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MAILBAG: Does Auburn need a running quarterback to be successful?

Josh Vitale, Montgomery Advertiser

10-12 minutes

AUBURN — If my Twitter mentions are any indication, the days since Saturday’s loss at Mississippi State have been an absolute roller coaster of emotions for Auburn fans.

The takes went from hot (fire the coach, bench the quarterback) straight to nuclear (cut every scholarship offensive lineman from the roster). There were reports of anger and unrest in the locker room, as well as an acknowledgment of the fan base’s frustrations.

When weather concerns forced the university to cancel Thursday’s Tipoff at Toomer’s event, it seemed nothing could go right.

MORE: Auburn expects to turn season around in second half

But the football season will go on as planned on Saturday, with Auburn hosting Tennessee at 11 a.m. CT. Before we get to that game, let’s get to this week’s Mailbag. As always, you can tweet me your questions each week. I will answer the best ones on Friday.

Here we go:

How do we fire Gus Malzahn and who do we replace him with?

— @PourItOut4Homie

Let’s just get this one out of the way quickly and be done with it: Malzahn is in the first year of a seven-year, $49 million contract, and 75 percent of that money is guaranteed. If Auburn fires him on Dec. 1 of this year, it would owe him a buyout of $32.1 million. That buyout doesn’t drop below $20 million until after the 2021 season. And if Malzahn decides he wants to leave for another job, he would owe the university $7 million.

Like it or not, Malzahn is Auburn’s head coach, and that isn’t going to change anytime soon.

What’s wrong with No. 8?

— Skye (@SkyeUnderwood)

Coynis Miller Jr.? Nothing, as far as I know. He’s a true freshman on a very deep defensive line. It should come as no surprise that he’s on track to take advantage of the four-game redshirt rule this season.

Oh, you mean Jarrett Stidham? Right. Yeah, that makes more sense. Honestly, I don’t know exactly why his performance has regressed so much since last season. If I did, I would be getting paid a lot more money to coach football than to write about it. He didn’t suddenly become less talented, but the dropoffs in accuracy (66.5 percent to 60.1) and production (8.5 yards per attempt to 7) from last season have obviously been significant concerns.

MORE: Stidham focused on playing better, not criticism or job security

I do think, though, that you can’t put all of Auburn’s offensive struggles on Stidham. The offensive line has had a hard time protecting him, and you can tell that’s in his head every time he turns his eyes down and bails rather than stepping up into the pocket, however small it is. He no longer has a Kerryon Johnson he can rely on out of the backfield, and that lack of run game has put more pressure on him to carry the offense, which he has not been able to do consistently. He does have weapons in the passing game, but he doesn’t have Will Hastings, who was such a constant security blanket for him over the middle of the field last year.

Stidham obviously needs to play a lot better if Auburn’s offense is ever going to find a rhythm this season. He cannot miss throws like the one he did to a wide-open Darius Slayton against Mississippi State, and he can’t scramble from the pocket at the first sign of trouble. But he needs some more help, too.

Two questions from last week’s game. Defensively, why did Auburn play two deep safeties most of the game allowing Mississippi State to have numbers to run the ball when it doesn’t throw it well? Why did JaTarvious Whitlow get only eight carries after averaging 11 yards per rush?

— Ryan (@PearcyRyan)

Auburn played two deep safeties at Mississippi State because that’s what the offensive alignment called for. The Bulldogs ran the ball on 54 of 74 plays, but a lot of those runs came out of four- and five-wide formations. They spread out the Tigers defense enough to where it was five offensive linemen vs. four defensive linemen and a linebacker in the box, and they consistently won those matchups. As defensive coordinator Kevin Steele said Sunday, Auburn didn’t fit gaps properly, and it missed a lot of tackles. But the moment the Tigers committed an extra defender to the box to stop the run, the Bulldogs would have had numbers on the back end (possibly five receivers one-on-one with zero safety help) and might have been able to throw over the top. That’s why you consistently saw two safeties deep.

As for Whitlow getting only eight carries, that was a result of him not starting the game due to a left shoulder injury and Auburn completely abandoning the run in the second half. I tweeted during the game that I believed he needed more touches, because he was effective when he got them — even if you take out the 41-yard non-touchdown, he still averaged 6.7 yards on his other seven carries. Malzahn said he’s “full-go” for Saturday’s game against Tennessee, so I think you’ll see him get more opportunities this week. I think there is a place in this offense for Kam Martin, Asa Martin and Shaun Shivers, and I think Auburn should keep all three involved in the ways that best fits their skill sets, but Whitlow has consistently been the team’s most effective runner this season.

Will Auburn top 400 yards on Saturday?

