SEC Championship Review: Down Note

(Authors note: I am late again on post because I actually went to this game and did not get back till late Sunday and then went on business travel, apologies again...)

 

Georgia 28  Auburn 7.  A season turned around by upsetting #1 Georgia and #1 Bama at Jordan-Hare Stadium in November ended on a down note in Atlanta.  Georgia recovered from a bad start to win the SEC Championship convincingly.  I was there to see it in person.  It was tough to watch after the first drive where Auburn scored to go up 7-0 as nothing went right for the Tigers the rest of the game.  The only three drives that did not end in a punt ended in two critical fumbles and a blocked field goal.    The SEC Offensive Player of the Year, Kerryon Johnson, tried to gut it out but was ineffective as was the Auburn offense.  The Georgia defense easily stopped Auburn’s run without a healthy Johnson and then made sure leading receiver Ryan Davis did not beat them.  Auburn had nobody else ready.

It is hard to be unhappy about a 10-3 season that included wins over Georgia and Bama... UNLESS BOTH TEAMS MAKE IT TO THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF ANYWAY.   I mean COME ON.  It is simply unbelievable and could only happen to Auburn. I can understand Georgia since they won the conference championship but Bama?  In the season where the SEC was the worst Power 5 conference?  Bama’s ONLY significant wins were against LSU who got beat by Troy and Mississippi State who lost to a dilapidated Ole Miss team to end the season.  Tennessee, Bama’s other main “rival” finished 0-8 in the SEC, 0-8!!!  I mean are you kidding me???  The college football playoff is a complete joke like the BCS and bowl system before it.

THE GOOD
Again Auburn did finish 10-3, beat Georgia and Bama at home and destroyed every lesser conference team on the schedule outside LSU.  The Tigers had All-SEC players all over the field proving coach Gus Malzahn has been able to recruit in the shadow of big bad Nick $aban and that is pretty impressive.  The Tigers had a top ranked special defense for the first time since the early 90s and has a lot of guys that will play on Sundays.  Quarterback Jarrett Stidham, running back Kerryon Johnson, guard Braden Smith and kicker Daniel Carlson were the best at their position in the conference.  Coach Gus Malzahn obviously did some things right even if his shortcomings were shown in the losses.

Auburn did not lose at home this season.  The magic was back at Jordan Hare and that is always a beautiful thing.  I got to take my whole family to the Ole Miss game.  I got to once again enjoy big wins over Georgia and Bama with my sons.  I got to walk on the field after another epic win over a #1 Bama team.  I got to go to Toomers after both of those wins.  I then got to take my wife to the SEC Championship Game and it was awesome till that first fumble...  Also when you look around the SEC and see Ole Miss under sanctions and half the conference looking for coaches you have to be even more thankful that Auburn is good and relevant.  Auburn also has a good team coming back next season.

THE BAD
I meant everything I said in the last two paragraphs but... good gosh I still hate Auburn’s offense.  Gus Malzahn might have allowed offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey to do some plays against his tendencies and throw a few more of his option-style misdirection passes but that is not a long term plan for success.  Auburn will never have an actual passing game under Malzahn.  I have pointed that out many times in this space but since I have to continue to watch it I will continue to point it out.  A simple drop-back pass and read will never be a part of Malzahn’s offense.  Every pass is a misdirection or trick.  Any part of the modern passing game is just not welcome.

It is just excruciating to watch at times.  I am sorry again I REALLY HATE this offense... and now I have to watch it for many more years to come.  I mean when Auburn can run the ball the offense can be devastating but in games where a normal team would have to rely on the passing game Auburn is finished, i.e. Clemson, LSU and Georgia in Atlanta.  Auburn will never win a game through the air while Malzahn is coach.  I hate that.  It is why Malzahn continues to lose the critical games.  I certainly did not want to fire Malzahn or look for another coach but I did not think it would be the end of the world either.  I thought a moderate raise and extension should have been offered and then he could go to Arkansas or not.  I think this good season was built on a special defense that probably will not happen again during the Malzahn era.  I think we will soon be back to 2016.

THE UGLY
Georgia deserved the win in Atlanta.  They came with fire and a good plan on both sides of the ball.  On defense they stacked the line of scrimmage and smothered Ryan Davis and on offense they ran right at Jeff Holland and got the ball to their backs off short passes away from Auburn’s defensive line.  However they also played outright dirty football.  They committed numerous personal fouls including multiple face masks and piling on Kerryon Johnson every chance they got.  They committed so many fouls that the refs called just enough where they kept Auburn in the game long after they should have been out of it.  I have no respect for Kirby Smart or the gutter ball Georgia was playing.  It is just completely unacceptable.   It is sad to say but the Auburn vs. Georgia rivalry is no longer as special and needs to be moved to earlier in the season.

It is just too hard to play two of the top schools in the SEC every year in the last three weeks of the season.  It has killed too many of Auburn’s championship seasons and almost derailed several more.  In this new era of SEC football it has to be changed especially since the home and away rotation is the same as Bama.  It is sad but things just do not stay the same except of course for the “sacred cows” of college football always getting ahead.  As a friend told me, just about every team does have to win their conference to get into the playoff but it was not made a requirement so the powers that be can always get Bama, Ohio State, Texas, USC, etc.. in when they want.  It is pathetic and blatantly unfair.  The NFL does not give the Dallas Cowboys a shortcut to the Super Bowl, MLB does not give the Yankees an express ticket to the World Series and likewise no college football team that does not even win their own division should be in a four team playoff.

THE LAST WORD

It is really sad to feel this hollow after this kind of season but I do.  I am sorry but I have to say it again... I HATE THE GUS MALZAHN OFFENSE.  I simply cannot stand watching it.  How in the world have Georgia Tech fans put up with running the archaic triple option offense this long?  It is bad enough watching Gus' Wing-T.  He has done some impressive things but with the caliber of players he has managed to recruit he has also drastically underperformed.  Jarrett Stidham could be a good passing quarterback like Barrett Trotter and Jeremy Johnson before him but if you are not a running quarterback your talent will be wasted.  I wish we would just stop recruiting good drop back quarterbacks so I do not have to watch the waste.  That was another reason 2013 was fun to watch because at that time Nick Marshall was so raw and better at running the football it was the right thing to run the Gus offense.

Luckily for Gus the Mississippi schools are down and Arkansas is starting over.  Ed Orgeron will never be a great coach and I think Jimbo Fisher is way overrated not to mention poor Tennessee rolls onto the schedule next year.  Gus will feast on most of those teams but will lose to Georgia and Bama on the road next season plus lose another head scratcher somewhere else like 2014 and 2016.  Basically again Gus will continue to lose every game that comes down to a passing game.  I guess 8 or 9 wins with losses at Amen Corner is decent but I am sorry I am not looking forward to it.  I am not sure what I am going to write here.  I do not know how I can continue to break down years more of Malzahn games.  I can pretty much predict correctly almost every game we play in.  I went with 9-3 this season but a special defense got us one more win that I expected.  It will not happen again I do not think under Malzahn.  

BONUS BOWL THOUGHTS

Let me get this straight, we get the more "prestigious" bowl spot but we get sent to the Peach Bowl against Central Florida while LSU gets Notre Dame???  LSU has played Notre Dame several times over the last 20 years while Auburn has NEVER played them.  Do I even have to say that regardless of whether they are undefeated or not NOBODY CARES ABOUT PLAYING CENTRAL FLORIDA.  This completely stinks.  How can we get the best non-playoff bowl spot and get stuck playing in Atlanta again against a non-Power 5 team???  I mean it is like my same friend told me, the powers that be may not go out of their way to screw Auburn but they certainly take the opportunity when it presents itself... "Hey guys we have to send one of these teams to play Central Florida... of course Auburn, great idea!". 

