn satin jacket to the stadium but then it being too warm to keep it on. I remember being so excited walking to Legion Field. Of course as soon as we got seated I heard the Bama band playing a cheer and the fans chanting something after it. As a young guy at my first Iron Bowl I was at that time not familiar with any of Bama’s traditions. I soon figured out that the cheer was “Rammer Jammer” and they were chanting “we’re going to beat the hell out of you”. It is still to this day the most obnoxious classless cheer. Congrats Bama."

I was there the next year for the Van Tiffin kick (when I thought it could not get any worse than "Wrong Way Bo") but got even in the last two "half and half" games in 1986 and 1987 with "The Reverse" and "Shut down, Shut out, Shut up".  Finally after the 1987 game the series went to home-and-home even though many people said it would never happen.  Thanks Coach Dye.  Unfortunately during negotiations Auburn had to throw the city of Birmingham a bone to get the deal done and that was to play one more "home game" against Bama at Legion Field.  That game was in 1991 and I thought it would be my last visit to Legion Field.  I had not been back since the 1987 game.

The 1991 game was just a microcosm of the whole season that year,  Auburn lost to Bama and Gene Stallings 13-6 in an ugly boring game to cap a 5-6 season.  I remember driving away with my friend and fellow Auburn student and tossing my cap out the window in disgust.  I sure had no idea I would be returning later that night.  We met other friends for food and drink and I was planning to spend the night in Birmingham before returning to Auburn the next morning.  I was starting to feel better out with my friends when I get a call from my brother.  His ride down had left him and his friend and they were still down at Legion Field.  They needed to be picked up and taken back to Huntsville.

I then had to drive back to Legion Field after dark.  The football traffic had cleared out hours ago but something bad was going on as police cars with their lights on were everywhere and there seemed to be a lot of angry people milling about.  My brother and his friend were pitiful sights cowering at a corner waiting to be picked up.  I got them and we got out of dodge quickly.  It then started pouring rain and continued to pour on me all the way to Huntsville.  A rotten day that had been getting better turned into a rotten night.

I thought that would be my last visit to that awful stadium but it was not.  My last visit was in 1994 in one of the last three Iron Bowls played there at all.  It was only the second time in the entire series that both teams were undefeated (Auburn was 9-0-1 after a tie with Georgia).  My brother was still a student and got me a student ticket to sit with him.  The powers-that-be at Bama put the Auburn students in temporary bleachers in the end zones.  Unfortunately the bleachers were a bit higher than the edge of real end zone seating thus completely screwing over the people sitting on that row.  Compounding that problem was the fact Auburn students stand the whole game.  That is just how it is for big games.  However the Bama fans sitting in that first row of real end zone seating did NOT want to stand up for the whole game and thus a game-long argument ensued. 

I was "lucky" enough to be in one of those top bleacher seats and while our row attempted to make peace with the Bama fans, the drunk fraternity guys in front of us did not.  A fight nearly broke out with us in the middle.  As soon as I sat down, I wondered why I came.  First I had to deal with that whole conflict nearly the entire game.  Second I was not watching as the kickers warmed up and only my brother blocking the ball at the last second kept a football from most likely breaking my nose.  Finally Bama just destroyed Auburn in the first quarter running out to a 21-0 lead.  After they scored to make it 21-0 I thought I was in football hell.  It was simply awful.

Auburn came back to make it a close game but still lost 21-14 when Frank Sanders came up inches short on a fourth down conversion play on a last minute do-or-die drive.  The Bama fans were obviously very fired up as they won the game which gave them an undefeated 11-0 season.  We got heckled pretty good walking back to our car.  I just told my brother and his friends to ignore it and walk out with class.  We did, for the most part (-:  When I drove away from that one I swore I would never return to Legion Field and I do not think one last chance to see this Auburn team is going to change my mind.

Frankly I think Auburn should have turned down a bowl this year and gotten to work on recruiting.  I keep hearing about how "valuable" bowl practice is but I don't buy it.  It sure did not help this team going through it last season.  Auburn simply has nothing to gain in this game.  They are expected to beat Memphis and will get no credit by winning the game.  On the other hand, Memphis is fired up about a chance to knock another SEC team off.  Their quarterback Paxton Lynch could be the first pick in the NFL draft.  This guy is most likely going to shred the Auburn defense worse than Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon did in Auburn's last bowl game. 

So in summary we have... 

• a 2-6 SEC season that included an 0-4 record at home...
• lost Will Muschamp and TRob who were maybe Auburn's best coaches and recruiters...
• made a huge mistake by not promoting TRob, trying to buy Charles Kelly and now bumbling around trying to find a second tier guy that will not be near as good...
•  received and accepted an embarrassing invitation to play in the Birmingham Bowl at Legion Field...
• a good chance that a number of Auburn's best players will leave early or possibly transfer...
• a ridiculously hard schedule on top of all this next season.

I am definitely down in the dumps about Auburn football.  I sure hope Bruce Pearl and the Auburn basketball team can give Auburn sports fans something to cheer about in the next few months.

Game 12 Review: Oh Henry

Bama 29  Auburn 13.  Well that pretty much went as expected, a tight game that Bama would break open at the end.  Auburn really had every thing go right they could reasonably expect other than a ridiculous penalty on Will Muschamp.  Auburn was able to hold Bama to 12 points in the first half and entered the fourth quarter with the ball and down less than a touchdown. 

 

Unfortunately other than a spectacular tip, catch and run by Jason Smith, Auburn could not make a big play on offense.  On the other side Bama's defense was very good and Derrick Henry and the Bama offensive line was better.  The monstrous back ran for what I would think would be the biggest day by an opposing running back in Auburn history.  Henry finished with a ridiculous 271 yards rushing.

 

THE GOOD

The Auburn defense finally enters this section although they gave up Henry's big day.  These guys played their guts out before tiring late and getting run over by Henry.  They gave Auburn a chance to win and that is about all you could ask of them.  Again they held Bama to 12 points at the half and under 20 after three quarters. 

 

The most disappointing plays were not being able to sack Bama quarterback Jake Coker when they seemingly had him.  He escaped twice from sure sacks to give Bama their first touchdown.  The other terrible play was Justin Garrett's penalty late push on Coker out of bounds.  It was pretty light but you just cannot do that in a big game.  I guess the only other gut punch was Blake Countess' drop of an almost sure "pick-six" from Coker late in the first half. 

 

THE BAD

Once again the Auburn offense could do little through the air outside Smith's miracle catch.  Auburn was able to move the ball early and had some decent success running the ball but could not make the key throw when it was needed.  Jeremy Johnson was terrible and his protection and receivers were not much better.  The offensive line did some good run-blocking but could not give Johnson much time to throw but the few times they did Johnson missed the throw or the receiver dropped the ball. 

