Game 8 Review: Bad Offense and Bad Officiating

You did NOT see any of these calls yesterday!

LSU 23  Auburn 20.  Sometimes I have to really rack my brain to come up with a fresh or original title for my posts but that was certainly not the case this week.  I think this might be the most dead-on and accurate title for a game review ever.  On offense it was not Gus' finest work but it was the same meltdown we have seen everytime Auburn has played a good team on the road under Malzahn.  It was frustrating but nothing new however the officiating might have been the worst I have ever seen.  I am certainly not blaming the officials for Auburn losing the game, I am just pointing out their clear incompetence or game-influencing calls.  College football is starting to resemble wrestling in my opinion.  It is just not any fun to watch with this kind of blatant incompetence or game-influencing.

THE GOOD
It is sad the Auburn defense got absolutely no support from the offense or officials and I mean NO SUPPORT.  The defense was left out there for almost 90 plays or almost 120 if you count plays cancelled by penalties and then replayed.  I read that is the equivalent of the defense playing FIVE QUARTERS.  That makes the 508 yards gained by LSU not look quite as bad.  These guys absolutely played their guts out.  It was really sad to watch because there was no way the offense or the officials were going to let them even have a chance at being on the winning team. 

Derrick Brown and Marlon Davidson were once again outstanding.  These guys are men.  It is really sad they have played with such bad offensive teams the last two years.  I pray nothing bad happens to either of these two guys and they are ready for the start of the NFL season next year.  Any team will be lucky to get these guys.  Auburn's secondary was outstanding as well yesterday with FIVE guys having double figure tackle totals.  The other guy that really stood out to me was K.J. Britt.  The guy is just a beast.  He played with so much passion and energy.  Auburn is certainly lucky to have a guy like Britt to replace Deshaun Davis.  He is definitely what I would look for in a middle linebacker.  

THE BAD
"Bo Nix never had a chance.  He will be just another in a long list of quarterbacks that showed promise but then got worse under Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn.  Auburn came out yesterday and played horrible on offense like they have done so many other times under Malzahn especially on the road.  It was just par for the course and we all should have seen it coming.  I hate Malzahn's offensive system.  This stupid offensive system is just a step above the triple option and it always will be.  Nothing has ever changed regardless of who is calling the stupid plays.  There is a bunch of formations and then the same few running and passing plays.  

The results at Auburn closely resemble that of a triple option team.  Auburn destroys teams it can run on and is a little better than but it nearly always loses to teams with good defenses and experienced coordinators.  THE OFFENSE IS SO PREDICTABLE.  It always has been and it always will be under Gus Malzahn.  He has never beaten anybody any good on the road outside of Texas A&M and it appears he never will.  He simply cannot beat a good team on the road.  It has been over six years, it is in stone.  I will never expect anything but an embarrassing loss anytime an Auburn team under Malzahn plays AWAY against a good team.

The problem here is not losing.  It is the offense looking completely lost and playing embarrassingly bad.  It is just like in 2014 against Mississippi State and Georgia or 2015 against LSU and Georgia or 2016 against Clemson and Georgia or 2017 against Clemson and LSU or 2018 against Tennessee and Mississippi State.  Those were mostly good teams.  I am not talking about whether we should have won or lost, I am talking about the bottom falling out on offense all the way in every single one of those games and others I did not mention.  

Bo Nix once again looked really bad and really unprepared.  I expect a coach, especially one PAID SEVEN MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR, to be able to at least put a basic rudimentary passing game on the field but Gus never has on the road against a good team and he never will.  Again we will get to see some more games like Mississippi State a few weeks ago but when Gus Malzahn has to play a team as good or better than his team on the road in a big time game he will lose every single time and he will probably look extraordinarily bad doing it..." AND HE DID IT AGAIN YESTERDAY.