It was great beating Georgia and Bama in November but again this season has certainly ended on a down note but hey now we get to watch basketbal... er nevermind.

Game 12 Review: Just BETTER

Auburn 26  Bama 14.  You grow up Auburn, you grow up cheering for the underdog.  You grow really identifying with David in the whole David vs. Goliath story.  It is just part of Auburn.  It still is and always will be and it was still a factor the last three weeks as Auburn was an underdog to both Georgia and Bama.  However last night Auburn was Goliath, Auburn was the stronger team.  It has happened before like in the late 80s and early 2000s but not during the $aban era other than his first year in 2007.  Auburn delivered $aban two absolutely gut-wrenching losses in 2010 and 2013 on great comebacks but last night Auburn was just the better team beating the #1 undefeated 11-0 Crimson Tide.

I have to say I have never seen a year like this or a coach do what Gus Malzahn has done although I have to say this season does closely resemble the 1989 season.  Both teams were trying to find their indentity early in the season and struggled losing two tough games but flipped that proverbial switch somewhere along the way and finished super strong beating an undefeated Bama team.  However this season does stick out for how bad Auburn looked in their tough early losses.  After the LSU game I could not even imagine this ending.  I am not sure even now knowing all I do about sports how a team could look that bad and then play this good.  It is simply amazing.

I do not take back anything I have wrote about Gus Malzahn.  He has looked that bad the last three seasons and in those early losses this season.  I can only consider the evidence before me and as I wrote after the LSU game, the mountain of evidence was massive against him.  It looks now that the LSU game finally got him to change enough to allow this team to grow and improve and become the team we have seen the last three weeks.  It was not a huge blaring change but a subtle one.  You saw an extra pass here and there, a play against his entrenched tendencies, not going quite as conservative late, etc...  He is still maybe the most stubborn man I have ever come across but evidently blowing that LSU game and the fallout from it finally got through to him.

Gus Malzahn has now completed the test that separates good solid long-term coaches from shooting stars like Gene Chizik and Terry Bowden.  Those coaches were great and the perfect match for one single season but faltered soon after.  Malzahn like Coach Dye and Jordan before him has now had great success, faltered and then built it back up again and is on the cusp of being the second coach in modern Auburn history to win the SEC multiple times.  However let me stop there and say that Auburn will have a big challenge beating a very good Georgia Bulldog team twice in a month.  It will certainly not be easy but man it is going to be a fun week looking forward to the biggest Auburn vs. Georgia game of all-time.  Auburn vs. Georgia for the SEC Championship in Atlanta.  It just does not get any better than that.

My oldest son and I on the field!

THE GOOD
The Auburn fans especially the students have really brought it against Georgia and Bama.  They created a real home field advantage that rattled both teams including Bama's two botched snaps.  Jordan Hare Stadium is usually not included among the loudest toughest stadiums to play in but in these last two big games no stadium has been tougher or louder.  I feel extremely fortunate to have been in the stadium these last two games and soak up this unbelievable atmosphere.  I think the defense is the catalyst.  It is hard to keep that fervor when your defense is bending every drive and the other team is scoring a lot even if your team is winning.  That brings us too...

THE GREAT
I knew the Auburn defense was good early this season.  I commented there was something special about them several times early in the season.  They had chemistry, leadership and energy.  You could just feel it.  They were very good against Georgia but Georgia had a freshmen quarterback playing his first big SEC road game.  The Auburn defense was great against Bama.  They shutdown the Bama juggernaut and the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Year in Jalen Hurts.  I has been a long time since an Auburn defense has gone toe-to-toe with a great Bama team and won this decisively.  They held the Tide to 3 for 11 on third downs and shut out them out in the first and fourth quarters.

Also great this day was the Auburn offense.  Quarterback Jarrett Stidham was simply spectacular going 21 for 28 for 237 yards plus rushing for 50 yards and a critical touchdown.  Auburn fans have seen all season the flashes of how good this guy is and he then put it all together at exactly the right time in the biggest game of the season.  He made great throws and he made great decisions on when to throw it away and when to run.  Right now, Jarrett Stidham is the best quarterback in the SEC.  There is also a good argument that Kerryon Johnson is the best running back in the SEC.  He did it all Saturday running the ball, catching the ball and even throwing the ball in the signature play from this great Iron Bowl victory.  It had to have been one of the greater single play calls in Auburn history. 

It was a play that has been three years in the making.  I think Kerryon has been doing the "wildcat" play for Auburn that long and has never thrown the ball out of it.  It was a perfect call, perfect throw and perfect catch.  After that Kerryon continually pounded the Bama defense getting those tough positive yards inside.  He finished with over 100 well earned yards rushing.  He walked off the field injured but as the crowd chanted his name you knew he was still one of the MVPs this day.  Now every Auburn fan out there is hoping Kerryon can play next week, Auburn will certainly need him.  I have to also give a shout out to the new single season catches leader in Auburn history, Ryan Davis.  His 11 receptions in this game are Auburn's Iron Bowl record and with 69 catches this season, Davis broke Darvin Adams' single-season record of 60 in 2010.

Of course behind every great performance by a quarterback and a running back is a good offensive line playing their guts out.  This Iron Bowl was no different as the Auburn offensive line battled a great Bama defensive line all day and held their own.  It was like I read somewhere else this morning, this was a game played in 4 and 5 yard increments.  There were big plays but the majority of the game was a "mano a mano" battle in the trenches which Bama usually thrives on but Auburn won this day.  To put it in Pat Dye's terms, Auburn was more than "man enough" to take on the Tide.  This was readily apparent on both sides of the ball.  It also shows the one thing Gus Malzahn and his staff has done right the last few years and that is recruiting.  In the shadow of the greatest recruiting machine of all time run by $aban at Bama, Auburn was able to bring this team together.

TOOMERS



THE BAD
I hate to say anything negative after that game but I have to call out the refs.  You cannot do it when you lose or it is sour grapes so I will say it after one of Auburn's bigger wins.  What were these guys doing?  They would not call pass interference even when a guy is getting tackled before the ball gets there.  They call that deflection that hit the ground a touchdown catch for Bama. It was of course reversed but come on that was an easy call.  They then completely mess up the fourth down botched snap play.  Yes Auburn had 12 men on the field but Bama was not set and had multiple people moving.  It was a simple illegal procedure call.  The botched snap and 12 men made no difference because illegal procedure is a dead ball foul.  That is an easy easy call, again what were these guys doing???

THE SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
The Deep South's oldest and best rivalry will now be center stage in the 2017 SEC Championship game.  Auburn and Georgia fans have been waiting a long time for this.  It seemed many times that this would happen but it never has.  I know when this game first started I thought it would happen way before now but finally after 26 games here we are.  It also will be the first one of these in the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.  It should be an unbelievable atmosphere and game.  It will be the first to have a playoff spot on the line for both teams.  It is a playoff and championship game for both teams.  I think it will also be the first to feature a rematch of teams less than a month after the first game.

Auburn beat Georgia up pretty good two weeks ago and Georgia made a lot of mistakes.  I certainly expect a much closer game where Georgia cuts down on its mistakes.  The Bulldogs preparation for Georgia Tech will also certainly help against Auburn as well.  There is also the matter of Kerryon Johnson, Auburn would certainly not be as good without him.  That will be the biggest question going into the game.  However Georgia cannot escape one fact, freshman Jake Fromm will have to beat the best defense in the country for the Bulldogs to win.  On the other side, the Georgia defense will have to shut down the best quarterback in the conference.  It is tough to win a rematch but it is also tough to beat this Auburn team right now.  Let the build up begin...

