Overall, Auburn was just better at about every position than Baylor except when it came to passing the football. Now again this game Auburn did the right thing and just got the win however the biggest concern for me coming out of this game is the Auburn passing game on both sides of the ball. Lets look at the defense first... I mean I think D.J. Durkin is a pretty good coach but dang this was some epically bad defense. It sure was a shock even for all of us that were ignoring all of the Auburn pay-sites basically saying how great every Auburn player is for months. I mean all of these guys have carried on all summer telling us how great the line is, how great the linebackers are, and how this might be the best secondary ever at Auburn...
Lets just go to the numbers... Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson was 27 of 48 for 419 YARDS and three touchdowns with no interceptions. I mean yes Auburn did get some crucial stops but I will have to say Baylor sure seemed to call some horrible plays inside the ten yard line thank goodness. The defense did keep Baylor under 100 yards rushing but is that as big an accomplishment when they pass for over 400??? I think across the board everyone thought the defense would be much better. Hopefully they improve and I do not think many of the SEC teams ahead on the schedule can throw the ball as good as Baylor or at least I hope not. The improvement of this defense will be a major factor in how the rest of the season goes for the Tigers.
On offense uh running-wise, Auburn was almost as potent as Baylor was through the air as the Tigers rushed for 300 yards shredding the Baylor defense who appeared dead set on not giving Auburn the deep ball. However does Baylor have that good a defense where they can just take away the Auburn passing game? I just do not think so as I bet we will see Baylor in many high-scoring Big 12 games throughout the rest of this season. With that said though Auburn barely managed 100 yards passing with massively hyped returning wide receivers Cam Coleman and Malcolm Simmons only getting one catch each. Monster wide receiver signee Eric Singleton got three but had twenty yards... I mean yes I am very glad Auburn did what it had to do to win the game but the passing game is still a flashing red light.
Quarterback Jackson Arnold did not look comfortable in the pocket. He did not make many good passes and he look scared ****less to make a mistake and throw an interception. I know it is just the first game and all of that but this guy is not a true freshman. I think he should have been better. Most of us have watched enough football that even if a quarterback is having a bad game you can see if he is brave in the pocket, if he throws a nice ball, etc... I did not see any of that with Arnold. I also think that his success running in this game will encourage the bad habit of running every time he feels pressure. I see better SEC teams shutting down most of his running. Also why have we carried on and on and on and paid so much money for all of these wide receivers to not have a passing game good enough against BAYLOR to get them the ball?
The answer appears to be the same as it has been the last decade at Auburn. Our head coach is an ex-high school coach who is a good salesman and sermonizer but simply does not have the ability to teach or implement modern football passing concepts. Freeze is a little different as he usually throws a lot of short passes but the simple fact that we could not get any of these really good wide receivers the ball in this game kind of speaks for itself. However again I would much rather be talking about getting better after a win than after a loss (just ask the other set of fans in this state). Auburn and Freeze really had to win this game and they did. Everyone, offense and defense, now has the chance to take to the next two weeks to improve as a team and they better because back-to-back road games at Oklahoma and Texas A&M are looming and we will find out a whole lot more about this team then.
