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.