Game 11 Review: The Stage is Set AGAIN

Auburn 42  Louisiana Monroe 14.  Yes, once again this post is late and yes once again it is due to soccer tournaments!   It is hard to cover all these sports in one weekend.  Luckily this game was a snoozer that next to nobody cared about.  It was just a necessary step this weekend for Auburn and Bama to get to this week and the big showdown in the Iron Bowl.  So here we are, for the second time the Iron Bowl will decide the SEC West champion and possibly a lot more.  The stage is set again for another monumental game in this epic rivalry.  While I prefer the Georgia game to this hate fest, there is no getting around how big this game and how great this rivalry is when both teams are good. 

There is really not much to say about the Louisiana Monroe game.  The team was flat and there was probably no avoiding that but everything ended up looking right by the end.  Kerryon turned in another good performance.  Jarrett Stidham despite a few mistakes had a another good day and his favorite targets, Darius Slayton and Ryan Davis, once again did most of the work catching the ball.  The offensive line was solid and well as the defense although watching Jeff Holland go down was simply terrifying.  A couple of other defenders got dinged up as well.  The only casualty right now appears to be Tre' Williams which stinks but hopefully it is not any worse.  That was pretty much the only thing I cared about in this game outside of getting the win was injuries.

Initial thoughts on Iron Bowl... I am a little disturbed from surfing different Auburn sites.  It just seems a lot of Auburn fans seem to think that because of great wins in 2010 and 2013 that some mystical forces are guaranteeing an Auburn win.  It just does not work that way.  Auburn won in 2010 because of a good team and the greatest quarterback in Auburn history.  Auburn won in 2013 because of an incredible playmaking offense and opportunistic defensive and special teams play.  It was not mystical forces.  This year's Auburn offense despite their stat padding against the dregs of the conference is not as good on offense as the 2013 team at that point.  Also other teams now know all of Malzahn's tendencies especially Bama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt who started Malzhan's downfall stopping Auburn's 2013 offense in the second half of the national championship.

The good thing is the defense is miles ahead of the 2013 defense.  However this defense has shown over the past two seasons it is susceptible to the big pass play against good teams.  Auburn has just been lucky not to play many of those.  Jalen Hurts for all his detractors is a playmaker, a lot like Nick Marshall.  He has not lost one game except for the national championship game where the defense let him down as he has put Bama back on top.  The guy is a winner.  I would much rather face Bama's backup.  It is unbelievable the complaining I hear from Bama fans about this guy.  He is on his way to maybe becoming the winningest quarterback in Bama's long and storied history.

Bama's offensive line and running backs are as good or better than Georgia and their wide receivers are better.  The Auburn defense as good as it is will have their work cut out for them.  On the other side, Bama's defense is a little down due to injuries.  However people are also taking this too far.  The Bama defense might not be it's usual juggernaut self but it is still very good.  You also have to look at the Gus Malzahn factor.  People are completely overreacting to the Georgia game.  As I wrote, that was the perfect situation for Auburn and while the offensive coaches called a better game they still made mistakes in the red zone that resulted in field goals not touchdowns.  Auburn feasted on Georgia mistakes to blow the game open.  I do not believe Bama will make those mistakes.

Prediction?  Auburn is good enough to beat Bama at home.  I believe that.  However right now unfortunately if I have to pick I just do not think Malzahn has changed enough to beat Bama.  He is still not balanced enough despite the yardage totals.  Auburn pads those passing stats by making every jet sweep a pass and all the swing passes that are basically runs.  Even in the Georgia game, Jarrett Stidham did not do many straight drop back passes. 

I believe straight passing is the only way to beat Bama outside the rare exception like the 2013 team.  I do not believe all of Auburn's motion and misdirection will work against Bama.  Basically in my gut I still do not believe in Gus Malzahn on offense.  It will take more than the Georgia game to get me to forget the Clemson and LSU games and three seasons of terrible offensive plans and play calling in big games.  I hope I am wrong.  I will be there to find out.  It is time for the IRON BOWL.

Game 10 Review: THE PERFECT STORM

KERRYON JOHNSON

32 carries for 167 yards rushing

2 catches for 66 yards and a touchdown

NICK CHUBB

11 carries for 27 yards

 

Auburn 40  Georgia 17.  My last words on my late last post on Friday were:  "This game really sets up well for Auburn.  The Tigers even with Malzahn are due to play well against Georgia.  Georgia is a running team with a freshmen quarterback coming to Jordan Hare.  AUBURN IS THE UNDERDOG even though they have a very good team.  I mean this is the perfect storm..."  I certainly did not see an Auburn blowout win coming but this really seemed like the perfect situation for the Tigers in a really big game.  That definitely turned out to be the case as the Auburn coaches and players took advantage of this great situation and did their best job of the season and annihilated the Georgia Bulldogs.  This Tiger storm washed away a lot of frustration and heartache against Georgia in one glorious night.  No mater what happens in two weeks this game mattered, a LOT.

 

Where do you start?  I will start with my walk to the stadium.  There were Georgia people everywhere and by time I had reached my seat I had just had enough.  I had enough of stupid losses to inferior Georgia teams the last two seasons.  I had enough of the blowouts to Georgia like in 2014, 2012, 2011, 2007, 2006 and 2003.  I had enough of the close losses like in 2002, 2008 and 2009.  Since blowing out Georgia in 1999, our only wins have been in 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2010 and 2013.  In the last 17 years, our only two convincing wins were by two of the best teams in Auburn history in 2004 and 2010.  The others were in overtime or on the last play of the game.  I mean we only have six wins in 17 years against these guys, only six!  ENOUGH WAS ENOUGH.  The mantra started weeks ago...  BEAT GEORGIA.  BEAT GEORGIA.  BEAT GEORGIA.

 

The pregame at Jordan Hare was amazing.  It was another one of those rare games where something was in the air, you could feel it.  Georgia was coming in undefeated and #1 in the country.  The flyover was incredible and the eagle soared within 15 feet of my seat.  It was so loud by kickoff...  the stage was set... I was feeling good...  and then Georgia drove it right down our throat for a quick touchdown and 7-0 lead.  I was shocked.  I just did not see that coming.  I did not see Jake Fromm hitting that pass on the first drive.  I knew we were better than that and we were.  Georgia would not score another touchdown till the game was decided.  After that drive the Auburn defense rose up and turned in a performance that will become legend.  They held the #1 Georgia Bulldog rushing attack, the best in the SEC, to 46 YARDS (!!!???!!!), 46 YARDS ON OVER 30 CARRIES. 

 

After that opening drive, the Auburn defense thoroughly dominated the Georgia offense.  The defense also had four sacks and held the Bulldogs under 250 total yards.  It was a thoroughly dominating performance from top to bottom, from the line to the secondary and back.  This defense is a special group.  They have chemistry and leadership.  "The Sensei" Jeff Holland and Marlon Davidson leading the line, DeShaun Davis and Tre Williams leading the linebackers and Tray Matthews and Carlton Davis leading the secondary.  There are a lot more leaders and playmakers I am leaving out on all those units as well.  The guys started the season on fire and have rarely let down.  They certainly did not yesterday and put up their finest performance of the season.  They will give Auburn a chance in two weeks.

 

Auburn just has a unique history of running backs.  Frankly it is amazing.  Through the years they just keep coming, in my lifetime...  Joe Cribbs, James Brooks, Lionel James, Bo Jackson, Brent Fullwood, James Joseph, Stacy Danley, James Bostic, Stephen Davis, Rudi Johnson, Carnell Williams, Ronnie Brown, Kenny Irons, Ben Tate, Michael Dyer, Tre Mason, Kamryn Pettway and now...  Kerryon Johnson.  You saw the talent the last two seasons but he was held up by freak injuries and Pettway stole the show last season.  This season as people left and Pettway got in trouble and then got hurt it all came down to Kerryon.  Everyone including me kept thinking another injury would get him and that he was just not meant to be the every-down-thirty-carry type running back.  Well we were wrong.  Look at the line for the game:  32 carries for 167 yards rushing plus two catches for 66 yards and a touchdown.

