It was tough to figure out this Auburn team going into the Arkansas game. Both the offense and defense had been through stretches of solid play and stretches of complete ineptitude during the first five games of the season. Playing a team on the road as good as Arkansas was going to let everyone know just what to expect out of the Tigers during the second half of the season. Now that we know what to expect from Auburn during the final six games of the year, it doesn’t look pretty.
Despite giving up 38 points, Auburn’s defense actually played fairly well against Arkansas’ potent passing game. The offense started the game well enough, scoring 14 points in the first quarter, but the final three quarters showed that Gus Malzahn has serious work to do if the Tigers are going to be able to score enough points to win more than two games for the rest of the season. Mike Dyer, Onterio McCalebb and Kiehl Frazier led a potent ground game, but Barrett Trotter and, eventually, Frazier could not find a way to generate any sort of aerial threat. When it became clear that Auburn was not going to be able to move the ball through the air, the Razorback defenders sold out to stop the rushing attack and ended any chance the Tigers were going to have of winning Saturday’s game.
Malzahn has to be frustrated. For the first time in his career as an offensive coach, his offense isn’t working. Auburn now ranks eighth in the SEC in total and scoring offense, and ninth in passing offense. The Tigers are third in rushing offense, but in their two losses this season, a strong running game hasn’t been enough to win. The blame for Saturday’s loss doesn’t fall solely on the quarterback; Auburn’s receivers had plenty of drops on what could have been big plays, and first-down penalties stopped a few Tiger drives before they could get started. No matter the reasons for the offense’s regression, Malzahn is going to have to go back to the drawing board and come up with a scheme that his players can successfully execute. Auburn has two very winnable games remaining, two games that appear to be certain losses and two games that could go either way. Whether or not Malzahn can get his offense clicking again will likely make the difference between a 6-6 or an 8-4 regular season.
WHAT WENT RIGHT?
The rushing attack was actually successful. Believe it or not, Auburn piled up 291 yards on the ground. Dyer led Auburn with 112 yards, including a 55-yard touchdown, McCalebb and Frazier each carried 13 times for 91 and 54 yards, respectively, with Frazier scoring on a seven-yard run. Tre Mason added 30 yards on three carries and Trotter carried twice for four yards. If Auburn had been able to get even a mediocre passing game going, the Tigers’s run game would have been good enough to win the game. As it was, however, Arkansas’ defense was able to focus on the run in the second half and eventually force Auburn to throw. When the Tigers put the ball in the air, it usually ended in disaster.
Steven Clark was great again. On his first punt of the night, Clark shanked and 11-yarder, giving the Razorbacks excellent field position. After that, he was outstanding. If you forget that first shank, Clark punted 8 times with an average of nearly 44 yards per kick and a long of 54. He pinned the Razorbacks inside their 20 six times and didn’t allow a single return. Clark was constantly helping Auburn win the field position battle, but the Tigers couldn’t cash in on that advantage.
Considering the opponent, the defense played pretty well. Arkansas has the best passing offense in the SEC and, aside from Alabama and possibly LSU, is going to score plenty of points against any opponent. The Hogs scored 10 points by working short fields after Auburn turnovers and added a 93-yard touchdown run from Joe Adams on the one truly awful defensive play of the night for the Tigers. Aside from those 17 points that took a total of two minutes, 53 seconds off the clock, Ted Roof’s unit gave up 21 points for the remaining 57 minutes, seven seconds. Tyler Wilson did complete 19 consecutive passes at one point, but he finished with 262 passing yards, 41 yards below his average entering Saturday’s game. That’s not a bad defensive performance against a such a good quarterback and set of receivers. The best part is that Roof’s defense has shown consistent, tangible improvement in pass coverage and tackling over the past three weeks. If that continues, Auburn’s defense should be able to keep its opponents from running away with games, even when the offense struggles.
WHAT WENT WRONG?
