Let's start with my Players of The Game.
I went with THE RUDE DOG because he was a consistent element throughout the game. He seemed to apply his speed more usefully against the Cardinals, which gave him an omnipresent feel at times. It's like he was everywhere. Ford was credited with eight solos -- the next best Tiger had four (Tray Matthews, Cassanova McKinzy) -- and forced a fourth-quarter fumble after a reception. Louisville recovered, but Ford did his part to create a momentum swing. Tray Matthews was playing a slightly better game when he went down with the shoulder injury, but he missed the final stages of the game as a result. Ford took some Bunker criticism last season for uninspiring play in 2014. I found that criticism to be reasonable and on point, but he's one of several guys who really took Will Muschamp's demands for upgraded physicality to heart during the past eight months. He was knocking people around Saturday and that's exactly what Auburn wants to see at safety.
If you had Peyton Barber in the POW thread before the game, well, you just won yourself some serious eCred. Auburn went with Roc Thomas early, as expected, and Thomas was just so-so at that stage. Then Thomas was removed form the game due to injury, which gave Barber and Jovon Robinson a chance to prove themselves. Then Robinson went down with an injury. Barber suddenly was the last man standing -- and he made the most of his opportunity. His longest run was 14 yards. This wasn't easy running; Barber was hit at or near the line of scrimmage almost every time he was given the ball. His style, a mix of speed and power, was exactly what Auburn needed against a very good Louisville front seven. Barber grinded. He dived into disadvantageous spots all night long and churned out three yards and four yards and five yards at a time. Louisville may not be a great team, but that DL is among the best Auburn will face this year. Barber came through when he was needed most.
The defense didn't manage the run as well as I expected up front. I wasn't expecting miracles with Don Russell making his first start and DaVonte Lambert still iffy-ish after offseason knee surgery. Though the pass rush was pretty strong, especially when Lawson was in the game, we didn't see a lot of penetration/disruption against the run. That's concerning. Louisville's OL is just mediocre right now.
With that said, the defense played on a different level. Most hits were events in that Louisville felt 'em. Pads were popping on the field. We saw that sporadically last season; saw that often last night. Tray Matthews and Rudy Ford and Cassanova McKinzy and Montravius Adams seemed particularly salty in the Dome. That significant upgrade in physicality is exactly what Muschamp wanted to see. That's why he was congratulating so many of his players last night despite conceding 405 yards; schemes and plans mean nothing if the kids don't hit. He can clean up the other stuff and devise solutions to the penetration issues. He can't solve passive tackling. That's fine because that doesn't appear to be a problem any longer.
The Tigers' running scheme didn't look good last night. Malzahn has reached his greatest heights with dual-threat quarterbacks. Cam Newton was a gifted runner. Nick Marshall was a gifted runner. It's not fair to categorize Johnson as a poor runner, but that's not his specialty. And Sean White is not a winning element at quarterback right now, which means risking Johnson's health unnecessarily is a bad play. They know that. With the quarterback all but removed from the ground-game equation, Louisville had little trouble allocating run-stopping resources to the correct positions. There wasn't much deception. I voiced concerns over this throughout the offseason because what we saw last night is quite similar to what we saw during the first half of the Arkansas game last season. That's when Johnson filled in for a suspended Marshall and the Tigers didn't run the ball very effectively. I was willing to file it away inside a "small sample size" envelope, but last night wasn't a small sample size. Can Auburn be a ground-game force without a running quarterback? I don't know. We can talk all day about Tulsa '07 and Arkansas State '12, two outstanding offensive teams managed by Malzahn and operated by pass-first quarterbacks, but high-level FBS football is loaded with excellent defensive players. They're much more difficult to beat one-on-one up front.
I realize there is some trade-off when Auburn switches from a guy like Marshall to a guy like Johnson. The latter is a much better passer despite what we saw last night. The run game doesn't have to be the saving grace it was in '13 and '14 -- assuming Johnson doesn't throw into triple coverage and concede silly interceptions. If Johnson has an average night, Auburn wins that game by 14-21 points. That's my view. He wasn't average and the game was much closer. In fact, that game coulda/shoulda/woulda been much more dramatic late had Johnson's fourth interception not been dropped.
I was surprised to see Alex Kozan struggle. He was flagged for holding early. He was flagged again during the second quarter, though the penalty was nullified by Johnson's second interception. That's when J.B. Grimes removed Kozan and gave Danzey a shot. Was it just a bad night for Kozan? Will Danzy be the guy moving forward? I'm interested to hear answers to those questions tonight from Lashlee.
There have been some Bunker complaints about the play-calling last night. Again, those seem reasonable and rational to me. Auburn seemed unimaginative to me, too, but I was reminded of Deadliest Catch when pondering that on the way home. In that show, crab fishermen often face a decision to either continue decent fishing in one spot or move elsewhere, which could yield better numbers. Or maybe those numbers elsewhere will be worse. It's a judgment call. Auburn was on "OK numbers" and Gus/Rhett felt they were better served sticking it out on "OK numbers" rather than change things up in search of better numbers. It's a judgment call. I know me and I know I'd be conservative in the same situation last night. It was obvious that Johnson wasn't himself and it was equally obvious that Barber was up to the (difficult) challenge. I can't fault Auburn for sticking with adequate.
