StatTiger

Officially it does.

Impact is 15 or more yards Big play is 30-yards or more.

Kerryon Johnson has already surpasses his rushing totals from 2015 through 2 games into 2016. Last season, Johnson rushed for 208-yards on 51 attempts for 3 rushing TD's. Through two games into 2016, Johnson has 218-yards on 41 carries for 3 rushing touchdowns. As a true sophomore, KJ is still finding his grove and rhythm as Auburn's starting running back. Though it is too early to call it a trend, something to watch for the remainder of the season is Auburn's third-down offense. Through two games, Auburn has converted 60 percent of their third-down situations during the first-half and only 29.4 percent during the second-half. Last week against Clemson, 29 percent of Auburn's offensive snaps resulted in 5-yards or better. This week, it improved to 49 percent on offense. Auburn's defense held Clemson to 4-yards or less on 63 percent of the snaps defended and Arkansas State to nearly 70 percent. Through two games, nearly 64 percent of Auburn's tackles for loss have occurred during the first-half. 53 percent of Auburn's total yardage gained against the Red Wolves came on first down, with Auburn taking 40 offensive snaps on first down. Last week Auburn produced only 1 play of 15-yards or more on first down, registering eight such plays against Arkansas State. Last season Sean White was No. 5 among the 22 SEC quarterbacks that attempted at least 70 passes in generating impact plays in the passing game. White produced a 15-yard pass play or more every 4.9 attempts. The conference average was 1 every 5.9 pass attempts. Through two games into 2016, Sean White is No. 1 in the SEC hitting an impact play every 3.7 attempts. For the first time during his young career, Sean White attempted more passes on 1st down than 3rd down during a game. White was 7 of 10 on 1st down for 94-yards and 6 of 6 on 3rd down for 102-yards. Sean White is currently No. 4 in the SEC with a passer rating of 164.3 on 3rd down. Darius Slayton was the most targeted player in the passing game this week with five passes thrown his way against ASU. How important is first down production? Malzahn's offense at Auburn is now 35-5 in games his offense produces at least 45 percent of their total yardage on 1st down. During those 35 games, Auburn has averaged 37 PPG. Auburn is now 51-7, when Malzahn's offense scores on at least 33 percent of their possessions during a game. From 1992-2016, Auburn has won nearly 90 percent of their games when the Tigers have more rushing yards and rushing attempts than their opponent. Auburn is 145-16-1. Auburn has now lost the turnover battle during five of their last six games. Gus Malzahn's offense at Auburn has now produced 63 individual 100-yard rushing performances. That is 63 during 82 games compared to the 57 during the Tommy Tuberville era of 125 games. From 1992-2016 Auburn has faced 69 opponents from a non-Power 5 conference. Auburn's performance last night was the 7th best performance during the 69 games based on a rating formula. The rating formula is based on yards per game, yards per play, 1st down production, 3rd down production, impact play ratio, points scored and strength of schedule. Auburn's 462-yards rushing was the 4th most during Auburn's last 648 games. During Auburn's last 55 years of football, Gus Malzahn's offense is now responsible for nearly 1/3 of Auburn's 300-yard rushing games. War Eagle!

I like how Malzahn has been treating it as of late. Sean White is the starting QB and JFIII is No.2. This offense needs to be built around Sean White with situational play for JFIII. IMO, we will see less of JF3 against TAMU unless Malzahn has something set up for inside the RZ or short yardage situations. We are already allowing Kerryon to take snaps in the WC so the less substitution the better. 2 cents

The statistical goal is based on averages for KR's.

Arkansas State did have 1 return and it was for 25-yds. Yes it is great having a high number of touchbacks but it can be fatal flaw. It caught up with AU in the 2013-14 NC game. Because the players on KRC rarely have to defend a kickoff, they develop bad habits or make the assumption it will be a touchback everytime. This is why I treat the actual returns separately.

