meh130

The decision remains with the editors of USA Today, however this is a public poll. Link: POLL: Who is the ALL-USA Football Offensive Player of the Year?

Just clicked on Rivals and they show Nix as a 5-star now. They list him as a Pro-Style QB, while 247 lists him as a Dual Threat. Rivals has Nix as the #1 Pro-Style QB, and the second QB overall behind #1 Dual Threat Spencer Rattler. Nix and Rattler are the only 5-star QBs per Rivals. 247 lists Nix as a 4-star, and the #1 Dual-Threat QB. 247 lists Rattler as a 4-star and the #1 Pro-Style QB. Nix is the second overall QB behind Rattler. 247's composite ratings (which take into account both 247 and other rating organizations) show Rattler as a 5-star. ESPN lists Nix as a 4-star, and the #4 Pocket Passer QB. They list Rattler as a 4-star and the #1 Dual Threat QB. ESPN has Rattler as the #1 overall QB and Nix as the fifth overall QB behind Rattler and three Pocket Passer QBs in front of him. ESPN has no QBs rated as 5-stars.

This is a staggering failure. The only answer is a replacement of key offensive staff, and a complete removal of Malzahn from the play design, offensive game planning, and play calling. Even if none of the blame can be placed at Chip Lindsey's feet, there is no way to give him complete control again (like he had last year, post-LSU). That ship has sailed. The fact Gus could pull control back means Lindsey is not the answer. This is the exact same thing that happened with Lashlee. I think we need a big, powerful name at OC. Freeze or Petrino. It could be a disaster to have to giant egos on the same staff, but we cannot have Gus bully a young OC unless the AD is threatening to fire him as he has done the last several years.

The ideal yards per attempt seems to be 7.5 to 8.0 yards. That equates to about 11 yards per completion. Short passes are fine if they are designed to gain yardage after the catch. Quick slants and RPOs can make a 5 yard pass an 8 yard gain. The bubble screen to a WR as a pre-snap read is fine when the defense loads the box to stop the run. Those quick WR screens may only pick up 4 yards. But combined with a diverse passing game, high probability 4 yard completions with longer passes can get the yards per attempt up into the 7.5 to 8.0 yard range. Add to this short passing game a handful of explosive pass plays, and the yard per attempt gets into the 7.5 to 8.0 yard range. Joe Montana's lifetime YPA is 7.5 yards on a completion rate of 63.2%. Montana spent most of his career in the epitome of a ball-control, short passing game offense, Bill Walsh's West Coast Offense.

Good RPOs should be very quick plays. The NFL can run RPOs where the OL downfield rules are much tighter. Our most popular RPO last year was the inside zone running play combined with a WR bubble screen, targeting the inside defender (Nickle or SLB). In that case, the pass is completed behind the LOS and there is no OL downfield to worry about. We did have another variant where the WR went several yards downfield. The most popular RPO is the inside zone running play combined with the #2 WR on an inside slant, targeting the inside LB. Georgia and Bama both run this one a lot. We have run it some, but not much. This one should happen very fast, because the ILB is in a narrow field of view for the QB. I would argue it is a quicker read than the inside zone read option on the backside DE. My problem with both of these for Auburn this year is they require the OL to successfully execute the inside zone, and this year we simply can't. At least with the traditional inside zone read option, we leave one first-level defender unblocked. The RPOs all target second level defenders.

"It was frustrating to see the AU offense begin the game by trying to establish the inside zone against State’s excellent interior defensive line ... " This. I would add: "It was frustrating to see the AU offense begin the game by trying to establish the inside zone given the known issues with the interior of AU's offensive line." The Inside Zone requires the OL to be good. It typically requires 5 offensive linemen to block four defensive linemen. The TE or H-Back may block a DE/OLB, making it 6 vs. 4, but in either case there are two LBs behind the DL who need to be blocked as well. A OL/TE/HB engaged in a double-team block is supposed to release after a brief double team and block an LB. And this assumes the WRs are effectively keeping the CBs and NB out of the play by either running a route or blocking. The Inside Zone Read Option play allows the OL to leave the back-side DE/OLB unblocked to gain a numbers advantage (5 on 3). We rarely run the Zone Read Option any more because we do not want to put Stidham at risk. With the OL being a weakness, the traditional Inside Zone is not a good play for us to run.

I am tempted to blame Hand as well. Hand has a poor history as a player developer, and Grimes has a stronger record as a player developer. In terms of pure talent, we are above average. Many of our 2-deep are rated at least 4 star by one of the recruiting services. Can Grimes turn this around?

They play an interesting variety of DL formations. One is called a "2-4-5", where they line up two huge DTs 2-gapping on the OGs, and two stand-up OLB/Bucks on the edge (with two ILBs behind the DL). Those DTs are supposed to soak up enough OL double teams, combined with the stand-up OLBs ability to move laterally, to stop many run plays as well as be strong in pass rushing. They are talented and coached creatively in the DL, they have one of the top secondaries in the country, they were a top-10 defense last year, and they returned 9 starters this year. I give them props too.