 

Kerryon was amazing.  He is just such a smart player.  He did such a good job selling that he was blocking before flaring out on that last touchdown.  He also does as good a job at reading his blocking as any running back I have ever seen at Auburn.  He followed the Auburn offensive line and they led the way for him dominating in the trenches.  The line did a great job especially considering the constant shuffling having to be done due to injuries.  Jarrett Stidham completes the package with his continual improvement at quarterback.  This guy is good.  He will always be under utilized in the Malzahn offense but he still stands out.  With all the team's success, I have still seen a few "what-ifs" about Sean White the last two seasons.  I do not understand it, a fully healthy Sean White is just not near the quarterback Stidham is.

 

Much of the success for the Tigers this year has been because of the huge upgrade at quarterback.  Stidham just gives that next dimension to the passing game.  He is good on the short and long throws.  He is strong and accurate.  He needs to get a lot faster on his reads but unfortunately he will not learn that under Malzahn.  The coaches obviously called a better game than usual against Georgia.  They absolutely burned the Bulldogs on the two reverse screens for touchdowns.  Those were brilliant calls.  The most glaring error that continues to kill Auburn in the red zone is not throwing on second down.  They continue to wait for third down when they have to pass.  If they want to turn around their touchdown percentage in the red zone, they have to throw early and not wait till third down.  Put the ball in Stidham's hands.  He is your guy.

 

Luckily most of the mistakes were made by Georgia.  The Bulldogs are a very good team but their weak schedule and Auburn's play forced them to make a lot of mistakes.  They looked amazing on the first drive and then the bottom fell out.  Jake Fromm missed a wide open touchdown pass, they committed numerous dumb penalties and turned the ball over on a muffed punt to start the second half.  Their defense held them in it and the Bulldogs had a chance to make it a two point game at the half.  Georgia was in business at the Auburn 26 yard line with 22 seconds left and no timeouts.  The only play especially when you are down is to take two shots in the end zone and then kick the field goal.  Georgia head coach Kirby Smart decided to run up the middle???  That had to be have been one of the dumbest calls I have seen this season. 

 

Georgia missed the field goal after the dumb call and Auburn was up 16-7 at the half.  Jarrett Stidham would take it in for the touchdown to close the drive after Auburn recovered the fumbled punt.  Ryan Davis would take it to the house on the next drive burning an obvious Bulldog blitz.  Kerryon would burn them later over pursuing again.  I then got to watch two of the best signs that maybe Gus Malzahn is changing a little.  They had nothing to do with the game and everything to do with a change of mindset.  First, Gus challenged a generous spot for Georgia late in the game when it was well in hand.  That is a change in mindset.  Next backup quarterback Malik Willis was allowed to pass on last drive of the game with all the subs in.  Those two seemingly insignificant events spoke volumes to me.  I hope they are signs of change.

 

My final thoughts are on the amazing atmosphere before, during and after the game at Jordan Hare.  I have already talked about the pregame and it was amazing but it just kept getting better as the game went on.  The crowd was awesome and the students were incredible.  I have not seen the students that into a game in a long time.  I also loved Auburn bringing back a little "Soulja Boy" as payback for Georgia's little dance party in 2007.  Great job to whoever had that idea.  It has just been so long coming against Georgia that I think everyone enjoyed every minute of it.  Of course there is only one place to go after an Auburn win of this magnitude and that is Toomers.  My Dad, son and myself headed to Toomers immediately following the game and I saw something I have never seen before and I have been to a lot of games.  It seemed the entire stadium was heading to Toomers, everybody!  The scene when you got to Toomers was just as amazing.  The masses seem to cover the entire block as the Auburn family celebrated the biggest win on the plains since the Kick Six.

 

This one is now in the books and again no matter what happens in two weeks, it was a deeply significant win.  However the Iron Bowl is the Iron Bowl and this will be the second one to decide the SEC West Championship.  My early thoughts are Bama is a little bit better than Georgia on offense.  I am not sure they are better on defense but I think they will be coached better.  You would think Kirby Smart knows Gus pretty well but he made some mistakes I do not think Bama will make.  Auburn on the other hand is as good as the Tide and will be at home.  Bama is suffering a bit like Georgia from a ridiculously easy schedule.  Auburn has had some easy ones as well but has been to Clemson and had to travel to Baton Rouge where Bama's close win over Mississippi State was by far its toughest game of the season. It is shaping up to be another great one and I can only hope it all turns out like this win for the ages over a #1 ranked Georgia team.

Game 9 Review: Missing In Action

Auburn 42  Texas A&M 27.  Well everyone I am sorry for this late and pretty much non-existent post.  The boys soccer team I coach had a big tournament this weekend and we won.  It was a tough run as they had to win 4 games over two days this weekend.  It was a lot of fun and I am extremely proud of them but...  I completely missed the Texas A&M game.  I have gone back and watched the highlights and there is no doubt it was a big win and made Amen Corner a playoff once again.  Unfortunately the LSU game just continues to stick in my craw but Auburn still controls their own destiny to get to Atlanta. 

The GOOD is Gus Malzahn's recruiting at Auburn.  Auburn beat Texas A&M because they were a better team.  Jarrett Stidham is a damn good quarterback and he threw some beautiful passes against the Aggies.  He finished 20 of 27 for 268 yards and 3 touchdowns.  That is a great day.  The coaches have gotten off their duffs and thrown a few more passes the last few weeks.  Of course the big test will be this weekend but it was nice to see Stidham in that 25 to 30 pass range.  The offensive line did a great job of protection after a slow start and some changes.  That was the key and it will definitely be a big key this coming weekend.

Kerryon Johnson is also very GOOD and is just a man.  The guy is a playmaker and has come through big for Auburn this season.  He finished with 145 yards rushing plus 5 catches and a touchdown.  He will face his greatest tests the next two weeks and Auburn will be counting on him for some big plays however like I said above, the offensive line will determine a lot of that.  Darius Slayton had 99 yards receiving and Ryan Davis had 80 yards.  These two have become the go-to guys at wide receiver and they too will be pushed to their limit the next two weeks.  They will be bumped, grabbed and simply held a whole bunch against Georgia and Bama.  I hope they are up to it.

The defense did a GOOD job holding the Aggies to under 350 yards.  These guys continue to go to work and keep grinding even though a lot of guys are nicked up.  I think these guys match up well with Georgia.  If Georgia beats us, they will have earned it.  They are very good but they are a run-first team with a freshmen quarterback coming into Jordan Hare.  I look for our defense to make it hard for them.  The only really BAD thing other than a slow start by the offense was the Auburn kickoff coverage team allowing another long return.  The Tigers simply cannot afford to give Georgia or Bama great field position or points on bad special teams play.

The only UGLY thing I have seen this week was this announcement: "(Jay) Jacobs will serve as athletics director emeritus upon his resignation, a title provided to the outgoing athletics director by Leath."  I mean ARE YOU KIDDING ME???  It finally looks like we are going to get rid of this boob but now after the basketball program has died and multiple scandals have blown up they are going to give him ANOTHER JOB AND TITLE???!!!???  Probably more money???  This literally makes me PHYSICALLY SICK.  How much can one person leech off of one institution in a lifetime???  It is just flat out ugly.  The best article I have seen on Jacobs is from Kevin Scarbinsky of al.com.

