THE GOOD
The only good I can see from this game is going ahead and getting this letdown out of the way early. It is obvious this team is not championship caliber and it would have been more painful to drag this out and then lose to Mississippi State or Texas A&M or even wait all the way to Georgia. Unlike last season there will not be some miracle comeback to reach Atlanta. Auburn's SEC championship dreams never really had a chance with their schedule and now we clearly see they never had a chance because the team is just too weak at certain positions.
NOW hold the phones, I will check myself, things could be a LOT worse. As painful as yesterday was it is sure a lot better than being an Arkansas or Florida State fan right now. I could also add a bunch more programs to that list that have seemingly had the bottom fall out. However I am not sure anyone has reached the depths Arkansas has already hit, losing to Colorado State and then getting blown out at home by North Texas. It does not look like Arkansas will win another game this season. So things are not that bad but I think those schools would also admit that it hurts pretty bad too when your team is pretty stocked and you give away a big conference rivalry game to a lesser team.
THE BAD
LSU is a decent football team. They put up an inspired effort and with a little help they got over on Auburn. However the boys from Athens and Tuscaloosa are going to run this team out of the Stadium. I also think they will lose to Florida and either Mississippi State or Texas A&M. I cannot believe how bad our defense was in spots to let LSU's awful quarterback make the plays he did. The guy is terrible! His completion percentage took another hit yesterday and still rests UNDER 50% (!!!) yet somehow he hits that ridiculous late touchdown and one third conversion after another (???). There is no way an offense with that guy leading it should have scored that many points.
Auburn's secondary played terrible and the fact is the Tigers do not have a pass rusher. They sure miss Jeff Holland BAD. Of course he also misses Auburn bad since he is unemployed football-wise. All we heard in the off-season is about Nick Coe, T.D. Moultry and "Big Kat" Bryant. They were nowhere to be found yesterday. LSU quarterback Joe Burrow had so much time so many times yesterday. Of course when Auburn did get pressure the secondary either did not cover or committed a penalty. I mean come on guys, when LSU lobs it up to the same guy who is covered 2 or 3 times in a row it is obvious the whole point is to try and draw an interference penalty.
Auburn has a great defense against the run but as I have said over and over while others slobbered over him, Kevin Steele is not that good against the pass. He has proven it time and time again and proved it again yesterday. Now let us not spend the whole time here on the defense though, there was sure an equal amount of bad on the offensive side of the ball. The only difference is that we heard over and over in the offseason from coaches, players, etc... how good this defense was going to be. So far they look like a big strong group that is undisciplined and not that good against the pass.
On to the offensive side, it is obvious now that Auburn has a below average offensive line in most spots. They are nowhere remotely close to a line on a championship team and while they might improve they are not going to make it there. They are just not that good. It is also obvious that while "Boobie" Whitlow is a decent running back, he is not near as good as all the other running backs Auburn has had for the last decade. Gus can and will keep trying to base his offense on these two positions but it is not going to work. Auburn has called more and better pass plays but the offense will never change from being run-based under Malzahn and these guys are just not good enough.
THE UGLY
I have never blamed a loss on the refs but I will get as close as I ever have in this one. Yes Auburn could have and should have won this game regardless but that was the worst reffing I have seen in a long long time. I guess the last one that comes to mind was the national championship game where Florida State threw the ball 35 times and had to block a dominant pass rusher who is still starting in NFL and not ONE holding penalty was called. Auburn did not have that kind of pass rushing yesterday but I saw Auburn defensive linemen literally being tackled multiple times and NOTHING WAS CALLED. Auburn wide receiver Darius Slayton was held by the waist and NOTHING WAS CALLED.
I do not argue the fouls called on Auburn but the OBVIOUS and I do mean OBVIOUS calls not made on LSU. You HAVE to call it both ways. I am sorry but as bad as Auburn played they would have won if the game had just been officiated poorly. The referees were quick to call Auburn center Kaleb Kim for holding and he deserved it. Those calls stopped two Auburn drives and were major moments in the game. HOWEVER if LSU had been called for the OBVIOUS holding and tackling of our defensive linemen that would have stopped their drives as well. I want to be real clear here, their holding was every bit as egregious as Kim's holding. Auburn does have a good defensive line and LSU's line has not been great up to this point. THERE IS NO WAY LSU COULD HAVE THROWN 35 PASSES WITHOUT SEVERAL HOLDING CALLS. THAT IS A FACT.
Auburn wins if one or two well deserved holding penalties are called. Auburn was also called for multiple pass interference calls and most were deserved but at least one was very iffy and those calls won the game for LSU. HOWEVER Auburn wide receiver Darius Slayton was held late in the game by two hands on his waist miles away from the line of scrimmage. THAT ACT WAS MUCH MORE EGREGIOUS THAN MOST OF THE CALLS ON AUBURN. Also if that EASY call was made Auburn likely scores and puts the game away. I am sorry I usually never blame the refs but the acts I am talking about were patently obvious and these no-calls also helped decide the game as much as the calls that were made. The refs almost single handedly kept LSU in the game.
THE LAST WORD
Auburn will get a couple weeks off and destroy poor Arkansas and Southern Miss before heading to Mississippi State. Gus will run the ball 60 times the next two games like Alabama State. The team will most likely not improve but everyone will start patting them on the back talking about last season. It is not going to happen with this bunch. I thought this team would be a lot better but they have been exposed on the offensive line and at running back. These guys can be stopped but Gus will still base his offense on them which leaves the team open for upset against anybody remotely good. That adds up to a likely 8-4 season that ends on a really down note in my book but again as we will see next week it could be worse.
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