Opening Weekend Thoughts

by: AuburnChopper1

Labor Day welcomed Hurricane Gustav to the East Coast, and while many expected it to be the next heavy weight boxer like Hurricane Katrina, it came in, delivered a heavy body blow, then danced off to the other corner of the ring.  While dangerous and damaging, it leaves a lot of people wondering if “that was it?”.  Kind of like Auburn’s much anticipated spread offense by newly appointed Offensive Coordinator, Tony Franklin in Saturday’s home opener vs. ULM.

The performance, while positive in a lot of regards, left a large number of Auburn alumni, fans and supporters feeling a little uneasy after the obvious absence of any passing consistency.  Coming into the game, the quarterback’s Chris Todd, and Auburn veteran Kodi Burns competed neck and neck and took it to the first series, not knowing who would be the anointed starter.  Whether this had anything to do with the passing issues witnessed Saturday, we’ll just have to wait and see, but for the battle waged through the spring, there was no sign of that high power battle taken to the field Saturday night.

Chop’s Take On Franklin

Tony Franklin comes to Auburn this season with high expectations and a new system.  The Tony Franklin System Seminar has been taught to coaches, and written about in books for years.  He’s taken a school like Kentucky, and sent three Wildcat quarterbacks to the NFL.  Tim Couch was selected as the first round pick in 1999.  After the Wildcats changed Head coach, he wrote a book saying what was on his mind, and didn’t coach again until Larry Blakeny hired him to serve as offensive coordinator at Troy University.  In his first season at Troy, Franklin turned Troy’s stuttering offense from the last placed offensive unit in the Sun Belt Conference prior to his arrival, to leading the league in passing and ranking second in overall offense. Troy won their first conference title as well as the school's first bowl win in the New Orleans Bowl last season.  Prior to Franklin's arrival, Troy hadn't ranked better than 109th nationally in total offense in the previous four seasons in Division 1.  In 2007, the Trojans ranked 16th nationally in total offense (453 yards per game) and 25th nationally in scoring offense (34 points per game), helping the team win back-to-back Sun Belt Conference titles.

After nine days of practice (and only 10 days on the job period), Franklin installed enough of his system to lead Auburn to a victory vs. Clemson in the 2007 Chic-fil-A bowl.  It was Auburn’s highest offensive output of the season, accumulating over 430 yards of total offense.  Note: Auburn ranked 101st nationally before that game in total offense.

To judge Tony Franklin on a poor game by a first game quarterback, and game plan that was clearly limited, yet produced over 400 yards and a thirty four point win, is not only silly, but smacks of panic.   Tony Franklin, has not only proven everywhere he’s been that he can get it done, but get it done in dramatic fashion.  I for one, am willing to let the man do his work, unshaven, or not.

Auburn 34    ULM 0  (Goose Egg.  Nada.  Nothing.  Zero.)

So many people focus on the lack of passing output from QB’s Todd and Burns, that they dismissed the 316 yards produced on the ground by veterans Brad Lester, Ben Tate, Mario Fannin and newcomer, Eric Smith.  After questions rose by running back recruits and old school “Running Back U.” fans, the backs took over and laid tracks through, around and often over the Louisiana-Monroe defense.   The fact of the matter is, is that with that much success on the ground, and with Burns hurt in the locker room for the entire second half (cut leg that required stitches), a shift was available, effective, and executed.  Under past coordinators, the offense would have continued stubbornly under the same failing plan leading to problems in the end.  Ultimately we won the game convincingly.

Once things settled down, quarterback Chris Todd managed a fourth quarter drive in which he was 4-4, to three different receivers, and ended in a touchdown pass to Chris Slaughter.

As we’ve heard from the coaching staff, the two quarterback system may not have worked as planned, and with the talent and evaluating going on in that regards, it could change.  The good thing is, is that both QB’s are capable of running the offense effectively.  I think some stabilization of the QB position, rotation wise, will shore up some of the confusion seen Saturday.

Lost in all of this, was the outstanding play by a very young and newly coordinated defense.  Paul Rhodes entered the season this year, after leaving Pitt, to pitch a shut-out in his first offering to the Auburn masses.  They were pleased.

A young secondary smattered with young first time players, played confidently, and learned as they went along, leaving bodies on the ground in their wake.  Neiko Thorpe, played very well, and then seemed to put an emphatic stamp on his spot in the rotation, by leveling a ULM wide receiver late in the fourth quarter.

