Auburn Football: End-of-Season Report Card for the Tigers

The No. 25 Auburn Tigers (8-5, 4-4 SEC) finished their season on a high note this past weekend as they defeated the Virginia Cavaliers (8-5, 5-3 ACC) in the Chick-Fil-a Bowl in the Atlanta Georgia Dome. The Tigers needed to end the season on a high note and a 43-24 victory was the recipe for success that the Tigers needed to start off the 2012 season.

Looking back at the 2011 season there have been numerous changes that have come for the Tigers program. Auburn went into the 2011 season as the defending national champions, but they did not receive a lot of love from the national pundits.

The Tigers reached a winning season and moderate success in Gene Chizik’s third year, but pushing beyond eight wins is expected in 2012 and beyond. Taking a look back at the 2011 season, here are the overall position grades for the Tigers for the 2011 season.

Quarterback

The Tigers played three different quarterbacks throughout the season, finding a mixture of success but a wealth of failure. Barrett Trotter started the season for the Tigers as the No. 1 guy, leading the Tigers to a 4-2 record before he was pulled for Clint Moseley in the seventh game of the season.

Moseley came into the Florida game and looked every part of savior. He then started the LSU game and looked as lost as the rest of the country while facing the LSU defense. Moseley was able to guide the Tigers to a 2-3 record, but the three losses came against LSU, Georgia and Alabama. All three games which the Tigers were expected to lose.

Kiehl Frazier was the third quarterback that saw time this season for the Tigers. Frazier is the only quarterback of the three to see playing time in every single game. Frazier was limited to a Wildcat role for the Tigers, never really attempting many throws or regular play calls.

At the end of the season, the Tigers look just as lost as they did entering it at the quarterback position. Barrett Trotter had to come in for relief of an injured Clint Moseley during the Chick-fil-A Bowl, and won the bowl game for the Tigers. Frazier also played in the bowl game but kept his impact entrenched in the rushing game.

Heading into next season the Tigers have another three-man open race. Trotter has won more ballgames than any of the three and has been a consistent performer in his time with the Tigers.

Moseley is a player that has been baptized by fire against some of the best in the SEC, so it is tough to judge whether or not he is ready to be the full-time starter.

And then you have Frazier, a player that the fans and coaches hope holds the keys to the future, but there is a lot of development left to happen before Frazier is crowned as a success. Frazier really has a lot of growth to find in the passing game this offseason.

The Tigers will work diligently to find a starter amongst the group of experienced signal-callers, but the bowl performance by Trotter may have reopened a previously close race for 2012.

Barrett Trotter: 92-of-167, 1,184 YDS, 55.1 CMP%, 11 TDs, 6 INTs

Clint Moseley: 66-of-108, 800 YDS, 61.1 CMP%, 5 TDs, 3 INTs

Kiehl Frazier: 5-of-12, 34 YDS, 41.7 CMP%, 0 TD, 2 INTs

2011 Grade: D

Running Backs

The Auburn Tigers entered the 2011 season expecting great things from their backfield. Auburn was returning one of the most dangerous duos in college football in Michael Dyer and Onterio McCalebb, and the thought was that they would perform at the highest of levels.

While the Tigers were attempting to rely on the rushing attack to solve their 2011 offensive woes, opposing defenses had the same idea. It was a struggle for the Tigers to produce from the backfield consistently, but Dyer was still able to manage a 1,000-yard season.

Tre Mason was a nice addition to the backfield for the Tigers this past season. Mason came into the Tigers program right at the start of fall camp but became an immediate success and fan favorite for his special teams play. By season's end, Mason was filling the void left by the suspension of Dyer and looks to have all of the parts to be a very successful Auburn running back.

There were times when Auburn wanted more from their running backs than they received in 2011 but that falls on more than just the backs ability to execute. 2011 was a step back compared to previous years' success, but it wasn’t a far-enough slide that the Tigers don’t see a bright future ahead in the backfield.

Michael Dyer: 242 CAR, 1,242 YDS, 5.1 YPC, 10 TDs

Onterio McCalebb: 112 CAR, 641 YDS, 5.7 YPC, 5 TDs

Tre Mason: 28 CAR, 161 YDS, 5.8 YPC, 1 TD

2011 Grade: C

Receivers

The receiving unit for the Tigers may have been one of the most disappointing units of 2011 for the Auburn football team. The receiving unit just couldn’t seem to find a rhythm or a groove out on the field this season.

The Tigers were unable to find much of a vertical passing game and the short dump screens were a big piece of what the Tigers wanted to do to move the football. There were only two pass-catchers that ever seemed to find space this season and not many of the outside receivers seemed very intent on perimeter blocking.

Emory Blake had the best season of his career but he had to battle through a major ankle injury for much of the season, hampering his effectiveness on the outside. Philip Lutzenkirchen was another favorite target for the Tigers when they were able to get the ball in the air, but he was hampered by the H-back role that he had to fill for much of the season.

