2 weeks Ago By JUSTIN LEE [email protected]
Grading Auburn’s performance in its win over Kentucky: A scoreless first quarter, and an interception thrown in that quarter, docks Auburn’s grade but the Tigers get a good grade overall. The Tigers found what worked and made the most of it, pounding the ball for 326 rushing yards. Quarterback Payton Thorne played relatively clean, finishing 20-of-26 with one touchdown and that pick, but he ate three sacks as well.
It was a good game but a bit too one-dimensional to earn an A. Obviously when the run works, you stick with it, but the passing throughout the first quarter wasn’t effective. Kentucky’s offense entered the game with terrible statistics, but the Auburn defense did its job all game.
Its only touchdown allowed came on a short field after the offense threw an interception. Auburn played bend-but-don’t-break in the late stages, keeping Kentucky in front of it with the clock running on its side, then bowed up with a goal-line stand in a picture-perfect defensive effort. Coupled with two takeaways, it’s very nearly an A+.
Two penalties on returns put Auburn’s offense in a bind, starting two drives on its own 10-yard line after holding calls on special teams. Alex McPherson also missed a field goal, though the headline of that story is that he’s healthy enough to get back on the field. Oscar Chapman had another punt downed inside the Kentucky 10-yard line — he had two of those against Missouri — and that ups the grade a bit to a C+.
Auburn’s coaches on offense managed to adjust and hand the ball off later in the game, but they put the Tigers in a hole in the first quarter when they refused to run the ball. Auburn had 14 offensive plays in the first quarter and 13 were called pass plays. Auburn trailed 10-0 after that quarter.
There was also the mismanagement of the clock before halftime. Auburn also still struggles to get much of anything going on the opening series, where coaches usually script plays based off what they’ve studied from the opponents. All told, the coaches managed to adjust and start running the ball, bumping the grade up to a C+, but it’s a wonder why they didn’t see an effective ground attack coming in preparation and do that from the outset in the first quarter.
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