The passing offense is in a state of total disrepair. As well as the defense played and as good as the running game was, Auburn should have been able to win on Saturday. Any sort of production would have been enough to put the Tigers over the top. But everything from bad overthrows and awful interceptions by Trotter and Frazier to terrible drops by DeAngelo Benton and the rest of the receivers kept the offense from getting out of first gear for much of the night. Trotter and Frazier combined to complete eight of 23 passes for 99 yards and three interceptions. Clint Moseley had the best night of any quarter back, completing a five-yard throw on the game’s final play, his only snap of the night. Trotter was constantly overthrowing his receivers, and Frazier’s two late interceptions pretty much ended any chance Auburn had at coming back. Malzahn must figure out what to do with the passing game and that includes who should be getting the snaps when the ball is going to be in the air. Frazier deserves playing time to run the ball, but against Arkansas, he showed that he is not ready to take full command of the offense. Trotter played well at the beginning of the season but seems to be suffering from a complete lack of confidence. For the second week in a row, he was a major liability. It’s time to give serious consideration to allowing Moseley to prove what he can do.
On the few decent throws Trotter made, his receivers didn’t offer much help. Trotter threw plenty of bad passes, but he was the victim of quite a few drops. There were at least five. Benton and McCalebb each had two and sure-handed Philip Lutzenkirchen had one. Benton’s were certainly the biggest of the night. His first drop came at the end of the first half and cost Auburn a chance at a last-second field goal, and his second bounced off his hands and into the hands of Arkansas defensive back Tramain Thomas. The absence of Emory Blake and Travon Reed was painfully obvious, as no other Auburn receiver stood up to make plays. As bad of a night as Trotter was having, his receivers didn’t give him a chance to have any success whatsoever.
Penalties killed the offense. Auburn racked up 11 penalties that cost the Tigers 105 yards with most of the damage being done to the offense. Auburn had seven holding or false start penalties that came on first or second down against Arkansas, each penalty coming on separate drives. One of those drives ended in a touchdown, one ended with the end of the first half and five ended in punts. Many times on Saturday, Auburn drives were over before they began thanks to penalties. A few other times, they stopped Auburn in its tracks. On a night when the offense was struggling, a lack of discipline really hurt Auburn’s chances at scoring.
The offensive game plan didn’t do the quarterbacks any favors. Malzahn has to share some of the blame for the offensive impotence against Arkansas. As often as he swapped Trotter and Frazier at quarterback, it was difficult for either to get into a rhythm. It didn’t hurt Frazier as much, since he only threw four passes, but it clearly affected Trotter’s play. Once it was clear that moving the ball through the air wasn’t going to work, Malzahn still insisted on playing musical chairs with Trotter and Frazier. Frazier would be able to move the offense some, thanks to his running ability keeping the Arkansas defense off balance, but the Razorbacks knew Trotter would be handing off to Dyer. They were able to key in on the run and force Dyer to run into a brick wall. Even with Trotter playing poorly and his receivers wasting opportunities with drops, Malzahn should have come up with a way to make the passing game work and keep the offense from being totally one-dimensional.
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
Make no mistake, Auburn has plenty of work to do, but the Tigers’ season so far has not been a disaster. Both of Auburn’s losses have come on the road to top-10 teams. At 4-2 overall and 2-1 in SEC play, Auburn has a better first-half record than most experts predicted. The Tigers should easily make a bowl game and have a very good chance at winning eight regular-season games, something almost no one outside the Auburn family thought possible. All in all, it was a pretty successful first half for Chizik’s team.
That being said, Chizik and his staff must make some serious adjustments to make sure Auburn has a successful second half. The quarterback situation needs to be addressed, and it’s not outrageous to say that Moseley should at least get a shot to show what he can do in live action. Malzahn should give his quarterback, whoever that may be, a better chance to be successful. More bubble screens and underneath routes could go a long way toward building Trotter’s, Moseley’s or Frazier’s confidence and help Auburn move the ball and put points on the board.
The good thing about Auburn’s biggest problem is that it’s very obvious to see. Whatever the solution is, Malzahn needs to find it. Luckily for Auburn fans, the Tigers’ offensive coordinator is more than capable of righting the ship. If Malzahn can prove why he’s the highest paid assistant coach in the country, Auburn will be fine in its final six games.