And then the wheels fell off
Remember the scene in the movie Porky’s where the boys from Angel Beach were destroying Porky’s club and the sheriff, who just happened to be Porky’s brother, attempted to respond? The sheriff and his deputy fired up one of their two cruisers and began to drive away when all four wheels literally fell off the car. Realizing the sabotage the law men fired up the second car after giving it a good inspection. When the deputy hit the gas the car unexpectedly surged backwards, crashed through a wall, and landed in the swamp. Ultimately the sheriff hitched a ride with his brother only to be utterly humiliated as soon as they crossed the county line.
That part of the movie pretty well summarizes the Auburn/Arkansas football game today.
As I feared a couple of days ago the proverbial wheels fell off for the Tigers in the first half. Arkansas took the Tigers to the woodshed, going into the locker room leading 27 to 3 in a dominating performance. Auburn forced a three and out to start the second half, drove to the goal line, and, with their pulse finally present, promptly fumbled. Arkansas then drove the length of the field for a touchdown. Game over. The car was in the swamp. The only thing to look forward to was the Razorbacks toying with their foes, letting them score a few points while keeping the game out of reach, before the misery would be over.
While one game doesn’t undo the good things Auburn accomplished thus far it does reinforce why I don’t like the track meet style of play. The soft defense insures that the other team will score and if the offense isn’t clicking then the scoreboard becomes dramatically lopsided in a hurry. At least with a good defense a bad day results in a more respectable sounding 20 to 6 loss and leaves open the faint hope of a come back.
(Note: there is about 4 minutes to go in the game and the Hogs are up 44 to 23 with Auburn finding new and inventive ways to prevent themselves from coming back.)
Auburn’s had plenty to work on after every game this season and this one has been no exception. Tackling and special teams kick return coverage are still at the top of the list. Hopefully they can make progress in those areas before starting the tough part of their SEC slate.
War Eagle!
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I agree with you about the drawbacks of this type of offense, but in all fairness, Auburn’s extreme depth problems on defense are the root of much of what went wrong Saturday. They got five wins by scoring a lot of points and holding the defense and special teams together with duct tape and bailing wire. But with Eltoro Freeman apparently off the team and injuries at other positions (including all-SEC defensive end Coleman), the only hope Auburn had Saturday was to win a shootout. Once it became clear the offense was having an off-day… game over.
Brian,
You shouldn’t have written about the team being 5-0. I think the flashpoint curse is worse than the Sports Illustrated cover curse.
That being said, most of the fans happy with Auburn losing had to wake up this morning either (a) in Arkansas or (b) a ‘Bammer fan yearing for the Bear to come back. I think this may be the one thing we agree on, being Auburn men, as divergent our political views, we are better off in life than either a or b.
5-1 now but War Eagle, anyway.
Right now, Auburn is where I expected them to be (although I had the WV game as a toss-up). There defense, because of depth or lack of talent, or whatever reason, is not good and got exposed on Sat. This will have been one of Auburn’s toughest games when the season ends because it is probably the best offense they will face. Point in fact though, they’re defense stinks.
The starting 11 are good players, but this is what happens when you have no depth. They have four scholarship linebackers to fill three slots, meaning that a couple of the guys are playing every single snap. Things are only slightly less dire in the secondary. To avoid injuries, the defense is forced to practice with very little contact, which means their toughness and tackling skills are lacking. Special teams stink in large part because the defense can’t spare players, so walk-ons and third-teamers are largely playing those roles. The defensive coordinator, who is known for being a big believer in blitzing, has hardly called any blitzes this season because it is so fatiguing for the players who must play every down.
Only getting more players is going to fix these problems, and that is obviously not going to happen this year.
I agree with the comments on the problems with defensive depth at Auburn. If the offense has a bad day, we’re in trouble. Don’t be surprised if is happens again before the end of the season. It may take a couple recruiting seasons at least to fix the depth issues on defense. While I’m still not sold on Ted Roof, I feel good about Chizik’s defensive skills and his ability to get them back where they need to be. I also feel better having Tracy Rocker there. Offensive playmakers will come to Guz Malzahn. If Auburn can keep he and Trooper Taylor on board (not a small task), we should be in very good shape soon.