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Arkansas Game Report Card and Thoughts


StatTiger

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Though the defense finished with a failing grade, the Auburn defense held the Razorbacks to 357-yards and 24 points by the end of regulation. This was the kind of production I was hoping to see, when I picked Auburn to win the game, 27-24. After gaining 213-yards during the first half on 5.9 yards per play, Arkansas was held to 144-yards on 5.1 yards per play during the second-half. It wasn't a great performance but on the road against a SEC opponent, it was good enough to win during regulation. The Razorbacks came into the game averaging 433-yards per game, so the defense held Arkansas below their season average until overtime.

Sadly, the game should have never gone to overtime. With 8 dropped passes by the Auburn wide receivers, 1 dropped interception and failing to recover 2 fumbles, Auburn failed to capitalize on their opportunities. Even in overtime, Auburn's defense could not finish out the game on two fourth-down plays and two 2-point conversions. Good teams tend to cash in on the majority of these opportunities but this is not a good football team. The offense appears to be improving but the defense continues to struggle getting off the field. Sean White played very well but his wide receivers had more drops in one game than I can recall ever happening to an Auburn pass-offense.

The offense went "3 & out" on 5 of their 10 regulation possessions, primarily because of the dropped passes that negated about 150-yards of offense. The other issue was Gus Malzahn's stubbornness to run the ball 21 of 23 times during regulation. Auburn averaged 2.47 yards per rush on first-down during regulation. After throwing the football 31% of the time on first-down vs. Kentucky, the Arkansas game was the perfect opponent to continue this trend. The Razorbacks came into the game as one of the worst pass-defenses on 1st down in the country and Malzahn elected not to take advantage of it.

I understand the logic of kicking the PAT after the second overtime TD but at the time, I was hoping to go for 2-pts and the win. After seeing Auburn's first 2-pt conversion on the 3rd OT TD (Great play and execution), I really wished Auburn ran it the TD before. biggrin.gif

Game #7 Statistical Evaluation (Arkansas Game)

Offensive Report Card

01) Avg 6-yards per play on 1st down: [3.94] fail

02) Convert at least 40% of 3rd downs: [47.0%] pass

03) Avg at least 4.5 yards per rush: [3.11] fail

04) Score on at least 1/3 of possessions: [40.0%] pass

05) Keep 3 and out series under 33%: [50.0%] fail

06) Average 8.0 yards per pass attempt: [7.47 yds] fail

07) Score at least 75% inside red zone: [100.0%] pass

08) TD red zone above 60%: [100.0%] pass

09) Avg at least 30-yards per possession: [34.0 yds] pass

10) 40% of offensive snaps part of scoring drives: [69.2%] pass

11) TD / Turnover ratio above 1.6: [3 /0] pass

12) TD ratio of at least 1 every 17 snaps: [22.7] 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: [118.6] fail

Score: 7 of 15 (46.7%) Fail

Defensive Report Card:

01) Avg under 6-yards per play on 1st down: [6.55] fail

02) Convert below 35% of 3rd downs: [56.2%] fail

03) Avg at least 4.0 yards per rush or less: [4.35] fail

04) Score 1/3 of possessions or below: [40.0%] fail

05) Keep 3 and out series above 33%: [10.0%] fail

06) Average below 7.5 yards per pass attempt: [7.62 yds] fail

07) Score below 75% inside red zone: [100.0%] fail

08) TD red zone below 60%: [83.3%] fail

09) Avg under 30-yards per possession: [35.7 yds] fail

10) Less than 40% of offensive snaps part of scoring drives: [57.8%] fail

11) TD / Turnover ratio below 1.6: [3 / 1] fail

12) TD ratio of at least 1 every 30 snaps: [21.3] fail

13) Less than 8 impact plays: [8] fail

14) No more than 2 big plays allowed: [0] pass

15) Pass rating below 125.0: [151.2] fail

Score: 1 of 15 (6.7%) Fail

Special Teams Report Card:

1) Punt Average (Above 41.3): [36.2] 1/6 inside 20 (fail)

2) Punt Return Defense (Below 7.8 YPR): [4.0] pass

3) Punt Return Offense (Above 9.8 YPR): [0.0] fail

4) Kick-Return Defense (Below 21.2 YPR): [7.0] pass

5) Kick-Return Offense (Above 22.3 YPR): [27.0] pass

6) PAT’s (100%): [5 of 5] pass

7) FG Pct (75% or above): [1/1] pass

Score: 5 of 7 (71.4%) pass

* Keep in mind that above 50% is a passing score.

War Eagle!

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ouch..lost opportunities

maybe the dropped balls made Gus gun shy, which plays into his fault of going conservative and predictable when he should step on the gas

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I just have no idea how you do yourself any favors running on first down that much. I would think 50% of play calling would be to make your opponent guess whether you are running or passing. We may as well just send them a fax with the game play on first down. I do not understand it.