 

Again as I have harped on all season, the Auburn passing game is a complete disaster.  I know some will lament Sean White's absence but I think he would have had a tough day as well.  The coaches did not do the offense any favors either as many times they waited till third and long to throw instead of a play-action pass on first down.  Bama would then always bring more than Auburn could block.

 

THE UGLY

The ugliest thing I saw during the game was calling that ridiculous penalty on Will Muschamp when he went off after Garrett's penalty push.  I have seen $aban go off as bad or worse than that and never seen that flag thrown.  I still think Bama would have won but that penalty gave them the field goal that put them up by two scores in the fourth quarter.  The right thing to do is call a sideline warning LIKE THEY DID FOR NICK $ABAN AS HE WENT OFF ON THE REFS EARLIER IN THE GAME.
 
I am sure it was also ugly for the Auburn fans at Jordan-Hare who stayed till the end and had to endure that classless cheer.  My MVP for this Auburn season are the Auburn season ticket holders and fans who bought all those tickets and kept showing up to cheer the Tigers on.  They spent their hard earned money and had to endure three 11am kickoffs and no SEC wins plus little to no offense.
 
THE LAST WORD
The only thing I am glad about now is that this season is basically over.  This team has not been very good from the first game to the last one.  Other than wins over two Kentucky teams and catching Texas A&M on a bad night there has been nothing to get excited about.  In fact this Iron Bowl is the season in a nutshell, a few big plays but mainly getting run over.  Things do not look a whole lot brighter next season but breaking that down is a job for another day.  The sun will come up tomorrow but it will look a little dimmer football-wise after this game and this season.

Game 11 Review: Vandalized

Auburn 56  Idaho 34.  The Auburn football Tigers tuned up for the Iron Bowl by dispatching the Idaho Vandals this last Saturday at Jordan Hare Stadium.  Of course the game did not inspire any upset thoughts of Bama from this vantage point.  I will say Auburn looked a bit better than they usually do in these games under Gus Malzahn but I saw few plays that will work against the Tide.  Also once again Malzahn chose not to work on the passing game.  Auburn had some big passing plays but most were single read plays against a sold-out-against-the-run Idaho defense.  I did not see many true drop-back pass plays and the Tigers ran the ball over 50 times.

Again it would just be nice to get any of Auburn's struggling quarterbacks some real work in the passing game against lesser competition.  However I guess it is clear that is just never going to happen under Malzahn.  We are a "run-based play-action" team and we can never be anything else under him.  I was just hoping for more balance coming into this season.  Auburn's personality still needs to be a strong running team but plenty of good Auburn teams in the past have shown you can have that along with a good passing game.  I hate to keep hammering this point but it is not going away in my opinion.  As I have said several times, I think it is the main reason this Auburn team with so many playmakers is 2-5 in the SEC and the reason Auburn will most likely lose the Iron Bowl this coming weekend.

Another passing question I had from the Idaho game is where was the read-option pass that Jeremy Johnson threw 2 or 3 times to Tony Stevens last week against Georgia?  The Georgia corners crashed the line many times on the read option and that play would have really helped.  I do not understand why the coaches did not call it last week?  Well I guess at least they did run it against Idaho and it resulted in a touchdown for Auburn and getting Tony Stevens involved in the game.  Ricardo Louis also had a good day receiving on some play-action bombs from Johnson.  He did have one big drop but still had almost 100 yards receiving and a touchdown.

On the running side, Auburn pounded Idaho into submission behind another great offensive line effort.  These guys are doing great work since Auburn is still trying to do a power running game from a three-wide set most of the time or a set that has only an additional young H-back to help.  Most teams are bringing more people than these guys can block.  However Jovon Robinson had almost exactly 100 yards and Peyton Barber plus Roc Thomas added over a hundred more.  It was great to see Roc Thomas actually used again.  The guy is an explosive playmaker and a great receiver out of the backfield.  He could be a huge asset to this offense.  Unfortunately the other two similar playmakers Kerryon Johnson and Jason Smith were basically not used against Idaho.  I sure hope the coaches decide to use these guys against Bama.

Elsewhere the fake punt was a good play and the defense did a decent job before letting everyone play in the fourth quarter.  It was great to finally get a game where the coaches could play a lot of guys.  The Apache helicopter flyover also looked very cool on TV.  I guess the final good point that everyone is talking about is that Auburn is now bowl-eligible.  I am not sure how good that is though.  Auburn might should just take their 6-6 record, stay home and work on recruiting.  I think bowl practice is overrated.  Auburn got bowl practice, spring practice and fall practice this year and still looked completely unprepared.  I also do not think getting beat by Tommy Tuberville and Cincy or Houston in a bowl Auburn cares nothing about is a good thing. 

First though is the Iron Bowl.  Obviously I do not think Auburn has much of a chance.  The old "you can throw the record books out" line is not true at all in this series.  The only true upset for Auburn in the series was in 1949 the year after the series was started back after forty years off.  Since then Auburn has NEVER beaten Bama with a losing conference record.  NEVER.  The only one close was Shug Jordan's first win over the Tide in 1954 when Auburn was 3-3 in the SEC.  The only mild upsets like 1972 and 2002 were by good Auburn teams that had winning records in conference.  In fact the 1972 "Punt Bama Punt" game that is considered such an upset was won by an Auburn team that was 8-1 and ranked in the top ten in the country. 

Combine that fact with the fact you have to be able to pass effectively to beat $aban and Bama (two of Auburn's touchdowns in the "Kick Six" game were through the air and Cam Newton needed three touchdown throws in 2010) and I just do not see how Auburn wins this game.  Bama is better at just about every position and I do not see how Auburn's "run-based play-action" team can score enough points to win.  The wildcard in the game is the Auburn defense.  How long can they keep it close?  Have they really improved against a big strong team since LSU?  Can they slow down Derrick Henry better than Leonard Fournette? 

Auburn will need turnovers and luck to stay close.  They will have one factor in their favor, $aban tends to tighten up in games like this where he has a decided talent advantage but the other team is still dangerous and playing at home.  Unlike previous slaughters in 2008, 2011 and 2012 Auburn has some playmakers on offense.  I see the game unfolding similar to 2009 but I do not see the end being that close.  It will most likely be another tough loss to take in a season full of them.  It is extremely frustrating to go into yet another Iron Bowl without a realistic chance to win the game.

Game 10 Review: Grounded Again

Georgia 20  Auburn 13.  I wrote a post titled "Grounded" in 2011 after a loss to Arkansas and stated how bad the Auburn passing game was.  I said "The loss was not as hard to take as watching Auburn's passing game literally die on the table in front of us".  I also stated that: "having a passing game this bad while employing the highest paid assistant in the country to coach the quarterback position is completely unacceptable."  I was talking about Gus Malzahn then and I am talking about Gus Malzahn now.  You can just change "highest paid assistant in the country" to "one of the highest paid head coaches (whose specialty is offense)".  I thought it was good Malzahn left after 2011 and now I am starting to think it will be good when he leaves as a head coach.