Bottom line on the game is, that with one more score through the air, and I believe a lot of what’s been said this weekend so far goes away.  A little more focus and sharpness on the part of our receivers, I believe that could have easily been achieved Saturday.

This next week brings in an up and coming Southern Miss squad under first year coach Larry Fedora.  USM beat Louisiana-Lafayette 51-21 Saturday, and looks to bring their intense offense to Jordan-Hare this weekend.   I’m sure Rhodes and the Auburn Defense will welcome the challenge.

I also believe you’ll see a few wrinkles in the offensive play calling that gets the Auburn faithful (and not so faithful at times) back in the groove and on board.

The Outlook

I look for Auburn to continue to grow as things move forward.  The defense set the bar high early, and I see no reason to believe that would change for any reason.  I only see new players growing in confidence and getting their feet wet in the first few weeks.

The offense will get their act together, with the simple idea that there are many options for quarterback and game plans.  It’s been said that the most improvement happens between week one and week two.   Let’s see where thing sit after the busses full of Golden Eagles bound for Hattiesburg, MS are gone.

Till then, War Damn Eagle my friends!

Tony Franklin or Disheveled Mess?

by: Kaos

Shakers shook. Fans cheered. Toilet paper was thrown.  Parties were held. The Auburn Tigers shut out the University of Louisiana – Monroe, a team that punked rival Alabama on Homecoming a year ago, and did it in convincing fashion on the scoreboard 34-0. So why not celebrate a season-opening win and a 1-0 record?  Why not revel in the success?

Imagine you’re sitting on a sunny beach on the Gulf of Mexico.  The waves are lapping softly at the shore. The sky is a brilliant blue with an occasional stark white cloud floating lazily overhead.  Yes, you’ve got the radio on. And yes, they are talking incessantly about a Category 5 hurricane spinning angrily in the gulf.  But why worry, Alfred E. Neumann? There’s no need to take shelter. No need to batten down the hatches. Can’t they see how beautiful the sky is?  Why not enjoy the day?

That’s the same scenario that played out for the Tigers under the lights at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday night. Auburn won a game it should have won. Skies were figuratively sunny. Auburn fans have a right to be happy. But a storm may be brewing. Objective analysis indicates some ill winds that bear watching. Buried in the feel-good soil of a 34-0 win were the seeds of a potential disaster. In Auburn's win lurked the ill winds of an offensive breakdown that could wreck the hopes and dreams of the season to come.

Auburn’s highly anticipated spread offense was a complete and total bust. The passing game brought new meaning to the word pathetic as co-starters Kodi Burns and Chris Todd failed to ignite a single drive. The duo combined for a total of 85 passing yards in what was supposed to be a coming out party. The offensive failure was so abject that any pretense of passing was abandoned and Auburn did what Auburn has always done – pounded the ball on the ground and simply wore the opposition out. It was the only thing that worked.

So what happened to Auburn’s much touted offensive system and its ‘mad genius’ offensive coordinator Tony Franklin? Where was the promised balance, the involvement of the receiving corps? So many things went wrong. In a first game, there are bound to be miscues. Those things are going to happen. Offenses (and defenses) are going to have bad series and bad games. But we're not talking about a mis-timed play or two or a momentary indecision. What transpired Saturday was a pervasive pattern of ineffectiveness. But it wasn’t so much the offensive ineptitude that was alarming as it was the way in which things played out over the course of the off-season and carried right on through the game. It was these glaring issues that should have all Auburn fans concerned. 

The inability to make a decision:
From Franklin came the hand-wringing over who should be the starting quarterback, Burns or Todd. Auburn has been down this road before. Who could ever forget the NallsMinger Campbell/Cobb disaster? The constant back and forth and inability to name either Burns or Todd as the clear number one has stunted the development of both quarterbacks. It was obvious to even the most casual observer that Burns has the better tools. He would have benefitted from the attention and repetition a true number one quarterback gets over the summer and in spring and fall drills. It’s a concern that Franklin either couldn’t or wouldn’t see that.

From the quarterbacks came the inability to take a chance. Auburn attempted fewer than a half-dozen throws down field.  No slants, no sideline routes. Todd, in particular, held on to the ball so long in the pocket that he used up an entire year of eligibility on one play. That indecision stems directly from Franklin’s inability or refusal to make a decision. Because he doesn’t have the guts/stones/intelligence to make a decision, his quarterbacks are also indecisive. In the SEC, indecision will get you slaughtered.

