Things I Think I Saw: Auburn vs Alabama

[JMR 2,118]

I thought about not doing one of these this week. My life certainly doesn’t revolve around Auburn football, or football in general, so I’m not “depressed” about the game. But I’ll admit, I’m not excited about talking about it, or the state of the program at present. But, I said at the beginning of the season I’d do it, so here are some things I “think” I saw in the game.

I’m going to try to focus on the positives (yes, there were some) as much as reasonably possible. Alabama has a lot of very good players, and they were well-coached and well-prepared, so they were obviously going to make some plays.
 

• I thought the effort by Auburn’s players, on both sides of the ball, was outstanding. Even when the game was clearly out of reach, I saw no quit.

 

• There were an inordinate number of physical and mental errors on Auburn’s part to start the game. Dropped passes by Seth Williams, Ryan Davis, and Boobee Whitlow to start the game were obviously not confidence-builders for the offense or for Jarrett Stidham.

 

• Speaking of Stidham, he did not play very well, but neither was he “awful.”  He began the game with accurate throws, but came up with some poorly thrown balls later.

 

• Strangely enough, I thought the offensive line played their best game in a while. AU had some decent success running behind Jack Driscoll, and Horton and Harrell played probably their best game of the season.  Kaleb Kim was better but he is just not very strong/powerful.  To his credit, though, he has gotten steadily better since returning to the starting lineup.

 

• The penalty on Javaris Davis for hitting the Alabama punt returner on the fair-catch was definitely a foul but he was almost on the guy before he gave the fair catch signal. Davis was trying to make a big play. He should have been looking at the return man and veered away when the signal was made. But it was close, and not as “flagrant” as it probably looked.

 

• The holding penalty on Sal Cannella that brought back Shivers’ 75-yard TD was huge. Cannella was definitely holding but those are almost never called.  That said, I thought the game was fairly officiated.  Not “well-officiated,” but “fairly”.

 

• Seth Williams has played very well this season for a true freshman but this game was not his finest hour.  He not only dropped a couple of passes but didn’t block very well either.  It was an especially big game, his first Iron Bowl, and he is still a youngster.  I look forward to watching him grow.

 

• Boobee Whitlow looked the healthiest he’s been all season.  He dropped two passes, but gave great effort, and he has made tremendous progress as a running back this season.

 

• Chandler Cox will be missed.  He has blocked well all year, and this week was no exception.  He looked to be open for a possible TD (poor view on TV) on the failed fourth down pass to Anders Carlson.  Some fans like to criticize Cox but I love the way he plays the game.

 

• Big Kat Bryant came a long way this season yet he still needs lots of work…pass rush moves, and just pure physical strength….but he did improve throughout the year. Like all our defensive ends, he does that two-step shuttle down inside when the offensive tackle blocks down and loses contain but I put that on Rodney Garner and Kevin Steele, not on the players.
   

• One of the things I hope the defensive backs are taught…either by the new staff or the current one…..is how to use their hands in coverage. When running right with a receiver, it’s ok to use the back of your hand or forearm to “feel” the receiver so you know you are sticking with him.  It’s not OK to grab his jersey or put your arm around his waist.  That small technique issue has bothered me all season.

 

• Even with Malzahn’s trick plays, there was still some major predictability in our offensive plays.  Alabama guessed right far too many times for it to be coincidence.

 

• We will sorely miss DeShaun Davis and Darrell Williams.  Those guys are smart, experienced players, and both made outstanding plays in their last Iron Bowl.

 

• I’ve been pulling for Noah Igbinoghene all season.  As a converted receiver, he has worked his way into the starting lineup as a corner and has been challenged often by opposing offenses.  It was good to see him do as well as he did this week against Alabama’s exceptionally talented wide receivers.

 

• I was disappointed when the throwback pass to Tucker Brown was intercepted.  Brown is a former walk-on, a “blocker” who lines up as a tight end and I’d have loved seeing him actually catch a pass in the Iron Bowl.

 

• Saw some excellent play by Coynis Miller and Tyrone Truesdell in the game.  Encouraging for the future.  Miller is a genuine load for anybody to block and he’s not yet full grown.

 

• Larry Porter is one of Auburn’s best recruiters, and in addition to that, I’ve been really happy with the job he’s done with our special teams this season.  Those guys are well-coached and that’s a pleasant change from the years since Jay Boulware left.

Lots of rumors and whispers around the Auburn program right now. I’ve heard them all, but like most of us, have no idea which are true, if any. I won’t bother to speculate on what will happen with Malzahn, but I do believe that the longer this uncertainty drags on, the more likely it is he returns as our coach next year. Guess we will see.

Thanks to those of you who have taken the time to read my post-game thoughts this season, and WAR DAMN EAGLE!!

 

[muxi87 148]

Thanks for doing these every week.  It’s the one weekly thread I look forward to.  👍

[Win4AU 4,052]

For all the gripping about the Oline it’s great to see them play well against Bama and UGA.  Still room to improve but with a new Qb and the loss of Cox Auburn will need the Oline to get the job done next year.