I wrote all that after the Florida game two weeks ago and it is still exactly right.  You can read my post from Auburn's meltdown two years ago when they blew a 20-0 lead in Baton Rouge if you need more detail. Honestly how many times can you say the same thing?  How can any coach be this stubborn to keep running the same stupid offense and never change?  I do not want to make a mistake and end up like Arkansas or Tennessee but Auburn has gone as far as it is ever going to go under Gus Malzahn.  I simply cannot stand watching his offense.  I am just so sick of watching the same thing for the last SEVEN YEARS.  Thanks for 2013 but is time to make a change.  PLEASE.

THE UGLY
I am even more sick of watching college football become the WWE.  As I said last week, the college football system already allows the "playoff teams" to be subjectively picked to get the "best matchups" but now it sure appears that games are being influenced during the regular season.  I just do not think that is an opinion but observable fact.  I am not mad that LSU beat Auburn.  I expected that as I wrote above and many times in the past.  I am mad after watching LSU being allowed to blatantly hold the ENTIRE GAME.  Yes yes I know there are always missed calls and I know LSU had some penalties but it was obvious the refs were letting LSU blatantly hold.  

This strategy allowed LSU to have a huge advantage with their passing game.  Auburn defensive end T.D. Moultry was pulled down in full sight of the refs on LSU's first touchdown.  Let us see if LSU gets away with that in two weeks.  I bet they will not.  It is almost like not calling one foul on a basketball player the whole game.  LSU THREW THE BALL 42 TIMES, IT IS LITERALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO THROW THE BALL 42 TIMES AGAINST A DEFENSIVE LINE LIKE AUBURN'S AND NOT HOLD ONE TIME.  I do not count the stupid holding call they made at the very end of game when LSU was running out clock.  I am counting the 42 PASSES MADE BY LSU.

Is this LSU offensive line the greatest of all time or even the best this season?  They are not even close!  Auburn's defensive line IS being called the best in the country.  The refs are saying that LSU did not hold on one pass play that entire game.  I am sorry it sure looks like blatant game-influencing.  The refs got the message that nothing can derail the Bama vs. LSU game from being another stupid "game of the century" (even though LSU has not beaten Bama since 2011).  It is time to make more money!  This is just ridiculous.  One of the cons of being a passing team is having a few holding penalties a game.  Again this travesty is like saying a basketball team did not foul one time in a game or lets just say not fouling on 42 possessions.  IT IS IMPOSSIBLE.

THE LAST WORD
I say next year we just go ahead and pick the four playoff teams at the start of the season and get it over with.  Maybe then we could get some decent officiating without the pressure of preventing the next "game of the century".  I know officiating is extremely difficult but there is no excuse for what happened yesterday.  It is just a game but I will make these observations.  This game and whatever happens in it will not effect my life.  I can find other things for entertainment and still love my school but "I believe in a sound mind, in a sound body and a spirit that is not afraid, and in CLEAN sports that develop these qualities."  Lets keep it clean and let the games be settled on the field fairly.

Game 7 Review: The Haves and the Have Nots

Auburn 51  Arkansas 10.  Gus Malzahn might be up and down or just down against some teams but there is no doubt that he owns Arkansas.  Auburn once again destroyed the Razorbacks this past Saturday.  Unfortunately I think that says more about Arkansas than it does Auburn.  It has been painful to watch the crash of the Arkansas football program since that fateful day former head coach Bobby Petrino crashed his motorcycle.  Bret Bielemma had a few big moments but otherwise it has pretty much been a free fall for Arkansas football since that day.  This once solid football program has now lost 15 consecutive SEC games along with losing at home this season to San Jose State.   

You look at Arkansas and Tennessee and various other once good or great programs and you wonder about the future of college football.  How long will these programs pour money into these sports with no return on investment?  Tennessee's history says they will eventually make it back but will Arkansas?  They are not in a great recruiting spot geographically and under siege from other great football programs all around them.  You add to that the dwindling population of football players overall and you have to wonder what will happen to Arkansas and other programs like them?  College football is turning more and more into a small group of "have" programs and a large group of "have not" programs that might be heading toward being "never will be" programs.

