1st Down production

[StatTiger 3,188]

This week, Coach Borges stressed the importance of executing on 1st down. With this in mind, I have tracked Auburn's 1st down production since the 1993 season, which includes 158 ball games.

Here is how the 2006 Auburn offense ranks through six games compared to the other 152 games.

By gaining 11.4 yards per play on 1st down, the 2006 Washington State game topped the list at #1.

South Carolina: 43rd

Buffalo: 65th

Mississippi State: 95th

LSU: 146th

Arkansas: 150th

Taking the top ten from the list of 158 games, the teams averaged 211.5 yards rushing per game. Taking the bottom ten from the list of 158 games, those teams averaged 67.7 yards rushing per game.

I then sorted the list against D1 teams with a winning record, which consisted of 88 games from 1993-2006. Currently, Auburn has faced 4 opponents with a winning record. Here is how those 4 games rank...

Of course the Washington State game is still #1 on the list.

South Carolina: 17th

LSU: 77th

Arkansas: 80th

Once again, taking the top ten performances from the list of 88 games against opponents with a winning record, those teams averaged 197.9 yards per game rushing. The bottom ten ended up being the same bottom ten from the complete list of 158 games, so the rushing average of the bottom ten was 67.7 yards per game.

Auburn did well against Washington State and South Carolina on 1st down but struggled against LSU and Arkansas. If Auburn is to be productive on offense against the Florida Gators, they have to perform better on 1st down. The Tigers actually opened up on offense against Arkansas, passing more frequently but many of the routes were medium to deep passes.

Borges needs to call a higher number of short to medium range pass plays on 1st down if Auburn intends on airing it out on 1st down against the Gators.

Cox completed 68% of his passes on 1st down during the first three games but his pass pct has dropped to just 50% in the last three games on 1st down. Cox needs to be placed in a situation where he has the best probability to succeed.

[JB33 1]

WOW . . . This is a sobering statistic . . .

Against , "Auburn had 25 first-down plays, of which 14 went for either no yards or negative yards."

http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/birmingha...&thispage=2

That's how you get beat, sports fans. Time for us to see the result of the "physical" preseason - hit 'em in the mouth, get Kenny (& Brad) rolling, and take back first down . . . In other words, play football!!

WAR EAGLE!! BEAT !!