Auburn 2015 Preview: Time to Step Up

As the clock ticks relentlessly toward the start of the 2015 college football season, there are a lot of questions surrounding this year's Tiger football team.  First, can Auburn step up and play well and succeed when they are the favorite, when they are predicted to do well?  Can coach Will Muschamp step up and resurrect the Auburn defense?  Can coach Gus Malzahn step up and actually run a balanced offense?  Will their be some players step up as real leaders after a complete lack of leadership last year?  

Outside the big picture, can Auburn's young inexperienced defensive tackles step up and play with the big boys? Can Auburn's young inexperienced tight ends and H-backs step up and adequately fill their roles?  Finally, can Jeremy Johnson step up and be the quarterback everyone rooting for Auburn thinks he can be.  I have rarely seen a team with so much talent both playing and coaching yet have so many questions.  Of course that is all internal, externally Auburn must take on the best division of teams in college football.  There are no easy outs in the SEC West with the rise of the Mississippi schools and Arkansas' resurgence last season.

I guess the first place to start is after letting it settle for awhile, what happened to the 2014 Auburn Tigers?  I think most of us saw the cracks appearing that I listed in my preview last year.  First, it was obvious to everyone except the Auburn offensive coaches that the offensive line while good would not be the monster it had been in 2013 and Auburn would sorely miss Jay Prosch.  The thought was that Gus Malzahn would call a more balanced offense which he did not till the Bama game.  Auburn still had good offensive numbers but stubborn play calling factored into several losses.

Next there was the obvious leadership issues with seniors getting arrested and suspended.  Everyone hoped it would somehow get fixed but it never did.  Auburn suffered from a lack of leadership on both sides of the ball all season.  Finally, there was just a complete lack of coaching or adjustments on the defensive side of the ball.  Coach Ellis Johnson turned in one of the all-time worst jobs of defensive coaching in Auburn history.  

I will never forget Bama All-American and NFL first round draft choice Amari Cooper lining up at a critical moment in the Iron Bowl and literally running a simple go or post route almost uncovered for an easy touchdown.  There were no obstructions off the line, no tight coverage, no double coverage, no special treatment at all for the best offensive player on Bama's team.  I may be an obscure Monday morning quarterbacking blogger but there was simply no excuse in the world for that play by any defensive coach at any level.

Thank goodness, this problem from last year's team was addressed as well as it could possibly be addressed with the hire of coach Will Muschamp.  I have always liked coach Muschamp and was shocked it went as bad as it did for him at Florida.  However I still think the guy is a great defensive coordinator.  The Auburn defense will be better because of him.  Unfortunately though I have spent the offseason cautioning fellow Auburn fans to not expect miracles.  There is only so much he can do with the players he inherits.  I just hope he stays long enough to coach a team of guys he has a hand in bringing in.  

All the press on defense has gone to returning stud Carl Lawson and incoming stud Byron Cowart.  These defensive ends plus senior DaVonte Lambert will play a huge role if Auburn is to field a decent defense this season.  Unfortunately one of the biggest questions marks as I have asked already is the defensive tackles.  Only junior Montravious Adams has any experience at all.  It is very tough to win a championship with so much inexperience in the middle of your defensive line. 

Things look better elsewhere with Auburn returning senior linebackers Kris Frost and Cassanova McKinzy.  The hope is that coach Muschamp can get more out of these guys than the previous staff.  Auburn has some depth with Justin Garrett (if he can stay healthy which he never has) and Tre Williams plus highly touted newcomer Jeffery Holland.  It is still a pretty light crew but again the hope is that better coaching will help.

The secondary looks pretty good.  There are some depth concerns but hopefully there is some decent talent and good experience in probable senior starters Jonathan Jones and Blake Countess at the corners and safeties Jonathan "Rudy" Ford and Tray Matthews plus Josh Holsey at the nickel. I think Auburn will play more nickel than a third linebacker.  There looks to be some guys with potential behind these guys in Carlton Davis, Nick Ruffin, Stephen Roberts and Tim Irvin.  Of course this all sends us back to defensive end where a good pass rush always makes the secondary a lot better.

This is not a great defense by any means but if the defensive line is decent with a good pass rush it will look a lot better.  If Lawson gets hurt again or Cowart fizzles his first year or the tackles are terrible the defense will have problems.  Now hopefully it will not look as bad as it did last year but I do have to say that Florida's defense gave up about as many yards to Bama last year as Auburn...  Everyone likes Muschamp but he is not a miracle worker.  Auburn's overall strategy looks to be like the old Peyton Manning Indianapolis Colts where you get the lead and let a smaller fast defense rush the quarterback.

On offense it starts with one of the most anticipated quarterbacks in Auburn's long and storied history, junior Jeremy Johnson.  Cam quickly got the press but got nowhere near the preseason buzz that Johnson has.  I do not think any Auburn quarterback has gotten the preseason kudos Johnson has, I sure hope the kid can handle it because it is hard to not let all that go to your head.  Johnson is the dream quarterback though standing 6-5 and weighing in at 240 lbs with a strong arm and great accuracy and touch.  

I thought he was the best quarterback last year and am more than ready to see him this year especially after two years of an undersized and erratic Nick Marshall.  Again as I have said many times I just hope that Gus Malzahn will adjust his run-heavy offensive philosophy to be more balanced and use Johnson more like he did with Cam Newton.  That never seemed to happen with Nick Marshall no matter how improved at passing they kept saying he was.  