THE GOOD
I guess that intro points out the good for Auburn and head coach Gus Malzahn.  Malzahn despite being unlikable much of the time and not being a very good coach at other times has continued to win at Auburn.  It has been frustrating because he has recruited well and then not gotten the most out of that talent but when you look at disasters like Arkansas and Tennessee you have to be thankful Auburn has not slipped into that abyss.  Gus has shown he can recruit to a certain level even with Nick $aban taking over the world and teams around Auburn like Florida State a few years ago and Georgia now rising up in recruiting as well.

It is no small feat to lead a program for over five years and keep it going at a fairly successful level as Malzahn has done.  Pat Dye did it and handed over a very good team to his successor Terry Bowden but Bowden could not keep it going.  He did a great job a few years but then fell apart.  He did not have what it took to lead a program especially in recruiting for more than a few years.  Tommy Tuberville was able to lead Auburn's program for almost a decade but bad choices at coordinator and the tsunami of Nick $aban's arrival was too much.  Tuberville did leave a decent cupboard for Gene Chizik who like Bowden did a good job for a few years but then fell apart as well.

THE BAD
The bad is the enormous pressure someone in Auburn's administration is going to have on them to make a good choice for head coach sooner rather than later I think.  Auburn has a really good team this season but will be rebuilding in the trenches next season.  The schedule next season is a little better overall but has a horrible ending with LSU and Bama back-to-back.  It could be a tough season.  Gus has also burned some bridges and flopped too many times to save himself when his buyout reaches a "reasonable" point and he has that inevitable bad season.  Malzahn has saved himself several times when I thought he was gone but I think his time will end in the next three years.

Also I have always thought Steve Spurrier was right when he said that most of the time now a head coach is only going to last around a decade even if he is successful (if he is not Nick $aban).  The program just needs a new voice.  Auburn has followed that trend as Coach Dye and Tuberville both made it about a decade.  I just do not think Gus Malzahn will last much longer than that and this season is year seven.  Auburn University as a whole appears to be suffering from leadership issues so even though I have big problems with Malzahn I am scared as hell at the current people in charge picking a new head football coach.  Will they make a good choice or turn us into Tennessee?

THE UGLY
The ugly this week is once again the absurdity of the college football "playoff".  This stupid system is just as bad as it's predecessors.  It is just more subjective tripe (which means "something poor, worthless, or offensive").  NOTHING HAS CHANGED.  You now have a committee picking teams as compared to the media polls.  It is all SUBJECTIVE.  Love it or hate it, the NFL is at least OBJECTIVE.  The greatest team in NFL history was the 2007 New England Patriots who went 17-0 but were upset in the Super Bowl by a New York Giant team who went 9-7 in the regular season.  A team like that Giant team would never get a chance in college football.  

I was asked today how I would fix it.  I understand the college football "playoff" can not be like the NFL but it can be made less subjective.  It can also be changed to just plain make things easier for all involved (like not having to leave a "Power 5" conference out) and get different teams in.  Frankly it is easy and is an idea championed by many.  The "playoff" should be changed to eight teams and there should be five automatic bids for the conference champions and three wild-card selections.  This way the "Power 5" conferences are always happy and the whole thing is more objective but they still have a chance to get three "deserving" teams in.  It just makes too much sense.

THE LAST WORD
The powers-that-be though will never do it because they do not want to give up control and hate objectivity.  I get so sick of hearing the arguments against conference champions.  It is again arguing against objectivity as the way of determining conference champions is mostly objective.  It does not matter if the team has a "bad loss", they won their conference.  That "great" team they always want to put ahead of them had their chance and they failed.  I mean how can anyone outside the "in" teams like this system?  The playoff this season will be Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma and the perceived best team from the SEC.  It really does not matter if those teams lose a game, they will still select them.  