The Tigers have recruiting extremely well at the receiver position and the Tigers should be making plays all over the field. Right now, it just isn’t happening. How Auburn will turn the talent into production has not been figured out just yet but there needs to be some drastic improvement in this area in Auburn wants to be a contender in 2012.

Emory Blake: 36 REC, 613 YDS, 5 TDs

Onterio McCalebb: 32 REC, 344 YDS, 2 TDs

Philip Lutzenkirchen: 24 REC, 238 YDS, 7 TDs

2011 Grade: F

Offensive Line

The Auburn offensive line has been extremely inconsistent and lackadaisical this season. The offensive line would have games where they looked unstoppable, and games where they looked like they couldn’t stop a peewee league team.

Auburn faced numerous challenges up front throughout the season. The Tigers started true freshman Reese Dismukes and ended up by starting two freshmen, a sophomore and two seniors in the bowl game.

Auburn will return a host of talented players next season on the line but only a few have actually gotten solid playing time. The Tigers were hampered offensively by the severe deficiencies of the offensive line. Both the run blocking and pass protection were suspect too often this fall.

Jeff Grimes is a talented coach who knows how to find great results from his players. This season, facing the wealth of injuries and youth, it was a tough endeavor for him to mix and match a really strong front line. In 2012, the Tigers should improve mightily as Grimes will be coaching experience for a change.

2011 Grade: F

Defensive Line

The Auburn defensive line was a group that was not only the youngest on the team, but the youngest unit in the country. The Tigers' most experienced starters were sophomores heading into the start of the 2011 season.

Auburn lost coach Tracy Rocker to the Tennessee Titans just last year, so Mike Pelton was hired as Rocker’s replacement. Pelton is a former Auburn player who understands the passion and grit that it takes to survive in the trenches in the SEC.

Add the youngest front in the country with a new coach and what do you get? Well, the Tigers found a bit of success surprisingly. The Tigers were able to grow into a good unit at the end of the season and even hosted the second-leading sack specialist in the SEC with Corey Lemonier pulling down 9.5 sacks this season.

The Tigers fought hard this season to find their way as rookies against some of the best offensive lines in the country. They will need to take that experience and make major growth occur before next season. If these Tigers bring the effort with the awareness next season, opposing offenses will have a tough time.

2011 Grade: D

Linebackers

The Auburn defense had some serious issues this fall. A lot of blame fell at the feet of youth, while a lot fell at the feet of execution. The Tigers simply could not execute consistently from the linebacker position this fall.

There were games where specific players looked more than ready for the next level, then two games later that same linebacker would be missing tackles and avoiding contact with blockers. Auburn has to find a new discipline for its linebacker unit.

The linebackers were almost laughable with some of their performances. There needs to be a change for the linebacking unit and that change needs to come quickly. The Tigers will need to find a new discipline in the film room and on the field as they prepare for the 2012 season.

2011 Grade: F

Secondary

The Auburn secondary took its share of lumps for the third season in a row in 2011. There is an enormous amount of youth that played for the Tigers this past season in the secondary, but there was some senior leadership as well.

The Tigers were very similar to 2010, unable to make plays on the ball while the opponent jumps over them making them look silly. The Tigers are not as aggressive as they should be in the secondary and oftentimes feel out of place when watching them perform.

If Auburn wants to make it back to national title contention, the secondary must improve. There is a wealth of talent that will take the field for the Tigers in the secondary in the next few seasons, but until they can show that they can execute on the field, that reputation of talent is a waste of breath.

2011 Grade: F

Special Teams

The Tigers found a way to win ballgames this fall. Some of the time they relied heavily on their special teams units to pull them from a pinch or put them ahead in ballgames. The return units all the way to the punt team played a major role in the Tigers' success.

The Tigers' punter, Steven Clark, was a finalist for the Ray Guy award this season. It is the award that is given to the best punter in the country. Clark’s ability to land the football with precision and ridiculous hang time have been a big piece of the success for the sophomore.

Cody Parkey has been an amazing weapon for the Tigers defense as well. He has had a ton of his kickoffs held for touchbacks this season. He has also hit more than his fair share of kicks and helped the Tigers win a few ballgames this season as well.

The last piece to the special teams is the return units. The punt return unit is still a work in progress but the kickoff return team has it down. The Tigers returned two kicks for touchdowns this season, one of which happened in the Iron Bowl. It was the first kickoff returned for a touchdown for Auburn ever in the Iron Bowl.

Auburn has a great core of talent that surrounds their special teams. They were good this year; next year they can be great.

2011 Grade: B

Coaching

The Tigers coaching staff absolutely struggled throughout the majority of this season. The Tigers fielded the youngest team in college football this past fall, and they did a great job keeping the Tigers focused when they did, but there was still a wealth of miscues that could have been avoided.

As the Tigers staff closes out this season, finding new life offensively and defensively are on the agenda. It will be a fun process to watch as the Tigers gather new coordinators. 2012 could be a great year for the Tigers, but coaching will have a large part in that success or failure.

2011 Grade: D