StatTiger 3,188 Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 Auburn’s 41-23 victory over Ole Miss was no doubt Auburn’s best victory of the season with all three phases of the game coming away with a passing grade. The offense came out strong as the defense had major issues containing the Rebel running game, leading to a 17-17 tie at halftime. Just as Auburn did for the majority of last season, the Tiger defense made great adjustments at the half, holding the Ole Miss offense in check until the Rebels scored a later touchdown against Auburn’s reserves. The offense found more rhythm and consistency against Ole Miss than any other game, primarily because Moseley played the majority of the game and the offensive line played much better. It also proves that with consistent line play, Gus Malzahn’s offense doesn’t NEED a dual threat quarterback to be successful. The return of Emory Blake was huge for the Auburn offense with 3 of his 5 receptions being an impact play. I was actually hoping the coaches would let him sit for this game because he will be dearly needed against Georgia but it was great to see No. 80 making plays on the field again. Auburn was conservative in their offensive approach but the difference was the Tigers were more consistent. This was evident by the lower number of 3rd down situations (11) Auburn faced against the Rebels. Coming into the game, Auburn averaged 15 third down situations in their 5 previous conference games. The combination of Eltoro Freeman (11) and Jawara White (9) combined for 20 tackles, including 3 tackles for loss. Last week, LSU totaled 6 sacks and 4 quarterback hurries. The Auburn offense lined played perhaps their best game of the season with 1 sack and 1 hurry allowed against the Rebels to go along with 254-yards rushing. For those who want to write this game off as an easy victory over a 2-6 team, think back to how poorly Auburn played against an 0-8 FAU team. We saw a major improvement on offense tonight and you have to come away from this game with more confidence in the quarterback position. Auburn is officially bowl eligible and will have two weeks to prepare for a good Georgia team. Inside the Numbers… Clint Moseley compiled a pass rating of 257.6, which was the second best passing performance by an Auburn quarterback over the past 40 years against a conference opponent. Keep in mind that the Rebel defense had allowed an average rating of 127.1 coming into the game tonight. Clint Moseley was 5 of 5 on third down for 3 touchdown passes, accumulating a rating of 412.2 on 3rd down. Michael Dyer came into the game, needing 188-yards to reach the 1000-yard mark. He came away with 177-yards on 27 carries. Barrett Trotter totaled 27 impact pass plays from his 149 pass attempts. Clint Mosley now has 12 on just 44 pass attempts for a ratio of 1 every 3.6 attempts, far greater than Trotter’s 1 every 5.5 attempts. In 23 conference games, Auburn has now averaged 239.4 yards rushing under Gus Malzahn, which includes 257.3 yards rushing against his old boss, Houston Nutt. Of Emory Blake’s 24 receptions on the season, 12 have been impact plays. Onterio McCalebb has now caught at least 1 pass in 12 consecutive games. Philip Lutzenkirchen now has 36 career receptions for 12 touchdowns. Steven Clark averaged 43.9 yards per punt during the first 4 games, which has dropped to 38.0 yards per punt in the last 5 games. Auburn rushed for just 76-yards in the first half, averaging 3.8 yards per rush. During the second half, Auburn rushed for 178-yards on 5.9 yards per carry. 48 percent of Auburn’s designed run plays went between the tackles for 6.6 yards per rush. Of Auburn’s 30 first down plays, only 2 were pass attempts. Last season, Michael Dyer did not have a run of 40-yards or greater from his 182 carries. This season, he has 5 such runs from 186 carries in 2011. The Auburn lost their first fumble on offense this season, when Michael Dyer fumbled during the first half. Through 9 games, the opponent has scored 14 more points than Auburn, yet Auburn has a 6-3 record. For the season, an Auburn turnover is worth 3.14 points for the opponent and an Auburn forced-turnover has been worth 3.13 points for the Tigers. T’Sharvan Bell is Auburn’s 4th leading tackler through 9 games, leads the team in interceptions and passes defended. Cody Parkey has done an exceptional job replacing one of Auburn’s most successful place-kickers. Parkey is 11 of 14 in FG’s and 57.4 percent of his kick-offs have gone for touchbacks. The Auburn defense allowed 172-yards rushing during the first half at 6.6 yards per pop. During the second half, Ole Miss was held to 48-yards rushing on 2.7 yards per carry. Though it’s still to early to say Clint Moseley is the future for Auburn’s quarterback position, he is off to a solid start. If he can continue to progress in the manner he as over the past couple of weeks, he will give Auburn an opportunity to defeat Georgia in Athens. There is no doubt, when given time Moseley has great vision down field to find an open target. The Auburn offense will have to be efficient to score enough points against a Georgia defense that has improved tremendously during the 2011 season. Though the defense has improved since the first 3 games of the season, the first half of the Ole Miss game was a strong reminder the defense isn’t close to where the coaches would like it to be. The Rebels gashed the Auburn defense with 5 impact plays during the first 2 quarters of the game, totaling 172-yards rushing in the first half. The Georgia Bulldogs are not explosive on offense but they possess “balance”, which will create issues for an Auburn defense, still learning to play as a unit. Auburn will receive a much needed