Auburn returns another strong offensive line anchored by junior tackles Shon Coleman and Avery Young.  These guys are not great but they are very good.  At the guards, sophomore Braden Smith and junior Alex Kozan or senior Devonte Danzey will take over.  Finally at center, it will either be senior Xavier Dampeer or sophomore Austin Golson.  This is a strong group with some depth as evidenced by the position battles still going.  The depth is not near as good at the tackles but the interior of the line looks very strong.  

Again though while this is a very good line, it is not going to be the 2013 line.  I keep telling people that was a once-in-a-lifetime type of line.  You just have to be truly great to run the ball on good teams when they expect you to.  I do think this group could be near dominating running a more balanced offense featuring a great quarterback that can see the field.  Shon Coleman struggled against good pass rushers last year so that will be something to keep an eye on but hopefully he will improve some and along with Johnson's quick release be able to mitigate that weakness.

He has some good targets to throw to.  It was really hard for me to watch Auburn not use enough two of the most athletic talented wide receivers to ever play on the plains last season in Sammie Coates and Duke Williams.  Luckily, Williams returns this year if he can keep it together.  He is obviously the best receiver on the team and Auburn will definitely need him in good standing and healthy to compete for a championship.  

The next biggest playmaker is Ricardo Louis who will need to be much more consistent.  The same can be said of Melvin Ray.  He is a guy who has made big plays but must be more consistent and the coaches also cannot forget about him for weeks and give him some targets each week.  I think the most important guy after that will be Marcus Davis, he has before and can be the Wes Welker possession-type receiver.  That is a big role in a good passing attack.

There is a lot of talk and hype about several other guys including: Jason Smith, Myron Burton, Darius Slayton, Tony Stevens and Stanton Truitt but right now it is just talk and hype.  Auburn will need for a couple of these guys to step up especially if there are some injuries.  However these guys look to have a lot of potential and I guess that is all you can ask for when you get to the second and third string guys.  Hopefully coach Dameyune Craig will step up and stop the trend of Auburn wide receiver busts.

The only glaring problem on the offense is the complete lack of experience at tight end and H-back.  Auburn has not won many championships without an experienced and talented tight end.  Auburn lost all of its experience at tight end with senior C.J. Uzomah and Brandon Fulse departing last year.  Auburn's only two tight ends right now are freshmen Chris Laye and Jalen Harris.  Sorry folks, this is a huge yellow flag.  These guys have absolutely no experience at all.  

I have read several times that there is a huge difference between a Malzahn offense running the ball using a tight end and running the ball behind a three wide receiver set.  Again though this weakness can be mitigated by running a more balanced offense.  Everyone points to Malzahn's time at Tulsa and Arkansas State but at Auburn he has been run heavy all the time except for the second half of 2010 with Cam.  Malzahn also had a bad habit last season of calling too many trick plays or misdirections rather than just calling a straight drop-back pass.  Hopefully with Johnson he will have more confidence to do that.

The Tigers have the same issue at H-back where there is also only two freshmen.  I feel a little better because it is an easier position to be good at early and feel a little more confident in the candidates being pretty good players.  Again though, there is no substitute for experience and Auburn just does not have any experience at these two positions.  As with defensive tackle, it is very hard to win a championship starting green freshman at these positions.  

Finally on offense we come to running back.  Auburn looks to be in good shape here with sophomores Roc Thomas and Peyton Barber plus JUCO transfer Jovon Robinson and the highly touted freshman from my neck of the woods, Kerryon Johnson.  There is not much to complain about here, there is talent and depth.  In the spring it appeared Jovon Robinson was the man but throughout the fall it has sounded like Thomas and Barber were the top two.  One or more of these guys will get the job done and have a great season.

This is a very good team.  I am accused of being negative at times but it is all about where you are coming from.  If you are just concerned about Auburn having a good team with a shot at a championship then rest easy, this is that team.  However when I look at the team I judge it by if it is good enough to win a Southeastern Conference championship.  That is the standard.  I think this team is good enough but like every other team it will be competing with Auburn will need some young players to step up.

Now to the schedule...  Well it is an odd year so that is good.  Odd years are the only years now that Auburn realistically has a chance at an SEC title since Jay Jacobs let the SEC schedule Georgia and Bama on the same home and away rotation.  It is hard enough to beat Georgia and Bama any way but nearly impossible to beat them both on the road in the same season.  Only a few rare exceptions will ever do it therefore even years are a lot less exciting at Auburn now.  So with that said Auburn better take full advantage of the odd years especially when they have a good team like this year.

Auburn starts out with a pretty decent test in Louisville and Bobby Petrino.  They are a good team but if Auburn plays solid they should win.  Auburn then gets a breather in Jacksonville State before heading to Baton Rouge.  LSU returns to its old spot on the Auburn schedule which is the third game of the year and I like it.  This used to be Tennessee in that third spot and it always showed which team would be a contender or pretender.  Now the loser can come back ala 2013 but it makes it a lot harder.  This will be one of the key games in Auburn's season.

Auburn will return home for a tough game with Mississippi State.  State will come to play and give Auburn a tough one but they lost a lot of experienced talent last year.  I think Auburn is a little better and is at home so they should win this game.  Auburn then gets another easy one with San Jose State and a bye week before a Thursday trap game at Kentucky.  Kentucky has given Auburn problems in recent years beating the Tigers at home in 2009 and nearly spoiling the perfect season in 2010.  This game will be closer than expected but you have to favor Auburn.

