LSU 48 Auburn 18. It was another disappointing Saturday for the Auburn Tigers in what is becoming a long line of them. Some people were surprised at the final margin but I am not sure why. Auburn has maybe the worst offense in the SEC. Right now Auburn simply cannot score enough points to beat anybody any good. That is pretty much fact, not an opinion. The cold hard statistics bear it out. The only Power Five team Auburn has beaten this season is a bad Cal team and they were very lucky to pull that game out. The Tigers were able to make it close against Georgia because of turnovers.
The Auburn defense is an undermanned scrappy bunch and would be a decent defense paired with a good offense. However that is not the case and this defense is nowhere near good enough to hold anybody in check with no help from the offense. Outside of something strange happening, this Auburn season comes down to their matchups against the other SEC bottom feeders in Mississippi State and Vanderbilt. They win those and New Mexico and get to 6-6 and would salvage something from this season, i.e. a bowl bid. However right now I have a hard time seeing even that happening with this offense.
The response to the current situation has brought out two camps on the various Auburn sites. Group one points out how bad the situation is that Head Coach Hugh Freeze took over. They point out that Auburn simply does not have the players and it is going to take time to straighten out this mess. They say you have to give him time and getting upset about these games and criticizing the coaches is pointless. For the record I agree with just about all of that. I think all of that is true but I think they are missing one key point. I think that point is important because it effects the recruiting solution.
That key point is the current offensive coaching. That brings me to group two of which I would include myself. I think pretty much all of us in group two agree with group one EXCEPT that you cannot ignore this offensive coaching even though the talent level is so low. The offensive coaching is horrendous and that is a fact. Hugh Freeze was hired for his offensive acumen and you literally could not do a worse job with this bunch. You should still be able to see a little bit of good coaching in this offense and you do not. I think blaming a coordinator is just a smoke screen. The buck stops with the head coach.
The first issue is the inability of the Auburn coaches to implement any kind of base passing game. They cannot seem to consistently execute even the simplest passing play. I know the players especially the quarterback are not that good but Payton Thorne was the quarterback of a team that won ten games in the second toughest conference in college football. I know it was a running team and he was a game manager, etc... but he still had to execute some of these plays. He should be able to do that. The receivers with all their warts should be better than this. The sequence of plays, the rotating of quarterbacks, etc... all smacks of dubious offensive coaching. There is a problem here.
I think that is relevant as opposed to group one because since Auburn is SO BAD on offense prospective recruits will be turned off. They might see opportunity but they also do not ever want to be a part of something like that. You have to show them an offense or the potential of an offense they want to be a part of. You also have to show them the studs on the offensive line starting with the tackles that are going to pave the way for them. Auburn still does not have that. The Tigers currently have four star DeAndre Carter from California verbally committed but Texas is coming hard after him. If we continue down this path do you really think this guy ends up going to Auburn?
I just do not understand what we are doing on offense. I do not understand the play calling sequences. I do not understand how they are trying to use different players. I just do not get it. We know Jarquez Hunter is a good running back but we have reduced him to nothing. Whatever we are doing is not making any offensive player look good. I know we are bad but Cadillac Williams was able to take a similar group and at least run with the ball. They were bad but the team had an identity and something that the players could do well. That also helped the defense by shortening games. You have to hang your hat on something. Again I just do not understand even what our offensive coaches are trying to do.
That brings us to this week against Ole Miss. Auburn is always obviously better at home but Ole Miss beat LSU. I do not think the home field advantage is enough to overcome the deficiencies on offense. There is just not much to say however I do admit reading this blog has become a depressing venture (although that is not my fault, I just call it like I see it) so I am going to start including a "Saturday to Remember" feature about a good Auburn football memory against the team we are playing or whatever. I guess you have to hang on to the past sometimes to get through today...
A Saturday to Remember
This past Saturday marks the end of LSU being a permanent resident on Auburn's schedule. They have been there since the SEC went to divisions in 1992. There have been a lot of great games in the series and I have been to many of them including a couple at Tiger Stadium. I would love to do a historical on the series but that would be a very long post. I have selected three games and that is pretty hard to do with this series. I will have to have an honorable mention as well and that is when Auburn lost to LSU at home in 1996 but the old barn gym beside the stadium burned down. That was the one time something just completely overshadowed the game especially since we were sitting in the upper desk on that side of the stadium. I know it was terrible but I have never seen a fire like that before or since. The flames rose higher than the stadium!
I guess I will go in chronological order. I got to go to LSU and watch Auburn destroy LSU 34-10 in 1993 with LSU wearing purple at home. It might be my favorite road game ever, it was so much fun. I remember one of Auburn's touchdowns coming off a double-reverse flea flicker! I got to see another great one the next year when I took my wife to her first game in 1994 and Auburn won 30-26 on three interception returns for touchdowns! However I have to say the greatest win over LSU I ever saw was Cam Newton's Heisman game. I am literally sitting here getting chills thinking about it. His unbelievable touchdown run in that game was one of the most incredible things I have ever seen and Onterio McCalebb's 70 yard run to win it was another one for the ages.
Until next week...
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