off week with a bye this Saturday. This will allow Auburn to heal its injuries and extra time to game plan for the Georgia Bulldogs. For the most part, Auburn has defeated the teams they were supposed to this season and lost to the teams that were better. The victory against South Carolina on the road was perhaps the only “steal” of the season but an upset over the Georgia Bulldogs would be even better for such a young Auburn squad. I do believe the team we saw against Ole Miss was better than the team that took to the field against Utah State, which is a good sign for Coach Gene Chizik’s coaching staff. The defense despite their shortcomings is playing with more confidence and Clint Moseley appears to be the confidence builder the offense has been searching for this season. We all want to see a better overall product on the field but it is good to know the players and coaches are headed in the right direction. War Eagle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McWeagle 4 Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 -"Just what the doctor ordered." You called it, Stat. -So fun to watch us win the LOS, even against a bad Ole Miss team. -Congrats to CGM for laying it on Nutt. I doubt that was a significant motivation for him, but I'm sure at some point this week he'll pause to be a little extra satisfied. -Keep it up, Eltoro. You're doing great. And Jawara White, you looked mighty big and mighty fast out there. Love it. -Moseley looks like an SEC caliber QB to me. I'm not penciling in Frazier as the starter in 2012 just yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarolinaTiger 0 Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 Thanks (again), StatTiger. To the rest of the Board: Has anyone ever actually met StatTiger? Has anyone ever seen StatTiger and Charley Steiner in the same room together? Makes you wonder... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aubiematt 0 Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 Thanks (again), StatTiger. To the rest of the Board: Has anyone ever actually met StatTiger? Has anyone ever seen StatTiger and Charley Steiner in the same room together? Makes you wonder... That's a good question! I am under the belief that StatTiger is actually a supercomputer created by the Auburn Engineering Department and lives under Parker hall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunInRed 16,449 Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 Thanks (again), StatTiger. To the rest of the Board: Has anyone ever actually met StatTiger? Has anyone ever seen StatTiger and Charley Steiner in the same room together? Makes you wonder... That's a good question! I am under the belief that StatTiger is actually a supercomputer created by the Auburn Engineering Department and lives under Parker hall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StatTiger 3,188 Posted October 30, 2011 Author Share Posted October 30, 2011 I am under the belief that StatTiger is actually a supercomputer created by the Auburn Engineering Department and lives under Parker hall. That would still be better than living in a van down by the river. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunInRed 16,449 Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 HAHA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunInRed 16,449 Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 Stat, you nailed it. This may be your best analysis of the year. You picked up on a couple of things that most missed: Jawara White had a great game Malzahn's offense can be very successful without a dual-threat QB Moseley appears to give us more down-field impact passing plays But what struck me most, was how you saw this coming! WDE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunInRed 16,449 Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 Stat - One other question ... can you shed some light on what Malzahn is thinking running the option with Moseley? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValleyTiger 2,894 Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 Stat - One other question ... can you shed some light on what Malzahn is thinking running the option with Moseley? Quick way to get to the next down? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuburnKnight 0 Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 Thanks (again), StatTiger. To the rest of the Board: Has anyone ever actually met StatTiger? Has anyone ever seen StatTiger and Charley Steiner in the same room together? Makes you wonder... That's a good question! I am under the belief that StatTiger is actually a supercomputer created by the Auburn Engineering Department and lives under Parker hall. If StatTiger is indeed this supercomputer, then it seems to have developed feelings, which if the law of classic sci-fi is applied, means that soon he will enslave us all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aubiematt 0 Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 Thanks (again), StatTiger. To the rest of the Board: Has anyone ever actually met StatTiger? Has anyone ever seen StatTiger and Charley Steiner in the same room together? Makes you wonder... That's a good question! I am under the belief that StatTiger is actually a supercomputer created by the Auburn Engineering Department and lives under Parker hall. If StatTiger is indeed this supercomputer, then it seems to have developed feelings, which if the law of classic sci-fi is applied, means that soon he will enslave us all. It's only a danger when StatTiger becomes self-aware. I wonder if his first target will be Tuscaloosa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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