One of the plays I saw last year and in this game is the inside WR screen where the WR cuts inside towards the OL, and several OLs slide past their defenders to block downfield. It does not seem to work much in terms of a big play, but is an interesting change-up. I think we saw it some against Washington because of their desire to play zone pass defense.

I just read over on the SBNation College and Magnolia blog Tyler Fromm is a hybrid WR/TE who mostly played WR but who projects as a tight-end. Fromm is 6'-5", and College and Magnolia says he has a large catch radius. To me, he sounds like another potential C.J. Uzomah type of receiver. I know we heard a lot about CCL being more likely to use a hand-down TE than Malzahn, but I think both like the hybrid type player. That was the theory behind the recruiting of Sal Cannella and John Samuel Shenker. A hybrid player who can play hand-down, standing split out, and as an h-back, is an effective run blocker, and is a viable receiving threat is a big benefit in a HUNH offense. We have missed this for the last couple of years, instead substituting between an exclusive blocking TE and a WR as plays have dictated.

This is a good point. The old Malzahn Power and Counter-Trey have been missing this year. We run a lot of Inside Zone runs, I think to set up the IZ RPO to the slot WR, and the IZ read-option (which we never really run out of fear of JS getting hurt).

^^^This!^^^

This game reminded me of that one.

Regarding the AU RPO which became a scoop and score for GSU, I think there was a dumb/bad luck component to that. GSU was aligned in a 4-3, and all 3 LBs blitzed. I assume this was a run blitz (I don't know enough about run blitzing, but I don't think GSU was expecting a pass). The OL blocking was standard zone-run, with Tega blocking the backside DE. On a zone-read, the back-side OT would either block the DT or release to block an LB. The GSU blitzing LBs was a perfect defensive call for this play. Two LBs coming into the zone blocking scrum were guaranteed to minimize the RB run option. If it was a zone read, one of the two crashing defenders (the right OLB and the right DE) would be free to take the QB. That it was a zone run/RPO meant the only possible person to block the blitzing LB was the RB (Johnson), and he did not have the angle. Stidham made the correct read. The backside OLB was crashing the run. The slot WR was wide open. But there is/was no quick option to react to that defensive approach. CGM said KJ missed the block. He was trying to make the block but he did not have the angle. I am not sure there is an offensive response to this. But if a defense is expecting something other than a run, they probably will not send 7 defenders crashing in. The one thing that would work against that defense would be a max protect pass blocking (RB and HB pass block) sending 3 WRs on pass routes. But that is hindsight. It sucked, but this was a mulligan.

He's 4* on Rivals and ESPN, so I think he has some upside. 3* for 247 and Scout. Call him a 3-1/2 star for what it is worth. 247 has him as 33rd overall safety. Scout has him as the 32nd overall safety.

Tre and Ronnie were similar. Tre certainly repeated Ronnie's famous TD against Tennessee several times.

1. Bo Jackson 2. James Brooks 3. (TIE) Tre Mason, Carnell Williams

Regarding SW in the Red Zone, I think this had more to do with play calling and a lack of confidence in our pass blocking. SW was most effective at short to intermediate distances. His accuracy dropped off on long passes, and I don't think he was as accurate when moving. In the Red Zone, the pass coverage is compressed, you can run a one-deep zone or be effective with man to man, so the defense can cover effectively but rush more. With man coverage a quick pass is more effectively covered, but with more pass rushers there is less time to wait for a receiver to get open. It is a challenging environment unless your pass blocking is rock solid. It is in the Red Zone where crossing routes, rubs, picks, etc. have the most success (see Clemson in the CFB NC game last year). We did not seem to have many plays of that type in the last two years.

A couple of points, and notice a change from the CGM/CRL WR screens. First, CCL likes to run an option play out of stack WR formation. One WR drops back for the screen, the other cuts inside on a slant, forcing one of the defenders to choose between the two prospective receivers. This is a big difference from the CGM/CRL WR screen where instead of running a route, the other WR simply blocks one of the DBs. The other is this play, which is somewhat similar, but forces a DB coverage switch. The stack means there is not a clear 1 WR (outside) and 2 WR (slot). Ordinarily, the expectation is the 1 WR will go deep, and be covered by the CB. Here, the stacked 1 WR cuts inside while the 2 WR drops into the backfield for the screen. The inside cut of the 1 WR forces the Safety to pick up the coverage, then the 1 WR goes for the corner. I think this play would work well against the pass defense schemes UAT and Ole Miss run. Both of these plays go to something in CCL's philosophy: WRs who are not pass targets on a play should always initially run routes, not block. CCL believes in WRs running a route to pull DBs away from the play, and only switch to blocking after the WR is confident the play has happened. When you look back at CGM/CRL's offense in the past, often times our WRs were engaging in blocks immediately after the snap. This caused the opposing DBs to immediately realize a running play. If the WR did not block, the DB was confident in covering the WR and assuming any play action was a fake.

