What changed for Stidham

[WFE12 8,279]

What changed for Auburn QB Jarrett Stidham between Clemson disaster and UGA upset

By Justin Ferguson Auburn Beat Reporter 
November 15, 2017

 

AUBURN, Ala. — Gus Malzahn has preached all season long that he wants his Auburn football team to get “a little better each week.”

No player for Malzahn has accomplished that mission on a personal level better than sophomore quarterback Jarrett Stidham. In two months, Stidham went from a shaky signal-caller who was sacked 11 times against defending champion Clemson to one that scored four touchdowns in a rout of then-No. 1 Georgia.

“You know, probably after the Clemson game, you saw him really start growing and progressing,” Malzahn said Wednesday. “The next week after that, he was very efficient with the ball. You can just see the way he protects the football, you can see the decision-making. Just how efficient he is throwing the football, I think each week, he’s gotten more and more comfortable.”

MORE: ‘Defining moment’ after LSU loss forced Auburn football’s turnaround

That Clemson loss was a turning point for Stidham, who followed up a lackluster debut against Georgia Southern with just 79 passing yards on 24 attempts against Clemson.

The week after that, Stidham completed 32 of his 37 passes for 364 yards against FCS opponent Mercer. Since then, he has completed at least two-thirds of his passes in every game except one — an LSU loss that featured a second-half meltdown of the entire Auburn offense.

Stidham needed a couple of games to knock off the rust, as he hadn’t played in a competitive matchup in 22 months.

“I feel comfortable,” Stidham said after his win over Georgia. “Obviously, every week, it’s something I want to work on. As a quarterback, you can never be too comfortable. Just trying to get better every week. Just really trying to hone in on my skills and get better.”

And since that disastrous loss to Clemson in Death Valley, Stidham has been fantastic. He has completed 149 of his 195 pass attempts — a 76.4 percent completion percentage — for 1,946 yards, 12 touchdowns and just two interceptions. Stidham has thrown for three touchdowns in each of his last two contests.

“He’s progressed really well, I think, for a guy who early on hadn’t played a whole lot,” Auburn offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey said Sunday. “So I think just as time’s going on,  you see a quarterback mature and play more, he gets more and more comfortable with seeing the different looks and getting the right plays and stuff.”

One area of Stidham’s improvement that has drastically changed Auburn’s offense is the run-pass option, or “RPO.” On these plays, Stidham has gotten more comfortable pulling the ball back from his running back’s gut and firing quick passes to the Tigers’ receivers.

“You see his quick release, and those are on him,” Malzahn said after the Georgia game. “He just has to have the instincts, and he’s doing that.”

Auburn quarterback Jarrett Stidham has two rushing touchdowns in his last three games. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

He’s also gotten better with his instincts in the area of tucking the ball and running it himself. Stidham has had a rushing touchdown in two of his last three games, including a well-designed split zone bluff keeper against Georgia.

“Jarrett has gotten better at running the football,” Malzahn said Tuesday. “I mean, he’s starting to really get comfortable with the zone read. And like I’ve said before, keeping it just enough to keep the defense honest. I think you’ve seen probably the last four weeks, things change as far as that goes.”

That comfort level will continue to rise for Auburn’s sophomore star this weekend, when the Tigers get to fine-tune their game in a matchup against Sun Belt opponent Louisiana-Monroe (noon ET/11 a.m. CT on ESPN2).

Then it’s on to a winner-take-all Iron Bowl against No. 1 Alabama, when Auburn hopes a more comfortable Stidham will have saved his best for the last game of the regular season.

“He’s a smart guy,” Lindsey said. “Again, he’s a guy that studies a lot of film, and he’s done a really nice job of executing the things we’ve asked him to do. Hopefully he’ll continue to do that.

 

 

[AUGoo 2,123]

The play calling.

[Aucater 140]

28 minutes ago, AUGoo said:

The play calling.

Experience and better O line blocking.

[WFE12 8,279]

He is everything he was hyped up to be, just needed to get the rust off. He is elite and having him along with other key pieces on offense as well as a great defense we are an elite team.

[PowerOfDixieland 3,091]

As much as he's progressed, I sure hope we get a full three quarters of Willis this Saturday.  It would be awesome to see him get some time with the (complete) #1 offense.

[WFE12 8,279]

2 minutes ago, PowerOfDixieland said:

As much as he's progressed, I sure hope we get a full three quarters of Willis this Saturday.  It would be awesome to see him get some time with the (complete) #1 offense.

Gus already said that rest is the focus this week..winning is so nah.

[Scotty2Hotty 520]

34 minutes ago, WFE12 said:

He is everything he was hyped up to be, just needed to get the Gus off.

FIFY

[WarEagle10 77]

He is just getting more comfortable with the O. He also sat for over a year without playing a game. He was practicing with HS kids. Kid has talent and it was  obvious in the Spring game.  

[Scotty2Hotty 520]

2 minutes ago, WarEagle10 said:

He is just getting more comfortable with the O. He also sat for over a year without playing a game. He was practicing with HS kids. Kid has talent and it was  obvious in the Spring game.  

No. It always takes Gus ~ half season to figure out how his personnel works together. Same with Cam. Same with Marshall.

[wareagle7298 97]

In the euphoria of everything I did not realize he went 14 of 15. Pretty sweet. 

[Piketiger1990 172]

Any chance we keep Stidham another year? 

