Things I Think I Saw: Auburn vs Ole Miss

[JMR 2,118]

There are lots of caveats that can be reasonably assumed when considering this game.  For one, Ole Miss has not defended the run very well all season and in fact, has been less than stellar defensively overall. On the other hand, the Black Bears/Land Sharks have been extremely prolific offensively.  So there is the tendency to “qualify” Auburn’s offensive improvement this week as coming against a weak opponent.

I don’t really buy that argument, as I always concern myself with how *Auburn* played, not so much whom they were playing against.  I saw marked improvement in several areas of the AU offense, some in the game plan/play-calling, some in the offensive line, and some in various skill positions.

Defensively, I saw considerable improvement in the secondary, as Auburn faced a more talented group of wide receivers than last week vs Tennessee, and a very talented (and mobile) quarterback.  I thought the coverage was a little improved and the technique in the back end was much more aggressive. There were some mistakes for sure, but overall, the guys in the back end of the AU defense played pretty well, especially considering the absence of starting corner Jamel Dean and safety Jeremiah Dinson. One of the impressive things to me was the play of some of the younger guys like Smoke Monday, Jamien Sherwood, and Christian Tutt. None of those guys are playing mistake-free football, but they have gotten better each week, and will almost certainly be big-time players in the near future.

I certainly won’t cover everything, and I’m sure there are things I missed watching the game, or even things I may have “seen wrong,” but here are some of the things I think I saw……
 

• I liked the (reversed) targeting play by Smoke Monday.  It was a terrific play by the youngster and the kind of aggressive play that makes teams reluctant to test a defensive back.
   
• Auburn only rushed four most of the game. That left five offensive linemen to block four defenders, with Derrick Brown drawing the double team most of the time.  The AU pass rush was (for the most part) pretty well disciplined, allowing the Ole Miss QB to scramble out only a handful of times.
   
• Nick Coe was relentless in his effort to get to the quarterback.  He plays with tremendous effort, and knows how to use his hands and gain leverage on a blocker.  Coe had three sacks in the game and it’s important to realize that most of the day he was going against OM tackle Greg Little, who is generally regarded as one of the top offensive linemen in the SEC.
   
• Kevin Steele blitzed less often in this game than previously this season but when the blitzes were called, they were timely and effective.  It seems to really help when the blitz includes athletic players like Sherwood and Monday.
   
• Marlon Davidson played perhaps his best game this season. He started the season more slowly than I’d expected based on last year but he seems to be gaining momentum despite playing on a bad ankle.  Davidson blocked an Ole Miss field goal, giving him three such blocks in the past three games.  He was also close to blocking at least one more and had some key plays from his defensive end spot.
   
• T.D. Moultry is still struggling.  His technique is often fundamentally unsound which gets exposed quickly in this league, and he gives up too quickly on plays, rather than working to recover quickly.  He is a talented kid, but he’s got work to do before he can put that talent to use.
   
• Big Kat Bryant, although he gives good effort, has a lot of work to do as well. He’s an exceptional athlete but has practically zero pass rush moves and is, so far, unable to use his athleticism to become an effective edge rusher. When I watch Bryant play, I find myself wishing he could spend time with former Auburn great Kevin Greene to hone his game.
   

• I enjoy watching Noah Igbinoghene return kickoffs.  He’s not very big but he has always been fearless and has the speed to break one at any time.  I hope opponents continue to give him opportunities in the kicking game.
   
• I thought the offensive line was somewhat improved this week. Not as good as I’d like for sure but better nonetheless.  Nick Brahms was somewhat improved.  He got some movement on occasion, although he has to learn to blow through the “stalemate” he often gets on initial contact.  He will eventually learn to just run through the defender and the sooner that happens, the better.  Brahms still seems a little uncertain coming off the ball and that must be fixed.
   
• Mike Horton was much improved at right guard and got genuine movement in short yardage and on the goal line.
   
• Prince Tega was much more effective when he pulled on the screen plays, although the Auburn running backs didn’t have the patience/skill to take advantage of his blocking.  That aspect will improve as time goes by.
   