Hopefully this post was more enjoyable than a breakdown of an Auburn win over a team that was 0-14 in the conference coming in.  Honestly, what is there to say about that game?  I could not think of anything so I decided to bring up these subjects today.  Getting back on track, Auburn could have a big impact or even determine the SEC race in both divisions.  They could win out but that does not seem likely considering the schedule.  We will find out a lot this week as Auburn heads to Baton Rouge as huge underdogs.  That is a spot Auburn loves and they do have a good team... but as we have seen the last six years and again in the Florida game this year, Gus does not win on the road.  Can the law of averages kick in and override the Gus factor?  I doubt it but I will be watching.

Game 6 Review: PREDICTABLE

Florida 24  Auburn 13.  I have to eat some crow this week.  I patted myself on the back last week because I knew Auburn would come out fired up and play well against Mississippi State.  However I also said last week I would not bet against Bo Nix at Florida.  I should have known that it had nothing to do with Nix.  He never had a chance.  He will be just another in a long list of quarterbacks that showed promise but then got worse under Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn.  Auburn came out yesterday and played horrible on offense like they have done so many other times under Malzahn especially on the road.  It was just par for the course and we all should have seen it coming.

I knew it but man I just wanted to get excited about Auburn football.  It has been so repetitive under Malzahn that whenever something good happens you just want to have some fun with it.  I watch most games in stony silence with a seething hate for Malzahn's offensive system.  I do not know how many times I have to say it and I do not understand why more people do not see it.  This stupid offensive system is just a step above the triple option and it always will be.  Nothing has ever changed regardless of who is calling the stupid plays.  There is a bunch of formations and then the same few running and passing plays.

The results at Auburn closely resemble that of a triple option team.  Auburn destroys teams it can run on and is a little better than but it nearly always loses to teams with good defenses and experienced coordinators.  THE OFFENSE IS SO PREDICTABLE.  It always has been and it always will be under Gus Malzahn.  He has never beaten anybody any good on the road outside of Texas A&M and it appears he never will.  Why in the world did I ever think he would yesterday?  He simply cannot beat a good team on the road.  It has been over six years, it is in stone.  I will never expect anything but an embarrassing loss anytime an Auburn team under Malzahn plays away against a good team.

The problem here is not losing.  It is the offense looking completely lost and playing embarrassingly bad.  It is just like in 2014 against Mississippi State and Georgia or 2015 against LSU and Georgia or 2016 against Clemson and Georgia or 2017 against Clemson and LSU or 2018 against Tennessee and Mississippi State.  Those were all good teams.  I am not talking about whether we should have won or lost, I am talking about the bottom falling out on offense all the way in every single one of those games and others I did not mention.  I will never in all of my life understand why we were so desperate to keep this man that we gave him the most ridiculous contract I have ever seen.

Let's break it down...

THE GOOD
The good was obviously the defense.  Other than allowing a simple slant play to go for a long touchdown at the start of the game the defense played good enough to win.  They stopped Florida plenty of times and forced four fumbles and stuffed a fake punt.  However they did give up nearly 400 yards of offense including Florida running back Lamical Perine getting 134 yards including an 88 yard touchdown run to ice the game.  Florida wide receiver Freddie Swain also had almost 150 yards receiving and a touchdown plus there were numerous pass interference penalties.  The bottom line though is that they basically held Florida under 20 points and got no help from the offense.

They gave the offense every chance to do something, anything, and they did not.  Senior defensive tackle Derrick Brown was dominant again forcing two fumbles and almost scoring on one.  The defensive line as a whole was strong all day.  The back seven were good as well but had some penalties and critical missed tackles in spots.  Again though they did enough to win IF Auburn had ANY coaching at the top on the offensive side of the ball.  The only problem is that Florida did show some cracks in Auburn's defensive armor and Auburn will play some really good offenses before the season ends.  The offenses at LSU, Georgia and Bama are much better than at Florida.

