The main criticism of Auburn's new Spread Eagle offense (props to whoever first came up with that) is the perception that Auburn will no longer be able to run the football. Most non-Auburn fans (read: Alabama) believe that Auburn's days as Running Back U are behind them.
No more Bo. No more Cadillac and Ronnie. No more Kenny or Rudi. Auburn will become Texas Tech or Hawaii. Lots of pretty passing numbers, but few meaningful wins or championships.
Fear not Auburn nation. Commodore Franklin wants to assure you that none of this will happen on his watch. He wants you to know that Auburn is still looking for great, big time backs. "I have never watched a film and saw a great one and said 'He doesn't really fit," Franklin said.
Offensive tackle Lee Ziemba is also adamant about Auburn's continued belief in the running game. "It's still Auburn football. We're still going to run the ball down people's throats, but we are going to have a good passing game, too," Ziemba said while making a chopping motion with his hand that would have made Greg Schiano proud.
Having said all that, here is a preview of the likely contributors this year at running back.
Brad Lester, Senior
While he is sometimes typcasted as a scat back because of his relatively small build, Lester has shown surprising strength (seen here at the 2:45 mark). He has good, not great speed with decent vision.
Though he did not get many opportunities to catch passes in the Al Borges' offense, he appears to have good hands as well and should get plenty of chances to show them this season.
Lester only played in seven games last season but still finished second on the team in both rushing yards (530) and attempts (125). Chancellor Franklin raved about how Lester "stands out and flashes out" during the practices leading to the Chick-Fil-A Bowl.
Prognosis: Lester will avoid injury and suspension for the first time in his career and get the lions' share of the carries. He will finish with over 1,000 yards and add another 300 through the air.
Ben Tate, Junior
A lot of fans, Auburn included, seem to think Ben Tate is a below average running back. They point to his supposed lack of breakaway speed.
What is not often talked about when discussing Tate is his great vision and patience. He does a good job of waiting for holes to develop and bursting through those holes when the time is right.
Another area of Tate's game not often mentioned is his pass catching skills. He was fifth in receptions (16) and sixth in yards receiving (144). Tate also led Auburn with 903 yards rushing and in rushing touchdowns with eight.
5 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment
Daniel Smith about 1 year ago
Lee Ziemba should be good at that chopping motion with his hand considering all of the chop blocking Auburn does.
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Ben White about 1 year ago
Perhaps that was being insinuated...
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Justin Goar about 1 year ago
how does an AU fan make a "raise the dead" joke and not find a way to include bama and the bear??
tsk tsk. maybe it was too easy?
by the way, fannin should learn how to clone himself ten times so he could play every position on offense simutaneously. watching gary danielson's head explode would be the entertainment moment of the year.
anyway nice read, no doubt auburn will playat a high level with their regular stable in the backfield.
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Liger about 1 year ago
Good stuff...I agree AU will continue to run the ball, just look at the Clemson game...we only passed the ball twice in OT and the final 4 plays were runs. Don't quote me on it, but I think the pass/run split was very close to 50/50 with a coupla more runs than passes. We will continue to be Running Back U...bama fans only wish otherwise.
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Tony Franklin Auburn Offensive Coordinator 11 months ago
Nice article. I have never anticipated a season so much. There are so many misnomers about the AU offense its hysterical. WR recruits are being told we're gonna be a WVU spread. RB recruits are being told we're gonna be a TTech spread, etc ete etc
Opposing fans have listed 10,001 reasons why the TFranklin experiement will fail. I've watched 50% of the AU practices since TF's arrival and I can confidently say that in 15 years of watching practice, I have never seen an AU offense be this potent, this quickly.
Our defense has been made to look silly more times than I can count. And thats just in regular practice. Whenever they scrimmage and the tempo takes its toll, the D simply cannot keep up and ends up with burning lungs gasping for air.
And we have a killer defense, so that should say a lot about this offense. Its going to front and center for many an ESPN special reports and likewise this season. It will become the soup dejoure (sp?).
WDE
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