— Dave (@AuburnGrad2000)

Auburn has topped 400 yards of total offense once in five games against FBS schools this season. Tennessee’s defense has allowed at least 387 in three of four such games. So, I don’t know, maybe? One of those has to give, right?

MORE: Gus Malzahn knows Auburn’s offense is out of excuses at the season’s halfway point

In all seriousness, I am of the opinion that this Auburn team does not need to rack up 400 yards and score even 30 points to win games. I think hope for the kind of breakout that came in 2016 and 2017 has already come and gone. But that doesn’t mean this team can’t still be successful. Look at last week’s game at Mississippi State: The Tigers played their worst defensive game of the season and one of the worst since Steele became the coordinator, and they allowed just 23 points. It was a one-score game midway through the fourth quarter. The final offensive numbers were poor pretty much all the way around, but Auburn clearly left 21 points on the field — Stidham’s overthrow of Slayton, Whitlow’s fumble at the goal line, and Slayton’s drop of what would have been a touchdown in the back of the end zone. One of those drives ended in a field goal, and two more with no points. Turn all three of those into touchdowns, and the Tigers might have been leading in that game.

MORE: Team captains trying to lead Auburn through adversity

That, to me, is the key: Auburn has struggled to consistently move the ball and score on offense, but it has moved the ball and scored this season. If it takes advantage of those opportunities (which it did not do in Starkville) and avoids turnovers (also did not do in Starkville), it has the ability to score enough points that the defense should be able to do the rest against Tennessee and Ole Miss going into the bye week. That would at least a start going into a brutal November with Texas A&M, Georgia and Alabama on the schedule.

I have come to the conclusion that I like Gus rushing the ball on offense 65 percent of the time like his years working with Rhett Lashlee. Not really liking the Chip Lindsey offense. Do you think Auburn needs to go back to the running style with Nick Marshall at quarterback over what it has now?

— Jeremy (@jeremyminton9)

Whether it’s been Lashlee or Lindsey at coordinator, this has always been Malzahn’s offense. Lindsey has added a few more passing elements, but the base concepts are the same as they have been since 2013. And if Auburn could run the ball on 65 percent of its snaps and march the ball down the field like it could with Tre Mason in 2013, Cameron Artis-Payne in 2014, Kamryn Pettway in 2016 and Johnson in 2017, it absolutely would. The Tigers tried to establish that type of run game Weeks 4 and 5 against Arkansas and Southern Miss, but it simply didn’t work — they averaged just 2.53 and 2.67 yards per carry in those games, respectively. That’s why you saw such a pass-heavy approach in the second half at Mississippi State. Auburn is trying to find something that works, because what it has traditionally done under Malzahn has not through six games this season.

MORE: Is an up-tempo, pass-heavy attack the answer for Auburn’s stagnant offense?

I don’t think a running quarterback is necessarily the answer, though. I think that’s the most common misconception about Malzahn’s offense, that it needs a quarterback who can run to be at its best. Yes, that offense has never been better at Auburn than it was when Cam Newton and Nick Marshall ran it, but that’s because both those quarterbacks are exceptional players. If the Tigers had a Newton or a Marshall on the roster, you can be sure they would start them. But just because Joey Gatewood and Malik Willis are quarterbacks who can run doesn’t mean they’re capable of being Newton or Marshall. Again, those are two exceptional players.

And Auburn’s offense has been incredibly effective without a running quarterback. It tore through teams during the middle part of the 2016 season when Sean White and Pettway were both healthy, and performed very well behind Stidham and Johnson last season. The Tigers don’t need a running quarterback; they need a running threat. That’s the common thread between all those seasons — whether it was Michael Dyer with Newton, Mason and Artis-Payne with Marshall, Pettway with White and Johnson with Stidham, Auburn always had one of the nation’s best rushing offenses. This year, the Tigers have a few talented running backs, but all of them are either young or unproven or both, and the offensive line has not been able to block adequately for them.

All of this is to say that there is no magic fix for this Auburn offense. The Tigers can’t just decide they want to run the football more effectively. Stidham can certainly be a more accurate passer and make more throws, but he’s going to need help from the offensive line blocking for him and the coaches calling the plays. No one player, coach or strategy is to blame for Auburn’s offensive struggles. It comes down to everyone.

Take it from Malzahn:

“Offense is a unique thing,” he said this week. “It takes all 11 guys to do their job to make things work. So far, we haven't done enough of that consistently. That's kind of what we're looking at.”

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3 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

 “Offense is a unique thing,” he said this week. “It takes all 11 guys to do their job to make things work. So far, we haven't done enough of that consistently. That's kind of what we're looking at.”

I agree with everything the writer said. But this quote from Malzahn... What he is saying is coaching is fine, but the players just aren't executing. 

Seriously. He could take SOME accountability for his offense. But no... Totally blaming the players execution... 

 

 

That says everything 

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