Piece from Kevin Sclabrinshki puts Saturday in perspective.
Let's face it. No need to sugar-coat it. That Auburn team looked nothing like an SEC champion or a national championship contender in its opener.
Oh, sure, the Tigers won 31-24 against a Power 5 opponent in front of a partisan crowd, but no one will mistake the other team for Alabama.
For all of Gus Malzahn's genius, his offense ran fewer plays, accumulated fewer first downs and gained fewer yards than the offense run by his opposite number, who's kind of a big deal himself when it comes to gurus.
The Auburn quarterback completed barely half his passes, for crying out loud.
Sure, the Tigers won the game, but they needed a long special teams touchdown and some key turnovers from their defense to do it by only one score.
If it feels like we've seen this movie before, we have. Auburn's 31-24 season-opening win Saturday over Louisville had a lot in common with Auburn's 31-24 season-opening win in 2013 over Washington State.
Look at the similarities.
On Sept. 5, 2015, Louisville under the guidance of second-year head coach/offensive mastermind Bobby Petrino ran more plays (81-62), accumulated more first downs (27-21) and gained more yards (405-327) than Auburn. Jeremy Johnson competed a mere 11 of 21 passes for 137 yards.
The Tigers got an 82-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Justin Garrett in the second quarter and eventually won by a touchdown.
On Aug. 31, 2013, Washington State under the guidance of second-year head coach/offensive mastermind Mike Leach ran more plays (88-66), accumulated more first downs (28-16) and gained more yards (464-394) than Auburn. Nick Marshall completed a mere 10 of 19 passes for 99 yards.
The Tigers got a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown from Tre Mason in the second quarter and eventually won by a touchdown.
Eerie when you look at it that way.
Of course, there were important differences between the 2013 and 2015 openers, too, beyond the upgrade from Ellis Johnson to Will Muschamp.
That 2013 debut was just as close as the final score indicated. Washington State got the ball twice in the final 9 minutes with a chance to tie and drove deep into Auburn territory each time but came up short. This opener was never really in doubt. Louisville never got the ball back with a chance to tie in the final 36:54.
Oh, and one more thing. That 2013 Washington State team went 6-6 to reach a bowl game. Expect more from this talented Louisville team.
What does it all mean? First impressions don't always last. No one believed that 2013 Auburn team would win the conference championship and play for the national title, before or after it started 1-0. No one fully understood that team's potential until mid-October, when it went on the road and took down Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M in a shootout.
As shaky as it looked at times, this Auburn team won't be defined by what happened Saturday. There are mistakes to correct and playing rotations to reassess, but that's true for every team in America after Week One. Not every team has as many possible answers as the Tigers if they can keep key contributors such as Carl Lawson and Tray Matthews healthy.
There's no question the Tigers didn't light up the Georgia Dome. Doesn't mean they won't return Dec. 5.
13 Replies
4310 Views