I also pointed out in that same post from four years ago how "Barrett Trotter is fourth year junior and has been in the Malzahn system for three years.  There is absolutely no excuse for Auburn's passing game being this bad."  I then pointed how we had a group of upper classman wide receivers and then said again THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE FOR AUBURN'S PASSING GAME BEING THIS BAD.  Well you can substitute Barrett Trotter's name with Jeremy Johnson and right now we also have a group of upper classman wide receivers.  We have enough tape now people, Gus Malzahn is simply not capable of coaching up a competent passing game at least without overwhelming talent.  He also seems incapable of developing quarterbacks as we now have two complete test cases in Barrett Trotter and Jeremy Johnson.

In 2009 Chris Todd set records using a great group of offensive linemen and players that would become Cam Newton's brilliant supporting cast the next season.  However Todd was only capable of good production against bad teams.  He was mediocre at best against anybody any good and Auburn lost to all those teams and finished the season 7-5.  I hear people talk fondly of that season, why?  The next season for Malzahn without Cam Newton was 2011 and we again went 7-5 losing to everyone that was any good and like this season had no passing game at all.  Malzahn returned in 2013 and he did coach up one of the most devastating running attacks in Auburn history behind a core group of NFL players.  With that rushing attack and super freak Sammie Coates Auburn could do enough passing to get it done although the passing numbers were abnormally low even then.

Of course Malzahn then lost the national championship game by not calling a few more play-action passes on first down.  Malzahn has proven he does not want to pass the ball unless absolutely necessary and by that time Auburn is usually not ready.  We then come to last season where we had lost the devastating blockers who paved the way for 2013 but returned the two most athletic wide receivers in Auburn history in Sammie Coates and Duke Williams plus Ricardo Louis, C.J. Uzomah, etc...  It was obvious that even with erratic Nick Marshall this offense would be better passing more.  Malzahn would not do it and one of the more talented Auburn teams ever finished 8-5.  Malzahn let them loose one time in desperation against Bama and they produced the greatest passing day in Auburn history just one year ago.  Surely that would convince Gus to run a more balanced offense?

The answer this season is a resounding NO.  We are now back to 2011 except this team has a ton more talent and much better blocking than the 2011 team.  Gus Malzahn has again failed to even put a semi-competent passing game on the field.  Good night forget high school there are middle school teams with a better passing attack than Auburn.  I am saying this about a team that has a TON OF SEC-CALIBER OFFENSIVE TALENT!!!  There is absolutely no excuse for this abomination of a passing game.  I am so sick of hearing about Malzahn's roots and the stupid "Wing-T" offense.  IT IS 2015.  The reason no one runs the Wing-T offense was this great advancement in football called THE FORWARD PASS.  What has changed over the years since the Wing-T was invented?  Legalized holding to help PASS THE BALL. 

That brings us to the present where Auburn is now 5-5 and 2-5 in the SEC.  I will say again I believe the main reason behind this awful season is the lack of a competent and consistent passing game.  We would not have gotten in the pickle against Jax State with it.  We could have beaten the Mississippi schools at home and we could have beaten Arkansas and this Georgia team.  We should have a quarterback coached up and capable of leading at least a competent passing attack whoever it is.  Yes we have a good rushing attack but you cannot win without being able to pass the ball.  We have one of the highest paid coaching staffs in the country and a supposed "offensive genius and innovator" as a head coach yet as I have just outlined he is consistently not able to field a competent passing game.

THE GOOD
The defense was not great and this was probably the worst Georgia team I have seen since Mark Richt took over 15 years ago but they did their job.  They held Georgia under 300 yards of offense and to basically ten points.  Georgia scored the back breaking touchdown on a punt return and a field goal off a Sean White fumble deep in Auburn territory.  Unfortunately the awful Auburn offense kept giving it back to Georgia thus giving Georgia a whopping 11 more minutes of possession time.  It is just unbelievable that we finally get some kind of production from the defense which has been killing Auburn for years and now we do not have the offense to get it done. 

THE BAD
I think I have covered Auburn's bad passing game already however I have few more paragraphs left in me...  I cannot believe that people's main gripe is not running Jovon Robinson more???  I mean yes he should have gotten the ball more but the reason the coaches finally started trying to pass some was the fact that the offense cannot take it all the way down the field WITHOUT THROWING THE BALL.  Also when I say throwing the ball I am talking about actually throwing it forward not sideways to the receiver.  I mean good grief how many times can the Auburn brain trust run that stupid play?

You can count on one hand the amount of throws we have made between the hash marks in the middle of the field this entire season.  When someone blitzes, a slant to the middle to the space those blitzers vacated is usually an option that might be open at least a few times during a game.  I will just continue to say it, you have to be balanced to beat anybody any good.  You cannot run the stupid WING-T run-the-whole-time offense against good SEC teams.  Gus Malzahn has proven this time and time again. 

Here is another tip for Gus to help with his passing game: you will have interceptions.  Tom Brady has them, Aaron Rogers has them Peyton Manning has them...  however teams keep throwing because the rewards of a good passing game far outweigh the interceptions.  Our coaches have both Jeremy Johnson and Sean White so scared that I truly believe both of them would rather not throw an interception than win the game.  They are both hesitant and know they will lose their job if they throw an interception.  You cannot be an SEC quarterback and play scared.

THE UGLY
This one is obvious, this year's Iron Bowl.  Everything I have just said certainly matters to this game as you do not even have a chance to beat Bama without throwing the ball.  We cannot do it and they are going to kill us.  However that is just the tip of the iceberg.  The ugly part is really our record since winning the national championship in 2010.  We have played five seasons since then.  In that time against teams we play every year we are 1-4 against LSU, Georgia and Bama and we are 2-3 against Arkansas and Mississippi State.  We are also not dominating anybody as we are only 3-2 against Ole Miss and 2-2 against Texas A&M in that time. Finally we are now 5-11 against Mark Richt, 3-8 against Les Miles  and 3-6 against Nick $aban. 

THE LAST WORD
We had miracles to boost our spirits in 2010 and 2013 but the bottom line is Auburn football is trending downward.  I think the athletic department will get the picture next season as season ticket sales plummet after selling out this season.  Jay Jacobs and Gus Malzahn owe the Auburn season ticket holders an apology and frankly a refund.  Jacobs allowed Auburn to be given THREE HOME 11AM KICKOFFS.  That is completely unacceptable.  Gus Malzahn then followed that up by coaching Auburn to an 0-4 SEC record at home including this loss to a bad Georgia team and a beatdown to Bama in two weeks. People have tried to be positive but facts are now facts and this season has been an unmitigated disaster. 

