GAME 4 REVIEW: NUMB

Texas A&M 27  Auburn 10.  Honestly the title of this post is the way I am feeling toward Auburn football.  I am just numb after so many years of offensive incompetence and I guess looking at many more to come.  I mean it really does start to add up.  You now have SO MANY instances of not just bad games and coaching but absolute incompetence like in 2015, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, and now 2023.  You also had some of it show up in supposed good or decent years like 2014, 2017, and 2019.  Since Auburn last won the SEC title in 2013 we are basically going on a decade marked by offensive incompetence in football.  Auburn does not have much talent now but that does not excuse what happened in the game yesterday.  That was just bad coaching and preparation.

This is why I wrote about the Cal game like I did.  Nobody else did.  The excuses and reasons were flying from other spots but the Cal game was not just another "bad" game.  The offense was so bad in it and when you see that it is a bright shining blinking WARNING LIGHT of that which is to come.  However obviously even after trying to throw the ball last week our coaches did not heed that warning.  It then all crashed down around us yesterday in an epic showing of again offensive incompetence.  The numbers speak for themselves, Auburn only had 56 yards passing.  Let me say that again... 56 TOTAL YARDS PASSING.  The Tigers barely had over 200 yards of total offense and only managed a field goal.  It was astonishingly bad and Texas A&M is certainly not one of the better teams in SEC.

First, what is the identity of our offense?  You have to have one.  I thought we would be a run-based play-action team based on what the players Auburn has.  I never said I do not want to be run-based (just maybe not the entire history of the program) but just wanted to have a competent passing game to compliment that running game.  Gus Malzahn was hardly ever able to do that.  I thought Hugh Freeze could but so far I am not even seeing the basics done right by Freeze and his staff even considering the lack of talent.  I was hoping for smart coaching that adapts to the players you have.  Auburn has a stable of good running backs and it is easier to run block than pass block.  Auburn is severely limited on the line, at quarterback, and at wide receiver.  That sure adds up to a run-based team to me but I still do not see an identity in this offense.

I understand that once you get behind or show you cannot pass that running the ball is almost impossible but that does not explain why our first three plays of the game were two Payton Thorne runs and one pass.  I do not care about the Samford game, Payton Thorne is not good enough to run against SEC teams!  Why would you not start with giving the ball to a proven stud like Jarquez Hunter?  The coaches did the next series and it worked great but when it finally came to the point where a pass had to be completed Thorne was immediately sacked on second down and then threw incomplete.  It was just more of the same after that.  We would have a good run here and there and Thorne had a few completions but we just could not put anything together.  

I am not a football genius but I have watched and coached sports at the lower levels for a long time.  I think at this point if I was calling the plays at Auburn I would have given my best offensive player who is Hunter more than nine carries.  I would have started with sending him out first and using him as much as possible our first two series.  I would then look for play-action opportunities here and there.  The only way that is going to work though is if you keep pounding the ball and if I am going to do that I would use more multiple tight end big sets.  Auburn has several good tight ends and are still very Malzahn-ish from the standpoint of people not respecting our wide receivers AT ALL.  This is something that has plagued Auburn for a very long time.

Anyway the point is you have to have an identity and lean on your strengths first and I do not think the coaches are doing that.  That is just bad coaching and bad preparation.  The team cannot be successful if the coaches cannot even put them in a position to have a chance to be successful.  However, not every play was bad but the Tiger offensive line is.  That is the next problem.  Auburn got what looked like half decent linemen to come but unfortunately they are just not as good as expected.  The offensive line got beat badly many times during the game.  There were many plays where there was no surge for the running back or Thorne was swarmed immediately after he dropped back.  Thorne then threw some pretty bad passes the times he got the ball away.  I do not think the receivers are great either but if the coaching, the line, and the quarterback are all really bad it is already over.

I honestly do not know where Auburn goes from here.  They really have no chance in their next two games.  I am just not sure much can be improved going up against #1 Georgia and going on the road to LSU.  At this point again I would lean on Hunter and try to shorten the games.  The Auburn defense was good again yesterday but they are getting worn down with no help from the offense and the injuries are mounting.  It really does look like there is a good chance of the season coming apart the way things are going.  Auburn is not very good and has next to no depth.  I think the Tigers will be extremely fortunate to get to six wins.  Auburn badly needs to get there though to show some kind of improvement after such a hyped start to this season and to give Freeze credibility on the recruiting trail.

