Auburn just has not looked very good on both sides of the ball against the weakest teams they will play all season. The Tigers only managed 168 passing yards against SAN JOSE STATE. The FCS Portland State Vikings had 270 yards against the same defense to open the season. Both Auburn quarterbacks threw interceptions in the first half. The one from Robby Ashford who I called for last week was particularly ugly. The running game finally wore San Jose State down but how many more times will Auburn be able to do that without an effective passing game? The answer is none. There also looks to be holes on defense as well. I did not get upset about anything defensive against Mercer but after another week of loose coverage I guess I am now starting to worry about Auburn's defense.
San Jose State had almost 300 yards passing and definitely moved into scoring range several times. The Auburn secondary just does not look right. I thought it was the one place that Auburn had actually recruited pretty good so I have to go to the coaching. It certainly appears that defensive coordinator Jeff Schmedding and head coach Bryan Harsin do believe in looser coverages like last year's defensive coordinator Derek Mason, the old "bend but don't break" approach. I am not an expert defensive coach but I believe in balance, like offense. I think you should be able to do a bit of both defensive approaches and I think one of the times to practice tighter coverage is on weaker teams. We should find out how good Auburn is on defense this week against Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford who absolutely dissected the Tigers last season. After this past Saturday, I am not confident.
As for the offense, let me start with this comment for the third post in a row going back to the Houston loss in the bowl game last year...
"The main fault for the low level of the Auburn football program lays at the feet of Gus Malzahn and his poor recruiting in the trenches especially the offensive line. I mean no disrespect to the players that are working their butts off and want to succeed much more than I want them to but they... just... are... not... good... enough. Auburn does not have even ONE decent SEC level offensive lineman now that Brodarious Hamm has left. The poor recruiting on the offensive line has continued under Harsin... AUBURN FOOTBALL WILL NOT IMPROVE UNTIL OFFENSIVE LINE RECRUTING IMPROVES A LOT PERIOD." It is proven true every single game.
A friend texted me the exact same thing and I am going to include it as well because he says it better than I do: "I just want to say one thing and I really cannot emphasize this enough: football is about offensive line play. Without offensive line talent you cannot perform at an elite or really even competitive level. You can't hide a bad offensive line. You can't pass your way out of it. You can't trick your way out of it. And Auburn has no talent on the offensive line. Poor recruiting and development at that one position has relegated Auburn to a bottom tier SEC program. And Auburn is not climbing out no matter who our coach is until the problem is fixed."
I know this is repetitive and it is frankly not entertaining to read week after week however it is the truth. It is shown week after week so I have to say it week after week. It is not going to change anytime soon either so I will have to say that it really gets to me to wondering how I am going to continue writing about Auburn losing every week because of the same thing. I guess I am going to start commenting on the SEC as a whole overall more but that is a bit boring as well as two programs are above everybody else and the whole thing is already done. This is what college football has become, a twin of professional wrestling with the contenders for conference and national titles known before the season starts. The only unknowns are who are the next best teams and the upsets in that group that do not really mean anything except to the teams involved.
I will say though even with that depressing thought, Penn State coming to Auburn is still pretty cool. I just wish Auburn was in a better place to enjoy it more. I guess what will also become a weekly thing is pointing out Auburn's weak quarterback play. I commented on it above to start and again things start with the offensive line but Auburn's quarterbacks are possibly the worst in the conference. T.J. Finley has now started five games for Auburn and FOUR of those games were against South Carolina, Houston, Mercer, and San Jose State and he has not looked real good in ANY of them. I know the offensive line problem but a good quarterback would have had a good game against one of these weak teams. I fear that Finley is about to go through a very rough season and Ashford too. My hope in Ashford from the first week was probably just a desperate grab at some kind of hope.
Back though to Penn State... Auburn still has a chance against the Nittany Lions. They are at home and Penn State is not Georgia. This is without question Bryan Harsin's biggest game at Auburn. It is pretty much do or die. I do not think he can turn it around if he loses this one. It is what it is. To do it the Auburn defense has to play a great game. Next, the offense has to scratch out some points and time of possession. I know they are limited but they must play smart field position football and make the most of any opportunities while of course not turning the ball over. Auburn as a team must score 24 points to win in my opinion some how some way. Right now I have to say I just do not see it after the last two games but that probably bodes well for Auburn. In one way the season really starts Saturday.
I guess the only other question is what jersey will Auburn come out in? There have been rumors of orange jerseys for the "Orange Out" game this week. I think it will be the normal blue with orange facemasks but I am not in the camp opposed to orange jerseys. As I have said before on this blog my first game at Jordan Hare Stadium was the 1978 Auburn Georgia game where the Tigers came out in orange jerseys. I did not like Coach Barfield continuing to use them though. I think Auburn should use the orange jerseys once a season. Pick one game for this "Orange Out". I think it adds a little spice and I am sure it helps revenues as well. I love Coach Dye and love his quote about making people fear those "blue jerseys" but come on there is just no down side to doing it once a season or if there is I just do not see it. I also think it could help recruiting like maybe giving every recruit there an actual game jersey as well with their number (I think you can do that?).
Around the SEC which again is only for those of us just interested in SEC football as the championship game is already decided. Yes Bama did not look like an NFL team this week but do you honestly think they are not going to win the West? Only Bama fans can complain about a win on the road over Texas. I mean for the love of all that is good and holy you cannot be overwhelming at every single position every single year. I have never seen a more spoiled group of fans in my entire life. They will be there competing with the same six to eight schools you see every single year competing for the national championship. Two of the teams that were supposed to challenge Bama and Georgia in the conference both lost in Florida and Texas A&M.
I definitely have to give a lot of credit to Kentucky for beating Florida in "The Swamp". I also have to thank them for putting an end to the nauseating overreaction to Florida beating Utah in the opener. Arkansas whipped South Carolina in the other conference game. Elsewhere the SEC bottom feeders Vandy and Missouri got hammered by Wake Forest and Kansas State while Tennessee and Mississippi State both won on the road against Pitt and Arizona. The final big news was Texas A&M getting beat by Appalachian State at home. Yes Nebraska and Notre Dame were also upset at home by smaller schools but both of those schools are struggling to recruit while Texas A&M is not. It is completely unacceptable for the Aggies to lose that game and it is ALL on the coaches. Yes Nick $aban lost to UAB and Louisiana Monroe his first years at LSU and Bama but he sure did not lose any of those type games after that. Jimbo has been there awhile and has good talent. He deserves all the grief for that epic loss.
I am not sure how to end this one so I guess I will use my epic poetry skills to do it...
Roses are red...
Auburn will probably come out in blue...
Penn State is coming to town...
Who wins this game I don't have a clue.
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