Game 9 Review: Davis and Company

Carlton Davis     Marcus Davis     Ryan Davis

(Editor's note: I apologize for the lateness of this post however the blame falls squarely on the release of Call of Duty Black Ops 3)

Auburn 26  Texas A&M 10.  Do NOT mess with Davis and Company.  The Auburn football team went to their secret weapons on Saturday for big plays against the home team Aggies.  Wide receiver Marcus Davis started things off in the first quarter with a touchdown catch that would give Auburn the lead which it did not relinquish.  Immediately following that cornerback Carlton Davis stopped an Aggie drive with a big interception in the end zone. 

Finally in the third quarter on a 1st and 25 coach Gus Malzahn called a trick play having smaller reserve wide receiver Ryan Davis squat right by the quarterback and then having everyone go one way while Davis after taking the handoff went the other way for 28 yards.  This set up a big field goal that put Auburn up by three scores.  Auburn fans with good memories will remember Gus Malzahn running the same play as the Arkansas offensive coordinator against Auburn in 2006.  It was a big play in the game which Auburn lost resulting in a touchdown or a big first down.  Auburn was undefeated and in the top five before the game.

Other than the Davis clan here is the rest of the good, the bad and the ugly from the game...

THE GOOD
First, as one of the last people in the I-think-Jeremy-Johnson-has-the-potential-to-be-far-and-away-our-best-quarterback club, it was satisfying to see him come out and play well.  I think he would have never lost the job if the coaches had called the plays like they did in this game.  I will continue to say I do not understand what the coaches were doing to begin this season.  Against the Aggies the coaches did the right thing and called a lot of short passes and attacked the edges with both the run and the pass.  They did not just run it up the middle repeatedly or at least not till it started raining.

Next it was great to see the other guy who was supposed to be great this season finally step up, i.e. running back Jovon Robinson.  Robinson finally got his opportunity and delivered with over 150 yards rushing.  This was the guy we expected to see and was rated the #1 JUCO running back in the country.  Robinson definitely looks like the best total running back Auburn has with all due respect to Peyton Barber.  In fact after watching Peyton Barber block on a Ricardo Louis jet sweep I think Barber would help the team a lot more playing H-back.

Robinson had help from Barber and just about everyone who runs the ball for Auburn as the Tigers rolled up over 300 yards rushing.  Auburn finally found a defense and weather conditions that favored running the football like Gus Malzahn always wants to.  However they sprinkled in just enough passing including an absolutely beautiful pass from Jeremy Johnson to Kerryon Johnson on the wheel route.  I am telling you Kerryon and Roc Thomas are great receivers out of the backfield and Auburn needs to use that.  Add Jason Smith to that and you have three very versatile playmakers.

Daniel Carlson was great again putting points on the board.  However if there is one negative from the game on offense it is not finishing on some of these drives.  On this night through it did not matter as Will Muschamp just completely undressed A&M true freshman quarterback Kyler Murray.  Muschamp called a great game and forced Murray to throw bad pass after bad pass.  He had three interceptions but should have had three more.  It was good to finally see some good coaching on the defensive side of the ball.  It also goes to show that you just cannot start a true freshman at quarterback in the SEC.  That jump is almost impossible and the rare exception is not worth mentioning. 

THE BAD
The worst thing I saw in this game was the unbelievable reversal of a brutal targeting play on Auburn cornerback Jeremiah Dinson by Aggie wide receiver Ricky Seals-Jones.  It was a textbook example of leading with the helmet.  I simply cannot believe that flag was picked up and on a review nonetheless.  It was vicious play that ended Dinson's season.  Can you imagine the uproar if an Auburn receiver had done that to a Bama cornerback and they picked up the flag?  It would be Armageddon but in this case every thing is just swept under the rug.  I have seen targeting calls made and upheld against Auburn for much less.  How are the powers-that-be training replay officials?  After this hit and the ridiculous game-winning Miami kickoff return you really have to wonder.

THE UGLY
The ugly here is the sea parting for Bama.  I knew they would beat LSU but I did not think Ole Miss would refuse to win the game against Arkansas.  I mean the Rebels had to work overtime (no pun intended) to give away the game to Arkansas.  Bret Bielema better thank his lucky stars for this overtime win and the one against Auburn, he could have easily lost them both.  On the other side of the state LSU came in and played right into Bama's hands.  They tried to run over the biggest strongest defense in the nation. 

You really have to wonder why these coaches are making millions of dollars.  It is pretty much an iron clad fact that you have to throw to beat Bama and of course there was no way young LSU quarterback Brandon Harris was up to that but you have to try more than LSU did.  Now it is cakewalk for Bama right into the playoffs.  They will be heavily favored in their remaining games against Mississippi State, Auburn and Florida and I do not see any of those teams being able to make enough plays to derail them.  So they will make the playoff again and of course every bandwagon hanger-on in the state has dug up their Bama apparel and are out in force. 

THE LAST WORD
So the smoke has cleared and things have pretty much been decided with Florida winning the East and Bama winning the West.  The only question left remaining for this Auburn team is can they beat Georgia?  Can the Tigers help send Richt out the door?  Or will Richt notch yet another win on his belt against Auburn?  The only Auburn teams to beat Georgia in the last 15 years are two of Auburn's best teams ever in 2004 and 2010 and three good Auburn teams (2001, 2005 and 2013) that basically pulled it out in the last seconds of the game.  That is it.  Auburn is 5-10 against Mark Richt, ten brutal losses.  This season will never be thought of as a great season but a win against Georgia would sure make it better.

Game 8 Review: Field Goals Not Touchdowns

Ole Miss 27  Auburn 19.  The 2015 Auburn Tiger football team fought hard again and came up short again.  It was one of the strangest games I have ever watched.  Auburn had a lot of big plays but just could not put it together except for one drive.  It is the exact opposite of most of Auburn's games this year where the Tigers could not buy a big play.  I think one of the biggest factors is apparently Peyton Barber was injured last week and he has been Auburn's bell cow in converting on 3rd and short and in the red zone.  Quarterback Sean White was also injured and that not only effected his play but effected the play calling.  Auburn basically just held up a sign saying they were going to run the ball whenever anybody named Johnson was playing quarterback.

Credit where credit is due though, Ole Miss was the better team.  They are a much better passing team than Auburn and have a better defense.  In the end that was the difference.  Quarterback Chad Kelly did throw two interceptions but also threw for over 400 yards (!!!).  The Rebels also had more yards rushing than Auburn.  Auburn's defense played better with Carl Lawson but still gave up nearly 30 points and almost 600 yards of offense.  Also for the second week in a row the Auburn defense let the other team drive down the field at the end of the game and chew up almost all the clock.  Finally on the Rebels side it was a day of redemption for receiver Laquon Treadwell who suffered that gruesome injury in a loss to Auburn last year.  He had the winning touchdown and a team-high 114 yards receiving.

