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.
No comments:
Post a Comment