Fundamentals:
Both Todd and Burns displayed an incredible lack of basic fundamentals in the passing game. Their steps were not precise. For an offense that relies on timing, you should be able to easily tell the difference between a three- and a five-step drop.  Not so. Footwork was atrocious. Timing was bad. Progressions were haphazard. This could be attributed to the failure to select a starter, denying both the opportunity to get extra work and scrutiny.  The bigger issue is that fundamental flaws aren’t something that can be rectified in a week of practice. This is something that should have been addressed over the summer. It will likely be next summer before any true adjustments can be made. This could be a fatal lapse on the part of Franklin.

Public persona:
Frankin is a blowhard. He’s arrogant. He talks a good game. But he’s never truly walked it. The hype over “his” offense and “his” system was a concern all off-season.  He babbled about what he did at Troy and appeared to have no real grasp on what football in the SEC would be like. To many it seemed as if the more the public/media clamored to know who the starter would be, the more he dug in his heels and refused – and maybe for the wrong reasons. His post-game comments seem to indicate that he might be in over his head, and even more disconcerting it seems that his own hubris will prevent him from seeing things clearly enough to make the necessary changes.  “I screwed up” is not a satisfactory answer. “I knew better and did it anyway” does not lend confidence.  My personal opinion is that Franklin needs to get off the sidelines and into the booth so that he can make rational and carefully considered decisions, rather than slobbing up and down the sidelines and reacting out of emotion. Franklin seems very much out of place and ill-prepared for the offensive chess matches that will come down the road. 

The excuses:
More than one person has attempted to defuse the brewing catastrophe by pointing out that new systems tend to struggle initially. And this might be the case, but the struggles shown by Auburn’s offense go well beyond any “rust” justification.  Look at Southern Miss, Auburn’s Saturday opponent. New coach Larry Fedora brought a new spread-based system to the Golden Eagles.  They absolutely obliterated Louisiana Lafayette (the approximate equivalent of ULM to Auburn) and in doing so rolled up more than 600 yards. A quarterback who’d been modestly effective last season threw for more than 200 yards and two scores. The rushing attack netted two backs over 100 yards, including one who topped 200. That’s the way a new offense is supposed to debut against an inferior opponent.

Others claimed that Auburn was purposely being coy and not tipping its offensive hand. Good try. But if that were the case and the playbook had actually been stripped down, why were the plays that were run so ragged and disorganized? If you’re only going to run a few plays, shouldn’t those plays be well designed and crisply executed? There wasn’t a single thing crisp or precise about any of the plays run on offense and that includes the successful running plays.  It’s been said that an offense will take on the personality of its coordinator and that certainly seems to be the case – emotional, undisciplined, disorganized and sloppy. Again, those are not things that can be fixed in a week’s time. And that’s the concern.

Yes, Auburn won. But for the last two seasons we’ve watched Auburn’s offense struggle. We’ve heard the weekly “we’re gonna get that fixed”  and “we were running a vanilla” playbook.  We’ve chalked it up to Brandon Cox’s injured leg, to disinterest in playing inferior teams, to the complexity of Al Borges’ offense, to the weather.  Franklin was brought in with the promise of an end to those rationalizations. Auburn’s defense over the last five years has been good enough to win the SEC every season – and more in some. But for most of that time, the Tigers haven’t had the offensive firepower to complement that defensive mastery. That was supposed to change in 2008. Yet here we are after one week still talking about offensive futility and making the same excuses and promises.

Yes, it’s early. Things can and should improve. But the problem with this offensive debut is that there appears to be a tremendous amount of work that still remains. Auburn looked hesitant, uninspired, frenetic, sloppy, undisciplined, ineffective and fundamentally unsound on offense. They shouldn’t be this far away at this stage of the game. And that’s the core issue. Auburn wasn’t a play or two off, what transpired on Saturday looked more like a total breakdown in every aspect of the offensive game. There was nothing in that debut that indicated a tweak or two could correct it. No, that offense appeared to be in need of a major overhaul.

Enjoy the win. But keep an eye on the hurricane brewing. Hopefully it will fizzle and sunny days will reign. Weathermen aren’t always right. This time I hope they’re wrong.

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