Y’all Act Surprised

quote:

---

It's how we lost.

---

quote:

---

It's how we lost.

We looked dysfunctional on offense. Playcalling was suspect as usual. Nix made showed he is a freshman. Yet despite all the miscues, our defense kept us alive.

---

quote:

---

Kristi Malzahn
@kristi_malzahn
Happy Birthday to my guy, my ride or die. I love you beyond words.

---

quote:

---

We knew to win in Baton Rouge the Auburn defense would need a legendary performance. The plan crafted by Kevin Steele, executed by a group of absolute warriors, was a thing of beauty.

Steele schemed to attack smartly, allowing the underneath, quick game and denying the home run. He put a product on the field to flummox LSU with unique looks (3 DLs, 1 LB, 7 DBs), personnel positioned in uncanny, unorthodox positions (Safety stacked behind the LB), and make LSU drive the length of the field mistake-free for points.

His unit played inspired ball. They frustrated the nation's top offense and top quarterback by allowing yards but denying points and nearly single-handedly beat one the nation's best teams.

There are more defenders than I can name that left pieces of their soul on that field — veterans whose opportunities to battle are dwindling and newcomers that are learning from some of Auburn’s best ever.

They played with pride, with passion, with intent, with expectancy, with belief, with a chip. They weren’t perfect but they did what needed to be done: give us a chance in the fourth quarter. They did more than enough to walk out a winner. They deserved better.

Offensively, the same can not be said. The effort and desire were there for the most part, but the plan lacked the same level of creativity, urgency or precision. Where any football novice could easily see from the first snap that the Auburn defense had implemented a savvy, wholly new plan, the Auburn offense was much more difficult to identify strategic wrinkles.

There were some: an early crossing route to Anthony Schwartz that went for a first down, Shaun Shivers' early involvement, allowing D.J. Williams first half work. Attempting the middle of the field and targeting the tight end a few times. But ultimately, the offense looked like the offense typically does in these settings. No one would accuse Gus Malzahn of devising an innovative attack or calling a creatively bold game.

When opportunities arose in the red zone we floundered and settled for 3s, knowing it would take touchdowns to win. When the noise in Gainesville caused pre-snap chaos for this offense, we still relied on the Bo Nix hand clap which once again consistently caused offensive linemen to false start and drives to die. When passing downs were obvious, we rarely provide Nix with an outlet, the type Joe Burrow had every play.

When Nix had the rare occasion of an open receiver or an isolated one-on-one matchup he was erratic and missed. When he delivered a catchable ball we dropped it or didn’t fight for it like we are capable.

After D.J. Williams broke loose just prior to the half and immediately after, the Auburn offense proceeded to go three-and-out on four consecutive possessions totaling 4 yards. The next possession was four plays for minus-1 yard.

Five straight possessions. Sixteen total plays. Three yards. All happening as the defense stymies LSU’s explosive offense from taking the lead.

That type of ineptitude is hard to accomplish and that is where the game was lost.

The inability to simply keep the chains moving and just let that tenacious Auburn defense breathe for a moment.

The inability to create a plan to get the ball to the fastest player in college football. (Against Ole Miss, Schwartz will probably have double digit touches and it will infuriate this fan base all the more.)

The inability to adjust in-game and find success.

We have that on one side of the ball. We lack that on the other.

Gus is a great man, a better-than-good recruiter, a good coach, but a poor adjuster when his initial plans produce little. Part of adjusting is having the faith in your recruits to spark your team when your starters fail to produce. It leaves everyone wondering, including the locker room, what might have been.

I don’t enjoy writing that because I like Gus Malzahn. I like the character and selectivity of the kids he chases on the recruiting trail and their representation of themselves and our university upon their arrival. I like that he attempts to run a clean program, is a good human being that sees his profession as a ministry opportunity to young people. I can not forget the offensive onslaught he unleashed upon his arrival, the improbable turnaround of 2013, or the elation unleashed on our campus in 2017 with consecutive dominating victories over our rivals positioned at No. 1 in the land. His teams never quit. His teams are often in it until the final possession.

But for every stair-stepped, incremental gain there comes a sudden free-fall (2018 Tennessee), an avalanche of inexplicable, undeniable failure (offensive outputs at Florida and LSU) that just can’t be defended. At some point you must recognize and rightly deduce the continued duds aren’t the outliers — the lofty successes are.

Malzahn has been close to scaling the wall in his tenure, but his teams have not finished and consistently fall flat at program changing and defining moments.

Malzahn teams play hard, they play as one, they are a difficult out. With all that has gone wrong, this team is two plays (Seth Williams grab at UF he could not maintain his balance to take into the end zone and D.J. Williams stepping out of bounds) from being undefeated and ranked No. 1 against the toughest schedule in America. It could be argued he placed his offense in position to win and they failed to execute at critical moments. He may not deserve credit for the defensive performances we enjoy, but he deserves credit for getting those guys on campus and establishing and overseeing an environment for them to thrive.

Wherever you land regarding Gus Malzahn, there’s one thing we should all agree on and relish — this team’s fight, away from home in two of the most difficult environments in college football. What they’ve been asked to do is unrivaled to this point in the season. The grit they’ve shown deserves a raucous welcome when play resumes inside Jordan-Hare Stadium and these kids deserve a salute for representing Auburn as they have.

There’s still much football to play, much to play for, memories to be made, history to be written.

These young men chose Auburn for a reason. They love the environment, they adore their coaches, they want the chance to compete for championships, they enjoy the ultimate challenge, they respect the rivalries.

Two disappointing road losses that went down to the wire, in a month-long road journey, against two highly-ranked teams shouldn’t rob them of what lies ahead — one last home stand. The goals shift, absolutely. But unbelievable challenges and enormous opportunities are on the horizon.

This fan base might fold but this team will not. They are a great group, a proud group, a high character group. They will play until the end and “ride for the brand” because that’s the way they are built. Whether the offense comes around or continues to be the Achilles heel, this team will have no opponent walk away and not respect the way they played. In that I find tremendous value.

---