AUBURN | I wouldn’t store those shakers in the top of the closet just yet. First of all, basketball start Friday … and this football team still has some very important games to play in November at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Games they can win, and games if they do win will propel them up the rankings and at the very least make 2019 one of Gus Malzahn’s best seasons at Auburn.
Now, there are some issues with this football team, especially on offense, which I will touch on in the next segment, but let’s focus on some positives for starters and that’s the outstanding play of AU’s defense and special teams at LSU.
This defense is playing at a championship level and the 3-1-7 scheme Kevin Steele and his staff came up with for LSU was just outstanding. Derrick Brown and Marlon Davidson are both having All-American years on the defensive line and this is the best tackling secondary I can ever remember covering at Auburn. After a horrid start, AU’s coverage teams have been playing at a high level and punter Arryn Siposs was particularly good in Baton Rouge. Anders Carlson is quietly 10 of 12 on field goals.
Those are the two biggest reasons I think Auburn can make a successful run in November. The defense and special teams are going to put the Tigers in position to win — they might even start scoring some points on their own — and the overall leadership of this team from the players is excellent. They are not giving up and you shouldn’t either.
Yes, the offense is going to have to step up. But they play better at home without the noise and distractions and they’re going to have two talented running backs to feature down the stretch, something AU hasn’t had since Kerryon Johnson and Kamryn Pettway were both healthy during stretches of 2016.
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So, what’s wrong with the offense? I think it’s plagued by two fundamental flaws right now — recruiting and scheme. Malzahn has said over and over again throughout his tenure that Auburn is a run, play-action team that plays with tempo. That sounds like a pretty solid plan, but why isn’t it working?
Well, first off, Malzahn and his staff hasn’t recruited the players to run that system, at least enough of them. Auburn hasn’t had a tight end that can be effective run blocking and pass catching since C.J. Uzomah in 2014, and still doesn’t. That’s five consecutive seasons without a difference-maker at the position. That’s important because having a dual-threat at tight end means Malzahn doesn’t have to substitute so much and be so predictable with those substitutions between running and passing downs.
The most glaring issue, however, is the offensive line. How can you be a run-first team if you can’t move defenders off the ball. Auburn is bad in short yardage because this offensive line, with five fifth-year seniors, doesn’t have the power to get a push. Too often, they’re the ones getting pushed back. Auburn has signed just two Rivals100 offensive linemen in the last five classes. Two. And those two players — Tyler Carr signed in 2015 and Calvin Ashley in 2017 — both transferred away before making a real contribution. Meanwhile, Auburn’s biggest rivals — Alabama, Georgia and LSU — are loading up on highly-rated linemen in every class. If they have a bust or two, like all teams do, another high four-star or five-star steps right in.
Auburn’s running back recruiting has also been an issue. Not having an adequate backup for Kerryon Johnson in 2017 was a big reason the Tigers lost the SEC Championship game, and AU has been razor thin at the position when it comes to championship-level talent up until perhaps this week. I certainly see light at the end of the tunnel here, however, with Whitlow and Williams back next year, Mark-Antony Richards returning from injury and the addition of Tank Bigsby.
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I want to touch on the scheme a little bit more. Bo Nix really struggled against Florida and LSU when AU was unable to run the ball. But didn’t he look a lot like Jeremy Johnson, Sean White and Jarrett Stidham when AU couldn’t run the ball against good opponents back in 2015, 16, 17 and 18? He does to me, and that’s not on Nix. That’s on Malzahn and his offense. His run, play-action approach is fantastic when it works, but he doesn’t seem to have a quality answer when teams are able to stop AU’s running game.
He may be able to scheme up some things against Georgia and Alabama, but for Auburn, that usually only last a quarter, often just a drive, and then it’s back to the futility we saw against Florida and LSU.
What is Malzahn to do? I think he needs to go back to his high school roots and use the weapons he has better and not try to pound a square peg into a round hole. One thing this offensive line does pretty well is pass block. Nix looked the best against LSU when AU went with its two-minute offense. Two of Auburn’s best weapons on offense are receivers Anthony Schwartz and Seth Williams. How about something crazy as using the pass to set up the run? Might work.
My next suggestion if Malzahn is determined to run — which he absolutely is — is to insert Joey Gatewood at quarterback and let him see what he can do with the zone read. It’s the most unlikely to happen because Malzahn has demonstrably tied himself to Nix, but just look at the success Lynn Bowden has had at Kentucky since moving from wide receiver to quarterback. A dual-threat quarterback can still befuddle SEC defenses in 2019. Malzahn shouldn’t have ever gotten away from that scheme but that’s a whole ‘nother series of columns.
My last suggestion, and perhaps the one that is the most likely, is to start using Nix much more in the running game. Yes, that puts him at more risk of an injury, but the only way I can see Auburn remaining a play-action team with this offensive line is to have a running quarterback that the defense has to account for.
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Today’s musical journey takes us back just 13 years to Oct. 27, 2006 and the release of Back to Black, the second and final studio album by Amy Winehouse. Back to Black has sold over 16 million copies and is the second-best selling album of the 21st century in the UK. It was certified 13x Platinum in the UK and 2x Platinum in the U.S. Winehouse won five Grammy Awards from the album in 2008 including Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Winehouse was the primary writer on the album and most of the songs are related to her stormy relationship with boyfriend/future husband/future ex-husband Blake Felder-Civil.
Winehouse was plagued by alcohol and drug addiction, which was intensified by her relationship with Felder-Civil, who is a self-professed junkie. Her parents divorced when she was nine and her father, Mitch, was portrayed in the documentary Amy as more interested in her career than her well being. She also suffered from bulimia and began a downward spiral in the late 2000’s that included drunken appearances in public and concerts, the inability to perform, the cancelling of a number of shows, arrests and assault charges. She passed away at her home in 2011 due to alcohol poisoning at the age of 27. She’s included in the 27 Club as one of a number of artists and musicians that passed away at the same age including Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Jamis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain.
Winehouse’s music and style had its roots in jazz and 1960’s soul groups. Her beehive hairdo and makeup were certainly reminiscent of Ronnie Spector and The Ronettes. Her music is a mix of jazz, R & B and soul with her contralto voice. Her success helped pave the way for solo British female artists including Adele and Duffy. Winehouse was also very generous with her money and time to a number of charities.
The song Back to Black was written after Felder-Civil left her for a former ex-girlfriend with “black” believed to refer to heroin.
