Game 8 Review: Thank goodness for the Mrs...

Auburn 31  Ole Miss 16.  Yes thank goodness for Ole Miss.  They usually are the cure, for at least a week, for what ails Auburn.  That was the case this week as the Tigers were able to get the win in Oxford after the horrendous loss to Tennessee.  I want to be real clear though, nothing has changed.  Gus is still the same coach he was last week, and against Mississippi State and for the last six years.  The simple fact is Auburn just has better football players than Ole Miss.  Now Auburn has better football players than Tennessee and State too but they were a bit closer and I think have better coaches.

This was a typical Malzahn run-based win over a lesser team.  Auburn ran the ball 46 times with Boobie Whitlow gaining 170 yards.  Stidham completed a little over 50% of his passes but the receivers and Whitlow made several good runs after the catch.  ESPN showed a stat during the game that 30% of Auburn's overall passes are screen passes so actually Auburn throws even less downfield than we think.  There was a lot of hubbub during the week about getting freshman speedster Anthony Schwartz the ball more and that added up to three touches.  However Auburn got a much needed win.

It is always better to win than to lose but again nothing has changed.  Gus Malzahn made that real clear after the game with this gem...  "“We were able to run the football, that’s getting back to Auburn football.”  That in a sentence is his problem and Auburn's problem.  I am so sick and tired of hearing this ridiculous notion that you are any less of a team winning championships passing the ball.  It has worked out pretty good for the Patriots and it seems to be working out pretty good across the state.  Again I am not talking about moving to the "Air Raid" offense but I am talking about being balanced.

I have heard it being pointed out that we have passed more in previous weeks, well yeah we have been behind and our run game has been completely stuffed so we have passed more.  However it has actually proven the point as much as games like this against Ole Miss. When Auburn passes a lot it does not look very good.  That is because within this system it is obvious the finer points of the passing game are simply not repped or taught.  People know a well coached passing game when they see it.  Look at Phillip Fulmer's teams at Tennessee with David Cutcliffe as his offensive coordinator and the ones with out.  It is a stark difference.  

Look at the current best football team in the world, the Los Angeles Rams.  Their passing game was awful under run-based head coach Jeff Fisher but now they are balanced and have one of the best passing games in football with coach Sean McVay.  Contrary to popular opinion, Auburn has been at it's best being balanced with a good passing game.  The best years under Shug Jordan in the modern era of football were with Pat Sullivan WHO WON THE HEISMAN TROPHY FOR HIS ABILITY TO PASS THE BALL.  We have retired his jersey along with the guy he THREW THE BALL to the most, Terry Beasley.  Terry Beasley was an All-American due to his ABILITY TO CATCH THE FOOTBALL, not block.

Coach Pat Dye won the SEC and the national championship in 1983 with the very run-based Wishbone formation but quarterback Randy Campbell's clutch passing won more than one game against maybe the hardest schedule ever played.  Auburn faltered in 1984 and 1985 even with THE BEST RUNNING BACK EVER without Campbell but recovered to put up the best four years of football in Auburn history from 1986 through 1989 by becoming MORE BALANCED and PASSING THE BALL better.  Again the greatest four years of Auburn football only came about when a run-based coached made the decision to pass more.

The 1993 and 1994 teams had great running backs in James Bostic and Stephen Davis but just as important was quarterback Pat Nix throwing to Thomas Bailey and Frank Sanders.  These were truly balanced teams and Auburn went 20-1-1.  Fast forward to maybe the most talented Auburn team ever in 2003 which went 8-5 because of bad offensive coaching mainly in the passing game.  The same guys came back the next year with a competent offensive coordinator, not a great one but a competent one, who knew how to coach the passing game and you get maybe Auburn's greatest team in 2004.

You can even look to 2010 when Malzahn was offensive coordinator and look at the progression of Cam Newton.  Auburn was able to win a championship because of his growth as a passer.  It has become obvious that Malzahn did not teach him that,  It was some else on that staff, I think Chizik or Trooper Taylor, and they did not allow Malzahn to run the offense totally his way.  Auburn passed way more with Cam than Malzahn would have if he would have been totally in charge.  I said then and I still say now that 2013 was the exception to the rule.  That was a ground-based team that was not balanced but I do not think you will see an exception like that again in our lifetime. 

Also as great as that 2013 team was they lost the national championship game with a 21-3 lead because of the coaching staff's refusal to pass on first down. I think you are understanding my point though and that is you have the be balanced to be your best.  You have to be balanced to win championships throwing out rare exceptions.  This has been proven in Auburn's history and I think you will see the same thing if you study the history of any football team.  You need a good running game and you can be "ground-based" but you need a good competent well-coached passing game too.  

Again look across the state, all I have heard is that this is $aban's best team and maybe the best team ever at Bama.  WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?  The defense is nowhere near as good as other defenses under $aban.  The running backs are not as good the ones from Bama playing in the pros right now.  I certainly do not think this is their best offensive line ever.  All these units are very good but nowhere near Bama's best ever.  THE DIFFERENCE IS A GREAT QUARTERBACK AND A GREAT PASSING GAME.  I mean all you have to do is watch or look at the stats.  The huge difference in this team and any other great team at Bama is the awesome passing game.

Everyone cannot have a Tua or a Peyton Manning or a Jason Campbell every season but a good coach at Auburn should be able to almost always put a competent passing game on the field.  To conclude there is nothing wrong with being balanced and relying on the pass a little more than the run sometimes based on your personnel.  Again see Bama, they are more of a passing team with Tua but were more of a running team with Derrick Henry.  Of course even with Henry they had a competent passing game and that is what Coach Gus Malzahn can not do consistently running his offensive system and that is why I do not enjoy watching it.