THE GOOD
I guess for the second week in a row I will credit the special teams for doing their job well.  Auburn kicker Daniel Carlson hit all four of his field goal attempts including one for 52 yards.  Punter Kevin Phillips averaged almost 46 yards a punt and Ole Miss had no return yardage at all.  That is a pretty good day for the special teams.  Unfortunately when you start out talking about how great the special teams looked you know it was not a very good day for the other units.  I tell you though, as you see special team gaffes all over the country while watching the highlights you sure learn to not take it for granted.  Bad special teams play can and will lose any team any game.

Another good thing for Auburn today was the emergence of running back Jovon Robinson subbing in for Peyton Barber.  Kerryon Johnson is a good back but he is not ready to run 20 times between the tackles.  The jury is still out on Roc Thomas in that area as well so Robinson had to shoulder the load.  He had some great runs including four in a row for 47 yards and ended up with 91 yards on 18 carries.   It was good to see Robinson get to contribute and finally flash some of that talent that made him the best JUCO running back in the country.  The other big weapon for Auburn was again Ricardo Louis.  Auburn's best wide receiver had four catches for 137 yards and a touchdown.  

THE BAD
Even with Jovon Robinson's good day Auburn could not consistently run the football or throw short.  While that opened up some big plays it stunted Auburn's consistency.  The Ole Miss defense forced Auburn and quarterback Sean White to look for longer passes.  This allowed the Rebels to get a good rush on White as he tried to find receivers open downfield and get several hurries and sacks.  This was also evident on White's stat line as he did not even complete half of his attempted passes.  He still had 250 yards passing but missed on a lot of conversion plays (including two horrible passes on fourth down plays).  In fact, the Tigers were 2 of 15 on third down conversions and as Gus Malzahn said after the game, that is not going to beat anybody.  

Ole Miss also seemed to know when the Tigers were going to run and they stuffed a lot of Tigers runs for a loss or a short gain.  The Rebels gave up some big passing plays but for the most part shut down the Auburn rushing attack.  Of course Gus Malzahn and the Auburn brain trust seemed to make things easier for Ole Miss by again telegraphing run plays by putting a Johnson at quarterback.  It seems Auburn did that because Sean White was hurt but it looked like it backfired to me.  The "Wildcat" formation can still work against weaker teams but I cannot remember the last time it worked against anybody good.  All of this plus Auburn mistakes killed the Tigers in the red zone.  The Tigers kept settling for field goals instead of touchdowns.  The biggest mistake was a blatant hold when it appeared Marcus Davis had tied the game for Auburn.  

THE UGLY
This Auburn team has not quit like the 2012 bunch however things are still pretty bad on the plains.  The Tigers led by coach Gus Malzahn have lost seven out of their last eight conference games and that is ugly.  They are 4-4 and 1-4 this season and need two wins to just make a bowl game.  They will probably get one against Idaho but are down to either winning in College Station or beating Georgia at home to get the other.  From this perch, Georgia at home looks like Auburn's best chance at a meaningful win this season.  Gus Malzahn continues to talk like the coach of a team that everyone knew would be rebuilding instead of the contender Auburn was supposed to be.  I still think the root of Auburn's problems to start this season was awful offensive coaching by Malzahn and his staff.

He has improved due to desperation and has thrown the ball more but it still seems Auburn will never have a balanced offense under him.  These problems are not going to magically go away as Auburn still has nothing resembling a tight end and have a long way to go to have a decent SEC H-back.  As I have said all season, these two positions are absolutely essential to having a good rushing attack.  Beyond that SEC defenses seem to know all of Malzahn's tendencies including pass routes and have exploited that and will continue to.  It sure seems like Malzahn is going to continue run this same old playbook for the duration of his career at Auburn.  Even with better blocking I wonder how successful it can be?  And that is just the problems on offense...

THE LAST WORD
I have not really looked around the SEC while surveying the damage at Auburn the last month.  In that time things have pretty much come into focus especially in the East.  It sure looks like the Florida Gators will win the SEC East especially after the beatdown they put on Georgia today.  In the West I think it will once again be Bama coming out.  I hate to say it but I do not think LSU quarterback Brandon Harris is good enough to beat Bama in Tuscaloosa even with Leonard Fournette.  However I do think the Bayou Bengals will take down Ole Miss to open the way for Bama to get to Atlanta.  It is just turning out to be another awful season for Auburn fans as a battered Tiger team heads to College Station.

Game 7 Review: Overtime Marathon

Arkansas 54  Auburn 46.  In a game of escalating tension between two desperate teams Arkansas came out on top.  Auburn had every chance to steal this game and go ahead and guarantee at least a bowl invite.  Down three points, the Tigers flew down the field with barely a minute remaining and no timeouts to get within field goal range.  Daniel Carlson then nailed a pressure-packed 41 yard field goal from the left hash to send it to overtime.  The Tigers and Razorbacks then traded touchdowns till the 4th overtime when Arkansas prevailed.  The game was filled with a lot of good and bad plays on both sides. 
 
It was definitely the most tension filled game with Arkansas I have seen outside the 2010 game.  There was a lot on the line for two teams trying to avoid the SEC West cellar.  For Arkansas, the natives are growing restless with coach Bret Bielema's bluster and lack of results.  He loses this game and he has one foot out the door.  For Auburn it was likely the last shot at a winning season.  The road looks long and progressively hard now for the Tigers.  Both teams played like they wanted it bad.  Unfortunately the Auburn defense failed again.  It was excruciating to watch.  There were definitely quite a few mistakes or should I say drops by the offense but they rallied to put the team in a position to win.  The defense simply could not close it out. 
 
THE GOOD
I have definitely been remiss in my last few posts not mentioning the Auburn special teams in this section.  These guys have been awesome.  The kickoff returns have been a major weapon and Daniel Carlson might be the best kicker in the country.  His only glaring red mark was the really short miss at home against State.  He definitely came through Saturday.  That was one tough kick in a hostile environment that he hit in this game.  He is also the only kicker in the country with three field goals over 50 yards.  This guy is just a sophomore!  I guess the ultimate compliment to Carlson was from my son who asked me if he was going pro after next year (!!!). 
 
As much as I have criticized the decision to make Sean White the Tigers starting quarterback, I have to say the guy played a good game.  He still finished 19 of 32 for 254 yards even with TEN drops by the wide receivers.  White navigated the team down the field but once again it was Peyton Barber closing the drives out.  He had four touchdowns in the game, three of them in overtime.  I still think Malzahn runs Barber up the middle way too much but the guy is definitely Auburn's go-to guy in any short yardage situation.  Rounding out the good I am going with Jason Smith.  The guy was hyped a lot early and then disappeared but definitely broke out this game with a touchdown and two big play receptions.
 