[musicitytiger 281]

Thanks for focusing on the positive, too much drama right now

[ChltteTiger 649]

I appreciate your emphasizing the positives in your summary. All the other threads are mostly negative. That's what you get with #BUTGUS in year 6.

[wareagleguy 1,393]

I thought the OL played as well as they have all year too

[AuMarine 1,372]

Thanks @JMR I look forward to reading your perspective every week. 

[AUBiker77 9]

I appreciate it as well and start looking for it right after each game. Thanks for taking the time each week.

 

[AUFAN78 3,890]

Great job all year coach. Thanks!

[fredst 9,064]

I appreciate the points you make about Whitlow and our DBs....particularly since I wholeheartedly agree with them, lol. I think Whitlow has the makings of a very good back-you cannot teach the effort and toughness he has shown running behind a poor OL. The DBs have plenty of talent and are often in great position; I bet 75% of the PIs they’ve been called for were absolutely the right call but were times where there was no need to be doing the grabbing because they were in position to make the play without it.

Thanks for the great weekly insights Coach!

[Barnacle 9,064]

Thanks for taking the time all season long. I look forward to reading your thoughts each week, and I always learn something new about football. I hope you'll continue to post in the future.

[weagl1 1,781]

Thanks for your thoughts coach!  I look forward to them each week and I hope you will continue this next year!  I also thought the O line had their best game of the season given the level of competition.  The running game actually looked good on that one drive.  It sure did hurt to see Shivers long run called back.  I think the crowd was a little stunned to see the wheels on that kid it sure did get quiet there for a minute.  

[tigerrules 517]

I have enjoyed your posts this year. Coach, I would agree that the offensive line has very very slowly shown improvement over the last few weeks. Do you credit coach grimes’ influence finally taking hold,  Or just increase in reps? 

[RunInRed 16,360]

Thanks Coach!

Only disagreement from me is on "fair" officiating.  But that's another topic for another thread.

[JMR 2,118]

8 hours ago, tigerrules said:

I have enjoyed your posts this year. Coach, I would agree that the offensive line has very very slowly shown improvement over the last few weeks. Do you credit coach grimes’ influence finally taking hold,  Or just increase in reps? 

Gotta be coaching.....they don't get better without it. Can't really understand why it took as long as it did. Hope a lot of it carries over to next year.

[JMR 2,118]

8 hours ago, RunInRed said:

Thanks Coach!

Only disagreement from me is on "fair" officiating.  But that's another topic for another thread.

Not to drag this thread into another dimension, but a small addendum to my original comment:  "Fairly" does NOT include Steve Shaw and the "replay officials" sequestered in the Birmingham viper pit for their weekly bama watch party. 

[aubaseball 2,585]

I’ve enjoyed reading your write ups after each game.   

I would have summed this up rather quickly.    I saw two teams that were going in opposite directions.   One team was playing with a goal within reach and the other appeared to just be going through the motions.  

Just my opinion, but I thought the defense played with less emotion than any game all year. 

Anyhow, the season is over and hopefully things will either improve or the writing is on the wall.    Another year like this one and no one will be back 

[aubiefifty 16,719]

hey coach what would it take to get you to take over our tigers and can you guarantee improvement? and if ya took over what is the first thing you would do?  lol 

[Aubarbs 6]

Registered today just to let you know how much I enjoy reading your insights each week. Thank you and War Eagle.

[RunInRed 16,360]

1 hour ago, Aubarbs said:

Registered today just to let you know how much I enjoy reading your insights each week. Thank you and War Eagle.

Welcome!

[jAUSon 2,836]

@JMR Thanks for another year. This would be a regular ho-hum board without you. War Eagle.

[Linayus 676]

Appreciate your insight as always. I definitely think this o-line combination with Kim at center has given us the best results. He's not the strongest, as you said, but they seem to work a little better together. Hopefully this progress will continue into the spring and summer workouts.

I didn't like that holding call against Sal, as most Auburn fans would not be, even if it was legit. Those are rarely ever called unless egregious and it just adds to the fire that Bama gets the benefit of the calls in all their games. I did think it got better after that but I was certainly not happy early on with how the game was getting called. (Especially since I have been waiting on that Shivers run all freaking season only to see it get called back! LOL)

I noticed Coynis Miller more in this game as well. Looking forward to seeing him in the future!

Hope you continue these next season! War Eagle!

[jptiger 481]

Thanks Coach! 

[milehighfan 1,239]

I enjoyed reading your piece every week. Now comes the circus involving Gus and just what is going to happen. Only one person seems to know and that person isn't talking. Anyway, thanks for the Auburn insights each week.

[AuburnNTexas 7,128]

I have truly enjoyed your insightful analyses every week.. I hope that you will continue to do it. The O-line has improved as the year progressed that said their feeble work at the beginning of the year probably hurt the Defense both in physical and mental wear and tear. 

Thank you