All three phases of the football team had a passing grade, which resulted in a dominating victory tonight. Auburn threw the ball 32 percent of the time on 1st down during the first half, which allowed Auburn to find a rhythm early on. By halftime, the Auburn Tigers had 452-yards, 38 points, and 15 first downs. The balance on offense allowed the Tigers to generate 11 impact plays during the first half, the same number Arkansas State allowed during their entire game against Toledo. Sean White had a great game with 244-yards passing and 60-yards rushing during three-quarters of work. He did a great a job coming off his primary target for completions to secondary receivers. Though he missed out on two other touchdown passes, the offense looked consistent and explosive with White in command. Nine different Auburn players produced an impact play on offense, which was a good sign for a young offense finding its identity. For the second week in a row, Auburn struggled to apply pressure on the opposing quarterback without blitzing. The defense did finish with four sacks and five additional pressures but gave up too many big plays. Of the 326-yards surrendered against the Red Wolves, 56 percent came on four pass plays. Minus the four big pass plays allowed, Auburn gave up 2.4 yards per play during the remaining 60 snaps defended. Johnathan Ford led the defense with ten stops on the night, and Auburn had eight tackles for loss compared to the five surrendered on offense. The good news was Auburn emptied their bench during the fourth period to build much-needed depth. Less substitution on offense allowed Auburn to find their groove with 11 of 12 possessions netting at least 44-yards gained. Auburn's first-year receivers accounted for seven receptions for 140-yards tonight. Kerryon Johnson and Kamryn Pettway recorded their first 100-yard rushing games today, which allowed K.J. to limit his touches for another day. The two running backs combined for 33 carries and 276-yards rushing on the night (8.4 YPC). Auburn's 706-yards on offense was the most since Auburn gained 712-yards against Western Carolina during the 2013 season. Auburn's 462-yards rushing was the most rushing yardage since the 2013 season and the 22nd time a Gus Malzahn run-offense has cracked the 300-yard mark at Auburn. Pat Dye's offense reached 300-yards rushing 20 times from 1981-1992, and Tommy Tuberville's offense did it six times from 1999-2008. Arkansas State was an inferior opponent, but Auburn's 51-14 victory was the most convincing Auburn win since the 2014 season. With so many teams in the SEC struggling against inferior opponents early this season, Auburn did not fall into that trap. It was a good building block moving forward. War Eagle! ====================== Game #2 Statistical Evaluation (Arkansas State Game) Offensive Report Card 01) Avg 6-yards per play on 1st down: [9.40] pass 02) Convert at least 40% of 3rd downs: [73.3%] pass 03) Avg at least 4.5 yards per rush: [7.45] pass 04) Score on at least 1/3 of possessions: [75.0%] pass 05) Keep 3 and out series under 33%: [0.0%] pass 06) Average 8.0 yards per pass attempt: [10.6 yds] pass 07) Score at least 75% inside red zone: [83.3%] pass 08) TD red zone above 60%: [50.0%] fail 09) Avg at least 30-yards per possession: [58.8 yds] pass 10) 40% of offensive snaps part of scoring drives: [74.1%] pass 11) TD / Turnover ratio above 1.6: [6.0] pass 12) TD ratio of at least 1 every 17 snaps: [14.2] pass 13) At least 8 impact plays: [15] pass 14) At least 2 big plays: [4] pass 15) Pass rating of at least 126.3: [206.7] pass Score: 14 of 15 (93.%) PASS Defensive Report Card: 01) Avg under 6-yards per play on 1st down: [3.33] pass 02) Convert below 35% of 3rd downs: [31.2%] pass 03) Avg at least 4.0 yards per rush or less: [1.88] pass 04) Score 1/3 of possessions or below: [18.2%] pass 05) Keep 3 and out series above 33%: [27.3%] fail 06) Average below 7.5 yards per pass attempt: [8.96 yds] fail 07) Score below 75% inside red zone: [66.7%] pass 08) TD red zone below 60%: [66.7%] fail 09) Avg under 30-yards per possession: [29.6 yds] pass 10) Less than 40% of offensive snaps part of scoring drives: [18.7%] pass 11) TD / Turnover ratio below 1.6: [2:0] fail 12) TD ratio of at least 1 every 30 snaps: [32.0] pass 13) Less than 8 impact plays: [6] pass 14) No more than 2 big plays allowed: [4] fail 15) Pass rating below 125.0: [140.8] fail Score: 9 of 15 (60.0%) PASS Special Teams Report Card: 1) Punt Average (Above 41.3): [0.0] N/A 2) Punt Return Defense (Below 7.8 YPR): [0.0] pass 3) Punt Return Offense (Above 9.8 YPR): [8.0] fail 4) Kick-Return Defense (Below 21.2 YPR): [25.0] fail 5) Kick-Return Offense (Above 22.3 YPR): [13.0] fail 6) PAT’s (100%): [6 of 6] pass 7) FG Pct (75% or above): [100.0%] pass Score: 3 of 6 (50.0%) PASS * 50% is a passing score.