THE BAD
(Insert weekly description of the defensive performance)...  The defense did get a few stops during the game but in the end Arkansas had over 450 yards of total offense including over 200 yards rushing and passing.  The Razorbacks also had over five minutes more of possession time than Auburn.  This included an excruciating five minute long drive at the end of the game where Arkansas almost put the game away.  Finally there were the numerous chances in overtime to win the game and the Auburn defense could not come up with a stop on one of them.  One stop, one play and Auburn wins the game. 
 
Next we have the Auburn wide receiving corps...  I hate to call out one of my favorite Auburn players ever in Dameyune Craig but what happened?  I have never seen that many bad drops in one game.  On top of that the defense dropped two sure interceptions as well.  Those drops cost Auburn another horrendous slow start and put them behind 14-0.  It sure looked like Ricardo Louis had been reading his press clippings from the Kentucky game because he was the prime culprit with five drops including a big one in the final overtime.  I know it is a lot harder than it looks but when you are the best receiver on the team you have to make the plays.
 
THE UGLY
The future does not look bright the rest of this season or frankly the next.  Auburn could and probably should upset somebody but the defense guarantees that it will not be easy.  Auburn has Ole Miss and Georgia at home for whatever that is worth and Texas A&M sure did not look good in Oxford this weekend.  Unfortunately Auburn's defense is simply the worst in the conference and is almost guaranteed to jump start anyone's offense.  Arkansas was the easiest of these teams.  The rest of the teams on Auburn's schedule all have winning records except for Idaho.  Also all of these teams have better defenses than most of the teams Auburn has played outside LSU. 

Starting to look forward to next season things just do not look a whole lot different, especially on defense.  There does not appear to be an upcoming dominant player like Nick Fairley or Dee Ford that will help turn around the defense.  There should be an improvement on offense but not enough to compete for a championship.  Finally, Auburn's brilliant AD has again made it basically impossible to compete in even years since Auburn has to play both Georgia and Bama on the road.  I guess nobody knew some of the 2013 stars were going to break out either but it sure does not seem like that is going to happen this time. 

THE LAST WORD
In years like this, a good win like Auburn could have had here sure do feel good.  I was in to this game like none of the others this season.  I really wanted it and man it would have felt good to put down Bielema and his bunch.  Unfortunately it was not to be this time but hopefully there is one more big win out there this season for this bunch.  While this team is very flawed, it has a chance to get that one big win, that one win that will make all of us feel a lot better, at least for a week.  This team is a lot more talented than the 2008 and 2012 train wrecks.  Hopefully their record at the end will reflect that.

Game 6 Review: Disaster Averted

Auburn 30  Kentucky 27.  The Auburn Tiger football team and its coaching staff finally accomplished something positive this season Thursday night in Lexington by winning their first conference game of the year and possibly avoiding disaster.  That is definitely a big deal and it is on the road in the SEC but it is still kind of hard to get excited about this game as I still see a poor Auburn team just hoping to get bowl eligible.  I also see more and more what Auburn is going to be under Gus Malzahn for the long term and that is also hard to get excited about.  Here is the good, the bad and the ugly in my opinion from game six for Auburn…

THE GOOD

One coach at least used this bye week to get his troops ready for this game and that was offensive line coach J.B. Grimes.  The Auburn offensive line simply dominated the line of scrimmage for most of the game especially the first half.  While Sean White did make a nice move and pass in the fourth quarter he owes all the credit to the offensive line for most of the rest of his completions as he had all day and more to throw.  I mean it was incredible how much time he had to throw early on.  They also cleared the way for a decent game running the ball against a defense totally committed to stopping run.
 

Another good thing was the offensive coaches finally decided to throw a few balls down the field and actually get the best receiver some touches.  What an idea!  I wish they would have thought of that earlier this season.  It paid off against Kentucky as Ricardo Louis had a career day with 154 yards receiving.  They also finally used Marcus Davis, a good possession wide receiver with a nose for the ball.  All of these receivers have been criminally unused but at least that changed a little last night.  However no matter how good Auburn passes the ball early on you can always count on Malzahn to tighten up and that brings us to…
 

THE BAD

Auburn had some success throwing the ball but when things got tight Malzahn put his head right back in the sand.  Auburn did throw it 27 times which is good for Malzahn but ran it 47 times for only 152 yards.  That is only a three yard average and shows a defense completely sold out to stop the run.  In that case you keep throwing the ball but Malzahn simply does not seem to have the stomach for it.  He also seems incapable of calling a simple drop back pass. 
 

I know, I know, Auburn is a “run-based play-action” team and the play-action is an integral part of the Tiger's passing game.  However it should not be used on ALL passes!  Late in the game Gus and the boys called another slow developing double play-action play and Sean White like in the State game got buried.  On top of that, on Sean White’s best play of the game, the deep throw to Louis late in the game, there was a play-action called on an obvious passing down and without a nifty side-step and a bad play by the defense White would have been sacked on that play.  I do not know how many times I have said it now but sometimes you just need to call a simple straight pass play.
 

THE UGLY

I have read this morning about the Auburn defense getting the big “stop” to end the game.  I mean I guess that is somewhat accurate although they are lucky a Kentucky wide receiver dropped a deep ball he had in his hands on the previous play.  The defense is just bad or I guess I should say ugly.  They gave up almost 500 yards of offense in this game and could have easily given up over 30 points.  They gave up another huge run to open the game which gave the other team points and momentum. They also gave up over 350 yards passing to the opposing quarterback.  I will say there was pretty good coverage on some of those plays and the Kentucky quarterback made some great throws but there were many more bad plays by the defense. 

You can see some talent like defensive back Carlton Davis.  That guy is good and is going to get better.  However there is just not enough.  This defense just looks like it is going to get humiliated in most or all of Auburn’s upcoming games.  On top of that the future does not looks bright either.  Auburn will lose several seniors on defense and while they are obviously not irreplaceable it does not appear there are enough good players to replace them much less establish any depth.  It is the understatement of the year but Auburn needs more good defensive players badly.

THE LAST WORD
Well all the Sean White fans are crowing today as he did play a pretty good game.  Of course he still has yet to throw a touchdown and almost threw another critical red zone interception but he did play a good game.  White can be a decent quarterback, my problem with Sean White is I do not think he will ever be a whole lot better than what we saw against Kentucky.  I do not think he can beat Bama or Georgia.  Jeremy Johnson has the tools to be a game changer.  However Johnson might as well get his transfer papers ready because he is done at Auburn.  I cannot believe that this guy's career at Auburn is done after only three games. 

Finally I guess I am the dumb one for expecting much out of a Gus Malzahn team that is not completely loaded.  As a friend told me this week, a season only slightly better than this is the mean for Malzahn as an offensive coordinator and now as a head coach.  We now have the 2009, 2011 and 2013 seasons plus this one.  In all three of those seasons Auburn went 8-5, did not have a winning season in conference and lost to Georgia and Bama.  One season is a blip, two seasons start to show something and three seasons is a trend.  I guess the good news for this season is that trend says Auburn will win a few more games I do not expect them to and finish 7-5.  Several of Auburn's upcoming opponents are good but not juggernauts as Toledo and now Memphis proved so hopefully Auburn will get some lucky bounces to get closer to that standard Malzahn season.

