Mississippi State vs. Auburn
Auburn offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee and Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn discuss plays during the first half Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)
(JULIE BENNETT)
The list of issues with Auburn's offense, ranked 13th in the SEC, is staggering.
Gus Malzahn's Hurry-Up, No-Huddle attack has lacked explosive plays, failed to move with the fast tempo the bespectacled coach is known for and in several cases, the Tigers can't get out of their own way, as penalties and turnovers stall and end even drives where there is some initial success.
Malzhan laments "negative plays," which were rarely an issue in his first two seasons as head coach on the Plains.
"The first-and-15s, the second-and-18s," Malzahn said, "we need to stay ahead of the chains."
A major cause for why Auburn is spinning its wheels is its lack of production on first downs, where its 4.64 yards per play is last in the SEC and down a conference-worst 1.68 yards and 26.53 percent from a year ago.
Malzahn called improvement on first downs "one of our main focuses" this week as Auburn (2-2, 0-2 SEC) tries to stop a two-game skid when it welcomes three-touchdown underdog San Jose State back to Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday afternoon and he didn't absolve the coaches from blame.
"We got to do a better job and I've got to do a better job on these first-and-10s calling plays," Malzahn said. "If we can get in second-and-eight, second-and-seven-or-six, we usually do pretty good; but when we get behind the chains we've had a lot of second-and-10-pluses and really, a lot of first-and-10-pluses too."
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There are several reasons for the lack of movement on series-opening plays, where Auburn has always heavily favored the run under Malzahn.
Auburn has run the ball 95 times to 26 passes on first downs this season for a 78.51 to 21.49 percent split that nearly matches last season's 78.08 to 21.92 percent breakdown and the 80.8 to 19.2 of 2013, but the results are far different.
"We usually run the ball on first down and when we do play-action pass there's been some good things happen," Malzahn said. "It's just the first couple of games here we've just not been able to execute a few things to try to keep the defense off balance."
A review of Auburn's plays on first downs during last week's game with Mississippi State highlights some of the problems.
After converting on third-and-six to overcome an initial one-yard run to open the game, Sean White was sacked on the ensuing first down. The Tigers managed to convert on the next play, an 18-yard pass, and came right back with some up-tempo play a seven-yard run, both by Kerryon Johnson. An 11-yard pass on a later first down was followed by a five-yard loss on a reverse with Marcus Davis, but the Tigers managed to convert on second down again before a one-yard run on first down from the MSU 12-yard line and White was intercepted two plays later.
A fumble on the opening play doomed Auburn's second drive from the start and its third drive featured a personal foul on a first down.
Even when Auburn managed to find success on first down during its drive before halftime, with six first downs in 12 plays, a bad snap on third-and-goal kept the Tigers, who missed the ensuing field goal, out of the end zone.
In the second half, a penalty following a fumble recovery and a false start on first down slowed another drive.