Even though the game was closer than what most fans wanted, a win is a win. There was some good things that happened on Saturday that Auburn fans should be proud of. Here are my grades by position from this weekends game against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks.
Quarterback: C+
Kiehl was good at times. He was making very crisp passes early, and looked to have gained some trust in other receivers. Even though the play was called back his throw to Coates on the sideline was great, and everyone knows about his hail marry pass to end the half. Frazier also caught a pass and ran it in.
Even though Frazier threw an interception in the 4th quarter overall I think he performed a lot better than last week. Frazier ended the day 10 for 18 for 130 yards.
Running Backs: B
Auburn gained 255 yards rushing Saturday. That is the most all year, by a lot. Onterio McCalebb was great. He rushed 11 times for 128 yards. Tre Mason also looked good. He carried the ball 22 times for 90 yards. McCalebb and Mason both had rushing TDs. McCalleb’s coming from 27 yards out and Mason’s from 1 yard out. Mike Blakey carried the ball 4 times for 32 yards, but had the huge fumble inside the 5 yard line that cost AU a touchdown.
Overall, the running backs looked good. The fumble was costly and that’s why I took off a letter grade.
Wide Receivers: A
I thought the wide receivers did a great job getting open for Frazier. There was a huge illegal procedure penalty that cost Auburn a TD. Sammie Coates looked great. He caught 2 passes form 34 yards. Quan Bray is really coming along. He is started to look like a very trustworthy guy for Frazier to throw to. He ended the day with 2 catches for 14 yards. He also added a passing TD to his stats when he threw a 33 yards TD to Frazier. Emory Blake ended the day with 2 catches for 26 yards.
Even though the stats aren’t glowing, the WRs did very well blocking on the perimeter. The stats will get better once the QB gets better.
Offensive Line: B+
The offensive line looked very good on Saturday. Frazier had a lot of time to throw the ball, and there were huge holes for the running backs to run through.
The reason I give it a B+ is because they did allow one sack.
Defensive Line: C
I thought the defensive line was going to be huge this game, especially Lemonier and Ford. Lemonier had 5 tackles and Ford had 1 sack, but in my opinion that was very underperforming. The defensive tackles are still the biggest disappointment to me all year. There is no push from the interior linemen. Blackson and Whitaker who started the game only had three tackles.
There has to be better performance from the DL no matter who we play. The defensive ends need to work on run coverage, and the defensive tackles need to work on getting a push off the snap.
Linebackers: B
The linebackers looked better on Saturday. Jake Holland and Darren Bates looks improved. Together they had 24 tackles and 4 QB hurries. Holland looked very good in pass coverage. There was still some missed tackles that cost them some points.
Also the redzone defense from the LBs was horrible. The Freshman Cassanova McKinzy was not very good in coverage on the rollout passes and neither was Bates. The linebackers in general need to get a mean streak in them and start knocking some heads.
Secondary: D
It’s never good when a team throws for 250 yards and 3 touchdowns against you, but it’s really bad when that team is in the Sun Belt. Auburn is struggling in coverage still, with too many communication errors. The secondary has got to start making better reads on the ball.
The hitting is starting to pick up, but that might only be because Demetruce McNeal was in the game.
Special Teams: A
Once again the best part about the game is Auburn’s special teams. Kick-off coverage looked great pinning ULM inside the 15 yard line numerous times. Auburn also had two blocked field goals. Punter Steven Clark punted 6 times for an average of 40.2 yards.
The highlight of the day though was Cody Parkey’s game winning 35 yard kick in overtime.