• Jack Driscoll was much better than last week, until his unfortunate injury.  I really hope Driscoll can recover during the bye week, as Austin Troxell is not yet capable of handling a speed rusher in pass protection.  Troxell was a little better this week on run plays but his footwork is not up to par in pass protection.
   
• With Boobee Whitlow’s latest injury, Shaun Shivers stepped up nicely in relief.  I was impressed with Shivers’ willingness to run hard between the tackles but his version of ball security scares me to death.  When a back is running through that kind of traffic, both hands have to be on the football, which Shivers seldom does. 
   
• I don’t know what the problem is with playing Kam Martin recently but with limited depth at the running back position, we are surely going to need his contribution.  I thought he did reasonably well with his limited opportunities this week.
   
• Daniel Thomas has always been a sure tackler in the secondary but these past two games, he has missed a couple at critical times.  As a safety, he needs to make sure tackles, rather than going for the kill shot so often.  I appreciate the aggressiveness, but first things first.
   
• When looking at Anthony Schwartz’s high school videos, I expected a decent player with exceptional speed.  Schwartz is much more than that; he is a genuine football player, and plays more like an upperclassman than a true freshman.  Great things in the future for that young man.
   
• In the absence of Jamel Dean, Javaris Davis was moved from nickel to corner this week.  I thought he played his best game in a while, despite being called for PI a time or two.

I realize this win won’t make up for our three losses in conference play. But what I have been most disappointed about the last couple of weeks was a lack of improvement. I finally saw some genuine improvement this week and although it could/should have happened earlier, now is surely better than later.

With an open date next week to give our players a chance to rest and heal, and our coaches time to teach and make corrections, we have a chance to take another step forward against A&M.

I don’t know what is going to happen with the head coach situation, and at the moment, I’m not overly concerned about that.  What happens, happens.  In the meantime, I just want our team to play as well each week as they are capable of playing. That’s all we can ask of our players.

WAR EAGLE!!

 

[CR 2,442]

Coach, any idea what's happened to Moultry?

[corchjay 5,311]

@JMR would like your opinion on how Stidham is performing within the framework of the offense and when under pressure and  when what he thinks is pressure

[JMR 2,118]

That's a pretty open-ended question, Corch. I thought Stidham was a little better this week, possibly helped by the chance to throw the ball between the hash marks for a change. I have been pretty disappointed overall with his "reaction" to pressure, whether real or imagined. I will say, I don't think his reactions are out of fear of getting hit, but rather out of fear of a bad play. Unfortunately, his reactions have in some cases created WORSE than sacks or losses. I thought he was better this week, although the protection was also better, so who knows? I do think at least part of the problem has been the extreme predictability of our offense, and the fact that there have been very limited "complimentary" routes in our passing game, half-field reads assigned, and even one-defender reads at times.

[JMR 2,118]

24 minutes ago, CR said:

Coach, any idea what's happened to Moultry?

Just a guess, CR, but sometimes when a coach gets a little "down" on a player, the player doesn't handle it very well. I'm not saying Garner is wrong at all, but some guys need positive reinforcement, and when you're not doing much right, it's tough for a coach to come up with anything positive. Moultry is just going to have to "take coaching", and get better. Then he'll get what he needs from his coach.

[CR 2,442]

10 minutes ago, JMR said:

Just a guess, CR, but sometimes when a coach gets a little "down" on a player, the player doesn't handle it very well. I'm not saying Garner is wrong at all, but some guys need positive reinforcement, and when you're not doing much right, it's tough for a coach to come up with anything positive. Moultry is just going to have to "take coaching", and get better. Then he'll get what he needs from his coach.

Gotta be tough to play for Garner as we've seen before. Hope Moultry takes the heat and comes on. Thanks.

[kwagoner 214]

1 hour ago, JMR said:

 

• T.D. Moultry is still struggling. His technique is often fundamentally unsound, which gets exposed quickly in this league, and he gives up too quickly on plays, rather than working to recover quickly. He is a talented kid, but he’s got work to do before he can put that talent to use.

