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Notes on Malzahn's Auburn Offense (Merged)


StatTiger

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For the most part, Auburn under Gus Malzahn has been about imposing their will to run the football to be successful  on offensive. During his tenure at Auburn, the Tigers have rewritten many offensive records, primarily with the success of the running game. Though there have been very successful moments throwing the football, the passing game has been built off the play-action and Auburn's ability to run downhill. The following data is based on the seasons Gus Malzahn has been at Auburn as offensive coordinator and head coach (2009-2011 & 2013-2016).

  • Auburn's offense under Gus Malzahn is 10-14 during games the Tigers are held under 170-yards rushing. During those 24 games, Auburn had a pass-rating of 126.3, while averaging just 20.9 points per game.
     
  • During games, Auburn rushed for at least 200-yards under Gus Malzahn, the Tigers compiled a 51-12 record. During those 63 games, Auburn compiled a pass rating of 154.9, while averaging 38.7 points per game.
     
  • Auburn's offense under Gus Malzahn is 46-10 when the Tigers average more than 4.5 yards per rush on first down during a game. The Tigers are 19-18 when held to 4.5 yards or less.
     
  • Take away Auburn's ability to impose their will by running the football, and you increase your chances for victory against the Tigers. Auburn under Malzahn's offense is 50-13 in games with 25 pass attempts or less and 15-15 when they attempt at least 26 passes.
     
  • Auburn under Malzahn's offense is 47-10 during games with at least 45 rush attempts and 10-13 during games with under 40 rush attempts.
     
  • Auburn under Malzahn's offense is 39-1 when they run the ball more than 68 percent of the time during a game and 14-13 when they run less than 60 percent.
     
  • During the Malzahn offensive era at Auburn, the Tigers have averaged 7.1 games per season, held under 200-yards passing. This is second worst in the SEC, with Vanderbilt averaging 8.3 per season.
     
  • Auburn's 20.9 points per game when held under 170-yards rushing is ninth best in the SEC under Malzahn's offense.
     
  • Only LSU with 23.2 attempts per game, has thrown fewer pass attempts per game than Auburn under Gus Malzahn (23.3).
     
  • During the Malzahn offensive era at Auburn, the Tigers are 10th in the SEC when it comes to games with at least two touchdown passes.
     
  • The average pass-rating during 2009-2011 and 2013-2016 is 134.6 in the SEC. Auburn reached a rating of at least 135 during 58.1 percent of their games under Malzahn's offense. This ranks No. 4 in the conference behind Alabama, Arkansas, and Georgia.
     
  • The average passing yardage during a game during 2009-2011 and 2013-2016 in the SEC is 219.6 yards. Auburn reached at least 220-yards passing during 34.4 percent of their games, which ranks 12th among the 14 SEC teams
     
  • The average yards per pass attempt from 2009-2011 and 2013-2016 in the SEC is 7.50 yards. Auburn reached this mark in 59.1 percent of their games, 5th best among the 14 SEC teams.
     
  • Auburn's overall pass-rating during this period is 145.2, third best in the SEC.
     
  • In conference games only, Auburn under Malzahn's offense has a pass-rating of 135.8, fourth best among the 14 SEC teams. Alabama, Arkansas, and Texas A&M were rated higher than the Tigers.
     

Making Adjustments during the game:
 

  • Auburn's offense under Malzahn is 15-17 during games Auburn scores only once during their first 4 possessions and 4-10 during the past three seasons.
     
  • Auburn's offense under Malzahn is 10-19 in games against Power-5 competition when held to 13 points or less by halftime. Auburn's average scoring output during those 29 games is 18.4 PPG.
     
  • Auburn is 6-12 in SEC games when held to under 7 points during the first quarter and 1-7 in conference games when held to zero points during the first quarter.
     
  • Under Malzahn, Auburn is 2-11 when trailing by 10 or more points at halftime and 6-16, when trailing by at least 6 points.

Having a consistent performer at the quarterback position would mask many of Auburn's offensive issues the past two seasons but additional changes are needed for the offense to reach its full potential. Auburn has attempted more passes on third down than first down under Gus Malzahn, and their average ranking in TD percentage inside the red zone is No. 44 nationally. Injuries was a primary issue on the offensive side of the football this season but being predictable can hinder any offense. Making the most of your opportunities is essential. Auburn under Malzahn is 7-7 in games with less than 60 offensive snaps. This is tied for 7th best among the 14 SEC teams. It will be interesting to see if any changes are made regarding staff, personnel, and schemes for the 2017 season.

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Great write up. A major problem that Gus has to fix or he will be replaced. Imo he gets brain farts when things are going good or bad. If a fan can call his plays as the game is being played you are a 4 play calling oc. WDE!

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If we have another 8 win season next year, Gus will be fired. However, if Jacobs does not fire Gus, someone should fire Jay on the spot.

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I do believe you have to run the ball to be successful, however, we have to be more balanced to take the next step.    OU pretty much shows us the way and I can only hope we learned something from scouting them.  

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11 minutes ago, lala said:

I do believe you have to run the ball to be successful, however, we have to be more balanced to take the next step.    OU pretty much shows us the way and I can only hope we learned something from scouting them.  

Agree.  Lincoln Riley would be a good OC hire for a HC not named Gus Malzahn.

 

wde

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Gus' offense is like that freakishly strong young DE coming in who used his power to simply bullrush his opponents to outlandish sack numbers.  Only once he joins the big boys it becomes apparent he needs to learn some swim moves and finesse.  He adapts or becomes a "bust".

Gus is on that precipice.

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Still don't understand why he's become so one dimensional. He wasn't like this before he got here and wasn't like this in 2009. It's like Cam ruined him as a play caller. 