2015 Bye Week Thoughts

So I am flipping channels the other night and come across "Miracles on the Plains", one of the ESPN "SEC Storied" documentaries.  This one of course tells the story of the 2013 Auburn team but starts way back in 2011 when the Toomer trees were poisoned and kind of goes through the teams descent through the 2011 and 2012 seasons.  The biggest miracle obviously is a team that goes 0-8 in the SEC one year and then wins the conference and goes to the national championship game the next.  I am watching this thinking how in the world could that happen and we go right back down again?  It is simply unbelievable.  Auburn is now 3-2 and 0-2 in the SEC and will travel to Lexington this coming Thursday night to take on the Wildcats.

But here we are, looking at an 0-8 or 1-7 season straight in the face.  What happened?  Well my thoughts on this subject are well documented in my last few posts.  On defense, we simply do not have many All-SEC caliber football players.  On offense there has been a lot of bad coaching and bad luck.  Even watching "Miracles on the Plans" I was reminded of Malzahn's stubbornness and aversion to passing the ball.  As I documented in my post immediately following the national championship game, one of the big reasons Auburn lost was not throwing a few more play action passes on first down.  In that game Auburn had TEN first downs where they ran the ball for 2 yards or less.  Jeremy Pruitt knew every time Gus started rotating those hands we were going to run and with a run blitz he had the talent to stop us and he did just enough.

In my opinion, that has been our curse ever since other than one game, the 2014 Iron Bowl.  Only Nick $aban and the vaunted Bama run defense has been enough to make the most stubborn coach I have ever seen go to the air.  And look what happened when he did, Nick Marshall had the most prolific day passing in Auburn history going 27 of 43 for 456 yards and three touchdowns.  Other than that Gus Malzahn has stubbornly tried to run the ball the majority of the time since that night in Pasadena.  Yes Jeremy Johnson has problems and Sean White is a small freshman but it is obvious that the coaches have not done their job in the passing game either. 

Again, there was just no way Auburn was going to have a great running game this year.  It was never possible with freshman H-backs and tight ends plus a revamped offensive line.  It is up to these million dollar coaches to see this and devise a strategy to use what we have.  To me, it made a lot more sense to spread things out and run a much more balanced offense with a lot of short passes mixed with the some mid-range and deep shots.  We have plenty of wide receivers and at least two running backs, Roc Thomas and Kerryon Johnson, who are excellent receivers out of the back field. 

Instead from day one, we come out running the same old thing that all the defenses know very well now.  This team was not prepared correctly and bad luck tends to follow when you do that.  Even my small experience as a coach has taught me that.  On top of that the coaches panicked and put in Sean White who is obviously nowhere close to being ready.  Now they are talking about putting Jeremy Johnson back in.  I am happy about that, no matter how bad things get I want Johnson to get the experience so he can be ready next season. 

Unfortunately Gus has, in my opinion, done the dumbest thing he could have possibly done if puts Jeremy Johnson back in for the Kentucky game.  He took away the Mississippi State and San Jose State HOME games from Johnson that he desperately needed.  The coaches could have stripped down the playbook and Johnson could have done what Sean White did.  However he badly needed those home games.  Now he might get thrown back in on the road in the SEC.  I have a hard time believing that will turn out well.  The Kentucky game though is now the absolute last chance to turn this season of shame around even to a small degree. 

For those who have already given up on Johnson, I will use someone whose career is not what most people think it was, Stan White, as an example.  White had a promising freshman season in 1990 but then made dumb mistake after dumb mistake during his sophomore and junior years.  He had some good games but made many horrible decisions.  You want to talk about giving up?  I had certainly given up on Stan White by time his senior season rolled around.  However after two terrible seasons he was able to turn it around and lead the Tigers most of the way through an undefeated season in 1993.  I am hoping Jeremy Johnson can pull it together somewhat this season and then maybe come back to have a strong senior season.  He is our best hope at turning this thing around and trying to make it back up that hill one more time.

Game 5 Review: Better Enjoy This One

Auburn 35  San Jose State 21.  Yes Auburn fans better enjoy this one because there will not be too many more wins to enjoy this season.  It was another typical Gus Malzahn-coached game against a weaker non-conference opponent.  The team comes out sluggish and then finally pounds the lesser team into submission.  The team never gets any better, the team never works on anything like say the passing game.  It is always a boring ho-hum affair.  It is always the same with Malzahn.  This game was no exception.  Auburn checked all those boxes in this game.

THE GOOD
Kudos to Peyton Barber.  The guy has sat on the bench waiting for a couple of years and has finally gotten his chance this year.  He is one of the few people on this team playing to their potential.  He delivered again today with 147 yards rushing and five touchdowns.  That is a great day no matter who you are playing.  The offensive line did the work ahead of him especially late in the game.  You always have to credit them when a running back has a big day.  Roc Thomas and Kerryon Johnson also had a few nice plays as well but the star of the day was Barber.

THE BAD
The Auburn defense got the job done but the cracks are evident.  These guys are going to get absolutely pounded starting very soon.  It is not going to be pretty and I am already starting to feel bad for them.  The effort has been better since the LSU game and Montravious Adams is the real deal but unfortunately the talent is subpar most everywhere else.  This was evident as the Tigers gave up 160 yards rushing to San Jose State running back Tyler Ervin.  Ervin is pretty talented but no opposing back should be running for 160 yards in Jordan Hare.

THE UGLY
I am tired of talking and writing about this but Auburn has no passing game.  None.  Zero.  Nada.  Zilch.  I heard all week how great Sean White is yet the Auburn coaches certainly did not let him do anything against San Jose State.  He threw only 10 passes for a 100 yards and every single one of those yards was after the catch except for one underthrown ball caught by Ricardo Louis.  I was wrong in my post last week, I think Georgia Tech might have a better passing game than Auburn.  It is going to be truly sad watching Auburn try to pass against the better teams left on the schedule.  I do not know how any high school senior star wide receiver would ever consider playing for Gus Malzahn.

THE LAST WORD
There is really not much else to say.  This coaching staff has had plenty of time to have a quarterback ready for this season.  It is their fault they do not have one.  Everything else is a smoke screen.  This coaching staff was hired for their offensive prowess and they have miserably failed this season.  Everything that has happened and will happen is on them.  I do not want to hear about injuries or any other ridiculous excuses.  This team has the worst passing game in the country and that is absolutely inexcusable with one of the highest paid group of coaches in all of college football.  The only remaining question is just how bad this season is going to get.