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After throwing the football 31% of the time on first-down vs. Kentucky, the Arkansas game was the perfect opponent to continue this trend. The Razorbacks came into the game as one of the worst pass-defenses on 1st down in the country and Malzahn elected not to take advantage of it.

Yeah. Well...

There was I time I'd have thought Malzahn "elected not to take advantage of it", but I'm now convinced that simple obvious things like this just don't occur to the man.

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14) No more than 2 big plays allowed: [0] pass

I know this is our only Defensive "point", but I distinctly remember the graphic during the game indicated impact plays. We had none, and they had 3 (all pass plays). I think that was 1st half, too.

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Wow, you really feel like this is "not a good football team". Wow

Do you think this is a good football team? Since we're dead last in the SEC West and probably not going to win enough games to go to a bowl, I'd say "not a good team" is an accurate description.

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14) No more than 2 big plays allowed: [0] pass

I know this is our only Defensive "point", but I distinctly remember the graphic during the game indicated impact plays. We had none, and they had 3 (all pass plays). I think that was 1st half, too.

For my report card, impact plays are plays of 15-yds or more and big plays are plays of 30-yds or more. The graphic you saw was in reference to what they called "chunk" plays or plays of 20-yards or more,

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Malzahn had the reputation coming to AU as a wide open offense kind of guy(deserved or not). But watching him call a game reminds you more of a Dye/Tuberville 2 yds and a cloud of dust, don't make mistakes type of game. Hard to believe the same coach from last years' Bama game can call the same play time after time on 1st down and expect good things to happen. I just don't understand putting a young QB in constant 2nd and 3rd and longs due to poor production on 1st down. And White played great today in spite of this predictability on 1st down. Hats off to him.

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Though the defense finished with a failing grade, the Auburn defense held the Razorbacks to 357-yards and 24 points by the end of regulation. This was the kind of production I was hoping to see, when I picked Auburn to win the game, 27-24. After gaining 213-yards during the first half on 5.9 yards per play, Arkansas was held to 144-yards on 5.1 yards per play during the second-half. It wasn't a great performance but on the road against a SEC opponent, it was good enough to win during regulation. The Razorbacks came into the game averaging 433-yards per game, so the defense held Arkansas below their season average until overtime.

Sadly, the game should have never gone to overtime. With 8 dropped passes by the Auburn wide receivers, 1 dropped interception and failing to recover 2 fumbles, Auburn failed to capitalize on their opportunities. Even in overtime, Auburn's defense could not finish out the game on two fourth-down plays and two 2-point conversions. Good teams tend to cash in on the majority of these opportunities but this is not a good football team. The offense appears to be improving but the defense continues to struggle getting off the field. Sean White played very well but his wide receivers had more drops in one game than I can recall ever happening to an Auburn pass-offense.

The offense went "3 & out" on 5 of their 10 regulation possessions, primarily because of the dropped passes that negated about 150-yards of offense. The other issue was Gus Malzahn's stubbornness to run the ball 21 of 23 times during regulation. Auburn averaged 2.47 yards per rush on first-down during regulation. After throwing the football 31% of the time on first-down vs. Kentucky, the Arkansas game was the perfect opponent to continue this trend. The Razorbacks came into the game as one of the worst pass-defenses on 1st down in the country and Malzahn elected not to take advantage of it.

I understand the logic of kicking the PAT after the second overtime TD but at the time, I was hoping to go for 2-pts and the win. After seeing Auburn's first 2-pt conversion on the 3rd OT TD (Great play and execution), I really wished Auburn ran it the TD before. biggrin.gif

Game #7 Statistical Evaluation (Arkansas Game)

Offensive Report Card

01) Avg 6-yards per play on 1st down: [3.94] fail

02) Convert at least 40% of 3rd downs: [47.0%] pass

03) Avg at least 4.5 yards per rush: [3.11] fail

04) Score on at least 1/3 of possessions: [40.0%] pass

05) Keep 3 and out series under 33%: [50.0%] fail

06) Average 8.0 yards per pass attempt: [7.47 yds] fail

07) Score at least 75% inside red zone: [100.0%] pass

08) TD red zone above 60%: [100.0%] pass

09) Avg at least 30-yards per possession: [34.0 yds] pass

10) 40% of offensive snaps part of scoring drives: [69.2%] pass

11) TD / Turnover ratio above 1.6: [3 /0] pass

12) TD ratio of at least 1 every 17 snaps: [22.7] 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: [118.6] fail

Score: 7 of 15 (46.7%) Fail

Defensive Report Card:

