Tigers 'got ahead of ourselves' on defense

[aubiefifty 17,332]

In Mississippi State meltdown, Tigers 'got ahead of ourselves' on defense

ByNathan King

4-5 minutes

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How Coaching Changes Around Nation Will Impact Signing Day

 

AUBURN, Alabama — Auburn players weren't surprised at all by what Mississippi State was doing on offense. They just couldn’t find a way to stop it.

Auburn allowed Bulldogs quarterback Will Rogers to complete 44-of-55 passes — including 24-of-26 in the second half — and dissect Auburn’s defense en route to 40 unanswered points and a 43-34 comeback win. The 25-point blown lead is the largest in Auburn history.

How did Derek Mason’s defense — which had been superb over the past two games, not allowing a touchdown in its previous six quarters and holding opponents out of the end zone on nine straight red-zone trips — get peeled apart inside Jordan-Hare Stadium in such stark contrast to its recent successes?

Only one defensive player, edge rusher Derick Hall, was made available to discuss the loss after the game. Wednesday was the first time multiple players on Auburn’s defense were able to review the gutting performance at length. And like most things in football, it came down to execution, said senior cornerback Roger McCreary, who thinks his teammates on defense eased off the accelerator once Auburn grabbed a 28-3 lead in the second quarter.

“We knew it was going to come — it's just that some players just weren't focused and some people just weren't doing their job,” McCreary said. “So I feel like it was a lack of focus, and we got ahead of ourselves. The first half we did good and we thought it was going to be easy.”

Auburn held Mississippi State’s air-raid offense to just one touchdown across five drives in the first half, including two punts and a forced field goal in the red zone. The Tigers were getting stable pressure and weren’t letting the Bulldogs break away for long gains when they hauled in receptions from Rogers in the short passing game — their bread and butter.

Rogers torched Auburn out of the locker room, though, mounting five straight touchdown drives.

“We just started executing, and one successful drive just led to another,” Mississippi State coach Mike Leach said Wednesday.

More than 84% of Mississippi State’s offensive output in the second half came via the passing game, as Rogers completed 24 of his last 25 passes for the game.

Auburn allowed nine explosive plays of 15 yards or more through the air in the second half as opposed to only three in the first half, yet Mississippi State’s drives were still strenuous and methodical, ending with touchdowns from 3, 3, 6, 3 and 6 yards out.

“Everything we did worked in the first half; we just didn’t execute in the second half,” said senior linebacker Chandler Wooten. “It’s totally up to us as players to hold each other accountable. I think we had a great plan. Like I said, it worked in the first half, so there was no reason it couldn’t work in the second half. It just came down to execution, people doing their jobs and doing it with physicality.”

Auburn will get back to a more traditional opposing offense this week when it travels to South Carolina, averaging 35 runs to 29 passes per game. The Gamecocks are on their third quarterback of the season: Jason Brown, a transfer from FCS Saint Francis who’s completed 57% of his passes this season, with five touchdowns to three interceptions.

Auburn’s defense has been an above-average group in the SEC for the majority of the season. To return to its prosperous roots in a bounce-back effort this weekend, the key is carrying out the game plan for the entirety of a game, not just a half or a quarter, according to a pair of its senior leaders.

“I feel like that's going to be great against this offense,” McCreary said of the game plan for South Carolina this week. “We just have to execute it.”

[MaitlandTiger 325]

9 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

In Mississippi State meltdown, Tigers 'got ahead of ourselves' on defense

ByNathan King

4-5 minutes

---

 

How Coaching Changes Around Nation Will Impact Signing Day

 

AUBURN, Alabama — Auburn players weren't surprised at all by what Mississippi State was doing on offense. They just couldn’t find a way to stop it.

Auburn allowed Bulldogs quarterback Will Rogers to complete 44-of-55 passes — including 24-of-26 in the second half — and dissect Auburn’s defense en route to 40 unanswered points and a 43-34 comeback win. The 25-point blown lead is the largest in Auburn history.

How did Derek Mason’s defense — which had been superb over the past two games, not allowing a touchdown in its previous six quarters and holding opponents out of the end zone on nine straight red-zone trips — get peeled apart inside Jordan-Hare Stadium in such stark contrast to its recent successes?