Unfortunately recruiting is the only way off this highway to hell and it takes awhile.  In fact, until Auburn can recruit and coach up a good quarterback and some actual good linemen this is not going to end.  Auburn is paying and will continue to pay for hiring idiot head coaches who cannot recruit well enough and letting them run the program into the ground.  Auburn not only hired them but paid them millions and millions of dollars to kill this program.   Auburn has a huge amount of big recruits coming in for the Georgia game.  This staff getting some of those big-time recruits to come to Auburn is much more important that the actual game to Auburn's future.

GAME 3 REVIEW: Throw the Ball

 Auburn 45  Samford 13.  Last week as my previous post indicated was shocking to me.  I have seen some of the offenses from head coach Hugh Freeze's previous teams and I just did not expect a game plan or a performance like that.  As I said I am extremely sensitive after having to watch Gus Malzahn offenses for over a decade.  Auburn's first two games looked like Malzahn was back.  All I have seen before this game was a run heavy game with only 18 passes thrown against UMass and a head scratching terrible offensive game plan against Cal.  Those are two staples of Gus Malzahn.  It has bothered me all week.  Was Hugh Freeze also going to abandon the modern passing game like Malzahn and Tuberville (most of his career) before him?  I was simply not going to be able to take it.  The good news from last night is that does not appear to be the case.  

THE GOOD

Auburn threw 36 passes against an inferior opponent to work on the passing game.  Hallelujah.  I believe if you check the record books I am not sure ANY Auburn head coach ever has done that.  If they have I bet you can count the number of times it was done on one hand.  Now let me say up front, Auburn should have just run the ball when they had it first and goal on the one yard line.  That was ridiculous.  However the rest of it was the right thing to do.  You have to practice the passing game in games like this to be ready for games like Auburn coming up.  It is a tenet that so many coaches just do not follow to their detriment.  Gus Malzahn was the worst offender of them all.  I cannot say how relieved I am football-wise that head coach Hugh Freeze took this stand last night.  I know many Auburn fans went immediately to the tired old "run the damn ball" line but I believe they are very wrong.  

Now it is not always pretty and Payton Thorne definitely had a few bad moments last night.  There were the bad throws on the goal line but we should have ran there anyway.  Then there was the deep interception he threw into triple coverage with a wide receiver running wide open across the middle.  However I think he improved and all the work in a real game did him a world of good.  You want him to make those mistakes in this type of game!  You do not want to wait till we are down ten points against an SEC opponent.  He is better now that he made that mistake and all the other ones.  THAT IS THE POINT.  That is why you work on the passing game in these lesser games.  I am so happy that we hopefully finally have a coach that gets that point.  I think it will pay dividends down the road but...

THE BAD

Sigh... the other big take away from the game last night is that this Auburn team right now is just not very good.  Hopefully they will improve but I think they are really going to take their lumps over the next three weeks.  Right now I think Auburn can maybe beat Mississippi State and Vanderbilt.  I really do not see any other wins outside New Mexico State.  Hey I still think this staff did all they could but Auburn does not play in the Pac-12 and Auburn has had four straight years of bad recruiting.  That includes an almost completely missing class.  It is like Auburn got NCAA probation for one year that did not allow us to recruit at all.  Jarquez Hunter is the ONLY remaining member of the 2021 Auburn football recruiting class.  A whole class gone.  The two before that by Malzahn were awful (after we gave him that 50 MILLION DOLLAR extension in 2017) and Harsin's last class was terrible as well.  

Again, most Auburn fans just do not understand how bad things were at the end of last season.  Auburn was again seriously in danger of not being able to field a legitimate roster.  You cannot fix that in one season even with the transfer portal.  I am not sure how many seasons it is going to take.  I guess it depends on how good the classes are and I am talking about how many game-changing linemen you can get on both sides of the ball.  This staff worked their butts off and Auburn threw a lot of NIL money around I believe to get the guys we have and at least the Tigers do have a legitimate roster.  However I just do not think it is going to be good enough to beat Texas A&M or LSU on the road or Georgia at home.  The big question that will define this season is will this roster after learning hard lessons over the next three weeks be good enough to beat Ole Miss at home or Arkansas on the road?

THE UGLY

Let me turn my attention to the other side of our fair state as I did not mention anything last week.  Bama Nation is absolutely melting down after losing at home to Texas last week and playing an absolute stinker in an ugly-as-you-can-get win at South Florida yesterday.  Obviously there are some issues in Tuscaloosa but OMG the biggest issue over there is how ridiculously spoiled Bama fans are after maybe the best fifteen year run in college football history.  They are just so spoiled.  Bama has had a knack over the last fifteen years of scheduling big name programs who are down for one of their first few games.  This list includes down teams from Clemson, Michigan, USC, Miami, Florida State, etc...  Bama has won ALL of them except Florida State $aban's first season.  It is just math people!  One of these teams, Texas, was finally good, ONE in fifteen years!  I am sure things will return to normal next season and Wisconsin will stink.

