Things I Think I Saw: AU vs Arkansas State

[JMR 2,118]

Things I Think I Saw: AU vs Arkansas State….

A little reminder, or something of a caveat if you haven’t read this piece before: I don’t go back and study the tape of the games, as I’m unable (ok….unwilling) to invest the time. Instead, I just watch the game once and make mental notes of things I *thought* I saw. I emphasize “thought”, as I’ve never watched a film or tape a second time and not seen some things differently from the first time I saw it. So I may well be mistaken, but here are some thoughts on things I think I saw in the game between Auburn and Arkansas State….

• A major improvement by Braden Smith on his kickout blocks on the defensive end. In the past, Braden has often put his head on the wrong side of the defender, allowing that defender to slide off the block. This week, Smith was conscious of where his head was, which was on the line-of-scrimmage side of the target, making it necessary for the defender to fight through Smith’s head to get off the block. Smith’s pulls were also much more precise, with far less wasted steps.
• Also, center Xavier Dampeer was better than last week when he was consistently pushed into his own backfield. There are still a couple of areas Dampeer needs to improve on, though, as he is getting very little movement in the middle. He is not moving his feet, his snap is a little too slow (thus limiting the time the QB has with the ball in his hands), and the fact that he is not moving his feet is preventing him from stepping into the defender. Dampeer was much better this week, but he’ll need to continue to develop as a center as the competition ramps up.
• The Auburn defensive front is not getting enough pressure on the QB when only rushing four. This was a veteran offensive line for Arkansas State, but Auburn is going to need to be able to pressure the passer when rushing four and dropping seven.
• There were brief periods in the game when there was confusion in pass coverage by the AU linebackers and safeties. At least two of those times resulted in impact pass completions by Arkansas State. Correcting those issues will be critical next week vs Texas A&M’s high-powered passing game.
• I recognize that some of Auburn’s players were in only the second game of their career, but the late hit called on Deshaun Davis on the sideline could easily have been a targeting call, as there appeared to be helmet-to-helmet contact. I love Davis’ intensity, but Auburn can’t afford to lose starters to the targeting protocol.
• Auburn’s relatively inexperienced linebackers had some problems with over-running plays and allowing cutbacks this week. Some great teaching points available for LB Coach Travis Williams this week.
• True freshman Derrick Brown is beautiful to watch. He’s a powerful guy with near-perfect hip and feet position, and is violent with both hands. The future is extremely bright for a guy with his tools.
• Speaking of bright futures, I love me some Marlon Davidson. Young Marlon defended Arky State’s little pitch play to the running back perfectly, forcing the pitch, then taking the exact required pursuit angle to make the tackle for little or no gain. As with Derrick Brown, the future for Marlon is incredible.
• Was good to see Carl Lawson setting the edge using his *inside* shoulder. For a couple of years now, I’ve watched our DE’s give the offensive lineman their outside shoulder, resulting in them being hooked and losing contain. Carl used his inside arm and shoulder, keeping his outside arm free, and was very effective at setting the edge for the inside pursuit to execute the stop.
• I think I mentioned last week that I was disappointed in the blocking of our wide receivers on the perimeter. This week was a huge improvement, other than a lazy holding penalty on Tony Stevens. On Kerryon Johnson’s reverse-field TD, both Will Hastings and Ryan Davis had key blocks. Great to see that Kodi Burns has those guys blocking the way he did himself as a player.
• Speaking of Will Hastings, man that kid is fun to watch! Great quickness in and out of breaks, precise routes, and excellent hands. And Kyle Davis is fast becoming a big-time deep threat.
• I thought Sean White showed good judgment through most of the game, sometimes checking down, and sometimes giving one of his guys a chance to make a play. Kyle Davis certainly made the most of one of those chances.
• The illegal motion call on Ryan Davis that brought back a Kerryon touchdown was awfully weak. Davis actually went in motion toward the inside, stopped, and lined up in the slot. He may well have not been set for a full second, but as a legal motion man, he is not required to be. In my opinion, he was at least “stopped”, and not “moving forward” as he was called for. Doesn’t really matter, as that series resulted in Daniel Carlson’s first touchdown in his college career.
• Nickel back Rudy Ford was very disruptive to the ASU passing game. Ford was extremely physical with ASU receivers at the line of scrimmage, and either made the tackle himself, or ruined the timing of the pattern.
• I didn’t keep track of the numbers, but it seemed like Auburn threw the ball on first down more often than in quite a while. The ASU defense was unable to anticipate the way teams have for a while now, and I think that helped Auburn’s offense tremendously.
• Bubba Pettway is learning on the job as a running back. He has good natural instincts, and I expect him to get better and better as the season rolls along.

