Things I Think I Saw: AU vs Kentucky

[JMR 2,118]

With this being the first of these this season (and with the way 2020 has gone so far, maybe the last), a quick reminder: I watch the game, and make a few mental notes that I try to summarize when it's over. I refuse to watch a game over and over, so I may see some things wrong, or maybe miss some things altogether. I make no claim to being "right" about what I saw, hence the name....Things I Think I Saw.

I may very well be overly generous in my overall assessment, given the circumstances of this particular football season. Lots of losses to the draft and graduation, no spring practice, an erratic off-season, and a protracted pre-season with lots of disruptions and interruptions.

I was relatively pleased with Auburn's play in the game. UK came in with lots of experience on both the offensive and defensive lines. Four of five UK offensive linemen were named to various pre-season All-SEC teams. The Cats returned 9 starters on defense. With all those caveats listed, here are some things I think I saw in the game:

• Auburn's defensive line was handled pretty easily by Kentucky's very good offensive line. UK did not miss many assignments, and appeared to be exceptionally well-versed in their blocking schemes. As the game moved along, I thought Auburn's DL got better at using their hands and keeping the UK OL from getting into their bodies. That trend continued throughout the game, and the AU defense got better from beginning to end.
   
• With a relatively experienced group of linebackers, I saw more bad fits than I expected on UK running plays between the tackles. That tendency did not improve drastically during the game, and will likely be a point of emphasis in practice this week.
   
• Auburn's offensive line play was not great, but given the fact that there were four new starters in that group, I thought they played surprisingly well. Pass protection was good for the most part, with only a couple of breakdowns. That phase I thought was an improvement over last season. Left tackle Alec Jackson had a couple of false starts, and I don't recall any others by linemen. There were some "mental lapses" by offensive linemen, like putting the head on the wrong side of the defender, not moving the knees on backside cutoffs, etc. Those things become automatic with time and experience.
   
• Auburn pulled more backside linemen (sometimes both the guard and tackle, sometimes only the guard) than I remember seeing in a while, and those pulling linemen usually found a block.
   
• The "Chad Morris Offense" was an improvement in my mind. Not as predictable, and more of the field was utilized. Keep in mind, nothing was "fine-tuned", as this was Game One for almost the entire offensive front. Auburn will have to continue to improve its run game going forward.
   
• I liked the two-point conversion call after Auburn's first TD. Don't particularly like the play itself, but love the idea of going for two when it's certainly unexpected.
   
• I think when considering the AU offense in this game, one needs to be mindful of the fact that Kentucky returned a majority of defensive starters this season, and Stoops' teams are very sound fundamentally.
   
• Some newcomers to the AU defense showed promise. Truesdell and Newkirk played hard and with lots of effort. Colby Wooden made some plays, and looks like he will be a good one.
   
• There were some breakdowns in the secondary, but those will be corrected. Overall, I thought the secondary played very well. McCreary, Simpson, and Sherwood all made big plays.
   
• The AU defense was without Big Kat Bryant, and then without Derek Hall. With having won the game, that becomes a good thing from an adjustment and experience standpoint. I didn't quite agree with the targeting call on Hall, but I am admittedly biased. For what it's worth, it was a great effort by Hall, who tackled the UK QB as he threw the ball, then hustled to catch up and make a block for McCreary after his pick.
   
• I thought Bo Nix showed progress from last year. He wasn't perfect, and lost focus on his footwork a few times, throwing off his back foot, or pedaling backwards. But the strength and accuracy of his arm looked much improved to me. He did appear to bail on plays too early a few times, and his escape from the pocket is entirely too repetitive/predictable. I don't know if there are checkdowns on some of those plays, but a handful of times, it looked like he had one defender to read, and if the prime receiver was covered, he took off. One of the things I was hoping for from Chad Morris was checkdowns to the running backs. Didn't see that this week.

As is almost always true after a game, especially the first game, there is lots of stuff to work on. While it's well-recognized that Kentucky is much better than they have traditionally been over the last several years, I feel pretty comfortable saying that Georgia will be as good or better.