[AU64 10,122]

28 minutes ago, Piketiger1990 said:

Any chance we keep Stidham another year? 

Why not?   Guess if Gus got run off that could make a difference but otherwise he is a round 3-5 draft right now and could rise much higher with another year of SEC play....JMO

[AUFAN78 3,623]

The offense was quite simply more physical than Georgia. The defense was simply more physical than Georgia. Don't overthink it. This was big boy football with one team imposing their will. Thank goodness that team was Auburn. You can credit coaches if you desire, but the players were determined to win every battle. Sheer determination matters. It would have been a pleasure to QB that team Saturday. JS would agree.

[Zeek 15,381]

I think I can answer this much more efficiently than the article does.

Improved:

Play calling

Effort by receivers

The return of Darius Slayton as a deep threat

Trust in JS to throw the ball

 

Still needs improvement:

Gets happy feet when pressured too much

Takes unnecessary loss of yards when he could throw it away.

About as good at scrambling as Brody Croyle.

 

All jokes aside, he's improved each week but is still a little Shakey when pressured too much. Screens and slants will be needed to soften Alabama's blitz for him to be successful.

[Piketiger1990 172]

1 hour ago, AU64 said:

Why not?   Guess if Gus got run off that could make a difference but otherwise he is a round 3-5 draft right now and could rise much higher with another year of SEC play....JMO

I could see his draft stock rising especially with the national attention Auburn is now getting, but this is a very deep class for QBs so it would probably be smart to wait a year. I think right now he is estimated as the #10 QB prospect. 

[Zeek 15,381]

I think I can answer this much more efficiently than the article does.

Improved:

Play calling

Effort by receivers

The return of Darius Slayton as a deep threat

Trust in JS to throw the ball

 

Still needs improvement:

Gets happy feet when pressured too much

Takes unnecessary loss of yards when he could throw it away.

About as good at scrambling as Brody Croyle.

 

All jokes aside, he's improved each week but is still a little Shakey when pressured too much. Screens and slants will be needed to soften Alabama's blitz for him to be successful

[AU64 10,122]

2 minutes ago, Piketiger1990 said:

I could see his draft stock rising especially with the national attention Auburn is now getting, but this is a very deep class for QBs so it would probably be smart to wait a year. I think right now he is estimated as the #10 QB prospect. 

I saw him listed there....thought that was pretty optimistic considering how little actual experience he has and just watching him under pressure and how he reacts in the pocket.  He's not ready to face an NFL defense yet.  

[gr82b4au 5,219]

Familiarity, better protection, and better play calling. That’s it. 

[Scotty2Hotty 520]

58 minutes ago, Zeek said:

About as good at scrambling as Brody Croyle.

You're seriously reaching. Yes he matched Croyle's single game record, but Croyle never attempted scrambling in the 05 IB. At least Stidham tried to find WRs who were never open because they were unprepared.

[jtauburntiger 119]

13 hours ago, wareagle7298 said:

In the euphoria of everything I did not realize he went 14 of 15. Pretty sweet. 

that was just on his throws down the middle of the field - not counting the out routs or other throws outside the hash marks. So they picked the best numbers to show

   -  but compared to the LSU game, we should be most thrilled that we threw the ball across the middle of the field 15 times.   

[Timeslider 6 269]

I really like Stidham a lot, however, it would seem, from my very limited insight, that if he doesn't get better at scrambling he will get killed in the pros. They are much faster and defenses are schemed much better there. I understand the O-lines are much better as well, but you have D Tackles that are very fast (some of the best athletes on the planet). 

[Eagle Eye 7 2,535]

The play calling got better for sure but the main thing is, according to Chip this week, is they started allowing JS to make some reads on his own as the play developes. You can’t run a true RPO with a pre-determine decission life Ken we were doing early on.

[Howard Roark 195]

11 hours ago, Zeek said:

I think I can answer this much more efficiently than the article does.

Improved:

Play calling

Effort by receivers

The return of Darius Slayton as a deep threat

Trust in JS to throw the ball

 

Still needs improvement:

Gets happy feet when pressured too much

Takes unnecessary loss of yards when he could throw it away.

About as good at scrambling as Brody Croyle.

 

All jokes aside, he's improved each week but is still a little Shakey when pressured too much. Screens and slants will be needed to soften Alabama's blitz for him to be successful

I don't think he is close to being ready for the NFL.  His pocket presence has improved but not really that good, (despite his completion percentage) his ball placement is not consistently NFL standard yet, and he just does not have enough snaps.  He is getting better and is already an excellent college QB, but he has work to do before he is NFL ready. 

 

[Zeek 15,381]

10 hours ago, Scotty2Hotty said:

You're seriously reaching. Yes he matched Croyle's single game record, but Croyle never attempted scrambling in the 05 IB. At least Stidham tried to find WRs who were never open because they were unprepared.

It was in jest. I will contend it's easy to argue that he struggles to escape a collapsing pocket.

[Zeek 15,381]

24 minutes ago, Howard Roark said:

I don't think he is close to being ready for the NFL.  His pocket presence has improved but not really that good, (despite his completion percentage) his ball placement is not consistently NFL standard yet, and he just does not have enough snaps.  He is getting better and is already an excellent college QB, but he has work to do before he is NFL ready. 

 

If you're not a physical freak at QB don't leave early. He should stay the maximum number of years.