Very astute observation regarding the containment.

Good news moving forward is that Coach Malzahn announced today the QB rotation was not successful. White remains the starter and JF3 will take the No. 2 reps. Great news for the offense and the goal of finding their identity for 2016. Great coaches make mistakes but what makes them great is the ability to recognize their mistakes and correct them. Auburn needs to clean up their execution errors from week #1 before rolling into conference play.

Man it was nice to see the defense play the way they did against Clemson but I'm not completely sold. We could not get much pressure on the QB without blitzing and we only had 3 tackles for loss. With that being said, I do believe this could be the best defense Auburn has fielded since 2006.

It is a message board which means it is all opinion. I guess everyone needs to add "opinion" to the names they post under.

You cannot block 8 with 5-6 on first down. Clemson would bring extra defenders into the box just before the snap and crash to defend the run. The only way to stop that is to pass more on first down. Gus did not adjust, running it nearly 88 percent of the time until the final possession of the game. Running the ball nearly 80% of the time on first down from 2013-2016 has made it easy to defend the Auburn offense. If you crash to play the run on every 1st down snap, the opposition is correct 8 of 10 times. From 2013-2016, nearly 40% of Auburn's sacks allowed are occurring on 3rd down because the offense is so predictable when it comes to run vs. pass. During 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.... Auburn runs the ball 79% on 1st down and passes 72% of the time on 3rd down with 4-yds or more needed to convert. Based on those trends, I crash to play the run on 1st down every time and rush the passer on 3rd down and would be right 70% of the time regardless of formations or schemes.

Now that most of the dust has settled from Saturday's night game, it is time to move forward. There is no doubt the decision to play three quarterbacks mixed in with two other backs taking snaps was not the right choice. So why did he do it? He said he had different packages for all three quarterbacks in an attempt to obtain the most from their skill set. In theory, it sounds good regarding the placement of each quarterback in situations they normally excel. The problem is the opposing defense also knows the strengths and weaknesses of each quarterback, which makes defending them easier. It also slowed down the team's rhythm and prevented Auburn from establishing an offensive identity. Hopefully, Gus Malzahn learned from his mistake against Clemson and will move on against Arkansas State with the intent of building his offense around the starting quarterback. I do believe Jonathan Franklin has a role in this offense, which worked for Texas against Notre Dame. It needs to be Sean White as the primary starter with JFIII in a situational role to extend or finish offensive possessions. Only time will tell if Gus Malzahn will see it the same way. At the end of the day, this is his team, and he will sink or swim with the decisions he makes moving forward. The offense was appalling during the first half. Auburn ran 23 snaps for 38-yards, totaling three first downs and three points on the scoreboard. From six possessions, Auburn went "3 & out" five times. It doesn't get any worse, but credit should be given for the success during the second-half. As bad as the offense was, the Tigers did bounce back during the second-half. Auburn gained 224-yards during the second-half along with 14 first downs and 10 points on the scoreboard. Of the seven impact plays produced by the offense, six came during the second-half. In the past when Auburn has struggled on offense (Malzahn) in the first half against a quality opponent, there was minimal success during the second-half. This was not the case against Clemson, and some credit should be given to the coaches and players for playing better during the second-half. Not only was it a significant improvement, but Auburn was also in the position to score two additional touchdowns during the second-half. Jeremy Johnson missed out on a 38-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Marcus Davis, which would have made the score 13-10, midway in the third period. Later in the fourth quarter, Sean White and Chandler Cox missed out on a red zone TD pass. Poor execution prevented Auburn from scoring 14 additional points in a six-point loss. The question now is which offense will we see moving forward. The helter-skelter version that could not get out of its way during the first-half or the version we witnessed during the second-half. Despite the improvement we observed during the second-half, there are changes needed to be made for the 2016 Auburn offense to establish an identity. As much as Malzahn wants to run the football, Auburn will need to pass to set up the run this year. This means throwing the football more often on first down. The offensive line struggled against Clemson, allowing 14 tackles for loss. You would have to go back to the 1999 Ole Miss game for the last time Auburn surrendered that many tackles for loss during one game. Part of the problem for the offensive line was the lack of an offensive identity from the musical chairs scheme at the quarterback position. During the first-half, Auburn gave up a loss every 3.8 snaps and a loss every six snaps during the second-half. There was an improvement by the o-line, but it requires continued improvement. Rather than concentrating on the strengths of his quarterbacks and attempting to have all three involved, Gus Malzahn needs to build his offense around Sean White. The focus should be on the best methods for White to distribute the ball to the skill players. The 224-yards gained against Clemson during the second-half is a strong indicator Auburn has enough talent to work with to be competitive in the SEC. Again, JFIII should be given a meaningful role, but it must be in a situational play for now. If Sean White is to remain the starting quarterback, the base offense must be structured around his skill set. When Franklin enters the game, it should serve a purpose and should never be just to see what he can do. The players have to believe in the system, and they must trust the starting quarterback. White must be allowed the opportunity to grow within the offense, and this won't happen if Auburn is playing three different quarterbacks along with two additional players taking "Wildcat" snaps. How confident can any of the quarterbacks be, knowing they will be substituted every three plays? Sean White attempted 21 passes, yet still produced five impact plays in the passing game. You can build a good offense around a 4.2 ratio in impact plays in the passing game. The good news is that the defense appears to be the best we have seen over the past ten years. Yes, Gus Malzahn should receive credit for hiring Will Muschamp last year and Kevin Steele this year for maintaining the foundation on defense established by Muschamp. Improving the defense was something Gene Chizik failed to accomplish as Auburn's head coach. Like last year, the players appear to be fighters, willing to go down swinging. It is up to Malzahn to obtain the most of this quality in his players. His players will continue battling as long as they know their coaches are putting them in position for success. The moment the players recognize this is not the case, it will be time to search for the head coach to make this happen again. For now, Auburn has not reached that point. Auburn is 0-1 on the season after losing by six points to the current No. 2 team in the country. Before the start of the 2016 season, most would agree this season would be a defining moment in Malzahn's tenure at Auburn. No one should have ever thought the Clemson game would make or break Malzahn's career at Auburn. The result of the Clemson game was frustrating, and no one should turn a blind eye to the performance. There are at least eleven games left to play in 2016, which is an opportunity for Malzahn to prove his actual value as the head coach. Be frustrated, be concerned but don't sell this team short just yet. If this team turns it around it will because Gus Malzahn turned it around. If the team hits an iceberg and sinks, Malzahn will be the Captain who goes down with the ship.