01) Avg under 6-yards per play on 1st down: [6.55] fail

02) Convert below 35% of 3rd downs: [56.2%] fail

03) Avg at least 4.0 yards per rush or less: [4.35] fail

04) Score 1/3 of possessions or below: [40.0%] fail

05) Keep 3 and out series above 33%: [10.0%] fail

06) Average below 7.5 yards per pass attempt: [7.62 yds] fail

07) Score below 75% inside red zone: [100.0%] fail

08) TD red zone below 60%: [83.3%] fail

09) Avg under 30-yards per possession: [35.7 yds] fail

10) Less than 40% of offensive snaps part of scoring drives: [57.8%] fail

11) TD / Turnover ratio below 1.6: [3 / 1] fail

12) TD ratio of at least 1 every 30 snaps: [21.3] fail

13) Less than 8 impact plays: [8] fail

14) No more than 2 big plays allowed: [0] pass

15) Pass rating below 125.0: [151.2] fail

Score: 1 of 15 (6.7%) Fail

Special Teams Report Card:

1) Punt Average (Above 41.3): [36.2] 1/6 inside 20 (fail)

2) Punt Return Defense (Below 7.8 YPR): [4.0] pass

3) Punt Return Offense (Above 9.8 YPR): [0.0] fail

4) Kick-Return Defense (Below 21.2 YPR): [7.0] pass

5) Kick-Return Offense (Above 22.3 YPR): [27.0] pass

6) PAT’s (100%): [5 of 5] pass

7) FG Pct (75% or above): [1/1] pass

Score: 5 of 7 (71.4%) pass

* Keep in mind that above 50% is a passing score.

War Eagle!

defense a dumpster fire again, who could have guessed
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Predictability on first down. If we through more on Kentucky on first down succesfully, then yes, you think we would use that against Arky. But after the dropped passes, maybe a bit gunshy. Plus then Arky might be expecting it and the run would work (part of the chess match). First overtime possession we ran it three times right of the middle for 15, 8 and 2yd TD. So it did work at times. But would have been nice to see something different when they were stopping it during the game.,

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I seriously don't understand how receivers couldn't catch, remembered how to catch, and then forgot how to catch again. Very odd.

Running on the first down just simply was dumb because it was usually the same play as the past three years. Does Gus not think others watch film?

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TAMU looked awful tonight against Ole Miss, but Ole Miss does have a defense. I don't see us anyway we beat Ole Miss unless Carl Lawson is back. That will at least give me some hope. Otherwise, get ready for a beat down.

Our offensive receivers definitely let us down, today. However, offensively, we can at least play with Ole Miss.

Defensively, the only teams we may be able to play with is this year's Missou team and Vandy in the SEC. That's about it.

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On the first down runs it seems like Gus is almost saying, "just run this in the name of 'pace' while I figure out what we want to really run."

I believe he looks at it like a boxer hitting them with a body blow over and over each time until they soften up.

What be does has usually worked over the years, so it is hard to question the guy too much. But you are handing your opponent your playbook on an all important down and making it where you have two downs to get 10 yds instead of three.

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I think Gus is a believer in "execution".....even if a team knows the play he is running his team should be able to run it successfully. A good theory perhaps...but not very practical in the SEC.

Arky had more imaginative play calling than did AU did for most of the game...who would have ever thought that?

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Stat, if it does (and I think it does), why does the Report Card include the overtime stats?

I'd be interested to see whether the D failed in regulation.

If the RC doesn't include the overtime stats, then I just misunderstood.

Thanks.

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I think Gus is a believer in "execution".....even if a team knows the play he is running his team should be able to run it successfully. A good theory perhaps...but not very practical in the SEC.

Arky had more imaginative play calling than did AU did for most of the game...who would have ever thought that?

I hate the zone read with this group. SW is no Cam or Nick running the ball which is fine, so run something else.

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I think Gus is a believer in "execution".....even if a team knows the play he is running his team should be able to run it successfully. A good theory perhaps...but not very practical in the SEC.

Arky had more imaginative play calling than did AU did for most of the game...who would have ever thought that?

I think you may be on to something here, 64.

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Our receivers dropped all of those passes and you are asking why Gus is running it so much? What else did you expect him to do? They could not catch the ball. He tried everybody.

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Our receivers dropped all of those passes and you are asking why Gus is running it so much? What else did you expect him to do? They could not catch the ball. He tried everybody.

It's not like after 5 dropped passes he stopped running pass plays altogether. I think what most are saying is if Arky was so poor against the pass and we are so painfully predictable on first down, why not call some of those pass plays in first down situations?

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"Good teams tend to cash in on the majority of these opportunities but this is not a good football team"

^ ​To be honest, I have been struggling to figure out what is wrong with this team. I think Stat just summed it up with his quote above. ^

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I think Gus is a believer in "execution".....even if a team knows the play he is running his team should be able to run it successfully. A good theory perhaps...but not very practical in the SEC.

Arky had more imaginative play calling than did AU did for most of the game...who would have ever thought that?

I don't think in 2013 we surprised people with the play calling. The players just executed it better.
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