Auburn then hits the gauntlet, the real meat of the schedule.  There is no hiding or skating by in the SEC West especially at Auburn where you are in the SEC West and play Georgia every year.  Any leadership issues or problems with your team will be exposed ala 2014.  I expect Auburn to be undefeated or have one loss at this point.  Anything worse will be a huge disappointment and could spell big trouble because Auburn then plays Arkansas, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Georgia, Idaho and Bama in consecutive weeks.  Only Idaho might be easy.  

On the road at Arkansas will be another huge trap as Bret Bielema has made Auburn his #1 target.  This one will be another moment of truth for this Tiger team.  Auburn should handle Ole Miss but it will not be easy.  Auburn will then go on the road again to College Station.  They won a close one there in 2013 but have lost twice at home to the Aggies.  Texas A&M always seems to play well against Auburn.  I am just not sure how good the Aggies are but of course they did not look too good last year when they upset the Tigers.  Auburn will most likely be the favorite but this one will be tough.  

That brings us to Georgia.  This will be Auburn's toughest game of the season in my opinion.  Especially since Auburn will be coming off three tough games in a row while Georgia will have a bye week and a home game against Kentucky before Auburn.  You also have to favor the Dawgs in this one when you once again factor in that Coach Mark Richt outside of two great Auburn teams and two great last second finishes has absolutely owned Auburn during his tenure.  The Bulldogs embarrassed the Tigers again last season.

Auburn will then hopefully have an easy one in Idaho before closing with the Iron Bowl.  There is not much point in trying to scout Bama.  They will be very good again.  They have brought in so many good players for so many years in a row they are just going to be good.  Add to that the fact that Auburn has not beaten the Tide by more than 10 points since 1969 and you can pretty much guarantee this will a tough close game that will go down to the wire... again.

I think the likely scenario is that Auburn loses at least two games.  I am predicting 10-2 and 6-2 in the SEC.  I do not know if that will be good enough in the West or not.  Probably not but it depends on whether one of those losses is to Bama.  It is definitely possible Auburn could do better and as we found out last year they could do worse.  However if they can get at least ten wins that is a pretty good season against this schedule and would mean that Auburn did indeed step up.  Lets tee it up and find out...  War Eagle.

Auburn Basketball 2014-15: More of the Same till the End

Nobody was more excited about Coach Bruce Pearl coming to Auburn than I was.  Here is my post about Pearl that contains the links to all of my posts about Auburn basketball.  I thought and still think Pearl is one of the few people who can turn around the Auburn basketball program.  However I was pretty disappointed watching another season completely unravel.  I certainly knew he would not do it overnight but I expected more than a 4-14 conference record.  That is only one more win than Tony Barbee's "worst season ever" in 2012-13.  Barbee went 3-15 in conference that year.  

I know Auburn did not have a lot of talent for Pearl to work with but I am sorry they had enough talent with a good coach to do better than 4-14.  It has been extremely difficult to watch.  The first game I watched this season was against Texas Tech and the team was flat terrible and have stayed that way most of this season.  I have heard a lot about this team fighting and not quitting but you can say that about Jeff Lebo's teams.  The only thing that matters is wins and losses and again 4-14 just does not cut it.  This team has as much or more talent than many teams Auburn has had over the last 20 years that had better conference records with worse coaches.   

Going into the SEC tournament, I was pretty down on the whole thing and wondering if Auburn basketball had indeed passed the point of no return.  There was no tangible evidence that Bruce Pearl had made a bit of difference... till the SEC tournament, a place where Auburn had not won a game since 2009.  Finally at the very end, Auburn finally shined like a pearl.  The Tigers led by Pearl and senior K.T. Harrell beat Mississippi State (who had delivered one of Auburn's most painful home losses this season) , Texas A&M (who had absolutely beat down Auburn twice this season) and finally the LSU Tigers who were gunning for an NCAA tournament berth.

The LSU game was the magical one with Harrell hitting a tough three-point buzzer beater to tie it up and send it to overtime where the Tigers would win it.  An Auburn basketball win led that evenings ESPN Sportscenter.  I am not sure that has ever happened before.  Auburn coach Bruce Pearl hit a "buzzer beater" of his own by leading this tournament run.  After a season of bad basketball and tough losses Pearl finally has something to show, something to sell to recruits.  The run ended a day later in the semi-finals against the undefeated Kentucky Wildcats but the statement was made.

Of course, nothing comes easy to Auburn basketball as top forward Cinmeon Bowers was suspended for the Kentucky game for some kind of rules violation.  That taints the whole thing a little bit and could effect the program depending on the severity of the violation.  So far, no details have been released but it is extremely frustrating to see following such a big win.  Next season Auburn loses Harrell and some of the other main contributors in Antoine Mason, K.C. Ross-Miller and Malcolm Canada.  Pearl is supposed to have a top twenty recruiting class coming in to replace them.  I hope so because Pearl has to build on this run and show more next season.

I think Auburn needs to finish with a winning conference record or at least 8-8 next season.  Of course that was what I expected this season.  Pearl will have to do it with a younger team but that has kind of become the standard in college basketball.  I think another losing conference record will hurt Pearl's sales pitch and make it more difficult to convince recruits that Auburn is turning it around.  The home attendance will drop as well.  Auburn fans will support a good team but most everyone has better things to do than watch another bad Auburn basketball team.