 

His effort is lax, too. I saw 2 plays (for sure) where he was initially beat, gave up, stood and watched Ta’amu scramble and make a play instead of continuing to fight.

[corchjay 5,311]

1 hour ago, JMR said:

That's a pretty open-ended question, Corch. I thought Stidham was a little better this week, possibly helped by the chance to throw the ball between the hash marks for a change. I have been pretty disappointed overall with his "reaction" to pressure, whether real or imagined. I will say, I don't think his reactions are out of fear of getting hit, but rather out of fear of a bad play. Unfortunately, his reactions have in some cases created WORSE than sacks or losses. I thought he was better this week, although the protection was also better, so who knows? I do think at least part of the problem has been the extreme predictability of our offense, and the fact that there have been very limited "complimentary" routes in our passing game, half-field reads assigned, and even one-defender reads at times.

I've also had the same thought process and discussed on the board the half field reads and spoke about his freshman year at Baylor being mainly a 1 read system.  

[corchjay 5,311]

1 hour ago, JMR said:

Just a guess, CR, but sometimes when a coach gets a little "down" on a player, the player doesn't handle it very well. I'm not saying Garner is wrong at all, but some guys need positive reinforcement, and when you're not doing much right, it's tough for a coach to come up with anything positive. Moultry is just going to have to "take coaching", and get better. Then he'll get what he needs from his coach.

Agreed.   and do your job first then make the play.  I think he may be trying to make the play instead of doing his job on a particular play

[autan 737]

I've also been disappointed with Moultry's play this year after the rave reviews last year.  Aggressiveness and decision making don't seem to be there so far.  You may have hit the nail on the head with the root cause Corch. Hopefully that light will come on soon.  We really need him.

[Tigger1985 806]

I thought Stidham did better when we were in the hurry up mode. When things slowed down is when he seemed to struggle 

[Win4AU 4,052]

As much as Kam could help the running game with Boobee banged up I’d still put Malik Miller and Shivers ahead of him.  Kam wants to run as fast as he can between the center and guard ever play and would be much better served on the outside runs and quick pitches where speed matters more.  I’ve seen Miller get stopped in the backfield twice only to throw off tacklers and make a big run.  Miller and Shivers would be true thunder and lightning.

[Linayus 676]

I have this serious love/hate relationship with Stidham this season. My biggest gripe this week was his lack of "playing to win" and I think that can be said just about every week, but it stood out to me more this week. For example: third down and Stidham keeps the ball and takes off but instead of even trying to reach the 1st down marker (which he very likely would make) he gives up on the play and we end up with a 4th and 2. Or on other plays where he rolls/scrambles to the sideline he'd rather just run out of bounds (sometimes for a loss) instead of cutting up field for a couple of yards or at the very least, throwing the ball away.

I think it's plays like these where people start assuming he's trying to avoid contact as much as possible.

OR.. as this has suddenly occurred to me, perhaps his fumbling issues from last season (mostly when he DID keep the ball and run into contact) has made him overly cautious about attempting it this season. Hmm...

[auol72 188]

You have now placed your finger square on this teams problem, their field general leader is SAWFT! The team takes on the persona of the quarterback. There was no excuse for him to slide on that play. In my mind it was the most clear example of this teams problem was his failure to get that first down so the team could kneel and run out the clock. Heck even Sean White would have tried to get it. Cam  and Nick would have ripped off ten yards or scored. Anyway, i am with you and until he shows some intestional fortitude we will keep playing like we are now.

[NoALtiger 3,858]

I’m sorry but I can’t get past the quality of our defensive opposition when discussing any offensive improvements. I do think we looked better overall but then again we should have. I imagine most SEC teams look improved after playing OM’s defense. The big thing that I noticed (as was mentioned) was Stidham throwing between the hash’s. That’s a game changer for us I think. 