He absolutely nails it with this quote:  "How will Jacobs the athletics director be remembered? As the smiling, backslapping, down-home, all-about-the-family former football walk-on who wore his faith on his sleeve? Or as a scheming, backstabbing, keep-it-down-home, all-about-himself manipulator whose public professions of faith masked his ability to throw people under the bus to consolidate his own power?"  UM I WILL GO WITH OPTION B!  The guy is a backstabbing, keep-it-down-home, all-about-himself manipulator whose public professions of faith masked his ability to throw people under the bus to consolidate his own power.

Oh well it is time to try and forget Jacobs for a weekend and forget Gus Malzahn and this offense will be back next season.  Auburn has a chance to knockoff #1 Georgia if Malzahn can keep his head out of his ass and just call a half decent game.  Unfortunately after Clemson and LSU this year and the LAST TWO GEORGIA games, I have serious doubts.  However this game really sets up well for Auburn.  The Tigers even with Malzahn are due to play well against Georgia.  Georgia is a running team with a freshmen quarterback coming to Jordan Hare.  AUBURN IS THE UNDERDOG even though have a very good team.  I mean this is the perfect storm...

2017 Bye Week: Tumultous times and another LIST...

I said last season in my bye week post that things at least looked better than the 2015 bye week.  I can say something similar this season in that at least things are, at the moment, looking a lot better at Auburn than they are in Gainesville, Knoxville and several other places.  Butch Jones is officially done at Tennessee after losing to Kentucky to go 0-5 in conference and the only question is when is Tennessee going to pull the plug.  It looks like it might be the same scenario at Florida after Jim McElwain's bizarre death threat stories and the beat down Florida took from Georgia.  Bret Bielema kept his chances alive to make it one more year at Arkansas by a big comeback win over Ole Miss while Kevin Sumlin's seat is back to extra hot after getting blown out by Mississippi State at home. 
 
How does all this effect Auburn?  Well first like I said last week, barring an utter collapse, it pretty much saves Gus Malzahn's job if he can at least go 8-4 again.  Texas A&M definitely proved they were beatable.  Now they have beaten Auburn before when they looked much worse and can certainly beat Auburn again but the Tigers should win.  That should save Malzahn regardless of the last two big games assuming Auburn is not blown out.  Again I think Auburn has a good chance against Georgia even with Malzahn's awful playcalling because Auburn is a good team and will be a big underdog at home to a Georgia team that is very good but not a juggernaut.  First though Auburn has got to take of business in College Station.
 
That is where we are at.  I, of course, cannot stand Gus Malzahn's offensive coaching but if he is going to stay I sure wish he would have taken care of business against LSU.  The feeling right now would just be better, like Auburn really had a chance at winning the conference.  It just does not feel like that.  It feels like Auburn is basically playing for one more big win and a decent bowl.  That is OK some years but not this year.  This team is better than that and it is just bad coaching that has put Auburn in this spot.  Of course it was once again LSU that delivered another wilting loss to a good Auburn season.  It seems like it is always those guys through the years.  During last season's bye week I posted the greatest Auburn wins for me I have seen in person.  This season after another painful loss to LSU I guess I will write my list of Auburn's worst losses...

Now don't go rolling your eyes about how negative I am.  You could not have bad losses without winning the majority of the time.  The only reason they are tough losses is because most of the time we had a good team.  It also helps to just get it out. Also, there is a lot of Auburn history here.  Actually here at the last minute I have decided to do this a different way and to do it by team (kudos to the mcubed website for easy access to all the series history)...
 
13.  MISSOURI.  There is not much history here and it still just burns me up that these guys were added to the SEC.  It was just pure greed.  The conference does not need them or even want them but it is all about more money.  These teams have only played three times and one was this season.  Auburn stomped Missouri earlier this season 51-14 and beat them in the SEC championship game in 2013.  Auburn's only loss to Missouri was in 1973 at the Sun Bowl 34-17.  Since Auburn had just lost to Georgia and Bama I do not think it mattered a whole lot.
WORST STR LOSS:  1973 Sun Bowl.
 
12.  SOUTH CAROLINA.  I was OK with the additions of South Carolina and Arkansas to the SEC to give us twelve teams and the SEC championship game.  It worked because they were very similar programs and geographically fit into their divisions.  It has certainly worked for Auburn who has played some great games against the Gamecocks but has not lost to them since they joined the SEC.  Auburn is 10-1-1 against South Carolina with that lone loss coming in 1933.
WORST STR LOSS:  1933
 
11.  KENTUCKY.  Again there is not much history here because the teams have not played that many times and Auburn DOMINATES KENTUCKY IN FOOTBALL (26-6-1).  Yes I will rub it in because of basketball.  I tell people over and over again to never ever feel sorry for Kentucky in football because they are so arrogant about basketball.  Auburn's only loss to Kentucky in football in the modern era was in 2009 at Jordan Hare Stadium.  I will say that one hurt the pride and one that is always forgotten by some of these people who think 2009 was a good season for Auburn football.  It was not.
WORST STR LOSS:  2009
 
10.  VANDERBILT.  Shockingly Vandy is one of the few teams in the conference Auburn does not have a winning record against.  Auburn is 21-21-1 against the Commodores.  However most of that is obviously ancient history.  Vandy owned Auburn in the early 1900s through the 1950s.  In fact the first big win David Housel chronicles in his book "Saturdays To Remember" that this blog is named after is Shug Jordan's first game and win in 1951 over Vanderbilt.  The only time Vandy has beaten Auburn in the modern era was in 2008 and 2012 and those seasons were so bad it was just another bad loss. 
WORST STR LOSS:  2008 and 2012
 
9.  OLE MISS.  Auburn really has little history with the University of Mississippi even though they are both founding members of the SEC.  Auburn has dominated the series 31-11.  The greatest game in the series is the 1971 Gator Bowl where Auburn and quarterback Pat Sullivan beat Ole Miss and quarterback Archie Manning 35-28.  The worst loss in the series for Auburn was probably in 1999 when Tommy Tuberville had just come to Auburn from Ole Miss and there was some bad blood.  Ole Miss lucked out with a 24-17 win in overtime because Auburn stupidly ran starting quarterback Ben Leard on the option and got him hurt.  Otherwise Auburn wins that game easy. 
 
The worst loss to Ole Miss for me was 2003.  I was in the stands and it was the first game for my oldest son.  The Rebels were very good with Eli Manning but Auburn was better and this was the game Ben Obomanu dropped the winning touchdown pass that hit him in the numbers.  I definitely wanted Tommy Tuberville's head that day.  The Rebels like Vandy piled on in 2008 and 2012 but again it was just another bad loss in a season filled with them.  The last loss to Ole Miss was in 2015 but there were worse ones that season.  Neither Ole Miss nor any of these teams I have already mentioned dealt a death blow to an Auburn season.
WORST STR LOSS:  2003
 
8.  TEXAS A&M.  Again like Missouri, I hated adding the Aggies to the SEC.  Again, neither team fits geographically and 14 teams just does not work.  I hated this expansion and I really do not consider Missouri or Texas A&M true parts of the SEC.  I wish Oklahoma and Oklahoma State would join the SEC, Missouri move to the West and Auburn and Bama can move to the East.  That way we would have the real SEC back together again minus the Mississippi schools and LSU.  With that said, Texas A&M has already delivered a couple of excruciating losses to the Auburn Tigers since joining the SEC.  In fact Auburn is 2-5 against the Aggies all time. 
 