I am not sure when or if Auburn will ever make it back to the NCAA Tournament.  Things have changed so much since Auburn last made it to the Big Dance in 2003.  At that time, a winning conference record pretty much guaranteed an NCAA Tournament berth.  Auburn got in with an 8-8 record in 2003.  Nowadays an SEC team can go 12-4 in conference and not make it.  That does not bode well for Auburn.  You have to get some big wins against out-of-conference foes in addition to doing well in your conference.  Most of the big preseason tournaments are only for the sacred cows of college basketball and they do not let anyone else in. 

Short term, I am just looking for Auburn to be in the top half of the programs in the SEC because right now the Tigers are at the very bottom historically.  Long term Pearl will eventually be judged on his ability to get Auburn back into the NCAA Tournament.  I think that will be a very tough job indeed.  Pearl will have shown how good a coach he is if he can pull that off.  Again though the first step is a winning conference record.  Auburn has had only one season with a winning conference record in the last FIFTEEN years.  It is time to take that first step after laying the foundation with this seasons SEC Tournament run.

2015 State of the Program

First, my standard intro to this post...  "It has become standard here at STR to do a "State of the Program" post following national signing day.  The national "state of the union" is always around this time as well and it just seems like the perfect time to do it for a college football team. It is the end of a complete cycle of college football starting with spring practice through the regular season and then the all important recruiting season. You really have a good pretty good feel as to where the program is since most big fans have been into it almost daily for six months. You have seen your team play an entire season and know the latest batch of recruits coming in."

Last year, other than not finishing against Florida State, everything was going Auburn's way.  When the dust cleared after the national championship disappointment, Auburn had put together maybe the most incredible comeback season in college football history going from 0-8 to SEC champs.  Along the way the Tigers won games over their biggest rivals on maybe the two most unbelievable magnificent plays in Auburn history.  The win in the Iron Bowl over #1 Bama to win the West was one of the greatest games in Auburn football history.  

There were still some clouds out there as I documented in this post last year beginning with Jay Jacob's foolhardy mistake of letting the SEC put Georgia and Bama on the same home and away rotation.  I thought last year's team might survive it but it bit Auburn even earlier than I thought.  It will continue to hurt Auburn for many years to come.  The eight game conference schedule with 14 teams will continue to help or hurt as well. It happened with 12 teams but with two more it has become much more pronounced.  It is all about who you have to play from the other division.  

It has helped Bama immensely getting that easy win against the Vols the last few years while Georgia has been a huge thorn in Auburn's side.  It has also helped the Bulldogs get to Atlanta several times the last few years.  While Texas A&M and Missouri have been successful since joining the SEC, overall I think the addition was a bad move and continues to hurt in less visible ways like football scheduling.  Fourteen teams just does not work well and it does not look like there will be two more great programs available anytime soon to make it sixteen.  

Auburn will benefit some next year, maybe, from the scheduling.  Kentucky rolls onto the schedule as Auburn's rotating East opponent.  The Wildcats were much improved but still one of the weaker teams in the conference.  The only thing that would have made expansion a positive for Auburn would have been moving to the East.  It is Jay Jacob's biggest missed opportunity.  Auburn could be back in the East with all of Auburn's traditional rivals in Florida, Georgia and Tennessee and not stuck with the Mississippi schools and ex-Big 12 teams.  However that is a discussion for another day.  

The scheduling problems will remain one of the biggest factors on whether Auburn has a chance at a conference title every year.  I am most definitely for a nine game schedule to alleviate this problem and getting Bama and Georgia out of this same rotation.  Until then you will see this same commentary from me in this space every year...

Back to my initial point and the spring of a year ago... Auburn as Gus Malzahn would say after every game in 2013 was going "up, up, UP!".  Unfortunately what goes up must come down and Auburn did in a big way.  I think just about everyone knows this principle but did not figure Auburn would come down in 2014 with so many good players returning.  Auburn had a ton of senior starters on both sides of the ball including a senior quarterback.  That usually means good things are going to happen however a lack of leadership even with all those seniors and some bad coaching did the Tigers in.  Auburn finished 8-5 and just 4-4 in the SEC.

The cracks started appearing over the summer as senior quarterback Nick Marshall and senior defensive back Jonathan Mincy were both arrested on drug charges.  I think Auburn's chances at a championship were probably finished right there.  If not they definitely were when another senior, safety Jermaine Whitehead, got into an altercation with a coach and then was suspended for most of the season.  Three seniors, three stupid choices.  When your senior impact players are doing dumb stuff like this you know deep down this will not be a great team and I think we all knew it.

Those were the symptoms, the lack of leadership was the problem.  Marshall was a playmaker but not a leader.  Tre Mason and Jay Prosch lead the way in 2013 alleviating the problem with Marshall but there was no one to help in 2014.  I do not think Auburn had much leadership on defense either but it would not have mattered with talent missing at important spots and horrendous coaching.  Elite pass rusher Dee Ford and lockdown cornerback Chris Davis were able to make Ellis Johnson's 2013 defense just adequate.  The defense crumbled and finally completely collapsed in 2014 without that kind of talent at those positions.  

