After traveling to Auburn this past weekend to watch the Tigers host Southern Miss, my suspicions were confirmed: Auburn’s defense is an elite unit on a national scale, while the offense can, at best, be described as a work in progress. Specifically …
The Tigers’ defense this season is built around speed, and has been for most of Tommy Tuberville’s tenure on the Plains. Remember, he cut his teeth as linebackers coach for Jimmy Johnson at Miami. Undersized, but extremely fast? No problem – that’s how he learned it while the ‘Canes were playing in multiple national championship games when Tuberville was earning a living in Coral Gables.
One difference this season is there’s actually some semblance of size on the interior. Sen’Derrick Marks tips it at about 295 and there’s a host of underclassmen almost that big. Off the edge, it’s business as usual – Antoine Carter and Antonio Coleman will bring plenty of heat on opposing quarterbacks, despite each being a biscuit lighter than 250. Same for the linebackers, with middle ‘backer Trey Blackman as Exhibit A. Rest assured, he’s the only starting mike linebacker in the SEC who weighs 215 pounds. Blackman, however, runs better than any safety I’ve seen in the conference this season and he hits with as much power as any ‘backer on Auburn’s roster. The secondary lost a starter in Aairon Savage when the junior from Albany ripped up his knee in August practice, but the unit will still be a strength this year. And it’s all based on speed.
In short, this squad is at least as good as the defense on the 2004 team and probably the best Auburn has had since 1988. On the other side of the ball, however, inconsistency reigns.
Auburn’s offense is stocked with quality players. Starting receivers Rod Smith and Tim Hawthorne (among others – Auburn will start about six different guys there this season), tight end Tommy Trott, Brad Lester and Ben Tate in the backfield, even new quarterback Chris Todd and sort of-incumbent Kodi Burns … all of these players were good enough to receive scholarship offers from a school that competes on the level that Auburn does. That means they have the requisite size and speed to succeed in the SEC, as well as the intangibles that separates them from athletic, but limited, players at Troy, Middle Tennessee, etc.
But the Auburn attack remains an unfinished product. The offensive players that are in the program now, with the exception of this year’s freshman class, were recruited to line up in an I-formation and mash the ball down the field, winning games three yards at a time. A group that was recruited to be bigger and stronger is now being asked to be faster, more precise and much quicker out of cuts. The offense WILL improve, but this was a very opportune season for the Tigers to open against Louisiana-Monroe and Southern Miss. Even the conference opener allows Auburn to dip its collective toe in the pool (Saturday vs. Mississippi State) before diving into the deep end (next weekend vs. LSU). With the Bayou version of Tigers waiting a mere week away, the clock is ticking for that improvement to kick in.
Oliver can be heard on 790 The Zone’s “Afternoon Saloon” weekdays from 4-7 p.m. and can be reached at coliver@790thezone.com.
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