Here is the other side of the Auburn play-calling argument from a very good Auburn source (not me):
· Four offensive possessions into the LSU game, Auburn was up 20-0 with 232-yards in the book. Where did it go south?
· On the opening possession Auburn attempted passes on their first two 1st down plays of the game. From that point, Auburn would try only three more first down passes the remainder of the game.
· By possession four, Auburn attempted a first down pass to begin the possession. From that point, Auburn would call 17 consecutive run plays, which did not stop until after LSU took their initial lead of the game.
* With the threat of a passing game, Auburn averaged 5.2 yards per rush during the first-half. During the second-half, Auburn averaged 3.4 yards per rush, when it was more than obvious Auburn intended to run on every first down snap. Gus Malzahn admitted during his post-game press conference, LSU was rolling up a safety to stop the run during the second-half, yet allowed the continuation of all runs on first down. What happened to the philosophy of taking what the opponent gives you?
· Gus Malzahn said it himself during his post-game press conference. "We couldn’t hang on, and the punt return really broke our back,” he said of D.J. Chark’s 75-yard touchdown play in the fourth quarter. “We were in pretty good shape up until that point.” After building a 20-0 lead, Malzahn was content with watching the lead evaporate to 23-14 at halftime.
· Coming into the LSU game, Auburn had averaged 142.2 yards passing on first down during their previous four games. This included an average of 17.8 yards per attempt on first down and 19.6 yards per attempt. Not only was Auburn throwing more on first down, but they were also throwing vertically and having great success. This all changed against LSU when Auburn attempted five passes on first down for 10-yards.
· Auburn threw the ball deep against LSU, more so than any other game this season. The problem was the majority of the deep throws came on third down when LSU was expecting the pass. During the previous four games, Auburn was throwing deep on early downs when the defense was anticipating the run.
· What we witnessed in the passing game against LSU was nowhere close to what Auburn had accomplished during the proceeding four games. It appeared Gus Malzahn was content with the 17-0 lead and would rely heavily on the running game on early downs, sprinkled in with a few deep shots downfield on obvious passing downs.
· Jarrett Stidham started off on what looked to be a career outing, completing 6 of 8 passes for 146-yards and 1 TD. Once the offense went into a shell, Stidham completed only 3 of his next 18 passes for 19-yards.
· What happened Saturday in Baton-Rouge was mind-boggling, to say the least. Auburn's offensive staff elected to go away from what had been so successful during the four previous games. Compounding the problem was that Auburn had enormous success during the first quarter of the LSU game. It wasn't like the offense laid an egg from the opening kickoff. The Auburn offense had LSU on the brink of quitting, but the coaches decided to coast after building a 17-0 lead. It was a decision that cost Auburn the victory and could be even more detrimental down the road for those involved.
