Auburn plans 'concerted effort' to get Anthony Schwartz more involved
On the first play of the second quarter, Anthony Schwartz ran shallow in the backfield behind Bo Nix, who was under center. Schwartz took the sweep handoff to the far side of the field as Nix proceeded to fake the give to Kam Martin — a somewhat standard play for Auburn to get speed on the edge.
Not a single Florida defender went with Martin. The edge was set, and nine of the 11 Gators began their pursuit of Schwartz, who was slammed down in the backfield.
And that was all she wrote for Schwartz’s offensive contributions in Auburn’s 24-13 loss.
Schwartz received one touch and was targeted twice by Nix in the passing game — both incompletions. As was evident on the failed sweep, Florida was ready for Auburn’s world-class speedster. Gators coach Dan Mullen said during the week that bottling up Schwartz was among the top priorities for defensive coordinator Todd Grantham’s group, and Florida delivered in both the ground game and through the air.
Auburn ran for a season-low 124 yards, and its only successes beyond the hashes came when Boobee Whitlow began to bounce zone runs out with his speed in the second half.
“They weren't gonna give you anything on the outside,” Gus Malzahn said. “And [Schwartz] played some wide receiver, too, and we had a couple of options where we could've gave it or thrown it to him, but they actually covered him.”
But Malzahn isn’t using that as an excuse.
“I think the big picture is, we're an offense that thrives on the big play,” Malzahn said. “And when we have big plays, explosive plays, that's when we play really well. You've just got to have your big-play guys touch the ball as much as possible.”
Schwartz’s lone touch went for minus-4 yards after the sophomore from Pembroke Pines, Fla., had 187 yards and two scores through two games of SEC play.
As Malzahn alluded to, the Tigers are much improved this season in long plays from scrimmage. Auburn has 18 explosive plays of 30 yards or more midway through the year. Last season the team had 24 by season’s end.
Against Florida, the Tigers’ longest rush was 16 yards,
Schwartz, who reiterated that he believes he’s the “fastest player in college football” after Auburn’s win over Mississippi State, is still recovering from offseason hand surgery, though the wrap on his left hand has lightened each week to the point where it wasn’t much more than a thick glove against Florida.
That’s another reason Malzahn is glad for the timing of the bye week.
“It'll help once he has his mini-cast off, too,” Malzahn said. “That's going to help him. We're hoping this week that that's a possibility.”
Arguably Schwartz’s best play of the game against Florida was his post route up the middle on Seth Williams’ receiving touchdown. Schwartz’s speed drew the safety away to give Williams a one-on-one matchup. The safety realized and reacted, but the throw was already made.
Schwartz himself is yet to have a receiving touchdown this year, and he has just five catches overall. Recovering from the hand injury has obviously been an issue, but Auburn still threw to Schwartz as early as Week 2, when the receiver’s left hand was wrapped by a massive club.
“Well, keep in mind now, up until two weeks ago, he had a club on his hand,” Malzahn said. “We were still throwing it to him. I don't know very many people who would've thrown it to a guy with a club. You know? But I thought we did a good job getting the ball (to him) against A&M, and we did a decent job getting the ball (to him) against Mississippi State."
Whether it’s through the air or with more effective reverses and sweeps, Malzahn knows he needs more touches for his top home-run hitter.
“He's an explosive play guy,” the coach said. “We'll make a concerted effort to get him the ball more. That's the simple way to put it.”
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