Game 4 Review: Kick It

Auburn 18  LSU 13.  I was happy for the players and fans in the stadium last night.  It was also nice to break LSU's heart as well.  However, for me, I still believe 100% in everything I posted last week.  I still think Gus Malzahn is a bad offensive coach that will never challenge for another SEC title.  I still want him gone from Auburn but the point is moot.  He will be back next season.  It now looks like I should have stuck with my team preview predictions.  The SEC is just really bad this year.  Auburn with this defense could beat everyone else on their schedule except for Ole Miss and Bama.  The difference between a 6-6 and a 7-5 or 8-4 season will come down to Arkansas and Georgia.  Georgia looks really bad right now.  They will not score much on this defense which brings me back to last night...

THE GOOD
The Auburn defense and Daniel Carlson.  A defense that was completely humiliated last season by Leonard Fournette held LSU to 13 points and Fournette to only 16 carries for 101 yards.  Those were all hard earned yards as well.  I will say I was wrong about big bad strong LSU.  As I had stated before, I did not think we would win this game but the Auburn lines, offense and defense, matched LSU and clearly had the advantage the majority of the game.  My favorite part of the whole game was watching Carl Lawson bury LSU quarterback Danny Etling toward the end of the game.

I will say though that LSU's offense looked worse than Auburn's.  I think LSU fans are right about needing a change down there as well.  Miles like Malzahn has shown he cannot recruit and develop a quarterback too.  This latest guy, Etling, looked tentative and scared throughout most of the game.  I was actually pretty shocked he was able to get LSU in position to have a chance to win the game.  There is no doubt though after last season's awful game that slowing down Leonard Fournette is not easy and the Auburn defense did that and avenged last year's awful showing.

Luckily Auburn had a kicker that could make the defense's work stand up since the offense was unable to put it in the end zone.  Daniel Carlson tied an Auburn record and booted six field goals last night.  That too is not easy.  He makes it look a lot easier than it is.  He hit field goals from various lengths and angles and nailed all of them.  Of course it kind of makes you wonder why Malzahn did not kick his field goals in previous losses this season where he went for fourth down conversions before he had to?  Regardless, Carlson is awesome and is already one of the best kickers in Auburn history and might wear the crown as the best by time he leaves.

THE BAD
Again this is pretty much the whole season, the good is the defense and the bad is the offense.  There was great effort on the offensive side of the ball and some pretty good performances by the players.  The offensive line had their best game of the season, Sean White played well and Kerryon Johnson looks like a star in the making.  Unfortunately bad play calling will continue to drag these guys down as Auburn runs up the middle over and over and over again.  Also Auburn ran the ball 50 times and threw it half that.  Finally the trademark of all Gus Malzahn teams, the absolute certain run up the middle after completing a big pass. 

On top of that, Auburn's red zone woes are becoming almost comical.  It sure looks like Gus Malzahn has removed the short slant or even the fade pass from Auburn's playbook.  It is just unbelievable.  All he tries are runs up the middles, screens and trick plays near the end zone.  Shockingly they do not work and almost came back to bite Auburn last night.  Why doesn't Malzahn use Franklin near the goal line like Terry Bowden did with Pat Nix and Dameyune Craig back in the day?  The biggest problem though is just not being able to call a straight quick-shot passing play and convert.

Auburn was lucky the defense played so well and held a big time program like LSU under 20 points.  That is not a realistic regular path to winning.  The most you can expect out of a good defense against a good team is to hold the other team to around 20 points.  The offense has to score more for Auburn to win big games.  Nothing changed last night from all the other conference games Auburn has lost the last two-plus years at home except the defense holding the team to under 20 points.  Auburn will not return to being a championship contender till the offense improves and that will not happen under Malzahn unless Auburn somehow gets the same type personnel they had in 2013.

THE UGLY
I am not sure how else to say this but here goes... LEAVE THE !@#$%&! TREES ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!  Good grief many other schools in this country have natural landmarks and monuments and do not have these problems.  Why is it that every scumbag loser in the southeast has to take his shot at destroying the Toomer's trees?  I mean Auburn finally wins their first conference game at home in over two years and everyone has to wake up to see one of the Toomer's trees on fire???  Enough is enough, again LEAVE THE !@#$%&! TREES ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!! 

THE LAST WORD
Auburn gets homecoming next week and then Mississippi State.  Auburn is better than State this season but you never know with this offense.  However short of another Clemson-like offensive coaching job Auburn should win.  The Tigers then get a week off to prepare for Arkansas at home.  Those are two winnable conference games even for Gus Malzahn.  He can turn down the heat and have all the sunshine pumpers back singing his praises with those two wins.  I think it will happen if the defense keeps playing this well and the offense plays as hard as it did last night in spite of the horrific play calling.