The horrible coaching on defense was evident down the stretch and I credit Malzahn for addressing it immediately following the Iron Bowl.  As I wrote after that game, I did not think he would do it but he did and followed it up with grabbing the best possible coach available.  As I wrote in the bowl game review: "It was a huge win to bring in Will Muschamp.  I have recited many times that the last time Auburn had a good defense was Muschamp's last year at Auburn.  However unless Muschamp and the other Auburn coaches can break Bama's recruiting stranglehold on the majority of the region's best defensive players I am not sure how big a difference Muschamp can make.  In Muschamp's first tour as defensive coordinator he had access to many more good defensive players with Tuberville being a defensive coach and recruiting against Mike Shula.  Things have changed drastically since then as Bama scoops up nearly every great defensive player in the state.  Auburn simply has to get more good players on defense..."

That brings us to this years recruiting haul.  On offense Auburn did another great job grabbing five offensive lineman and grabbing them before it is a critical need.  I, for one, have been screaming about this for years and it is nice to see the Tigers get some good prospects in the pipeline before it is a critical need.  The only negative is one or two of these guys really needed to be defensive linemen.  The coaches also brought in a good fullback and tight end to bolster those positions.  Unfortunately though they were a little late on this and these guys will be under the gun to contribute immediately.

They say the fullback position is about dead due to all these shotgun formation offenses but not in Gus Malzahn's offense.  I wrote several times how underrated and important Eric Smith was in 2010 and then everyone saw how important Jay Prosch was in 2013.  A good fullback blocker is essential to the Malzahn offense and we all saw this season that a great tight end does not translate to a good fullback.  Senior Brandon Fulse was less than stellar at the H-back spot and it showed.  Malzahn needs that fullback blocker and hopefully Chandler Cox can fill that role for a few years.

Auburn usually is overloaded with useless wide receivers but this year only brought in two, Darius Slayton and Ryan Davis, and both look pretty good.  It is also always good to bring in a decent quarterback recruit just in case and Auburn checked that box this year with Tyler Queen.  That brings us to the best part of this year's class on offense and that is running back.  Auburn grabbed two of the best in the country in JUCO Jovon Robinson and Alabama "Mr. Football" Kerryon Johnson.  You add these two guys to last years "Mr. Football" Roc Thomas and veteran Peyton Barber and Auburn should continue to have a great running attack.  

Turning back to defense, I think Auburn did a good job everywhere but defensive line which was the biggest need in my opinion coming into this recruiting season.  Auburn definitely got a great player in Byron Cowart but in my opinion wasted a scholarship on Price Tega Wanogho Jr. who just took up football and suffered a major injury.  I will be surprised if he ever plays a down in an SEC game.  The coaches then brought in a couple of decent recruits in JUCO Maurice Swain and Jauntavius Johnson but that is it.  Auburn has not had much luck over the years bringing in instant impact JUCO lineman and I bet Johnson ends up redshirting so basically Cowart is it for next year.

Auburn lost four seniors that played regularly on the defensive line and that was not a huge loss since they were not very good however unless some unknowns really step up Auburn does not have much depth to replace them.  Right now the starters look to be Carl Lawson, DaVonte Lambert, Elijah Daniel and Montravius Adams.  The only experienced depth looks to be Gimel President.  Coach Rodney Garner's work looks to be cut out for him especially if there are any injuries.  All we have other than these guys is Cowart and a lot of inexperienced unknowns.  Auburn needed to bring in at least two or three more recruits on the defensive line.  This position looks to be by far Auburn's biggest trouble spot come next fall.

On the plus side, for the first time since Nick $aban arrived in Tuscaloosa, Auburn appears to have signed a great linebacker class led by Jeffery Holland followed by Darrell Williams, Richard McBryde and Montavious Atkinson.  Auburn needed this bad.  Kudos to Coach Muschamp for immediately making a huge impact with Cowart and Holland.  As I said above, as much as Auburn needs good coaching on defense they need good players.  These guys could make a huge difference down the road.  It is hard to remember the last time Auburn had great linebackers.

Finally Auburn also brought in some good talent for the defensive backfield to mix in with some good potential already on campus.  Safeties Tim Irvin and Jordan Colbert look really good and Auburn stole Carlton Davis from Ohio State.  Like offensive line, I am glad the coaches got some good talent in the pipeline before the alarm bells start going off.  Rounding out the class is athlete Jason Smith and punter Ian Shannon.  I think the sooner the coaches get Jason Smith away from quarterback and into a position he can actually contribute the better.

To finish up on the offensive side of the ball, the coaching has to be a lot better this next year.  While the defense grabbed all the attention, the offensive coaching was not much better considering the talent they had to work with.  As I said all season and will continue to say, Coach Malzahn must make some changes.  He stubbornly continued to try and run the ball even when it was clearly not working and refused many times to just call a straight pass in critical situations.  Everyone expects this to change with Jeremy Johnson hopefully taking over at quarterback (after we have to suffer through the coaches creating a "race"for the position in the spring to put pressure on him).  However I am not convinced yet things will change.

Overall the state of the program is good but lets not gloss over the fact that 2014 was not a good season and the coaches did not do a good job.  Bringing in Will Muschamp is a great thing but will probably be a fairly short term solution.  Gus Malzahn has to continue to build his foundation at Auburn.  He has good coaches and good players in place and that is where it all starts but Auburn is still in the toughest division in college football and their in-state rival is still at an all-time high so any mistakes can hurt badly.  

The 2015 season will be critical after the disappointing 2014 season and it being one of the now so important years where Auburn gets Georgia and Bama at home.  Auburn pretty much does not have much of a chance in even years anymore having to play those two on the road at the end of the year.  Odd years are now THE years for Auburn.  Couple that with Kentucky rolling in as the other East opponent and every team in the West but State starting over at quarterback and Auburn must capitalize on this opportunity.

