Observations from Coach John Ray at AuburnSideline

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Auburn’s run defense seems to go pretty much however linebackers Kris Frost and Cass McKinzy play. After good games from the pair the past two games, both were well south of “poor” this week. Missed run fits, missed tackles, overrun plays were common, and aTm took advantage of every one of those. A case in point: A&M’s Trey Williams ran a draw play on a third and long in the 3rd quarter. McKinzy and Frost were both unblocked, but McKinzy dived at Williams’ feet, and Frost tripped over McKinzy, while Williams ran for over 30 yards.

For what seems like the 100th time, the AU defense made a true freshman quarterback look like a Heisman contender. A&M’s Kyle Allen was almost never pressured, and completed 19 of 29 attempts for 277 yards. With the poor play of Frost and McKinzy, A&M was able to establish enough of a run threat to keep the Auburn DL from selling out on the rush. In the first half, Allen was 12-of-16.

A&M’s true freshman sack artist Myles Garrett outplayed Auburn OT Shon Coleman all night. I am led to wonder about Coleman’s health at present, as he has seemed to slip noticeably in recent games. He may be just worn down this late in the season.

Both Quan Bray and Sammie Coates had a false start on a play. How does a wide receiver do that, much two at the same time?

Once again, Auburn was hurt by penalties, as the Tigers were penalized 8 times for 65 yards, vs A&M’s 5 for 47.

A&M ran their version of the speed sweep once for 35 yards. Auburn’s Frost, McKinzy, and Whitehead were all unblocked, and all whiffed on tackle attempts.

Sammie Coates had a bad drop, but also had a fantastic 52-yard catch. The throw from Nick Marshall was equally fantastic on the 52-yarder.

Once again, the AU defense was hurt by the speed option. I’m sure there is a plan for how that play will be defended, but I have yet to recognize it. Until that riddle is solved, it will continue to be offered.

While no one play can be blamed for the loss, the blocked field goal (and score) just before halftime was huge. A ten-point swing, and a huge boost to A&M’s halftime mood. On the play, Angelo Blackson, lined up as the end on the right side of Auburn’s formation, failed to step down inside (we have seen that before from a different player), and was beaten inside by Myles Garrett, who knocked the ball down. Wingback Brandon Fulse made a weak attempt at blocking the outside rusher, and had Garrett not gotten the kick, Fulse’s man might have. Poor execution/effort by two AU players on a critical play. Fulse appeared to have lost the improvement momentum he had gained over the past couple of games. Neither he nor C.J. Uzomah blocked well at all this week. Might be time to get back to that two-running back formation and try something different.

The fumble at the 2 yard line on the exchange between Marshall and Cameron Artis-Payne was a play-call mistake IMO. Not the exchange itself, obviously, but the fact that Auburn chose to run a *read* option at that point. True read plays are inherently risky due to the mesh/exchange, and most coaches believe running plays on the goal line should be pre-determined. Running a read there was unnecessarily risky.

No idea what caused the butt-fumble at the end. Impossible to guess without knowing what signal was *supposed to* tell Reese Dismukes to snap the ball.

Cameron Artis-Payne, except for his early fumble, was outstanding running the ball. 30 carries for 221 yards ought to earn a win.

I could not tell exactly what the injury to Duke Williams’ knee may have been, but it did look severe. Prayers for that young warrior.

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