Inside the Numbers Part I

[StatTiger 3,188]

Two numbers that reveal how dominant Auburn was last night.

Of the 65 offensive snaps taken by the Auburn Tigers, 47 of them were part of the Tiger's eight scoring drives, which means 75% of Auburn's offensive snaps resulted in points. Had John Vaughn connected on his last FG, 55 of our 65 snaps would have resulted in points. On the other side of the field, only 15 of the Cougars 61 offensive snaps resulted in points.

Auburn only converted on 3 of 12 third-down conversions yet managed to hang 40 points on the scoreboard. How is this possible? Auburn gained 318-yards on first down, averaging 11.3 yards per play on first down. The Cougars managed 5.0 yards on first down.

It would appear Brandon Cox might have suffered from opening night jitters, though he did not make any major mistakes. Cool Hand Luke went 8 for 8 passing on first down, totaling 143-yards and 1 TD pass. He struggled on 3rd down, completing only 1 of his 4 third down passes. This was an area he struggled in last season and must improve if Auburn is to run the table.

Will Muschamp's debut was very successful despite a few breakdowns during the game. The Tiger defense made eight tackles behind the line during the first half before playing a little more conservative during the second half. The Tiger defense made 11 tackles behind the line and had an additional 17 plays for no gain.

The Auburn offense had a few kinks in the redzone offense, scoring only 2 TD's in 5 trips inside the Cougar 20-yard line. The Tigers managed to convert on 2 of 3 FG's after entering the redzone.

There were flashes of the 2004 Auburn offense last night as the Tigers scored on their first 5 possessions and 6 of their first 7. If Brandon Cox can improve on his 3rd down passing this season, Auburn's offense will be difficult to stop.

Last season, Kenny Irons and Brad Lester combined for only 17 receptions, which was a huge drop from the 55 hauled in by Carnell Williams and Ronnie Brown in 2004. Coach Borges promised to get Irons and Lester more involved in the passing game this year and it has already paid off. Irons and Lester combined for 74-yards in receiving last night, which accounted for 3 first downs and 1 TD.

Terrific performance by Auburn's coaches and players and a great start for the 2006 campaign!

[rolltoomer 0]

Good stuff, Stat, as usual.

The Tigers seem to be pretty fundamentally sound. The errors that showed up last night appear to be easily fixable.

It was good for the Cougs to press us a little. Get the guys accustomed to handling that and taking bak command of the rest of the game.

Certainly agreed with the fake punt. Doesn't do any good to brag in retrospect, but I swear I thought at the time, "Good place for a gadget play".

The youth of the defense came out graphically: it's one of those things you "know", but doesn't really hit you 'till you see them out there. I doubt if we have a tight end get that free again the rest of the season.

[StatTiger 3,188]

Good stuff, Stat, as usual.

The Tigers seem to be pretty fundamentally sound. The errors that showed up last night appear to be easily fixable.

It was good for the Cougs to press us a little. Get the guys accustomed to handling that and taking bak command of the rest of the game.

Certainly agreed with the fake punt. Doesn't do any good to brag in retrospect, but I swear I thought at the time, "Good place for a gadget play".

The youth of the defense came out graphically: it's one of those things you "know", but doesn't really hit you 'till you see them out there. I doubt if we have a tight end get that free again the rest of the season.

This team was very well prepared for this game on a physical stand point and in terms of X's and O's. We had a good game plan on both sides of the ball and for the most part, executed very well. I agree the miscues we had last night can be easily corrected. I'm also a little concerned about Cox holding the ball too long at times, especially with the front 7 MSU has. I just don't want to see him taking a blindside hit next week because as bad as the Bulldogs offense is, their defense played very well against the Gamecocks.