As I said at the beginning, I have not studied the tape, and might be mistaken in some of the things I think I saw. But no doubt the AU coaching staff has studied it, and is already planning corrections and adjustments to be made this week in practice. Obviously, Arkansas State is not Clemson, but there was definite improvement this week, regardless of the opponent. There will need to be still more between now and 9/17, when the high-flying Aggies come to Jordan-Hare. War Eagle! and Let’s Get To It!

[SumterAubie 3,031]

Thank you JMR. I always learn something from your posts and from Flex's. For a stupid guy like me, both of you make the nuances of the game easier to follow, thus increasing the enjoyment of same.

[bigbird 60,499]

I'm with you in your man crush on Derrick Brown and Marlon Davidson.  They are fun to watch.

[augolf1716 21,109]

42 minutes ago, bigbird said:

I'm with you in your man crush on Derrick Brown and Marlon Davidson.  They are fun to watch.

Yes they are and only freshmen. Hard to believe

[ScottsboroAuburnFan 462]

They are really good but Adams and Lawson should be out performing them and they are not. They show up from Tim to time but Marlon has a push every snap. I'm disappointed in Adams and Lawson. They are good but disappear to much.

[RunInRed 16,395]

1 hour ago, JMR said:

The illegal motion call on Ryan Davis that brought back a Kerryon touchdown was awfully weak. Davis actually went in motion toward the inside, stopped, and lined up in the slot. He may well have not been set for a full second, but as a legal motion man, he is not required to be. In my opinion, he was at least “stopped”, and not “moving forward” as he was called for.

Musburger and Plamer appeared to start alluding to the same but then just kinda dropped it ... 

[FistyMcBeefpunch 28]

Enjoy reading your thoughts, sir.  Thanks for sharing your observations.  WDE!

[Fricking Ray 47]

Thanks JMR! I appreciate your insight. In my opinion Adams has never been consistent enough to be an impact player. Was Lawson getting double teamed? 

[WeagleAU 594]

2 hours ago, ScottsboroAuburnFan said:

They are really good but Adams and Lawson should be out performing them and they are not. They show up from Tim to time but Marlon has a push every snap. I'm disappointed in Adams and Lawson. They are good but disappear to much.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.  I've been expecting more out of Adams and Lawson, but haven't heard much out of them.  I know Lawson has one sack.  However, it seems like they are not playing up to their potential so far this year.  I hope they wake up soon as we go into SEC play.

[WeagleAU 594]

I still find the offensive line to be suspect.  This concerns me going into SEC play.  Although the line played better last night, imo there is a lot of room for improvement.  I hope we have enough time in a week to get a lot of issues addressed and corrected.  Coach Ray is spot on about Xavier Dampeer.  He seems to be struggling at the center position, a position that you don't have the luxury to take your time to learn during the season.  I really hope he gets better fast.  Coach Ray stated it perfectly that he is not moving his feet, and he is snapping the ball too slow.  He is also getting pushed back way too much.  Oh well, lets hope he makes a drastic turn around in game three.

[WarTiger 3,901]

4 hours ago, JMR said:

• The illegal motion call on Ryan Davis that brought back a Kerryon touchdown was awfully weak. Davis actually went in motion toward the inside, stopped, and lined up in the slot. He may well have not been set for a full second, but as a legal motion man, he is not required to be. In my opinion, he was at least “stopped”, and not “moving forward” as he was called for. Doesn’t really matter, as that series resulted in Daniel Carlson’s first touchdown in his college career.