The first loss in 2012 was maybe the worst as Texas A&M and Johnny Manziel laid the worst beat down on Auburn ever at Jordan Hare 63-21 (and it could have been much worse).  Two years later in 2014, after losing to Bama 59-0 and having a terrible season the Aggies held on to ruin Auburn's season 41-38.  Auburn would not win another conference game at home till 2016.  Of course the Aggies were also the last team Bo Jackson would play against at Auburn in the 2016 Cotton Bowl.  He had a good game but Texas A&M destroyed Auburn 36-16.  However that loss may have been one of the best things to happen to Auburn because after it Pat Dye changed his philosophy to be more balanced and pass more (do you hear that Gus???).  Auburn then went on to win three SEC championships in a row.
WORST STR LOSS:  2012 and 2014
 
7.  MISSISSIPPI STATE.  State has been a much more regular part of Auburn's schedule but even with that it has just not been that exciting of a series.  Neither team has wrecked the other one's season many times.  The team that is up usually beats the team that is down.  That has usually been Auburn since they lead the series 60-28-3 but in the last decade or so it has been State several times as well.  In fact State has only dealt Auburn one absolutely devastating loss and that was in 1963 and it was Auburn's only loss in the regular season and kept them from competing for the conference and mythical national championship.  Auburn and quarterback Jimmy Sidle were driving and going for the win instead of the tie and an interception gave State a 13-10 win.
 
State almost dealt another Auburn season a killing blow when they shutout Auburn and quarterback Dameyune Craig 20-0 in 1997.  However Auburn recovered to beat Georgia and Bama and make it to Atlanta as the Tigers did in 2000 after a tough loss to State 17-10.  State upset a good Auburn team in 2007 due to turnovers and bad coaching and that really hurt Auburn's chances of making it to Atlanta but there were other tough losses as well.  The last bad loss to State was in 2014 when they beat Auburn to ascend to #1 in college football after the game.  I still think Auburn could have won that game passing more but Gus of course kept running into a State defense that was good against the run. 
WORST STR LOSS:  1963
 
6.  ARKANSAS.  The series with the Razorbacks actually started in the 1984 Liberty Bowl where Bo led Auburn to a win.  Other than that Auburn had no history with Arkansas till they joined the SEC in 1992.  Auburn currently leads the series 15-11-1.  However it feels like the Razorbacks have been a constant thorn in Auburn' side since they entered the league especially during the reign of Houston Nutt.  It started with the 1992 game and this is a good time for the Top 3 worse TIES I have ever seen.  I want to nominate the 1992 AU/Arkansas game for the worst tie ever...
 
********************
Auburn was retiring Bo's number, he was there, it was a beautiful day.  I was in the student section and it was a great day to be an Auburn Tiger in the midst of a bad football season.  Auburn should have won.  Pat Dye would have gone out with a winning record with a win (we ended 5-5-1). Auburn ended up tied because of one of the dumbest plays in football history that a coach was not involved in.  Stan White threw back across the field and was intercepted for a TOUCHDOWN on the last play of the first half when he was supposed to have thrown a "Hail Mary".  I think I would have benched him for the season. 
 
Now there have been some other bad ties.  I guess #2 for me would be the 1978 Georgia game at Jordan Hare.  My first football game EVER.  That was very exciting.  However Auburn came out in those awful orange jerseys (they looked like Tennessee), I missed a Joe Cribbs touchdown run going to get concessions and the game ended in a tie (I learned to always get concessions when we are on defense after that).  The bronze medal would have to be the stupid Sugar Bowl tie with Syracuse.  Auburn was a much better team and I guess they did too much partying on Bourbon Street.  The Tigers should have beaten them and then we would not have had to hear all the criticism of Dye for going for the tie.  Syracuse acted like such big babies I am glad he did.
 
The 1987 20-20 tie with Tennessee was the only blemish on the SEC record that year but it wasn't too bad as Auburn won the SEC outright.  The 1990 tie with Tennessee felt like a win because Auburn was down 26-9 at the start of the 4th quarter.  Tennessee really choked that day.  Finally, the last tie in Auburn history, the 1994 23-23 tie with Georgia.  Now this one stunk because Auburn was beating Georgia 23-9 and driving for another TD when Bowden got too greedy and Nix was intercepted throwing deep.  The Tigers definitely should have won that game but it doesn't feel half as bad because it took a lot of the luster off Bama ending our 20 game winning streak.

*********************

Back to the Razorbacks...  Auburn would beat Arkansas in 1993 and 1994 while on probation.  The Tigers would then head to Arkansas in 1995.  I remember this game very well as I missed watching it because I had to go to a wedding (along with missing the Braves win the World Series that night).  The Tigers were gunning for an SEC West title... and then Arkansas went up 27-0... 27-0!!!  Auburn stormed back but still lost 30-28.  That one hurt because Arkansas would go to Atlanta not Auburn even though the Tigers beat Georgia and Bama that year.  There have been other losses to the Razorbacks after that but a few stand above the others... Arkansas unexpectedly blew Auburn out in 2001 and 2002.  Those beat downs helped cost Auburn trips to Atlanta.  The worst though came in 2006 when Auburn came into the game ranked #2 and Arkansas and offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn destroyed Auburn and a great season 27-10.  I just hate Arkansas.
STR WORST LOSS:  1995 and 2006

TO BE CONTINUED AT A LATER DATE...

Game 8 Review: The SEC is TERRIBLE

Auburn 52  Arkansas 20.  The Auburn football Tigers got off the mat and rebounded against another awful Southeastern Conference team in Arkansas.  This Auburn team that we all know has problems has averaged almost 50 points against the four SEC teams they have played other than LSU.  You then see the State team Auburn blew out embarrass Kentucky and you couple that with the fact Tennessee has not scored an offensive touchdown in THREE GAMES and you start to see how historically BAD the Southeastern Conference is in football right now.  Arkansas, Ole Miss, Missouri, Tennessee and Vanderbilt are just flat out terrible and many of the rest are not far behind.  Honestly if there was anyone with half a brain and an ounce of unbiased judgment involved in the college football playoff selection process then ol' Bama would be in trouble because of the pathetically weak conference they play in.

The state of the SEC has deeper connotations to Auburn.  I have come to the sickening realization that the rest of the SEC is so bad that it is going to save Gus Malzahn.  I was wrong in my last post.  It is clear now that unless Malzahn loses to both Texas A&M and Georgia (I am assuming loss to Bama) he will retain his job and be back next season.  This stupid greedy conference is so bad now that Malzahn looks great next to the rest of these pathetic teams and I guess he is in some ways.  He still will not ever beat anybody that can stop the run but lucky for him most of these terrible teams cannot even come close.  That was certainly the case last night against Arkansas.  I mean you can see better football now at the top high schools in each state than you can see week in and week out in the SEC.  How many millions of dollars are being poured into these awful football teams and their coaches?  How can they be this bad?

THE GOOD
Auburn had over 600 yards of offense and the starting defense destroyed the hapless Razorbacks.  Our coaches and players are way better than the dregs of the SEC.  Gus Malzahn goes 6-6 when the Mississippi schools and Arkansas are good (2015) and he goes 8-4 when they are bad (2014, last season and probably this one).  Yay!  We just completely overreacted over the LSU loss and three years in a row of losing to our biggest rivals in Georgia and Bama. We just need to be happy with being better than the worst teams in the conference and pray that they do not turn things around.  Of course it also helps that our rotating SEC East team is always bad as well (Kentucky in 2015, Vandy in 2016 and Missouri this season).  It stinks though we have to play the one good East team every year in Georgia and Bama gets Vanderbilt Nort... er Tennessee in the worst slump in the history of that program.

THE BAD AND THE UGLY
The 2017 version of the Southeastern Conference in football. 

THE LAST WORD
Auburn now gets a bye week to get ready for the actual competitive part of the conference schedule.  It sure would feel a lot different if they had taken care of business in Baton Rouge.  The season comes down to the three best conference teams on Auburn's schedule: Texas A&M, Georgia and Bama.  I think a loss to Bama is inevitable although they have certainly not played anyone this entire season.  It could go down any number of ways against Texas A&M and Georgia.  Auburn could win both, split or lose both.  They certainly have enough talent to win both.  It comes down to the coaching which means they will probably lose both but the Aggies and the Bulldogs have their problems as well. 