All in all, my take on Game One is that we have a ways to go, but we are on track to get there. I thought the game was well-coached and mostly well-played. There were not a lot of stupid, emotional penalties, and that's often not the case in early games. We played a quality opponent, overcame occasional adversity, and won. I'll take it. Dawgs up next! War Eagle!

 

[3rdgeneration 6,469]

Thank you for taking the time to do this, Coach! I always enjoy your take and learn something in the process. WDE!!!

[RunInRed 16,381]

Thanks Coach! Good to see you around ...

[WarTim 3,456]

Thanks Coach!!!

[RunInRed 16,381]

Probably stating the obvious but I'm surprised no shout outs for the WRs ... Seth Williams, obviously, but I also thought Stove and Schwartz played well.

Also, @JMR what's your take on the RB situation.  Were you surprised we didn't see MAR?  Personally, I love Shivers but don't see him being the feature back we need - which is why I was very surprised to see him named the starter.

Britt is also a man among boys out there.

Lastly, you're higher on the DL than I am ... no rush or really backfield penetration all game.

[AUloggerhead 2,227]

Great observations as usual, Coach!  One thing that struck me was how good a team UK is this year -- their OL is pretty stout & QB Wilson was doing pretty good until his unforced fumble.  I believe they are going to be big factor in deciding the SEC East this year.   

[JMR 2,118]

3 minutes ago, RunInRed said:

Probably stating the obvious but I'm surprised no shout outs for the WRs ... Seth Williams, obviously, but I also thought Stove and Schwartz played well.

Also, @JMR what's your take on the RB situation.  Were you surprised we didn't see MAR?  Personally, I love Shivers but don't see him being the feature back we need - which is why I was very surprised to see him named the starter.

Britt is also a man among boys out there.

Lastly, you're higher on the DL than I am ... no rush or really backfield penetration all game.

I was (obviously) impressed with Seth on the fifty-fifty balls, but thought he might have had a couple he didn't get.  I'm high on Schwartz, Stove, and even young Capers, but Bo seems to get fixated on Seth at times. Hopefully that will work itself out. 

I thought our DL started out way too tentative. Whether that was due to UK's OL being good, inexperience, butterflies, or what, I don't know. But I thought the guys I mentioned came on quite a bit later in the game. Kentucky's OL actually began to wear down (IMO). And the DL play after UK had a first down inside the two was actually pretty stout. That doesn't apply to everybody, of course, but those I thought didn't exactly distinguish themselves shall remain nameless until they've had chance to redeem themselves.

[JMR 2,118]

About the running backs:  I agree about Shivers. Love the kid, but he's not built to be a feature back. Don't know what the deal was with MAR. Hopefully we will get to see him one day. The guy I'm excited about is Bigsby.  His timing was a little off, but he's much quicker and faster than I thought. If he is the worker he's reported to be, we will see a ton of him before the season is over.

[3rdgeneration 6,469]

Shivers is out there for his tenacity and his leadership. He deserves to play every game, but that is a role they are going to have to divide among guys, for sure. I think we could have seen more out of Worm if he hadn't hurt his ankle. Dude is fast!

[McLoofus 35,182]

55 minutes ago, RunInRed said:

Probably stating the obvious but I'm surprised no shout outs for the WRs ... Seth Williams, obviously, but I also thought Stove and Schwartz played well.

Also, @JMR what's your take on the RB situation.  Were you surprised we didn't see MAR?  Personally, I love Shivers but don't see him being the feature back we need - which is why I was very surprised to see him named the starter.

Britt is also a man among boys out there.

Lastly, you're higher on the DL than I am ... no rush or really backfield penetration all game.

 

41 minutes ago, JMR said:

About the running backs:  I agree about Shivers. Love the kid, but he's not built to be a feature back. Don't know what the deal was with MAR. Hopefully we will get to see him one day. The guy I'm excited about is Bigsby.  His timing was a little off, but he's much quicker and faster than I thought. If he is the worker he's reported to be, we will see a ton of him before the season is over.

@Barnacle

[chizhead 618]

48 minutes ago, JMR said:

not built to be a feature back

Thank you! He can play a big role in the offense, but he just can't be the "guy" with his size

[Carnell 592]

Really liked the analysis and would like to eloborate on using the running backs as check downs which is good but I would also like to see the backs used in the screen game as an extension of our running game by getting the backs outside the box.