 

I absolutely agree.  From an officials standpoint the official responsible for the motion man is the one on the side of the field the player initially lines up.  He keeps that motion man until he either resets or the snap, and that's even if he motions all the way across the field.   The right official threw the flag, but it really wasn't even close to being illegal.   Your assessment of it is spot on.  He went in motion to the slot and stopped.  He wasn't set for a second, but he didn't have to be because it was a motion and not a shift.   The illegal motion simply wasn't there.   IMO, though, it does matter because it shouldn't have been thrown and a penalty like that can cost us a touchdown.

[WeagleAU 594]

2 minutes ago, WarTiger said:

I absolutely agree.  From an officials standpoint the official responsible for the motion man is the one on the side of the field the player initially lines up.  He keeps that motion man until he either resets or the snap, and that's even if he motions all the way across the field.   The right official threw the flag, but it really wasn't even close to being illegal.   Your assessment of it is spot on.  He went in motion to the slot and stopped.  He wasn't set for a second, but he didn't have to be because it was a motion and not a shift.   The illegal motion simply wasn't there.   IMO, though, it does matter because it shouldn't have been thrown and a penalty like that can cost us a touchdown.

I've been disappointed with officiating so far this season and we are only two games in.  They are making way too many mistakes, and costly mistakes at that.  You're right, that kind of mistake by the official, cost Auburn a touchdown.  And had this been an SEC game, it possibly could have cost us the game.  I know referees are only human, but they have to do a better job and be held accountable for their errors.  From my understanding the Auburn coaching staff can review the penalties with the league to get a better understanding of what they saw.  Imo if a referee continues to make by judgement calls, they should eventually be demoted and not allowed to referee games in the SEC anymore.  I'm not sure how officials are evaluated in the SEC.

I've been keeping up with penalties so far this year for Auburn.

Clemson game:  Auburn 9/60 yds to Clemson 6/55 yds

Arky state game: Auburn 5/40 yds to Arky States 10/71 yds

What those stats don't show is the penalties that kill Auburn's drives at inopportune times, sometimes in resulting in a TD being called back.  This is especially troubling when the penalty is unwarranted.

 

 

[PowerOfDixieland 3,226]

Coach, your insight is appreciated.  I too am concerned about the running game and I'm curious to know if you think these guys can get significantly better.  I don't remember if it was you or Eagle 5 that said it looked like Hand might not have even been on the practice field more than a handful of times prior to Clemson.  I'm hoping what we saw from Pettway is the beginning of a great running back, but I don't believe he can create yards that aren't there (a la Rudi Johnon).  Are we going to be okay there against the Ole Miss, LSU and other D lines?

[WarTiger 3,901]

2 minutes ago, WeagleAU said:

I've been disappointed with officiating so far this season and we are only two games in.  They are making way too many mistakes, and costly mistakes at that.  You're right, that kind of mistake by the official, cost Auburn a touchdown.  And had this been an SEC game, it possibly could have cost us the game.  I know referees are only human, but they have to do a better job and be held accountable for their errors.  From my understanding the Auburn coaching staff can review the penalties with the league to get a better understanding of what they saw.  Imo if a referee continues to make by judgement calls, they should eventually be demoted and not allowed to referee games in the SEC anymore.  I'm not sure how officials are evaluated in the SEC.

I've been keeping up with penalties so far this year for Auburn.

Clemson game:  Auburn 9/60 yds to Clemson 6/55 yds

Arky state game: Auburn 5/40 yds to Arky States 10/71 yds

What those stats don't show is the penalties that kill Auburn's drives at inopportune times, sometimes in resulting in a TD being called back.  This is especially troubling when the penalty is unwarranted.