I don't have the data you requested but your observations from last night is very accurate. Clemson did a great job of timing the snap count, getting a jump on the OL.

Upon Further Review: Auburn took 71 offensive snaps against Clemson with a quarterback change nearly 40% of the time from the previous play. This includes the snaps taken by Chandler Cox and Kerryon Johnson. The massive substitutions at the QB position did more to hurt the offense than help. It also prevented Auburn from achieving tempo or rhythm. Auburn's lack of offensive identity resulted in only 3 of 17 third down situations being converted. The average distance needed to convert against Clemson was 8.4 yards. During 10 of the 17 conversions, Auburn needed at least 7-yards to convert. Kerryon Johnson was Auburn's most consistent performer offense with 94-yards on 23 carries and 1 touchdown. Stanton Truitt finished the game with 4 rush attempts. Kamryn Pettway and Kam Martin totaled zero. Strange scheming for an offense that is built around a strong running game. Speaking of the running game, Auburn rushed for nearly 98% of their rushing totals during the second half. Regarding consistency, Auburn's offense produced 5-yards or more only 28.2 percent of the time. Last season the Auburn offense produced a 5-yard play or better 41.5 percent of the time. On defense, Auburn held Clemson to 37.2 percent, with last season's defense hitting at 44.4 percent for the season. The Auburn defense allowed 5.42 yards per play during the first half and 4.74 yards per play during the second half. Minus the 34-yard pass surrendered during the 4th quarter, Auburn's defense allowed 3.8 yards per play during the second half on the remaining 34 snaps defended. During the first half, 37.2 percent of Clemson's offensive snaps were held to 2-yards or less. During the second half, it increased to 45.7 percent. Another indicator Auburn's defense continued to improve as the game progressed. Last night against Clemson, 69.2 percent of Auburn's first down snaps resulted in 3-yards or less. During the 2015 season, Auburn's offense gained 3-yards or less on first down, 51.2 percent of the time. Auburn averaged 3.3 yards per rush on first down. Of Auburn's seven impact plays on offense, Marcus Davis was involved in three and Sean White was involved in five. Auburn attempted 4 passes on first down and 14 on third down against Clemson. This is not a winning formula for success, with too much pressure being placed on an already questionable quarterback situation. Once again, the Auburn pass offense consisted of screens, outs and deep balls. The middle of the field was left wide open by the Clemson defense. Sean White's 4th down interception came with no passing options over the middle. A drag or crossing route would have been a great option there as well as other moments during the contest. Ten different players were targeted in the Auburn pass-offense with Marcus Davis leading the way with 9 passes thrown his way. Will Hastings was the second most targeted receiver. One of the keys to success on defense was field position. Of Clemson's 12 possessions, 10 of them began at least 75-yards away from the Auburn end zone with their average field position beginning at the own 24-yard line. As bad as the offense was last night, there was improvement during the second half. Auburn gained 38-yards on 23 snaps during the first half (1.7 YPP)and 224-yards on 48 snaps during the second half (4.7 YPP). Auburn's offense produced only 3 first downs during the first half and 14 during the second half. Auburn struggled in short-yardage situations last night, going 3 of 7 in situations requiring 2-yards or less to convert (42.9%). Last season Auburn converted 74.7 percent for the season. Clemson had 13 tackles for loss to Auburn, a strong indicator Clemson won the battle up front. Auburn's defense failed to register a sack but totaled 9 QB hurries. War Eagle!