[AUFriction 1,179]

Something I’ve noticed (and has been pointed out on here) about Kam... He’s not a patient runner. He tries to hit the prespecified hole as quickly as possible rather than patiently waiting on the blocking to develop. Honestly, I think he’s more powerful than folks give him credit for, and I think he’s still a very talented RB. Unfortunately, with our poor blocking this year, holes aren’t opening where they are expected to, so he’s not able to be effective in our offense right now. Thus, I think Kam getting buried in the depth chart is less about talent and more about how his talent is more limited than some of the others with the poor OL play. 

[Jfsmoncrief 10]

Moultry should be playing linebacker 

[bigbird 60,515]

15 minutes ago, Jfsmoncrief said:

Moultry should be playing linebacker 

I agree. IMO, It will be hard to keep Jibunor off the field.

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

On 10/23/2018 at 9:22 PM, bigbird said:

I agree. IMO, It will be hard to keep Jibunor off the field.

I have thought this as well. I never liked him at buck. I did think CRG would be able to get him to an elite level there but I thought he would he a good backup to dwill

[Auburn Kev 1,653]

Glad Malzahn does not have a history of failing to use a player to the best of his ability. /s

Edited October 25, 2018 by Auburn Kev

[Randman5000 4,228]

Moultry needed to be LB. Missed opportunity imo.

 

[Randman5000 4,228]

On 10/22/2018 at 10:13 AM, Linayus said:

I have this serious love/hate relationship with Stidham this season. My biggest gripe this week was his lack of "playing to win" and I think that can be said just about every week, but it stood out to me more this week. For example: third down and Stidham keeps the ball and takes off but instead of even trying to reach the 1st down marker (which he very likely would make) he gives up on the play and we end up with a 4th and 2. Or on other plays where he rolls/scrambles to the sideline he'd rather just run out of bounds (sometimes for a loss) instead of cutting up field for a couple of yards or at the very least, throwing the ball away.

I think it's plays like these where people start assuming he's trying to avoid contact as much as possible.

OR.. as this has suddenly occurred to me, perhaps his fumbling issues from last season (mostly when he DID keep the ball and run into contact) has made him overly cautious about attempting it this season. Hmm...

It's his coaching...

Gus drills into his QBs not to turn the ball over, don't create negative plays. ( We don't throw the ball over the middle. Our pass posts mostly consist of only 50/50 balls way down the field or screen plays to the sidelines) last season J. Stid late on the season he got those extra yards with his legs ( see the Alabama game) this year, the pressure of not making bad plays cares causes him to not stretch for the next few yards, or fear of his Oline turning a guy or two loose causes him to rush his throws. He's been so inconsistent and so have our more experienced receivers. It's fitting when he gets those extra yards, we get a penalty or a sack. Or he drops a dime after an overthrow and the receiver drops it. I do think he is a rhythm throw QB, and is better at throwing it on a rope or a line but we don't have routes like that but we've force him way down the field where its less rythm and more 50/50 versus thread the pass after some rythm throws. ( I'm thinking more of A TE over the middle of the field)..I realize this breakdown has more to do with throwing than your point about fumbles. 

This is an incredibly frustrating year. I'm sure he's frustrated as well. I just want consistency, successful consistency. From Gus ...for J.Stid..for Auburn. 

Edited October 26, 2018 by Randman5000

[Rednilla 5,390]

On 10/23/2018 at 8:50 AM, AUFriction said:

Something I’ve noticed (and has been pointed out on here) about Kam... He’s not a patient runner. He tries to hit the prespecified hole as quickly as possible rather than patiently waiting on the blocking to develop. Honestly, I think he’s more powerful than folks give him credit for, and I think he’s still a very talented RB. Unfortunately, with our poor blocking this year, holes aren’t opening where they are expected to, so he’s not able to be effective in our offense right now. Thus, I think Kam getting buried in the depth chart is less about talent and more about how his talent is more limited than some of the others with the poor OL play. 

I was very impressed with the patience Shivers showed on his runs, even the one or two when the blocking never developed and he was dropped for a loss. One of these days, he's going to hit a crease and be gone, with DBs taking poor angles on him due to his track speed. I still like Asa, and think he could be an important piece for us at some point, but Worm is living up to my billing him as the best running back in the 2018 recruiting class.