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.
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