2015 Outback Bowl Review: Crossroad

Wisconsin 34  Auburn 31.  In a microcosm of the entire Auburn 2014 football season the Tigers lost in overtime to the Badgers to open this new year.  The defense was once again completely eviscerated by its opponent as Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon rushed for 251 yards, the most ever given up to a single player in Auburn history.  It did not stop there either as Auburn also managed to also give up over 100 yards rushing to Gordon's BACKUP.  It was another epic performance by the worst defense on a winning team I have ever seen in my life.  

The highlight of the day was Gordon's 53 yard touchdown run on a 4th and 1 play.  In the end Wisconsin had over 500 yards of offense with 400 of it coming on the ground.  As I have said previously, when you rush for 400 yards on someone you take away their manhood.  I have to believe this is on the coaches.  It sure seems like we have enough guys to do better than this especially against a Wisconsin team that did not have a quarterback.  You can add this horrendous New Year's day performance to this list I described in my last post after the Iron Bowl:

"Here are the totals for this pathetic unit in our last six SEC games: Mississippi State had 469 yards of offense and 38 points, South Carolina had 535 yards of offense and 42 points, Ole Miss had 485 yards of offense and 31 points, Texas A&M had 457 yards of offense and 41 points, Georgia had 412 yards of offense and 34 points and finally the Pièce de résistance in Tuscaloosa tonight where Bama had 541 yards of offense and 55 points.  Auburn was also 2-4 in those games."

Auburn is now 2-5 in those games.  What a complete disaster from a team that was expected to compete for championships.  We saw a similar implosion in 2003 but the difference is just how badly this defense played.  The 2003 Auburn offense with all of its talent drastically underperformed because of bad coaching but it was not historically bad.  That offense had plenty of raw material to become one of Auburn's best the next year with good coaching.  Even with a change of coaches I will also repeat from my last post that I do not think there will be a quick solution to Auburn's defensive problems.

I will say though that it was a huge win to bring in Will Muschamp.  I have recited many times that the last time Auburn had a good defense was Muschamp's last year at Auburn.  However unless Muschamp and the other Auburn coaches can break Bama's recruiting stranglehold on the majority of the region's best defensive players I am not sure how big a difference Muschamp can make.  In Muschamp's first tour as defensive coordinator he had access to many more good defensive players with Tuberville being a defensive coach and recruiting against Mike Shula.  Things have changed drastically since then as Bama scoops up nearly every great defensive player in the state.

Auburn simply has to get more good players on defense.  That may also include moving some of these good offensive linemen we have sitting around on offense to defense.  For example, what if we had moved tight end C.J. Uzomah to defense these last two years?  Could a player of his caliber made a bigger impact on defense?  Auburn once moved a good tight end to defense in 2003 and the guy is still playing in the NFL.  I am talking about NFL All-Pro Jay Ratliff.  What if we had moved Trovon Reed to defense earlier?  I thought he showed a lot of potential this season but unfortunately he was a senior.  Malzahn has to quit hoarding all the good players on offense.  Through recruiting or moves he must get more talent on the defensive side of the ball.

Let me be straight here as well, the buck stops with Gus Malzahn.  He is not the offensive coordinator, he is the head coach.  This is HIS defense.  I am all for having an offensive minded coach but a defense this bad is inexcusable.  Hiring Will Muschamp is a good first step but like I said above he is going to have to do more than that to change this defense.  I believe Malzahn is at a major crossroad.  This season was a complete disaster in terms of the team record, team discipline, team leadership and overall coaching on BOTH sides of the ball.  He had a very good senior-laden team returning and he ran it into the ground.

I have spent more of this post and the last lamenting this historically bad defense but while the stats looked good an Auburn offense with so much senior talent drastically under performed in many spots this season.  As I have said many times, Malzahn hurt this offense by stubbornly trying to run the ball and run the 2013 offense when he had two playmakers like Coates and Duke Williams at his disposal.  These guys and the rest of Auburn's wide receivers were criminally underused.  The coaches continually trumpeted how much better a passer Marshall was but continually would not call a straight drop-back pass at critical times all season.  

It has been maddening watching the play calling at times this season.  The play selection in overtime against the Badgers was the worst.  We have a senior quarterback who is one of the biggest play makers in Auburn history and we end his career having a tight end try to throw the ball???  It is completely unacceptable as it has been all season as Malzahn continually went to runs, misdirections and trick plays rather than just putting the ball in Marshall's hands on a straight pass.  But hey I am just a dumb blogger, what do I know?  I submit the Iron Bowl as evidence for my case.  The only time all season Auburn let it fly and put up over 600 yards of offense.

I am now wondering who did make some of the big picture calls with Cam Newton and the offense during the 2010 season?  During that season Newton started out running a lot but more and more each week he started throwing the ball.  By the end of the season Auburn was winning on Newton's passes not his runs.  Nick Marshall is not Cam Newton but I still think he could have made the same type of progression.  However it never happened as again Malzahn stubbornly stuck to the 2013 playbook when it was obvious that the blocking was not as good and teams had figured out how to defend it.  So many times it was obvious the best choice was for us to be more balanced and pass the ball and it never happened other than the Iron Bowl.  

