The Golden Flashes of the Mid-American Conference roll into Auburn this weekend employing what seems to be a two-quarterback system. Junior Dustin Crum has a big arm and engineered a game-tying and ultimately winning overtime drive last week against Kennesaw State. Former Auburn Tiger Woody Barrett played well for the Flashes last season throwing for 2,339 yards and rushing for another 503.
Barrett started the team's first game of the season against Arizona State, lost a fumble on the first play, completed only one of his first six passes and was benched. Head Coach Sean Lewis says the team has two good quarterbacks — and suggests that both will play. Crum is an old-school, drop-back passer with a strong arm. He has a slow delivery, though.
Barrett is better with the quick game and having an option to run.
The Flashes have a big running back in 230-pound Jo-El Shaw. Shaw has rushed for 160 yards in two games and is averaging nearly five yards per carry. His backfield mate, Xavier Williams, is a smaller quicker back that is a good complement. Both are adequate receivers.
Slot receiver Kavious Price is the teams most dangerous speed threat. He pairs with the teams most productive, and big receiver, Isaiah McKoy to provide either quarterback a solid tandem. Freshman tight end Mark Williams will operate like a big slot or flex “Y” receiver; his height and length are challenging for defensive backs. He's a viable red zone target.
The offensive line is in good working order as it returns four starters from last season. Center Nate Warnock is the team’s interior center piece and senior leader. Guards Julian Sams and Nathan Monnin are lean by Bowl Subdivision standards — both weighing in under 275 pounds.
Kent State rolls out a hyper-aggressive and attacking 3-4 defense that prides itself and predicates its game plan on stopping the run.
The defensive front is much smaller than what you normally see from odd-front teams — and are all first-year starters. These linemen are quick. They try to create chaos up front by moving, slanting, pinching or gap exchanging on every play. Sophomore defensive end Zayin West is a dynamic athlete, built more like an SEC linebacker. He gets a lot of upfield pressure.
The strength of the defense is the depth and talent of the linebacking corps. The foursome of Nick Faulkner, Matt Bahr, Kesean Gamble and Cepeda Phillips will be asked do a lot. They’ll play man coverage on backs and slot receivers, they’ll pressure inside verses larger offensive linemen and they’ll be asked to execute a large volume of defensive calls.
Faulkner is the most dynamic pass rusher and open-field tackler. Gamble looks like a nose tackle playing middle ‘backer and does a good job of knocking down everything between the 'B' gaps. Bahr had a stud’s ball game last week against Kennesaw State where he totaled 15 tackles. Eleven of them were solos.
The secondary came out of spring with experienced corners — returning Jamal Parker and Elvis Hines — but had no experience at the safety position. The group was bolstered greatly by Maryland transfer Qwuantrezz Knight, who is an impact athlete in the secondary beyond anything else the Flashes had on the roster. The group, as a whole, will play a lot of man coverage as to allow the defense to keep seven or eight defenders in the box as often as possible.
The Flashes return both kickers from last season. Sophomore placekicker Matthew Trickett wemt 14-of-17 on field goal attempts last year and hit all four of his attempts last weekend. Punter Derek Adams was among the conference’s best last season averaging 40.2 yards. He's at 43 so far this year.
It’s no secret that Auburn’s offensive line has struggled. There’s been an evident lack of technique and lack of “want to” by the Tigers’ big guys. Maybe it’s a confidence issue, maybe it’s something else.
This game should bode well for them; a slump-buster of sorts. The smaller Kent State front shouldn’t be able to thwart the AU push on the inside run game that Malzahn covets so much. Establishing some positive mojo for the hogs could be a huge plus going into conference play. Offensive linemen are the big nasties of the bunch, but they are often the most self-conscious and uncertain personalities of the entire squad.
Success goes a long way no matter the opponent.
Defensively this should be a good game to get an extended look at the tier two Auburn defensive linemen. T.D. Moultry really needs to make some plays and get his juice going. After a stellar fall camp, injuries and unsound play have limited his usage to a few snaps each week. I’d like to see what kind of game shape Daquan Newkirk and Coynis Miller are in by seeing them play multiple possessions in succession.
Auburn H-backs Spencer Nigh and John Samuel Shenker
This duo didn't block well last week against Tulane. With the strength of Kent State being its active and athletic linebackers, their blocking will play a huge part in how successful Auburn can be offensively. If they set the edge well on sweeps and force defensive backs in man coverage to play run response, there will be big yardage to be had in the outside run game. When they insert as pullers in the gap-scheme runs, they must get square, engage the backers and keep moving — not slow down in the hole.
Auburn safeties Smoke Monday and Jamien Sherwood
Expect to see them play more this week as Kevin Steele has stated that’s a priority of his. They’ll have to adjust to which quarterback the Flashes use — maybe even series to series. Crum will challenge them down field more while Barrett’s strength is on the move and in the quick, perimeter passing game.
A loaded box and man coverage down field should allow Bo Nix to hit some deep shots. I’d expect him and the emerging Matthew Hill to eat up some yardage on a couple of big plays this weekend. That should be FOLLOWED BY a bigger and more diversified look at Joey Gatewood.
Auburn will Gatewood to win a game at some point this season — and its time to put his skill set on display. I think he leads a few scoring drives this weekend.
Christian Tutt has been great as a return man and defender so far. He has a chance to have one of those illustrious games with an interception (Kent State throws to the slot frequently) and a punt return for a TD with Adams having a long net punting average and Tutt being a superior athlete. The Flashes may just out-kick their coverage.
There was a lot of unrest following last week’s win. I’m not sure it was completely warranted; the game unfolded as expected outside of Whitlow’s fumbles. Tulane was a solid opponent, AU turned the ball over and tried to run a lot behind an average to below-average offensive line.
Nix will continue to improve, though I'm not sold on the OL doing the same. That said, there will be a lot of rushing yards to be had by someone this weekend. This KSU offense won’t scare Steele’s jungle cats one bit.
Auburn 35, Kent State 7.