Game 4 Review: The Gus Bus has Broken Down

Mississippi State 17  Auburn 9.  Another game, another disappointing night for Auburn.  The only good thing I have heard from some Auburn fans is that the team did some good things and did a little better.  I guess that is correct but as a friend texted me this morning: "We just lost at home to an average Dan Mullen team and failed to put the ball in the end zone one single time."  That is a huge indictment on this team and especially this coaching staff.  The "Gus Bus" certainly looks completely broken down. 

This was no juggernaut Auburn was facing Saturday night.  It is a rebuilding State team outside Dak Prescott.  Wow he was heads and tails the best player on the field last night.  State had no running game and had several drops by their wide receivers.  Prescott was still able to pass for almost 300 yards.  Even with a mediocre offensive line Auburn was not able to get much pressure on Prescott.  I think this State team like Auburn will also lose to every other SEC West team they play this season except for maybe Arkansas. 

THE GOOD
Auburn finally found somebody it could run a little bit on.  The Tigers finally got to 200 yards rushing in a game this season although it took them 50 rushing attempts to do it.  Kerryon Johnson showed a spark again running and catching the ball.  Peyton Barber was back this week with another 100 yard rushing performance and hey Duke Williams was actually spotted catching a few passes.  On top of that, the defense was also able to hold State to just 56 yards rushing.  I am searching for something else to say good...

I guess some would point to a decent first start by Sean White and I guess he did OK but he was largely ineffective and threw a critical momentum-changing interception on Auburn's first drive.  He should have had two more passes picked off as well.  I have yet to hear anybody killing White for those throws like they did to Jeremy Johnson.  Also I would like to remind everyone that while evidently Johnson was the worst quarterback any Auburn fan has ever seen, he did actually make a few important touchdown throws as well against Louisville and Jax State.  The same cannot be said for White.

Again I have nothing against White.  The problem is that if White was an experienced senior he would win that game last night but probably will still not be able to beat Georgia and Bama and other top tier teams on Auburn's schedule.  I just do not see him ever being that much better than what he was last night which was a guy who throws a lot of short balls.  In my opinion, he just does not have the vision or the arm to have much of a vertical passing game.  He did exactly what I thought and wrote he would do in my post earlier this week except he did have a critical interception.

THE BAD
The defensive effort was better and frankly when you hold a team under 20 points in this day and age your team should win the game.  It is hard to criticize the defense a whole lot last night but at times Prescott seemed to be able to pass at will.  Most of the time Auburn was not able to generate any kind of rush and I do not think the Tigers ever did just rushing four.  Again they were able to make some plays and hold the Bulldogs under 20 points but State played pretty conservative as time went on and everyone can still see this defense has big problems.

This defense is going to get absolutely destroyed several more times this season and I do not think any coach on earth could change that.  I did appreciate Will Muschamp's candid and sincere press conference this week.  It was much more sincere than anything I have ever heard from Gus Malzahn.  Unfortunately for Muschamp he just does not have the horses.  The best thing he can do for himself and for Auburn is get better players.  If Auburn is not able to recruit better on a larger scale on defense then things are not going to change any time soon.

It was great seeing the Tigers get big-time recruits Byron Cowart and Jeffery Holland plus a couple of other guys like Carlton Davis this last season but there has to be more.  Auburn has had some defensive stars here and there like Nick Fairley and Dee Ford and a few others but has not fielded a good defensive unit overall in a long time.  If Auburn is ever going to do this it would seem like now would be the best chance.  Auburn probably has the best defensive recruiting staff in place it has ever had in Muschamp, Rodney Garner, Lance Thompson and Travarius Robinson.  These guys have to turn things around on the defensive recruiting trail before they can turn it around on the field.

THE UGLY
Regardless of whether it is Johnson or White, the problem is still Auburn's complete lack of anything resembling a decent passing game and the offensive coaching overall.  Illegal Procedure calls, illegal shifts, bad snaps, kickoffs out of bounds... that is coaching.  Those are drive killers.  They put the offense in a hole or in the case of the bad snap ruin Auburn's best chance at a touchdown.  The play calling is also atrocious.  Late in the game as State was blitzing almost every down Malzahn calls that fake run handoff/fake reverse handoff play action pass play???  White barely finished the second fake before he was buried.  First Auburn has ran that play since 2009, everyone sees it coming, and second it is slow developing and about the worst thing you could call against a blitzing team.

Again I just do not understand what Malzahn and Lashlee's plan was for this season???  They knew they did not have a running quarterback in either Johnson or White.  They knew they had freshmen two-deep at H-back and tight end.  They knew they had some talented receivers yet it seems they just expected to run over everybody and still only need the occasional pass.  Yes, neither Johnson or White have been able to consistently make that occasional pass but that still does not excuse the awful coaching done by Malzahn and Lashlee.

I think both quarterbacks and especially Johnson would have looked much better if Malzahn was as determined to field a top tier passing game as he is the running game.  Frankly as I have heard more than one Auburn fan say, we are basically Georgia Tech.  In fact Auburn has only thrown 40 more passes this season than the Yellow Jackets (and those 40 passes were basically swing passes that are basically running plays).  Gus Malzahn is not an offensive innovator.  In fact, more and more Pat Dye looks more innovative than Malzahn.  Malzahn really does much more closely resemble Johnson at Georgia Tech than other HUNH spread coaches. 

THE LAST WORD
The rest of the football world and especially the defensive coaches have caught up with Malzahn and know all of his tendencies.  It started to show up last season but has been made very clear this season.  I guess if Malzahn is ever able to assemble talent like the 2013 team had on offense he will be successful again.  Short of that I do not think he will ever field a top offense again at Auburn if he is unwilling to change.  It sure looks now like he will continue to pound his head against a brick wall no matter what happens on the field.

This is now a complete rebuilding project.  I will continue to say in this spot that I think Jeremy Johnson should be the guy Auburn rebuilds around.  He still has a much higher ceiling than Sean White.  Malzahn is going to compound his problems wasting an entire season of experience on White who in my opinion will just never be good enough.  Johnson on the other hand has the tools to beat top tier teams.  Auburn is going to lose the majority of its remaining games regardless of who is quarterback but one guy is going to get that valuable experience going through it to use for this coaching staff or another one.

Auburn now enters the eye of the storm, that brief time of calm before the storm really hits (I also used this illustration back in...  2012).  Auburn gets San Jose State, a bye week and then Kentucky.  I actually think Auburn is going to win both of those games.  Malzahn was not perfect in his best season as a head coach in 2013 and I do not think he will go 0-8 this season.  Unlike Bowden and Chizik in their closing seasons Malzahn still has some offensive talent.  I think Auburn will regroup to some extent and will be able to run on the Wildcats.  If Auburn can run they can still win.  Unfortunately I do not think there will be many wins after that as the Tigers hit the big part of that storm.