Auburn football: What in the world is going on with this offense?
By Rob Maxwell
Since Gus Malzahn arrived on the Plains as head coach of the Auburn football program, the Tigers have had their share of poor offensive performances.
They’ve also had some fantastic performances.
Saturday night against Arkansas falls into the poor bucket.
If someone told you that Auburn was going to beat the Razorbacks, 34-3, you probably wouldn’t expect these offensive stats from the Tigers:
- 225 total yards
- 58 offensive plays, 3.9 yards per play
- 91 rushing yards, 2.5 yards per rush
- 134 passing yards
- 4 for 13 on third downs
No, those aren’t the numbers you’d expect from a 31-point victory. Fortunately for the Tigers, the defense played a strong game and it special teams were as special as they’ve ever been since Malzahn has been coach.
Still, it’s head-scratching why the offense is struggling so much. Auburn’s 3,000-yard passer is back, so are a host of talented receivers. Auburn has options at running back. The offensive line is a work in progress, but hasn’t been awful.
Malzahn seemed to deflect when discussing the performance — and we get it, a win is a win, especially in the SEC — but the head coach has to be wondering what the issue is.
“Offensively, we didn’t play our best, but we didn’t turn the ball over,” Malzahn said after the game. “That was really what we talked about. We don’t turn the ball over and we get after the quarterback. We felt like we liked our chances. Overall, it’s a good win. It’s good to get back in the win column.”
But the 225-yard outing ranks as one of the worst since Malzahn arrived:
10 worst offensive performances
1. 117 total yards: Clemson (2017) Result: Loss
2. 164 total yards: Georgia (2016) Result: Loss
3. 182 total yards: Alabama (2016) Result: Loss
4. 225 total yards: Arkansas (2018) Result: Win
5. 259 total yards: Georgia (2017) Result: Loss
6. 260 total yards: Alabama (2015) Result: Loss
6. 260 total yards: LSU (2015) Result: Loss
8. 262 total yards: Clemson (2016) Result: Loss
9. 275 total yards: Georgia (2015) Result: Loss
10. 292 total yards: Georgia (2014) Result: Loss
Those were some pretty bad outings by the Tigers and to see that Saturday night was the fourth-worst in the Malzahn era is pretty staggering. Auburn totaled 135 yards in the first half and just 90 in the second half and 72 of those came on the touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.
Remove that drive from the drive chart and you best close your eyes, it’s ugly.
Auburn drive chart vs. Arkansas
First quarter
7 plays, 27 yards: Touchdown
3 plays, 3 yards: Punt
5 plays, 19 yards: Missed field goal
4 plays, 1 yard: Punt
Second quarter
3 plays, 9 yards: Punt
9 plays, 67 yards: Turnover on downs
4 plays, 9 yards: Field goal
1 play, 0 yards: Missed field goal
Third quarter
3 plays, 7 yards: Punt
3 plays, 6 yards: Punt
7 plays, 12 yards: Punt
Fourth quarter
8 plays, 72 yards: Touchdown
4 plays, minus-10 yards: Field goal
1 play, minus-2 yards: End of game
We wrote last week that we expected Auburn to come out and put points on the board.
We expected a big night from Jarrett Stidham. Instead we got checkdown after checkdown and when he did throw long, he misfired.
We expected Auburn to run the ball. Instead, JaTarvious Whitlow and Kam Martin struggled to find running room and Shaun Shivers was non-existent.
Next. Post-game stock report: Who's up, who's down. dark
We said that Auburn needs to win with style points. It did not.
We wrote that Auburn has two weeks to get things in order before traveling to Mississippi State. That’s down to one week now. What will Auburn do this week to get better on the offensive side?
It will be interesting to see because if the Tigers can’t find ways to pick up yards on a consistent basis, those goals of reaching the SEC Championship Game and going to the College Football Playoff will be long gone in a few weeks.