Considering the level of talent available on offense, this was perhaps one of the worst offensive performances over the past 25 years of Auburn football. Five different players took snaps at the quarterback position, preventing any chance of establishing any resemblance of an offensive identity. The constant substitutions against Clemson made last year's offense look smooth. If playing two quarterbacks means you don't have a quarterback, what does it mean when you play three? I understand Auburn doesn't have a game changer at the quarterback position, but Gus Malzahn needs to pick one and build his offense around the "starting" quarterback. Kevin Steele's defense was as good as advertised, giving Auburn every opportunity to win the ball game. Before tonight's game, Auburn was 132-22-0 in games they held their opponent to under 20 points from 1990-2016. Deshaun Davis played like a man possessed, which is a good sign for the linebackers. Auburn's secondary was able to shut down everyone but Mike Williams, who burned Auburn on several back-shoulder passes. He caught 9 passes for 174-yards, leaving only 10 catches for 74 yards for the remaining Clemson players. As well as the defense played, they struggled to apply pressure on the quarterback without blitzing. At the end of the night, Auburn's defense held Clemson under 400-yards and only 19 points. Gus Malzahn's trip to Baylor must have been a one-sided affair. The only new twist to the Auburn offense was a high school play taken from Chandler Cox's high school offense. The offensive line played better during the second-half, but their overall performance was lacking, to say the least. Prior to the final offensive series when Auburn was forced into passing on first down, Auburn ran the ball 87.5 percent of the time on first down. An average offensive performance would have been good enough to upset #2 Clemson, but this wasn't the case. What we witnessed was a bizarre shuffling of the quarterbacks, which won't win very many games if it continues. Game #1 Statistical Evaluation (Clemson Game) Offensive Report Card 01) Avg 6-yards per play on 1st down: [3.85] fail 02) Convert at least 40% of 3rd downs: [17.6%] fail 03) Avg at least 4.5 yards per rush: [2.12] fail 04) Score on at least 1/3 of possessions: [25.0%] fail 05) Keep 3 and out series under 33%: [41.7%] fail 06) Average 8.0 yards per pass attempt: [5.83 yds] fail 07) Score at least 75% inside red zone: [50.0%] fail 08) TD red zone above 60%: [25.0%] fail 09) Avg at least 30-yards per possession: [21.8 yds] fail 10) 40% of offensive snaps part of scoring drives: [29.6%] fail 11) TD / Turnover ratio above 1.6: [.5] fail 12) TD ratio of at least 1 every 17 snaps: [71.0] fail 13) At least 8 impact plays: [7] fail 14) At least 2 big plays: [1] fail 15) Pass rating of at least 126.3: [85.7] fail Score: 0 of 15 (0.0%) FAIL Defensive Report Card: 01) Avg under 6-yards per play on 1st down: [4.83] pass 02) Convert below 35% of 3rd downs: [35.3%] fail 03) Avg at least 4.0 yards per rush or less: [3.43] pass 04) Score 1/3 of possessions or below: [33.3%] pass 05) Keep 3 and out series above 33%: [25.0%] fail 06) Average below 7.5 yards per pass attempt: [7.29 yds] pass 07) Score below 75% inside red zone: [66.7%] pass 08) TD red zone below 60%: [33.3%] pass 09) Avg under 30-yards per possession: [33.2 yds] fail 10) Less than 40% of offensive snaps part of scoring drives: [46.1%] fail 11) TD / Turnover ratio below 1.6: [1.0] pass 12) TD ratio of at least 1 every 30 snaps: [39.0] pass 13) Less than 8 impact plays: [9] fail 14) No more than 2 big plays allowed: [1] pass 15) Pass rating below 125.0: [120.9] pass Score: 10 of 15 (66.7%) PASS Special Teams Report Card: 1) Punt Average (Above 41.3): [44.1] pass 2) Punt Return Defense (Below 7.8 YPR): [0.0] pass 3) Punt Return Offense (Above 9.8 YPR): [0.0] fail 4) Kick-Return Defense (Below 21.2 YPR): [16.0] pass 5) Kick-Return Offense (Above 22.3 YPR): [14.0] fail 6) PAT’s (100%): [1 of 1] pass 7) FG Pct (75% or above): [100.0%] pass Score: 5 of 7 (71.4%) PASS * 50% is a passing score.