As for yesterday, yes it does look like Bama's seemingly never-ending talent advantage over everyone else seems to have shrunk considerably.  The advent of NIL has actually evened the playing field in this area and that part of NIL I like.  However as opposed to pretty much the rest of the SEC including Auburn, Bama has four TOP recruiting classes on campus and I am sure $aban and the boys will turn things around.  One place I really do not feel sorry for Bama and want to scream when I hear complaining is quarterback!  I mean OMG they are so spoiled!  Bama's last FOUR quarterbacks are STARTING IN THE NFL (!!!).  I am sorry but every single starting quarterback for your school cannot be that good, I mean come on!  Welcome to the world the rest of us live in Bama.  You have good quarterbacks and not-so-good quarterbacks and sometimes your quarterbacks leave and say go some place like Oregon and then become the best in the country.

THE LAST WORD

Auburn travels to College Station in the great state of Texas next week to take on the Texas A&M Aggies.  Auburn is shaky enough but this game also has an 11am kickoff and the Tigers have a pretty good history of not performing well on the road at 11am.  There is no doubt Texas A&M has its own fair share of problems.  Head coach Jimbo Fisher is definitely on the hot seat although he wins either way with his ridiculous contract.  I am not sure the addition of infamous offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino was the right move but last week against Miami the Aggie defense appeared to be the problem.  Texas A&M is definitely beatable and Auburn did beat them last season but overall I still think their roster is in better shape and they are at home.  It will definitely be one of the most interesting games next week.

GAME 2 REVIEW: Short Honeymoon

 Auburn 14  California 10.  Auburn got one of the absolute luckiest wins I have ever seen last night.  First, Cal got robbed of a touchdown on a bad call early and then missed three field goals.  Next, Cal's best running back and offensive leader got injured early in the second half.  Third, Auburn got one of its touchdowns on a short field due to a turnover and somehow some way drove for the other on one of the worst offensive nights in Auburn history.  I still cannot believe Auburn actually won this game with the offensive incompetence I saw during it.  However on the flip side the Auburn defense played a magnificent game with actual good coaching.  We saw an Auburn defensive coordinator with limited talent play aggressive attacking defensive football.  I cannot recall an Auburn team ever blitzing like I saw last night.  That part of the game was awesome to watch.

The whole "new era at Auburn" Hugh Freeze love fest that has been going on through the preseason and Auburn's home opener last week is officially over now though I think.  I like Freeze and think he is the right guy for Auburn as I have written in my last two posts.  However I am not sure I have seen a worse job coaching an offense than last night.  I am including the worst of Malzahn and Harsin in there.  One of the reasons Freeze was hired was his history as an offensive coach.  I understand that in the shape Auburn is in he has to spend more time on recruiting but there is absolutely no excuse for what happened last night.  As I have asked many times before of other coaches, what exactly have these guys been doing in practice the last nine months?  Auburn could not execute the simplest passing play.  

Payton Thorne may not be that good, the offensive line may not be that good, and the receivers may not be that good but there is again no excuse for not being able to execute a simple passing play for three quarters.  There is no excuse for rotating quarterbacks every play at times.  The most ignorant football neophyte knows that rotating quarterbacks every play never and I mean never works.  There is no excuse for a veteran quarterback that you have worked with the past nine months to look that lost.  There is no excuse for the just awful play calling.  It seemed like they were trying to call a bad play?  There is no excuse for three fumbles.  There is just no excuse for the complete lack of any semblance of a competent game plan.  Again this is not the fault of the talent level of the roster.  This debacle was on the coaches plain and simple.  

What do I think we should have done?  OK for starters you do not put David Ashford in the game unless it is a short yardage down.  Ashford is a wildcat quarterback plain and simple.  The point of the wildcat play is that you have an extra blocker with the quarterback running and he is a mild threat to throw the ball where the running back is not.  Those two things give the offense an advantage in a short yardage situation.  The wildcat does not work in other situations because the wildcat quarterback is not a long throw passing threat so the defense can crowd the line of scrimmage with no fear and in that situation the offense loses any advantage and the defense gains it.  The percentages are very low that David Ashford can or will complete a downfield pass.  We have seen a season of David Ashford at quarterback last year.  He is just not an accurate passer.