THE BAD
The bad was watching history start to repeat itself again.  Bo Nix's dad Pat had a great season in 1994 but Auburn was on probation.  His senior year in 1995 Auburn had a fresh start and seemed destined to win their first SEC West title.  Nix led Auburn to wins over Georgia and Bama to end the season so everything was good right?  Wrong.  Unfortunately more bad offensive coaching led to inexplicable losses at LSU (I was there) and at Arkansas.  His son now seems destined to the same fate, he will win some big games for Auburn but I fear no championship is in the cards.  The schedule is bad enough but I just do not think he will ever develop as a passer under Gus Malzahn.

I know Bo Nix is a true freshman and it is a lot to ask of a kid that young to lead a top ten ranked Auburn team into a place like the Swamp against a good Gator team.  I thought before the season we would lose this game.  However Nix looked really bad and really unprepared.  The Auburn quarterback he looked like yesterday was Jeremy Johnson.  I know many I talk to and read this blog respond, well what do you expect?  You almost always look bad in a loss.  I can answer that question today very easily.  I have railed against Gus Malzahn for six years on his hapless passing game against good teams so bottom line what exactly am I expecting from him?

I will tell you, I expect a coach, especially one PAID SEVEN MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR, to be able to at least put a basic rudimentary passing game on the field LIKE FLORIDA DID YESTERDAY.  The Florida offense is not great or maybe even very good.  However other than the turnovers they played a solid game against a very good Auburn defense.  Their quarterback is barely adequate but he was coached up enough to be able to complete basic passing plays, to be able to run a half decent passing game against a very good defense.  Kyle Trask completed over sixty percent of his passes for over 200 yards and two touchdowns against a fearsome rush. 

He is not a big recruit or great player, HE WAS COACHED UP TO AT LEAST DO A DECENT JOB IN THE PASSING GAME.  THAT is what I hate most about Gus Malzahn, he cannot do what Dan Mullen did yesterday.  He simply cannot do it.  Auburn either blows someone off the field they are a little better than or they usually look like they did yesterday and that is completely devoid of any good coaching in the passing  game.  Bo Nix also looked a lot like Jarrett Stidham yesterday when all his receivers were covered because they were running the same predictable pass routes on the same predictable plays.  The other coaches know what Auburn is going to run over half the time!

THE UGLY
The ugly is first that jerk Dan Mullen inciting the crowd on the play Kyle Trask got hurt and then calling Auburn "dirty" at halftime.  Marlon Davidson did absolutely nothing wrong on that play and the reason he came in low was because he was being HELD AND PULLED DOWN by the Florida offensive lineman!  It is completely classless and flat out wrong to start making accusations like that and Mullen ought to know better.  However he has done garbage like this his whole career so I guess I should not be surprised.  This is another reason I do not cheer for the rest of the SEC.  Every SEC team is ready to stab the other in the back if it will give them any edge.

It is also ugly that the Auburn fans will be subjected to many more games under Gus Malzahn.  He may get a few more big wins in his career but there will be plenty more ugly ones as well.  I got excited one more time for Bo Nix as I and many other Auburn fans are desperate to be positive about something.  However we know now that freshman or senior, Bo Nix is not going to develop as a passer under Malzahn.  The evidence is clear and conclusive.  He has never done it and he never will it appears.  Again we will get to see some more games like Mississippi State but when Gus Malzahn has to play a team as good or better than his team on the road in a big time game he will lose every single time and he will probably look extraordinarily bad doing it. 

THE LAST WORD
I guess I need to look past my Malzahn depression to what the outlook is for this Auburn team now.  Auburn is still a pretty good team and even with Malzahn they might have a chance at one more big win.  They should beat Arkansas, Ole Miss and Samford.  They should beat them bad.  I do not think Auburn has any chance at LSU and while they should play Bama tough, I just do not think this offense can score enough points to beat them.  I still think Auburn's best chance at one more big win this season is Georgia at home.  Georgia is very good but they are not near as good a passing team as LSU or Bama.  I think Auburn even with Malzahn matches up with them well.

Auburn is off next week and after yesterday I think that is a good thing for everyone.