What I like about this play is it puts three receivers to one side of the field (the boundary), after initially showing a 2 WR look which shifted to a 1 WR look. That is the shift which will expose the defensive coverage. The play action is designed to pull boundary side coverage up towards the line of scrimmage. The slant route is designed to pull boundary side coverage towards the field side. The result is there are no defenders covering the flat. I am not sure how much of a real option the slant is. Ryan Davis on the fake sweep becomes the outlet receiver, and is not covered at all. A possible variation of this play would be for the WR to run a go route to try to pull the CB deep. That would expose the wheel route to the LB, but the wheel route would open up the third receiver.

Good point, and it gives me hope. Troy was an Air Raid offense when CCL was there. I wanted a crazy Big-12 Air Raid OC in hopes of creating a hybrid offense combining elements of the Air Raid, CGM's Power Spread, and Rich Rodriguez Read Option (via Herb Hand). But if CCL has already figured that out, even better.

Regarding the HUNH, I wish we would get back to it. I used to really like the flexibility CGM could get out a basic 21 personnel grouping. I loved the idea of hybrid players like the flexed TE and the slot WR who doubled as a speed back. He really had an any down package that could flex between a two H-Back power set to a three WR set at will. We had an almost perfect set of players for it in 2013. But I guess we have lost some of the hybrid players. I am hoping we will see a much more sophisticated passing game, complemented by option and power running, and combined into package plays which allow us to react pre-snap to the defensive alignment. The potential for a pre-snap read and a post-snap read in the same play has the potential to provide a numbers advantage for the offense. I saw a write-up on the "Whirlybird" play, and how we had a numerical advantage to the strong side over Clemson every time we ran it, but we only ran the power sweep out of that formation once. If there had been a pre-snap read in that formation, which simply counted the defenders to the strong side, the entire game might have been different. And plays like that don't require goofy formations like the single-wing. You can do it out of Wildcat or even a standard formation. We need to get back to a dynamic offense.

DC really was able to get the best out of Duke Williams now, wasn't he?

I think too much is being made of "Malzahn's Coaching Tree". One year as an off-the-field analyst is not that strong of a connection to Malzahn. Lindsey has worked under several coaches. My concern is he does not have a lot of NCAA on the field coaching experience. Lindsey's recent history: 2016 - 2016 - Arizona State (OC/QB) [Under HC Todd Graham] Replaced Mike Norvell who went to Memphis as HC. Graham is a former defensive coach. 2014 - 2015 - Southern Miss (OC/QB) [Under HC Todd Monken] Replaced Marcus Arroyo who went to NFL Tampa Bay as QB coach. HC Monken left in 2015 to Tampa Bay as OC. Monken is a former offensive coach. 2013 - 2013 - Auburn (Offensive Analyst) [Under HC Gus Malzahn] 2011 - 2012 - Spain Park High School in Hoover, AL (Head Coach) 2010 - 2010 - Troy (QB) [Under HC Larry Blakeney and OC Kenny Edenfield] 2008 - 2009 - Lassiter High School, GA (Head Coach) Does anyone know why he left Lassiter for Troy, and why he left Troy to go back to high school coaching? His record as an OC is mixed, so in the stats below I focus on the passing offense as a clue to his QB coaching skills. Note, Lindsey was not OC at Troy in 2010, he was only the QB coach. 2016 Arizona State Tot 391 Pass 259.3 <- #39 FBS, primary QB Manny Wilkins, R-SO, QBR=133.2 prior DNP Run 131.5 PPG 33.3 2015 Southern Miss Tot 510 Pass 329.7 <- #12 FBS, primary QB Nick Mullens, JR, QBR=155.2 prior 122.5 Run 179.8 PPG 39.9 2014 Southern Miss Tot 365 Pass 269.3 <- #34 FBS, primary QB Nick Mullens, SO, QBR=122.5 prior 108.7 Run 95.8 PPG 19.0 2010 Troy Tot 453 Pass 296.8 <- #10 FBS, primary QB Corey Robinson, R-FR, QBR=137.9 prior DNP Run 156.6 PPG 34.1

Looking at TAMU's QB depth chart, compared to AU (especially if SW is healthy), AU for JS will be a tough sell. If SW's injuries prove career-ending, and JS comes to AU, I expect JF3 will transfer. If JS chooses TAMU and SW's career is over, I expect JF3 will stay, and likely be the starting QB (with Woody as the backup). If JS chooses TAMU and SW is healthy, JF3 might still transfer, then I expect it to be SW as the starter and Woody as the backup. If JS chooses AU and SW is healthy, JF3 will definitely transfer, and if JS wins the starting job, I think SW might consider a transfer, especially if he is on track to graduate after next year. Edit: I just realized JS has three years of eligibility left. I thought he played JUCO, but he only attended a JUCO. I would love to get him on board, but with 3 years remaining if he comes it could negatively affect both Woody and our QB recruiting.