Therefore since know this about Ashford and based on the history of football you NEVER rotate quarterbacks every play.  EVER.  Again unless it is a wildcard situation you stick with a quarterback.  I am sorry this is elementary stuff.  There is just no reason I should even have to write this.  OK let us move on, as always this Auburn offense is a run-first play-action offense.  It seems that is all Auburn will ever ever ever be.  It is against the laws of heaven and earth that Auburn ever have a great passing offense complemented by the run and not the other way around.  For any who want to argue that point, find one other team at this level who has had only TWO seasons in the entire history of the school where a receiver had a thousand yards receiving (one of them being in 1971).  I would love to make my living recruiting wide receivers NOT to come to Auburn.  The history makes it the easiest job in the world.  I am not sure how anybody can get a wide receiver to come to Auburn to play football.

Back to the point though, this Auburn offense is a run-first play-action offense.  Obviously you come out running the ball and when you pass you play-action most of the time.  I did not see near enough plain ol' play-action passes last night.  You call the play and you squat the tight-end, drag the receiver across the middle, etc... and you let the quarterback make a read and pass the ball.  It is just not that hard.  You then hopefully get an incomplete pass at worst and you punt the ball, stop the other team, and then you try again.  At some point you the put in this unbelievably effective concept.  Auburn would have another national championship if they would have done it in 2013.  Here it is, get ready...  YOU RUN A PLAY-ACTION PASS ON FIRST DOWN.  I know it is a crazy idea but it is pretty effective.  

Instead our coaching staff was shuttling quarterbacks in and out and I guess trying to run RPO plays with a quarterback in Thorne that cannot run and is in fact slow.  The guy is a pocket passer.  The key for him should be getting the ball out of his hands faster.  I think the whole RPO thing is overrated as well because they are always short passes.  It is like an extended option play.  These coaches and other people act like it is undiscovered gold or something.  It is not.  You coach up your quarterback to make reads and deliver passes.  I thought Hugh Freeze did that but instead it looks like Gus Malzahn is back calling plays at Auburn.  I watched 11 bleeping years of that BS and do NOT want to watch a second more.  I understand this team being run based but what we saw last night was just incompetent coaching.

Auburn had only 94 yards passing last night against CAL.  CAL???!!!???  I think that says it all and backs up everything I have written.  There is no way, absolutely no way that Auburn should ever only have 94 yards passing.  That is just beyond bad coaching and game preparation.  Cal's defense might be better than Vanderbilt's in the SEC.  That is it.  My prediction for Auburn this year was seven wins but right now I think Auburn will be lucky to get to six and things are going to get uglier than I thought if last night is any indication.  Finally for the record this is why you PASS THE BALL in games like last week and why we should against Samford this week.  You have to practice this stuff in those games to be ready and it looks like Hugh Freeze is another in a long line of Auburn coaches who will not do it.

Alright lets move to the other side of the ball and some actual good news.  This entails me calling out myself.  I wrote last week on my doubts about the defense and defensive coordinator Ron Roberts.  I think that is clearly what should be written about the offense now.  The defense is going to take their lumps this season, no doubt, but I think they will go down fighting their butts off.  I like the attacking style rather than the typical play-it-safe bend-but-don't-break hope-they-make-a-mistake defense that Auburn has played a lot more of over the last few seasons.  You attack and you actually see a linebacker like Eugene Asante empowered to have a night like he did.  When was the last time you saw anything like that at Auburn?  It is just sad the offense played so bad on a night the defense played so well.

Yes it is sure nice to complain about the team after a win than a loss but lets be clear, the offense was that bad.  I am just not sure the amount of improvement needed to beat anybody outside of Vanderbilt in the SEC is possible this season.  Auburn fans can talk about how bad Texas A&M and LSU are but let me tell you, both of those teams are miles ahead of where the Auburn offense is right now.  If anyone thinks this Auburn team can beat either of those teams on the road playing offense anywhere close to what they played last night they are crazy.  I just thought Auburn would be much better on offense.  I just did not see this coming.  It really puts the whole season in doubt for me.  I hope I am just being an alarmist making too much out of a bad night...

I do know one thing though, again Auburn BETTER practice throwing the ball next week against Samford.  This will be their last chance before things get a LOT tougher.

GAME 1 REVIEW: A MILESTONE START

 Auburn 59  Massachusetts 14.  The Auburn football program reached a major milestone winning their 2023 season opener to finally start the Hugh Freeze era on the plains.  The last time the Auburn football team walked off a football field nine months ago in Tuscaloosa there were doubts about whether Auburn would be able to field a legitimate team in 2023.  Auburn's last two coaches had done such a bad job recruiting and Auburn's roster looked so bad that it made that last statement not an exaggeration.  The Auburn football program was at an all-time low.  However maybe just maybe something good has come out of the last decade at Auburn.  It appears that Auburn has finally hired a president with an ounce of common sense, an athletic director that was actually qualified, and a football coach that can recruit, coach, and actually communicate with people.  That is a true miracle at Auburn University.

