Auburn
- So just how good was it last night? Really good. Despite the level of competition - unless Arkansas State truly is legendary bad as an FBS school - Auburn's offense had an impressive performance last night especially when considering the absolute clusterfuck that occurred against Clemson.
- Here's what the stats say about a Malzahn-led offense against lesser opponents. Note that I'm only going to look at the shitty years for a comparison to this year.
2011:
Utah State - 78 yards rushing. 286 yards passing. 54 plays for 364 total yards. 6.74 yards per play.
Florida Atlantic - 137 yards rushing. 178 yards passing. 62 plays for 315 total yards. 5.08 yards per play.
Samford - 248 yards rushing. 167 yards passing. 69 plays for 415 total yards. 6.01 yards per play.
2015:
Jacksonville State - 165 yards rushing. 236 yards passing. 70 plays for 401 total yards. 5.73 yards per play.
San Jose State - 234 yards rushing. 108 yards passing. 58 plays for 343 total yards. 5.90 yards per play.
Idaho - 297 yards rushing. 163 yards passing. 70 plays for 460 total yards. 6.57 yards per play.
And what we did last night:
Arkansas State - 462 yards rushing. 244 yards passing. 85 plays for 706 total yards. 8.31 yards per play.
In terms of overall total offensive numbers, this was Gus Malzahn's 2nd best game as an Auburn Tiger (712 total yards against Western Carolina in 2013).
And even more impressive was the fact that Auburn only gained around 100 yards in the 4th quarter. This was a 600 yard performance through 3 quarters.
I am fully aware that it looks like Arkansas State is an awful football team. But the point is that Auburn has never come close to this kind of performance in years that it has a bad offense, which is something I think we all assumed we had after last week.
- This leads to the bigger and still frightening question - just what the hell was Gus Malzahn thinking last week? We obviously have all of the tools to make this a potent offense. The old Gus Malzahn plays that worked in 2009, 2010, 2013, and even 2014 still work. We can run up the middle. Use tempo. Hit some down the field passes and wear down the opposing defense until we're scoring at will.
We have TWO running backs that can ball. We have a quarterback that can connect with his receivers. We have receivers that can catch. We have young guys that can make big plays. So just what was Gus thinking last week?
It's a terrifying issue because this seems to be a good football team, and I still believe the head coach and offensive coordinator are major hindrances to what this team can actually accomplish. Again, I know it was Arkansas State, but I saw a team that looked very similar to teams I saw in 2013 and 2010. We don't have the legs at QB, but I think White is good enough in the passing game to make our offense dynamic enough to keep the defense on their toes.
Did last night wake Gus up? Will he continue to call a normal football game going forward? It got us 700+ yards and a dominating victory. Bad offenses and bad football teams don't do that. Ever. Against anybody no matter how bad they are.
- The defense had some issues, but they still look much improved. They're physical. They tackle well. They're aggressive. I was really impressed by true freshman Marlon Davidson. He was terrorizing their offensive line all evening. I also liked Stephen Roberts. He was like a bullet shooting into the gaps on run plays.
- I'm actually excited about next week. I think we can win. But isn't that part of having Gus as a head coach? One week you feel like the season is done and we won't win another meaningful game. The next week you think we could run the table.
Alabama
- I actually watched some of this game yesterday. I'm not impressed by their true freshman QB. At all. Alabama as usual has a defense that smothers opponents and forces them to take risks just to have a chance at not being freaking injured let only stay competitive. Going into the half, Alabama's offense had ten points and got an extra seven from a pick 6.
- Hurts will probably be a good player in the long run, but right now he's inaccurate throwing down field and relies on quick passes to the perimeter. He's good at long handoffs. He's extremely fortunate to play at Alabama where their receivers are NFL-quality. Just like Blake Sims was fortunate to play at Alabama.
LSU
- Les Miles has to see the lights up ahead, right? My father is a big LSU fan, and he couldn't believe that Miles switched to a new QB, got a lot of success from him, then basically ran out the clock instead of giving the guy more meaningful reps. And Miles wonders why he's never had a good quarterback despite having just as much talent as Alabama on the roster.
Final Thought
- As always: War Eagle. I'm not a fan of Gus any more. We could win 12 games this season, and I don't have the confidence that we'll not look stupid awful in game one of next season. But I want Auburn to win, and I want those players to feel successful. Let's kick Aggie ass this weekend and go into LSU week with a head of steam.