Again I think Malzahn saves his job if he just splits these games and hey the Mississippi schools along with Arkansas should be bad again next season plus Tennessee rolls on to the schedule from the East!  8-4 again baby!  Let the good times roll... 

Game 7 Review: End Of The Line Again...

LSU 27  Auburn 23.  Well here we are again... on Oct 28, 2012 I wrote a post titled "End Of The Line" for then Auburn head coach Gene Chizik after maybe Auburn's most embarrassing home loss ever to Texas A&M 63-21.  Chizik would get embarrassed badly two more times by Georgia and Bama but he was officially done after that game against the Aggies.  I think we saw the same thing in last night's simply unbelievable loss at LSU.  Gus Malzahn is done at Auburn.  He has had more than enough chances to prove himself and he once again showed the coach he is and always will be in Baton Rouge.  Auburn ran the ball 17 times in a row on first down in one stretch, 17 TIMES IN A ROW.  I think that stat really defines who Gus Malzahn is as a coach.

Now let me say that we are talking about football here, along with football stories today I am seeing stories about a little girl dying in a grease trap at a ice cream store in Auburn.  That is one of the most heartbreaking and horrific stories I have ever read.  You see that story and you really see how unimportant football and all this crap is.  Let me make that clear before I rant about this game.  However I will comment on Auburn football because it is one of my main hobbies and like the quote at the top of my blog says it is a sanctuary (or supposed to be) and I know it is just a game but I love it.  The quote at the top of this blog also mentions parts of the game: struggle, survival, victory and defeat.  Unfortunately today I have to write about losing the struggle, not surviving and defeat.

Of course this game ultimately did not surprise me.  I did think Gus with all his faults as a coach could win this game but like every other big game since the 2013 SEC Championship game he lost it.  He simply cannot beat any team that has a defense capable of stopping our run game.  I have said that over and over and over again on this blog while I read elsewhere every year how things are going to change.  Gus Malzahn has done the same thing at Auburn since he was hired and has never changed even a bit.  He lucked out and inherited a great team that perfectly fit with his Wing-T offense out of the shotgun in 2013.  Ever since then he has taken decent to good teams and made them try to play the same backwards risk-averse, passing-averse Wing-T offense and he has failed.  I simply despise watching Auburn play offense under Malzahn.

I hate that it has come to this but again I am tired of writing the same thing over and over and over again!!!  Gus Malzahn is done and the man who hired him needs to go even more.  For ANYONE that disagrees he has to go, HERE IS THREE YEARS OF AUBURN FOOTBALL UNDER GUS MALZAHN:

I wrote on January 3rd, 2015 after Auburn finished 8-5 with a very talented team in 2014:

"Malzahn stubbornly stuck to the 2013 playbook when it was obvious that the blocking was not as good and teams had figured out how to defend it.  So many times it was obvious the best choice was for us to be more balanced and pass the ball and it never happened...   I am now starting to doubt whether things will change next season... 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... will determine his long term fate at Auburn."

I wrote during the 2015 season:

"Frankly as I have heard more than one Auburn fan say, we are basically Georgia Tech (and their triple option offense).  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 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 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."

I then went deep again on this topic after the Georgia debacle in 2015:

"We have enough tape now people, Gus Malzahn is simply not capable of coaching up a competent passing game...  He also seems incapable of developing quarterbacks... I will say again I believe the main reason behind this awful season is the lack of a competent and consistent passing game... 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..."

I then went through it AGAIN in the preview before the 2016 season:

"However I still think the deciding factor is Gus Malzahn's stubborn playcalling... I do not believe Gus Malzhan will EVER run a balanced offense.  In fact I think the Auburn offense will look the exact same as it has the last three seasons... Malzahn and Auburn in general seems to think a great passing game is bad.  You always have to run the ball the majority of the time.  That is the reason Auburn only has two wide receivers that have had 1000 yards in a season in the history of the school... I think Malzahn is going to do exactly the same thing this year.  "We are a run-based play-action team".  That is a quote directly from Malzahn and he obviously means it.  I thought it was just describing a certain season but it appears to be his prime directive for all seasons regardless if he has the right personnel for it or not."
 
Auburn then opened the 2016 season against Clemson:

"Gus Malzahn has to be the most predictable coach I have ever seen.  I no longer give Gus near as much credit for 2010, other coaches had to have been involved, he never would have run that offense like that as head coach."

Auburn then lost two weeks later to Texas A&M at home with Sean White FULLY HEALTHY (this game was hardly ever mentioned again at other Auburn sites):

"Gus Malzahn is DONE at Auburn...  Last night's debacle is just the latest in two and half years of bad coaching by Malzahn.  The stats speak for themselves.  Auburn led by Malzahn has not won an SEC game at home since beating South Carolina in 2014.  Auburn has lost six conference games in a row at home starting with Texas A&M’s last visit in 2014. Counting Clemson two weeks ago, Auburn has lost seven straight at home to Power 5 conference teams.  That is behind only Colorado nationally. In that space of time, Auburn has lost 10 out of 12 games in conference overall...

The problem as I have documented over and over since then in this blog is that he has continued to call the exact same offense without that kind of personnel.  He  has also over time shown he will run on first down over 70% of the time, tip his plays by his substitutions and worst of all throw the ball as little as possible.  We now see he absolutely cannot field a competent passing game or develop a quarterback.  He stated again last night as he has hundreds of times since he was hired that we are ONLY AND ALWAYS SHALL BE A "RUN-BASED PLAY-ACTION TEAM". 

So if Pat Sullivan and Terry Beasley came to Auburn now they would never do anything because he will only allow Auburn to ever be a "run-based play-action team".  The guy simply refuses to change his offense regardless of his personnel and on top of that he is ridiculously predictable.  He has had plenty of time.  He is never going to change.  He needs to go, period.  I have never seen a more stubborn human being in my life. 

Dye who was as ground-based as you get even changed his offense to include a competent passing game (and won three SEC titles) but not Gus.  He just continues to do the same stupid things over and over again.  It is maddening to watch.  He has reduced me to watching the games in stony silence with a lot of sighs as I watch the same stupid plays again and again and again.  Auburn needs to clean house at the end of the season and that starts in the athletic director's office where all this started."

Auburn then bottomed out again against Georgia again and I went through it AGAIN:

"Let me be really clear here, I am DONE with Gus Malzahn.  DONE.  I have written over and over and over in this blog how he is incapable of putting together a competent passing game and he proved me right once again.  He never makes the passing game a part of the main game plan, he continues to not use lesser games to get better in the passing game and he continues to pat himself on the back for rushing for a bazillion yards against bad defenses.  He has done it over and over and over again.

He will simply never change.  The Auburn offense under him will never change.  It does not matter how many times he runs lesser teams out of the stadium, he will always lose to good defenses every time.  The 2013 season was the exception and it will not happen again.  Of course he still lost the big one that season because he would not pass.  I am just DONE.  I am so tired of watching this garbage.  He is very good at running the ball and he will continue to get a few big wins every year with this one-dimensional offense but he will also continue to not have a good passing game and get beat in games like this.  I am so tired of watching it.  People will continue to talk about 2013 and ignore three years of evidence since then that this is all Malzahn is ever going to give us.

I do not think I can summarize his lack of ability to coach up a passing game again.  I do not think I can list the pieces of evidence from the last seven seasons he has been either offensive coordinator or head coach that show this is all the coach he will ever be.  I guess our only hope is that another Cam Newton will appear or a host of NFL-caliber great players will come in like 2013.  Otherwise enjoy the hundreds of times he will run up the middle and the inevitable losses to Georgia and Bama."

