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.
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