I am now starting to doubt whether things will change next season with Jeremy Johnson hopefully coming in for Marshall.  I fear another ridiculous quarterback "race" and the coaches continuing to try and run the ball the majority of the time.  It is obvious Auburn should be more balanced on offense but like I said above it was obvious this year as well.  Again, Malzahn is at a crossroad, will he take this chance to evolve and innovate the Auburn offense or will he continue to stubbornly stick with the 2013 playbook?  I believe the answer to that question and again him and his staff's ability to get better players on defense will determine his long term fate at Auburn.

Game 12 Review: The Ugly, the Uglier and the Ugliest

Bama 55  Auburn 44.  The 2014 Auburn football team defense is the worst defense on a winning team at Auburn I have ever seen.  They are simply the worst.  They might be the worst of all time.  Like tonight it is not about the numbers, it is about coming through in the clutch and this defense can give up the big play or score at the worst time every time.  I have never seen a worse job of defensive coaching in my life period.  Bad teams put their defenses in bad positions but the Auburn offense put up over 600 yards of TOTAL OFFENSE and over thirty points.  That is not near enough with this defense.  The only thing that stopped Bama on this night was Bama.  Here is my breakdown of this game:

THE UGLY
The Auburn defense in the first quarter.

THE UGLIER
The Auburn defense in the second quarter.

THE UGLIEST
The Auburn defense in the second half.

Here are the totals for this pathetic unit in our last six SEC games: Mississippi State had 469 yards of offense and 38 points, South Carolina had 535 yards of offense and 42 points, Ole Miss had 485 yards of offense and 31 points, Texas A&M had 457 yards of offense and 41 points, Georgia had 412 yards of offense and 34 points and finally the Pièce de résistance in Tuscaloosa tonight where Bama had 541 yards of offense and 55 points.  Auburn was also 2-4 in those games.

Gus Malzahn will not fire any of these defensive coaches so there will plenty more of this next year.  I also think that if anyone thinks a few new players or the return of Carl Lawson will change things they are sorely mistaken.  The game has clearly passed these coaches by.  The only results that matter on the resume is this season and again these totals are the worst I have ever seen for a winning team at Auburn.  It is also patently obvious that Auburn does not have many good defensive players either.  I just don't see any quick solutions to Auburn's defensive problems. 

However the obvious place to start is revamping the coaching staff and making a commitment to finding better defensive players.  Otherwise I see a lot more seasons just like this one in our future.

Game 11 Review: Sullivan's Last Ride

Auburn 31  Samford 7.  The 2014 Auburn football Tigers slogged through another unimpressive performance against in-state FCS foe Samford coached by former Auburn Heisman winner Pat Sullivan.  I think this might have been the last time we see Sullivan in Jordan Hare Stadium as a player or coach.  I think Sullivan's health issues will soon force his retirement from coaching.  It will end a career that has spanned over 40 years.  Pat Sullivan is a very special person and the definition of class.  My family and I made our first trip to Jordan Hare this year and I think the thing I will remember most about the game is the video of Sullivan's highlights at Auburn. 

 

First I want to again recommend the book this blog is named after, "Saturdays To Remember" by David Housel.  Housel's chapters on the greatest games of the Sullivan era are the best in the book.  People today just do not understand how good Sullivan was or what he did for Auburn.  The blocking rules for offensive linemen were much different in Sullivan's time.  His passing numbers for that era were truly amazing.  He was also the oasis in the middle of the deserts of the 60s and 70s for Auburn.  Sullivan played for Auburn from 1969 to 1971 and outside of 1963 and 1972 Auburn did not beat Bama or really have many good seasons from 1960 through 1980 (except for 1974 where the Tigers were very good but lost to Bama).

Pat Sullivan led the Auburn Tigers to a 25-5 regular season record from 1969-1971 including two wins over Bama.  He also brought an offensive magic never before seen on the Plains.  The Tigers scored 50 or more points six times under Sullivan.  Auburn averaged almost 35 points a game under Sullivan for three seasons.  He put on some amazing performances during that time including a 49-26 beatdown of Bear Bryant and the boys from Tuscaloosa.  Sullivan topped that the next year when he led Auburn back from down 17-0 to beat the Tide again.  There is also his legendary freshman team comeback over Bama where the Auburn freshman were down 27-0 and Sullivan brought them back to win 36-27. 

Pat Sullivan's finest performance might have been his last win at Auburn.  This was the game that clinched the Heisman Trophy and is still one of the greatest games in Auburn history.  Sullivan and Auburn were 9-0 and headed to Athens to take on Georgia who was also 9-0.  It was the first time two SEC teams had met this late in the season undefeated and untied.  It was a game for all the marbles including possible conference and national championships and a Heisman Trophy as well.  In the biggest game of his life Sullivan was 14 of 24 for 248 yards and four touchdowns leading Auburn to a 35-20 win.

Sullivan finished the season completing 162 passes on 281 attempts for 2,012 yards and 20 touchdowns.  Sullivan finished his college career with 6,284 passing yards and 57 touchdowns, along with another 18 touchdowns on the ground.  Sullivan would then go on to play in the NFL.  He would return to Auburn later as a color commentator on the radio and then as quarterbacks coach.  His five years (1986-199) as quarterbacks coach and offensive co-coordinator were the five most successful years in Auburn history.  Auburn went 47-10-5 in those five years and won three SEC titles.