 

And it it was depressing to watch Oklahoma run the offense I thought we were getting when we hired Gus.

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Qb, qb, qb,qb,qb !!!!!! Gus has had bad luck with QBs. Yes it's still his fault but if the qb/roster situation improves Gus gets it going. If he can't get improvement in that area he fails. It's that simple. 

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1 minute ago, alexava said:

Qb, qb, qb,qb,qb !!!!!! Gus has had bad luck with QBs. Yes it's still his fault but if the qb/roster situation improves Gus gets it going. If he can't get improvement in that area he fails. It's that simple. 

With a serviceable QB...pretty good...actually really good. Without one...really bad...pretty damn bad. 

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29 minutes ago, ertrader said:

Still don't understand why he's become so one dimensional. He wasn't like this before he got here and wasn't like this in 2009. It's like Cam ruined him as a play caller. 

 

And it it was depressing to watch Oklahoma run the offense I thought we were getting when we hired Gus.

Two things: Gus has tread to compete in the SEC the past two,years playing musical chairs with QBs who aren't dual threat guys. Hard to excel when you recruit personnel that don't fit your system. Also, his offense in no way resembles OUs. OU is proactive: designed to attack you all over the field until you stop them. Gus is reactive: hurry to the line, see what the defense is doing, then change your approach reacting to them. I hope JS earns his confidence quickly and is allowed to attack defenses instead of react. WDE! 

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It's a tough row to hoe in the SEC if you don't have a coach with confidence in the staff he hired, the players that he recruited, and a scheme that he designed.   Gus looks like a nervous wreck on the sidelines.  That has to bleed over to his players when the game isn't going our way.

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Balance is the name of the game.  You must pass some on first down.  And not just always the screen game.  That has been what has made us so predictable is the 80 percent run on first down.  That number needs to be around 60 percent.  That happens and you'll see an offensive explosion and I think Stat Tiger would agree with me. 

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At this time we seem to have pretty decent depth at QB. But I am wondering what happens if Stidham earns the start as many think or hope he will. I don't see Woody or Queen staying. Not even sure White will stay. I guess we'll find that out...eventually.

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13 minutes ago, milehighfan said:

At this time we seem to have pretty decent depth at QB. But I am wondering what happens if Stidham earns the start as many think or hope he will. I don't see Woody or Queen staying. Not even sure White will stay. I guess we'll find that out...eventually.

Woody will be a redshirt freshman.  He will stay.  White will stay until he graduates and possibly move as a grad transfer or be a 1 season starter if Stidham were to possibly leave for whatever reason(grad transfer, pro, anything).  Queen will be at AU until he gets his degree and I would expect him to have coaching aspirations like his dad.  

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23 minutes ago, milehighfan said:

At this time we seem to have pretty decent depth at QB. But I am wondering what happens if Stidham earns the start as many think or hope he will. I don't see Woody or Queen staying. Not even sure White will stay. I guess we'll find that out...eventually.

I get what you are saying, but we can't really worry about that.  That happens everywhere, whether its Vandy or bama.  If Stidham and White can stay healthy next year, we have the chance to be a special team in 2017.  If not, it is likely that we will see a coaching change.  I really believe its in AU's best short and long term interest if we have a strong year and the program finds the consistency that we all crave.

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14 hours ago, milehighfan said:

At this time we seem to have pretty decent depth at QB. But I am wondering what happens if Stidham earns the start as many think or hope he will. I don't see Woody or Queen staying. Not even sure White will stay. I guess we'll find that out...eventually.

I can't imagine White bailing. If he doesn't have what it takes to beat Stidham, then it's pretty obvious that he's not going to light it up enough anywhere else to get drafted. I have serious doubts that Queen will play, anyway, so if he leaves, it's no big deal. Woody is the big question. If he doesn't do some growing up, he might very well leave. I'd personally love to see him get to the place, next year, where no matter who's starting, he can come in as a change of pace, making it so teams have to prepare for two difference offenses. 

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3 hours ago, lionheartkc said:

Woody is the big question. If he doesn't do some growing up, he might very well leave. I'd personally love to see him get to the place, next year, where no matter who's starting, he can come in as a change of pace, making it so teams have to prepare for two difference offenses. 

As long as it's not the dreaded QB carousel of Stidham-White-Woody!

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43 minutes ago, Linayus said:

As long as it's not the dreaded QB carousel of Stidham-White-Woody!

Definitely not.  I was thinking more being able to pull Stidham/White once we have a comfortable lead and then run up the score by changing styles.  Also, the occasional red zone change-up wouldn't bother me... especially against teams with weak run defenses.

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Seems like we are experiencing groundhog day. A lot of people are saying Gus has Got to be beat 1 of georgia or alabama. got to get to 9 or 10 wins or he is gone. negative recruiting and how we finished the season really stunting our class on the trail down the stretch and in to the 2018 class. Did this season do anything really to hurt gus any more or help him? Just sounds like more of the same to me. I mean what has really changed?

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28 minutes ago, auburnphan said:
This just did
 
 

If Twitter is good enough for Pres Elect Trump, how about this: I'm ready and amped to coach again. ! !!!!

could be talking about just going back to the nfl. has he ever coached in college? 

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35 minutes ago, FoundationEagle said:

Stidham. Outside of that no different, other than the seat is officially scorching. 

Yet again our hopes rely on a non high school qb this staff recruited but a guy trained up by one of the best qb developers in college fball recently in briles. 

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2 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

could be talking about just going back to the nfl. has he ever coached in college? 

I don't think so, but there was a bunch of chatter for him last off season and he wasn't coaching so I thought I would throw this out there half as a joke!

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