Only one defensive player, edge rusher Derick Hall, was made available to discuss the loss after the game. Wednesday was the first time multiple players on Auburn’s defense were able to review the gutting performance at length. And like most things in football, it came down to execution, said senior cornerback Roger McCreary, who thinks his teammates on defense eased off the accelerator once Auburn grabbed a 28-3 lead in the second quarter.

“We knew it was going to come — it's just that some players just weren't focused and some people just weren't doing their job,” McCreary said. “So I feel like it was a lack of focus, and we got ahead of ourselves. The first half we did good and we thought it was going to be easy.”

Auburn held Mississippi State’s air-raid offense to just one touchdown across five drives in the first half, including two punts and a forced field goal in the red zone. The Tigers were getting stable pressure and weren’t letting the Bulldogs break away for long gains when they hauled in receptions from Rogers in the short passing game — their bread and butter.

Rogers torched Auburn out of the locker room, though, mounting five straight touchdown drives.

“We just started executing, and one successful drive just led to another,” Mississippi State coach Mike Leach said Wednesday.

More than 84% of Mississippi State’s offensive output in the second half came via the passing game, as Rogers completed 24 of his last 25 passes for the game.

Auburn allowed nine explosive plays of 15 yards or more through the air in the second half as opposed to only three in the first half, yet Mississippi State’s drives were still strenuous and methodical, ending with touchdowns from 3, 3, 6, 3 and 6 yards out.

“Everything we did worked in the first half; we just didn’t execute in the second half,” said senior linebacker Chandler Wooten. “It’s totally up to us as players to hold each other accountable. I think we had a great plan. Like I said, it worked in the first half, so there was no reason it couldn’t work in the second half. It just came down to execution, people doing their jobs and doing it with physicality.”

Auburn will get back to a more traditional opposing offense this week when it travels to South Carolina, averaging 35 runs to 29 passes per game. The Gamecocks are on their third quarterback of the season: Jason Brown, a transfer from FCS Saint Francis who’s completed 57% of his passes this season, with five touchdowns to three interceptions.

Auburn’s defense has been an above-average group in the SEC for the majority of the season. To return to its prosperous roots in a bounce-back effort this weekend, the key is carrying out the game plan for the entirety of a game, not just a half or a quarter, according to a pair of its senior leaders.

“I feel like that's going to be great against this offense,” McCreary said of the game plan for South Carolina this week. “We just have to execute it.”

I know this sounds like Debbie Downer, and I strive not to complain in real life, but there is a pretty good chance this transfer from FCS St Francis throws for 450 with 4 tds.   I mean, this secondary has made some mediocre qbs look like Heisman candidates.  I’m just stating a fact. Look for him to have a career day.  I do think we score more than them but I’d bet the over at 300 yards…..

[Old fan 47 775]

41 minutes ago, MaitlandTiger said:

I know this sounds like Debbie Downer, and I strive not to complain in real life, but there is a pretty good chance this transfer from FCS St Francis throws for 450 with 4 tds.   I mean, this secondary has made some mediocre qbs look like Heisman candidates.  I’m just stating a fact. Look for him to have a career day.  I do think we score more than them but I’d bet the over at 300 yards…..

Scares me too. We have an issue with making mediocre teams look much better than they really are. I haven’t given a score prediction, but I did read where no Gus team ever lost three games in a row. We lose here, with our unstable recruiting class thus far, this regime may not make it past year three. I believe three is plenty of time to prove some things and if recruiting can’t maintain at least Top 20 or so, which is low for AU, then there will be major decisions to make. Then again, I’m not very confident in  those that make those decisions. I just hope TJ balls out Saturday night. 

[Guest MustardSeed]

This entire article is extremely disturbing. So after the players get a chance to go over the game film with the defensive staff…the blame gets put 100% on the players just not executing?.?.  The entirety of the blame goes on Mason for not changing the D when his DBs couldn’t cover for 5-10 seconds every single play while the 3 guys rushing never had a chance of affecting the qb. They gave up 24 of the last 25 passes and it’s the players fault?  If I was HC and I saw this response to that abysmal coaching failure Mason would be packing. Unreal.