I think this Auburn team will be fortunate just to have a winning season this year but that having a winning record is even a possibility is again, a miracle.  It is a testament to again getting this leadership in place and the work of Hugh Freeze and his staff.  The job they have done in the last nine months to rebuild this football program and get them to yesterday is unbelievable, and I do mean unbelievable.  This staff has completely rebuilt this roster mainly through the transfer portal but also by getting several key flips for signing day this year.  Freeze and company have brought in more offensive linemen in the past year than Auburn has brought in the past 6 years combined I think.  They certainly have brought in the most legitimate offensive tackle prospects in a very long time.  Auburn does not have championship talent yet but look at the difference between the roster at the end of last season and the one to start this one.  IT IS SIMPLY AMAZING. 

Hugh Freeze and his staff have not only changed the roster but they have changed the culture and the entire attitude around the Auburn football program as well.  I, like many others, think that some of the blathering on about culture in sports is overstated but not at Auburn.  Again Carnell Williams injected life into the program last season but the long term prognosis was still very bad.  People just do not understand how bad the roster was and how much damage our last two coaches had done to the spirit of the program.  The vibe around Auburn football has been pretty bad for a long time.  Hugh Freeze, Carnell, and the entire staff have changed that.  It has showed in recruiting and the roster overhaul, it has showed in ticket sales, and it showed yesterday in a tremendous season opener.  I actually cannot remember the last time I was that excited for a season opener.  

The whole day was a victory and the actual game was the exclamation point.  On the field Auburn had a legitimate quarterback behind center for the first time in awhile.  On the offensive line, Auburn had legitimate tackles for the first time in a very long time.  You saw a major upgrade in talent across the board and it showed in the game.  Again Auburn is not a championship contender and still has some big holes and areas that need improvement but they are much better than I thought they would be nine months ago.  Auburn predictably went back to basics and relied on the running game behind this retooled offensive line.  The Tigers even without starter Jarquez Hunter in the game ran all over the Minutemen.  Damari Alston, Brian Battie, Jeremiah Cobb plus Justin Jones and Sean Jackson rushed for almost 250 yards and three touchdowns.  You add to them Robby Ashford at the wildcat and those totals go to almost 300 yards and six touchdowns.

The Auburn running game will be the foundation of the offense but Auburn again has upgraded the personnel and coaching at quarterback as well.  Payton Thorne looked the part of the veteran game manager Saturday and obviously he will be asked to do more and more as the schedule grows harder.  He is not Cam Newton but he is miles ahead of what we have seen the last two years.  The receivers had an up and down day but again at least look improved over the last two years.  Auburn looks to have a solid competent SEC offense that can make some big plays.  All of us want to be better but again I am very thankful that this staff was able to just get us to this point.  Another big point is that not only is the talent level upgraded but so is the DEPTH.  Auburn has some depth on the line, at running back, at wide receiver, and definitely at tight end.  Now the outlook will grow dimmer if Thorne gets hurt but that is true for better programs than us as well if they lose their starting quarterback.

The prognosis on defense is not as rosy as we all got our first look at this Auburn defense.  Auburn has some SEC caliber talent on offense but in my opinion Auburn does not have a lot of SEC level talent in the defensive front six or seven.  Auburn got some talented young defensive ends on the roster but the line overall is weak and there appear to be no standouts at linebacker.  Time will tell and I hope I am wrong but it sure looks like this defense is going to seriously struggle against top SEC teams.  They are most likely going to have some rough days this season.  The secondary is veteran and pretty strong but they can only do so much if we have a weak front six or seven.  This coaching staff's next big challenge is getting in All-SEC defensive tackles which is much easier said than done.  Defensive tackle recruiting has almost eclipsed every position but quarterback in importance.  The jury is still out as well on defensive coordinator Ron Roberts and if he is the long term solution for Auburn running the defense.

I need to stop though and listen to Coach Freeze as he made it a point in his post game presser to say that he has learned to stop and enjoy the wins more and he has made that a point to his staff.  Right now we just need to enjoy this win and the huge improvement in this program and team plus get fired up for a cross country roadie to play Cal this next weekend.  I am not thrilled about a 9:30pm start time (!!!) but am always excited to play a Power 5 team (at least they are for now) Auburn has never played before.  Hopefully these Auburn Tigers can keep the good feelings going for another week!