I think that is a fair statement. The DL appears to be Auburn's defensive strength and Watson is their primary strength on offense. I do believe it will be Auburn's front-7 and their ability to control the Clemson running game and apply pressure to Watson. Clemson will want offensive balance and they have two RB's capable of accomplishing the task. Auburn must be smart in their attack because a blind rush will create running lanes for Watson to escape from. This is where Auburn's DT's must answer the bell by applying pressure up front. As I stated earlier, the key will be forcing Watson into obvious passing situations. He had an impressive 156.2 passer rating overall last season but it dropped to 138.3 on 3rd down. Placing him in 3rd & 7 or longer, his rating dropped to 123.2 and it dropped to 76.2 on 3rd and 10 or longer. Keeping containment on him on 3rd down will be essential because he picked up 21 first downs running the ball on 51 3rd down rush-attempts.

Would be nice.

Put it this way... would you rather defend Deshawn Watson along with a 250+ rushing game or Watson having to make ALL the plays?

If we can't stop the run, Clemson is balanced all night long and the Auburn defense is toast. Clemson establishing the run will slow down our pass-rush. They have a young OL and we can take advantage of it by placing them in more obvious passing situations. From 2000-2015, Auburn is 24-7 in games the opponent passed for at least 300-yards and 6-22 in games the opponent rushed for over 225-yards. During the past four seasons, Clemson is 9-6 in games they were held to under 140-yards rushing, averaging 28.1 points per game. During the last four seasons, Clemson has averaged 47 PPG with 50 or more rush attempts. With 40-49 carries, they have averaged 37.3 PPG. When held to 39 carries or less, Clemson has averaged 30.1 PPG. Think back to when #1 Florida came to Auburn in 2001 with one of the top pass offenses in the country. Tuberville said all week long, the key to beating them would be taking away the run to make them one dimensional.

Yes... Would not have written if I did not believe it.

Factoring in attrition, Auburn's scholarship roster is actually at 60.5% regarding 4-5 star talent coming into the Clemson game.

Last year Phil Steele had Auburn at #115 and Clemson at #108. Auburn had the fewest number of players with 20 games of experience in the SEC in 2015. We actually moved up this season, though slightly.

IMO, the key is taking away their run and making Watson throw it more often when they HAVE to rather than when he WANTS to. Looking at the 4-year trend, Clemson tends to score more with more rush attempts.

Last 4 recruiting classes: Auburn ......... 92 of 94 recruits rated as 3-stars or better (97.9%) Clemson ....... 80 of 86 recruits rated as 3-stars or better (93.0%) Auburn .......... 54 of 94 recruits rated as 4-stars or better (57.4%) Clemson ........ 40 of 86 recruits rated as 4-stars or better (46.5%) Auburn .......... signed 13 players rated in Scout's top-100 the last 4 years. Clemson ........ signed 11 players rated in Scout's top-100 players. Experience: Auburn has a very slight edge in terms of players with 20 games of experience and 30 games of experience. Phil Steel has Auburn ranked No. 94 in terms of experienced roster and Clemson is No. 101. I believe Auburn has a slight edge in the trenches but Clemson has a huge edge in QB with their combination of talent and proven experience. Auburn has no clue what Sean White's ceiling will be at this point. Special teams could be a major plus for the Auburn Tigers. Over and under has been set at 61.5 points I believe.