I liked what I saw from Byron Cowart. He made some nice plays against the run during the second quarter and played a bit more than expected. He'll be a really useful piece six weeks from now.
TEAM CHATTER
Jeremy Johnson was not good. You already know that. He finished 11-of-21 for 137 yards, which isn't good. He was intercepted three times, which is unacceptable from Gus Malzahn's perspective. I didn't expect Johnson to be nervous like he was. How else can we explain a veteran making that many poor decisions throwing the football? Some credit needs to go to Louisville. Todd Grantham knows how to unsettle quarterbacks, he's been doing that for a long time, but there's no way for Johnson to justify throwing into triple coverage. It was a stinker of a game. It's also one that Malzahn and offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee will let slide for now. They'll go into the Jacksonville State game with a 100 percent belief in their ace quarterback. His leash is no shorter today than it was 24 hours ago. Don't think for a minute that Sean White is one inch closer to the starting job right now. They've known Johnson for a long time and they know what he can do. It was a bad night. Their job is to understand why and move on.The defense didn't manage the run as well as I expected up front. I wasn't expecting miracles with Don Russell making his first start and DaVonte Lambert still iffy-ish after offseason knee surgery. Though the pass rush was pretty strong, especially when Lawson was in the game, we didn't see a lot of penetration/disruption against the run. That's concerning. Louisville's OL is just mediocre right now.
With that said, the defense played on a different level. Most hits were events in that Louisville felt 'em. Pads were popping on the field. We saw that sporadically last season; saw that often last night. Tray Matthews and Rudy Ford and Cassanova McKinzy and Montravius Adams seemed particularly salty in the Dome. That significant upgrade in physicality is exactly what Muschamp wanted to see. That's why he was congratulating so many of his players last night despite conceding 405 yards; schemes and plans mean nothing if the kids don't hit. He can clean up the other stuff and devise solutions to the penetration issues. He can't solve passive tackling. That's fine because that doesn't appear to be a problem any longer.
The Tigers' running scheme didn't look good last night. Malzahn has reached his greatest heights with dual-threat quarterbacks. Cam Newton was a gifted runner. Nick Marshall was a gifted runner. It's not fair to categorize Johnson as a poor runner, but that's not his specialty. And Sean White is not a winning element at quarterback right now, which means risking Johnson's health unnecessarily is a bad play. They know that. With the quarterback all but removed from the ground-game equation, Louisville had little trouble allocating run-stopping resources to the correct positions. There wasn't much deception. I voiced concerns over this throughout the offseason because what we saw last night is quite similar to what we saw during the first half of the Arkansas game last season. That's when Johnson filled in for a suspended Marshall and the Tigers didn't run the ball very effectively. I was willing to file it away inside a "small sample size" envelope, but last night wasn't a small sample size. Can Auburn be a ground-game force without a running quarterback? I don't know. We can talk all day about Tulsa '07 and Arkansas State '12, two outstanding offensive teams managed by Malzahn and operated by pass-first quarterbacks, but high-level FBS football is loaded with excellent defensive players. They're much more difficult to beat one-on-one up front.
I realize there is some trade-off when Auburn switches from a guy like Marshall to a guy like Johnson. The latter is a much better passer despite what we saw last night. The run game doesn't have to be the saving grace it was in '13 and '14 -- assuming Johnson doesn't throw into triple coverage and concede silly interceptions. If Johnson has an average night, Auburn wins that game by 14-21 points. That's my view. He wasn't average and the game was much closer. In fact, that game coulda/shoulda/woulda been much more dramatic late had Johnson's fourth interception not been dropped.
I was surprised to see Alex Kozan struggle. He was flagged for holding early. He was flagged again during the second quarter, though the penalty was nullified by Johnson's second interception. That's when J.B. Grimes removed Kozan and gave Danzey a shot. Was it just a bad night for Kozan? Will Danzy be the guy moving forward? I'm interested to hear answers to those questions tonight from Lashlee.
There have been some Bunker complaints about the play-calling last night. Again, those seem reasonable and rational to me. Auburn seemed unimaginative to me, too, but I was reminded of Deadliest Catch when pondering that on the way home. In that show, crab fishermen often face a decision to either continue decent fishing in one spot or move elsewhere, which could yield better numbers. Or maybe those numbers elsewhere will be worse. It's a judgment call. Auburn was on "OK numbers" and Gus/Rhett felt they were better served sticking it out on "OK numbers" rather than change things up in search of better numbers. It's a judgment call. I know me and I know I'd be conservative in the same situation last night. It was obvious that Johnson wasn't himself and it was equally obvious that Barber was up to the (difficult) challenge. I can't fault Auburn for sticking with adequate.
I liked what I saw from Byron Cowart. He made some nice plays against the run during the second quarter and played a bit more than expected. He'll be a really useful piece six weeks from now.