 

 

Every official in the country is held accountable. You don't always hear about it except in extreme situations (miami/duke last year, Central Michigan/OSU last night) but they are all held accountable and often disciplined and even suspended should the situation warrant such action.   The number of penalties per team per game is really irrelevant.  A well coached team is not likely to be called for as many penalties and its not the officials job to keep the penalties even. 

[AUApostle 7,651]

The officials have taken away 2 Kerryon touchdowns so far this year on bogus calls.

[oracle79 3,569]

6 hours ago, JMR said:

• I recognize that some of Auburn’s players were in only the second game of their career, but the late hit called on Deshaun Davis on the sideline could easily have been a targeting call, as there appeared to be helmet-to-helmet contact. I love Davis’ intensity, but Auburn can’t afford to lose starters to the targeting protocol.

I may be wrong and WarTiger can clarify, but I thought you could only have targeting called with a blow in the head area to a defenseless player?  You could helmet to helmet a RB and get a personal foul for helmet to helmet, but not targeting I don't think?  Maybe I'm confusing NFL and college rules though.

[AUsince72 11,084]

Thank you Coach Ray.  Excellent as always.

Looking forward to the next podcast!

War Eagle!

[autan 737]

Enjoyed JMR's comments.  Good constructive criticism, unlike what we get from a few agenda posters on this forum.

[aucanucktiger 1,791]

I'd be interested in your opinion re Caleb Kim who IMO is a legit alternative to Dampeer right now - limited game snaps notwithstanding. 

[JMR 2,118]

4 hours ago, aucanucktiger said:

I'd be interested in your opinion re Caleb Kim who IMO is a legit alternative to Dampeer right now - limited game snaps notwithstanding. 

I have high expectations for Kaleb Kim. Thought he was probably the most "technique-sound" guys in that class. But according to the staff, he lacks the pure strength at this point to play full-time. They must still feel that way, as they have kept Golson in their minds as the emergency backup to Dampeer.

[McLoofus 35,182]

@JMR, do you have a feel for where Dampeer is now compared to where Golson was at this point last season? And the OL in general?

[JMR 2,118]

2 hours ago, McLoofus said:

@JMR, do you have a feel for where Dampeer is now compared to where Golson was at this point last season? And the OL in general?

Just an opinion, but I think Golson last year was a bit ahead of where Dampeer is now. Oddly enough, I also think *Dampeer* last year was ahead of where Dampeer is now. I liked the way Dampeer *last year* generated movement in the middle, whereas Golson did not. I can only guess, but I think maybe the importance of the snap has been drilled into Dampeer to the point he is so focused on that he is letting other, more instinctive things, go.

As for the OL as a whole, there's little doubt we were better last year than today. That's to be expected, with Golson and Leff at tackles as compared to Shon Coleman and Avery Young. Young did not have a great year, but Coleman certainly did. Meanwhile, Kozan and Smith were not as effective in game one this year as they were late last year. Both were improved in game two, so maybe they are back on track. We'll find out this week. With aTm's defensive ends as talented as they are, a good performance in the middle will be critical to our run game.

[McLoofus 35,182]

Thanks for your thoughts. Not exactly uplifting but it's good to hear an honest assessment. Hopefully it's just CHH and the players getting used to each other... or something...

[JMR 2,118]

I am a HH fan. I've wanted him at AU since Gus was hired as head coach. But the fact is, 1. We don't have any offensive linemen at this moment that are as far along in their develoment as Shon Coleman was last year, and 2. Herb didn't have his guys ready for the opener. Does NOT mean we can't continue to get better and be up to the task as the competition gets tougher. Just gotta keep working. I saw improvement on the "fine points" between the Clemson game and the ASU game. If we can continue that, we can get to where we need to be.

[AUsince72 11,084]

I'm not as detailed an "expert" as many so I have wondered why Braden Smith is not a Tackle?  Size is certainly not an issue...  Is it a preference to have his athletic ability at Guard for pulling plays?  Seems to me that he would be a prototypical Tackle.  ...maybe it's just a numbers game (get the best 5 out there) and Leff or Golson cannot play Guard?

Yes, my teachers always said that I gave them headaches too...