Those five years also featured the best passing offenses since Sullivan had been at Auburn as a player.  Sullivan tutored three of Auburn's greatest quarterbacks in Jeff Burger, Reggie Slack and Stan White.  Sullivan would then leave Auburn to start his head coaching career at TCU following the 1991 season.  He would lead TCU to the Southwest Conference Championship in 1994 and was then hired by LSU.  Unfortunately in something you almost never see LSU could not negotiate a buyout of Sullivan's contract at TCU and the deal fell through.  It was basically a career killer for Sullivan but I know he would say God knows best.  Sullivan would return to his hometown of Birmingham as offensive coordinator at UAB and then head coach at Samford.

Sullivan also returned to the Auburn family after the arrival of head coach Gus Malzahn culminating in his role of honorary coach for the Tigers at last year's SEC Championship Game.  It was truly a special moment in Auburn history.  I hope Sullivan will continue to spend time in Auburn if he does retire from coaching.  He is still the first face on Auburn's "Mount Rushmore" of players in my opinion.  I have centered just on Sullivan throughout this post.  I know the first thing he would do when talking about all this history is point to all of his teammates, coaches, friends and family. 

 

"Maybe other people deserve this honor more than me, but from the bottom of my heart, no one will appreciate this more than me."

 

Pat Sullivan after winning the Heisman Trophy and after the unveiling of his statue at Jordan Hare

Game 10 Review: November Rain

Georgia 34  Auburn 7.  It is a cold rainy Sunday throughout most of Alabama.  It certainly matches the mood of most Auburn fans.  I ended last week's review with this statement: "Auburn can beat Georgia or Bama but the question is how will they respond to this gut wrenching loss."  Well everyone got the answer to that question loud and clear.  Auburn responded with one good drive and then the wheels came off in Athens. 

The Bulldogs simply pounded the Tigers into the Samford Stadium turf.  Time always tells the tale for teams and coaches and it did for this team as well.  As many great coaches have said, a team either gets better or worse and this one has gotten worse.  This team has shown some bad tendencies on both sides of the ball all year plus a lack of leadership and it finally caught up with Auburn yesterday.

THE GOOD
Well there is not much good you can find for Auburn in this game.  As Coach Gus Malzahn said the team got beat soundly in all three phases of the game.  There was a critical fumble and missed punt block on special teams and another complete collapse on defense.  Georgia had not one but two running backs with close to 150 yards.  Unfortunately in this game the offense also joined the party and put up less than 300 yards of total offense and only one touchdown.  The lowest output under Gus Malzahn as head coach. 

I guess the only good is remembering the magic of last year at the end of the season.  We knew last year was a once-in-a-lifetime type of end to a season.  We knew there would be plenty more days like this but last year helped so much and hurt our biggest rivals much more than this loss and another potential loss in two weeks.  Auburn had a lot coming back this year and a seemingly good chance at a title and no one wanted to lose that.  However now that it is gone, hopefully all the things that have gone wrong this season will be a good learning experience for these coaches.

THE BAD
I am really starting to worry that Gus Malzahn will spend the rest of his time at Auburn running this 2013 running offense.  I am starting to worry that he will not throw the ball enough even with Jeremy Johnson taking over.  All we hear from the coaches and other Auburn bloggers is how great a passer Marshall is yet in the game against State and yesterday's game Malzahn admitted he was too stubborn in not passing the ball.  What is going on?  I just do not understand his stubborn refusal to throw the ball. 

It has been obvious from day one of this season and I have said it many times on this blog that we had to throw more this year to be successful.  He has just refused to do it and it certainly contributed to losses against Mississippi State and against Georgia.  Auburn must become a more balanced offense or they will just be a slightly different version of Georgia Tech.  I certainly hope that with Jeremy Johnson taking the reins and seeing how this season ended that the coaches will open up the passing game next year.  You have to be able to run the ball but for long term success you have to be balanced as well.

THE UGLY
You take away Nick Fairley and Dee Ford and Auburn would have six consecutive years of the worst defenses in Auburn history.  Auburn has not had a defense ranked anywhere close to the top since the Tuberville era.  I can actually live with that, I just don't understand why Auburn defenses have to be SO bad?  I mean it is not like the Tigers even had a mediocre defense in 2010 and 2013.  They were still statistically bad defenses but just not an absolute train wreck like this year.  I know you cannot have a great defense running the offense we run but why can't we at least have a mediocre defense?

The defense this year has looked a lot like 2012.  Whatever we are doing is NOT working.  First, the Tigers have got to get some better players, especially on the line.  It all starts up front and Auburn is getting killed in the trenches.  Defensive line coach Rodney Garner needs to use some of his recruiting prowness to restock his own position.  It has to start there.  Auburn needs improvement all over but it has to start there.  Coach Malzahn then needs to really evaluate whether the defensive philosophy we are using is going to work.  I do not think it is working or will work.  I think a change in leadership and philosophy is needed.

THE LAST WORD
It sure seems like the sky is falling with Auburn's ugly fall from grace and Bama's concurrent rise to the top.  However we must again remember we were there last year.  We were on top of the world and ESPN was showing "The Immaculate Deflection" and the "Kick Six" over and over and over again.  We put a dagger through the heart of both Georgia and Bama.  We won the SEC Championship.  We are down some but with all our problems I do not see a 2008 or a 2012 collapse on our horizon under Malzahn. 

The biggest focus now must be on recruiting.  Unfortunately it is all about recruiting.  The teams with the best players win.  You have to coach them up but the teams with the best players win.  It is as simple as that.  Auburn needs more good players especially on defense.  Recruit, recruit, recruit.  That is the last word from this vantage point on this cold rainy November morning.