We then got to go through the same thing two weeks later against Bama:

"Gus will destroy most teams if they have a weak run defense but lose to just about any team that has a good one.  That is usually anywhere from 3 to 5 teams on Auburn's schedule depending on the year.  I am literally shuddering at the thought of watching this exact same offense produce the exact same results next season.

Gus Malzahn put up another epic coaching performance today as we had 34 yards and ONE FIRST DOWN at halftime.  That means AUBURN WENT A FULL GAME WITH ONE FIRST DOWN AND ONLY 60 YARDS OF OFFENSE combining the second half against Georgia and first half against Bama.  We are paying FIVE MILLION DOLLARS for this pathetic offensive coaching from a supposed offensive coach!!!  It is unbelievable how bad he is against any kind of good defense.  Is this a legitimate big-time college coach??? "

Thank goodness we got to the Sugar Bowl so... we could watch this garbage one more time last season:

"Gus Malzahn did the same thing he has done his entire career at Auburn.  He tried to run over the opposing team.  He has no other game plans.  He destroys weaker teams that cannot stop the run and gets beat by any team that can.  He showed once again he cannot coach up a competent passing game.  Auburn finished with a paltry 154 yards passing and it would have been 100 yards without a meaningless bomb at the end of the game.

There is really not much else to say.  There will not be much else to say after spring practice or before next season or during next season either.  Malzahn will come out running these exact same plays every game next season as well.  He has run the same shi* for four seasons now.  Nothing is going to change next season either.  It does not matter how good Jarrett Stidham is.  He will not be successful unless Auburn has an absolutely overwhelming offensive line and rushing attack.  From watching four years of Malzahn the only thing he will practice is the read option, the jet sweep, the bubble screen, the double play-action wheel route, a few other predictable pass plays and the most important play of all... the handoff up the middle.  I cannot wait.

We then came to this season and there was that question, would Malzahn as stubborn as he is finally change some with the hiring of Chip Lindsey?  I wrote this in my preview for this season:

"You can see the talent dripping off of them (our wide recievers) but they were stuck in Malzahn's Wing-T offense and his abysmal coaching in the passing game last season.  The receivers only hope this season is IF Chip Lindsey is a good coach and then IF Malzahn will let him build a passing game and actually use it at critical times.  I am not going to lie, I will have to see it to believe it.  It is proven that up till now Malzahn himself is simply incapable of building a good passing game. 

Auburn seems to have a team capable of competing for and winning a championship.  They have the talent and also seem to have those junior and senior leaders that are needed as well.  The next question is the coaching... I am tired of writing it but Auburn cannot win a championship without a good passing game.  It is just not going to happen.  Can Chip Lindsey and Jarrett Stidham finally fix this problem?  Will Malzahn let them?  Is he is even capable of letting a semi-balanced game plan be called on a team he is head coach of?  These are the biggest questions for Auburn this season...

So after breaking it all down I think everyone can definitely see that Auburn has a great opportunity to compete for a championship this season.  Do I think they will do it?  I am sorry to say that after watching Gus Malzahn coach the last three seasons I have to say that NO I do not...  I just do not think Auburn can build a championship passing game under him regardless of who is hired."

We then had to sit through another beyond awful offensive performance against Clemson this season where... lets hear you say it!  OUR PASSING GAME WAS TERRIBLE AGAIN.  We then got to run over some cupcakes and everyone got all excited again till yesterday.  I have to tell you though, yesterday was bad even for Malzahn.  Auburn is flat-out better than an LSU team that got curb stomped by Mississippi State (who we demolished) and got beat at home by Troy.  It took some extraordinary bad play calling to lose to this LSU team AFTER GOING UP 20-0.  LET'S SAY THAT AGAIN... AFTER GOING UP 20-0!!!  WE COULD NOT BEAT AN LSU TEAM WHO LOST TO TROY AT HOME WITH A 20-0 LEAD.

Auburn then ran the ball on first down 17 TIMES IN  A ROW, again 17 TIMES IN A ROW.  Gus then talked about Auburn's problem was lack of third down conversions as the reason for losing the game???!!!???  I am not a rocket scientist either but that is an unbelievably stupid thing to say.  HEY GUS MAYBE JUST MAYBE IF YOU HAD SAY MIXED IN A FEW PASSES ON FIRST DOWN YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO MAKE A FIRST DOWN BEFORE GETTING TO THIRD DOWN.  It is just the same old shi...  It is really hard to get past the running for 17 straight first downs.  When the coaches decide to sit on a lead after the first quarter and only throw on third down then there is not a lot the players can do.

I have said it all before, the difference is this might be the worst loss yet due to Malzhan's poor coaching other than the national championship game.  I have never seen anyone so scared to take a chance in all my life.  He also just got outcoached by Ed Orgeron, ED ORGERON!!!  Danny Etling, one of the worst quarterbacks at a top SEC school I have ever seen, had a better game than Jarrett Stidham.  I mean you are in some bad territory when you really start breaking this game down.  The success on the script to get the lead at the first of the game almost makes it worse.  We were killing LSU, we then totally shut it down and became (as I read on Auburn Undercover) as "predictable as a cliché at a Gus Malzahn press conference" (that is funny). 

The numbers are extraordinary bad:  Again, Auburn ran the ball an incredible 17 straight times on first down. Auburn amassed 58 rushing yards on 19 carries in the second half. Jarrett Stidham completed 2 of 13 passes (7 attempts on the final two drives in desperation mode) for 6 yards. He was 1 of 12 for 0 yards on his last 12 attempts.  THAT IS WHY YOU PRACTICE YOUR PASSING GAME IN THE MISSOURI, STATE AND OLE MISS GAMES GUS.  You cannot just turn it on.  You have to practice it in every game if you expect to even have a chance of running a two minute offense in the big games.  HE IS SUCH A BAD COACH.

Kevin Scarbinsky said it better than me today.  He wrote an outstanding article on al.com on the game and Gus Malzahn.  The statistics he listed in his conclusion really sum it all up.  He said:

"Auburn can't win in a truly hostile and intimidating SEC environment against its traditional annual rivals. Malzahn is 0 for 7 in Baton Rouge, Athens and Tuscaloosa. (0-7!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Auburn can no longer beat teams with comparable or better talent. Malzahn is 2-3 against LSU, losing two of the last three. He's 1-3 against Georgia and 1-3 against Alabama (will be 1-4 against both in a month), losing the last three to each. He's 0-2 against Clemson and 0-3 in bowl games against Power-5 opponents Florida State, Wisconsin and Oklahoma.

Under Malzahn, Auburn finds itself stuck in a no-man's land somewhere just north of mediocrity but well south of excellence. To compound the discouragement of the fan base, almost no one outside the payroll wants the lame-duck AD anywhere near another firing or hiring decision.

One SEC defeat wouldn't spark such a deep dive on the program if the defeat weren't so predictable and the state of the athletic department not so dire. But that's where Auburn finds itself after the worst kind of October surprise.

Ever the optimist, Malzahn stood up after the collapse and suggested, "It's not the end of the world." A realist would note his location at that moment, deep inside Death Valley, the metaphor impossible to ignore."

Auburn went 8-5 in 2014 and since then has gone 7-6, 8-5 again and now sits at 5-2.  He has lost to Georgia and Bama both three years in a row and it looks like that will go to four years in a row.  To my knowledge I do not think Auburn has ever lost to both Georgia and Bama four years in a row.  It is over.  It is the end of the line for Malzahn.  Again he has had his chances, he has had plenty of time.  Auburn sticking with him after this season is the definition of insanity, i.e. doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.  It would be insane to stay with Malzahn another season.  It would be insane to let the current athletic director hire another janitor for Haley Center much less another football coach.  I will go insane if I have to watch this offense again next year.  It is time to clean house and reset the Auburn athletic department starting with the athletic director and the head football coach.