I know everyone highlights the miracle plays, but to me Auburn's defense won the Iron bowl for them in the fourth quarter with that key 4th down stop in the red zone. Auburn's defense are the unsung heroes for this team, not to mention that outstanding rushing attack they have.
From an X's and O's standpoint, what did Auburn do to turn the program around?
- Thread starter WayboDawg
- Start date
They hired four of the ten assistants (and the good ones too ) who managed to get Crooms to an eight win year.
gus does a great job of keeping defenses off balance. for the sec to stop this kind of offense, i think a new defensive scheme is needed. something like stacked formations of the front 7 or 8 or have a bunch of roving linebackers (matt wells types) with really wide d ends and a couple of stout tackles. who knows, but gus's offense is eating teams alive. im not sure gus really knew what he had when he played us. think about how much they passed. that offense doesnt need to pass as much as they did, but then again, maybe they were picking on us and our injuries. we had some badly busted plays, so that might be something they were trying to exploit. who knows, but that auburn team is about to explode with all of their confidence.
the sec will find a new way to adjust. i bet freeze is going to try to figure that offense out and replicate it now that his version isnt working so well.
engie, im willing to say that gus is now a top 10 coach. i knew he was top 20 even top 15, but im ready to make that leap. its pure amazing what he has done in one season...but make no mistake, the sec will adjust as it always does. still, extremely impressive.
the sec will find a new way to adjust. i bet freeze is going to try to figure that offense out and replicate it now that his version isnt working so well.
engie, im willing to say that gus is now a top 10 coach. i knew he was top 20 even top 15, but im ready to make that leap. its pure amazing what he has done in one season...but make no mistake, the sec will adjust as it always does. still, extremely impressive.
I don't claim to be a football expert, but what I was seeing was good fundamentals in Auburn's offensive run blocking game. I guess when you're not passing at all you're WR's are completely focused on blocking. To me, it was just good assignment football.
Mizzou might have had more success with a 4 man front with the DE's wide, but I think they pretty much stayed with the 3 man front for the whole game. Obviously, they were counting on their LB's and secondary to come up and make the tackles in the run game and stop the screens. but the Auburn run blocking game was so good they couldn't execute with that defense. Occasionally, they got enough push up front to stuff the run, but then Auburn would break it for a big gain. That had to be demoralizing.
Don't know what to say about Auburn's D. Mizzou put 42 (or was it 35? Didn't Mizzou return a fumble for a TD?) points on them, but they come up big when they have to.
If that's not what it was then I'll go with animal sacrifices.
Mizzou might have had more success with a 4 man front with the DE's wide, but I think they pretty much stayed with the 3 man front for the whole game. Obviously, they were counting on their LB's and secondary to come up and make the tackles in the run game and stop the screens. but the Auburn run blocking game was so good they couldn't execute with that defense. Occasionally, they got enough push up front to stuff the run, but then Auburn would break it for a big gain. That had to be demoralizing.
Don't know what to say about Auburn's D. Mizzou put 42 (or was it 35? Didn't Mizzou return a fumble for a TD?) points on them, but they come up big when they have to.
If that's not what it was then I'll go with animal sacrifices.
The situation that GM came into at Auburn is so different than your average coaching hire.
1). He was there just recently and was familiar with a lot of those players and the players familiar with him.
2) most of the players on offense were recruited to run that style offense. It was only after Gus left that Chizik tried to install a pro style offense that really didn't fit what he had.
1). He was there just recently and was familiar with a lot of those players and the players familiar with him.
2) most of the players on offense were recruited to run that style offense. It was only after Gus left that Chizik tried to install a pro style offense that really didn't fit what he had.
As with 90% of most things in football it's a talent thing. This year he has really good blockers and a really athletic qb. In 2011 his offense sucked ***. Now he has better players.
To beat this offense you have to get off the blocks and tackle the ball carrier, just like when dealing any other rushing attack. If you don't they gash you. Misdirection makes it harder but it's the same thing, get off the block and hit the ball carrier.
Defense played only up to par. It definitely wasn't the strength. AU found the plays on offense that they could count on. They condensed the playbook and learned to run the plays well. When they found a weakness in the opponent's defense, they attacked it - relentlessly.
You have to wonder if Mitch Mustain hadn't played for Malzahn, would he still be coaching high school today? Not a lot of guys go from head coach at a high school to head coach in a national title game in 7 years. We should stop talking Auburn luck and talk Malzahn luck.
He definitely needs to thank Mustain. I'm sure he might could have eventually made it to the college ranks but definitely not on the fast track.