[TigerTennis80 345]

Thanks for being back this year, Coach, & offering your insights. I appreciate your perspective & am glad to be able to read it. War Eagle!

[atl-tiger 655]

19 minutes ago, chizhead said:

Thank you! He can play a big role in the offense, but he just can't be the "guy" with his size

Right, need Tank to emerge as our guy. If he woulda read blocks better vs UK he would have more yardage. Game will slow down for him. Use worm like mccalebb, he's just a speed bump in pass protection and DJ can get you that 3rd and short. 

I just like having a dominant RB. 

[aubiefifty 16,740]

thanks coach! your insight is something i have really enjoyed and i also realize it takes away from your personal time so i know you do it at some cost. to me that just makes it more special and is in the spirit of the auburn family. thanks again and war eagle!

[AidiAU 1,270]

Yay for this thread!!! It brings a bit of normalcy to 2020. 😁

[abw0004 10,110]

As always, thank you JMR!

I liked Seth Williams’ play as well, however I hope Seth tones down his actions after the catch.  I was surprised some of those were not flagged.  Don’t stop, just tone it down a tad so no flags are thrown.  

[aucanucktiger 1,791]

Good stuff, thanks!

Football can be paradoxical - I thoroughly agree with you that Mark Stoops teams are virtually always fundamentally sound. His record as a head coach now is also 44-45. 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,653]

I feel like the lack of backs and TEs in the passing game is more to do with a skeletal gameplan than Chad just not having them. I think between the new OLmen and everything else, they just didn't want to do too much 

 

but checkdowns definitely wouldve been nice 

[AURex 1,992]

Thanks JMR for your expert insights. Like you, I noticed Bo continuing to throw off his back foot. You'd think a year of off-season would have corrected this, Still, I was glad to see that he was working more from he pocket.

And Seth is THE MAN! Shrove got some catches, but like to see Mr Speed Schwarz get the ball more often.

Alas, what happened to the TEs? All this conversation during off-season about Morris using the TEs more in the passing game. Is this on Bo r Morris? I dunno. Waiting! Let's do it!

 

Edited September 28, 2020 by AURex

[homersapien 11,357]

Appreciate the encouragement for the OL!  

Even listening on the radio, I sensed maybe KY was getting tired in 4th, your comments about how we got better later in the game were very interesting.  KY was a tough, experienced opponent, but maybe we outnumbered them?

Finally, I love Chad Morris, but do we need a QB coach that can take Bo to the point where he doesn't have to "focus" on his footwork?  

[Barnacle 9,064]

@McLoofus I hear you.

That RB situation is going to be interesting to watch. Hope Shivers' injury won't slow him down against Georgia. He and Tank are the only backs I'm interested in seeing at this point. Also, so much hype about MAR, yet we don't see him?

[homersapien 11,357]

2 hours ago, abw0004 said:

As always, thank you JMR!

I liked Seth Williams’ play as well, however I hope Seth tones down his actions after the catch.  I was surprised some of those were not flagged.  Don’t stop, just tone it down a tad so no flags are thrown.  

I don't get the showboating.   Well, I suppose I do, but its so counter-productive. 

He's good enough for his highlights to speak for themselves. If he just acted like "oh well, just another day at the office" he'd become famous as hell!  Too bad he's not allowed to have a manager.

Edited September 28, 2020 by homersapien

[weagl1 1,782]

35 minutes ago, AURex said:

Thanks JMR for your expert insights. Like you, I noticed Bo continuing to throw off his back foot. You'd think a year of off-season would have corrected this, Still, I was glad to see that he was working more from he pocket.

And Seth is THE MAN! Shrove got some catches, but like to see Mr Speed Schwarz get the ball more often.

Alas, what happened to the TEs? All this conversation during off-season about Morris using the TEs more in the passing game. Is this on Bo r Morris? I dunno. Waiting! Let's do it!

 

Taking about TE’s I would love to see what would happen if they got the ball to that big Pegues kid and got him loose in the secondary.   It would be fun to see a DB try to get that 300 lbs on the ground!

[Flash14302 0]

Thank you, Coach!