Auburn Football: Tigers' Wide Receivers Surging at the Perfect Time

AUBURN, Ala. — Two weeks ago, Quan Bray told everybody to watch out.

The senior wide receiver was coming off Auburn's disappointing road loss at now-No. 1 Mississippi State, and he wasn't pleased with the consistency from himself and his fellow receivers.

"I don't think we've played a complete game, to be honest with you," Bray said on Oct. 19. "The LSU game was probably the one we clicked the most as an offense just as a whole. But as far as a receiving standpoint, I don't think we've all clicked yet.

"Hopefully in these next six games, y'all will see us clicking where we supposed to be at."

Bray looks like a man of his word two games into those six, a loaded back half of the Tigers' 2014 slate.

The Auburn offense has cut down on the turnovers and racked up more than 500 yards in wins against South Carolina and Ole Miss.

Opponent	Points	Total Yards	Passing Yards	Rushing Yards	Yards per Play
S. Carolina	42	551	156	395	8.89
Ole Miss	35	507	254	253	7.46

Part of the reason head coach Gus Malzahn's hurry-up, no-huddle attack is on such a roll has a lot to do with Bray and his fellow receivers, who had consistency issues at the beginning of the season.

Quarterback Nick Marshall relied on junior college transfer D'haquille Williams to come down with most of the catches as returning leader Sammie Coates struggled with a leg injury.

Now the big-play Coates, who made five catches for 122 yards and a touchdown in the Tigers' 35-31 road victory against Ole Miss' No. 1 scoring defense, is playing back at full speed:

"Sammie is right at 100 percent probably for the first time since early in the season," Malzahn said Tuesday in his weekly press conference. "So that helped. We spread the ball around. All of our guys made some plays in the passing game. When you can do that, that definitely helps open each other up."

The nation's No. 3 receiver in yards per catch in 2013, Coates is once again a deadly deep-ball threat with his speed and size.

This opens up more possibilities for Williams, a rangy intermediate target who has rarely dropped the ball during his time on the Plains.

Throw in the use of speedy duo Ricardo Louis and Bray on swing passes and screen routes, and now an Auburn offense that looked like it was inching toward becoming a run-heavy attack again can truly become a dual threat.

"As a wide receiver crew, we've got a whole bunch of playmakers in our room," Coates said. "Nick, he's comfortable. He knows that if he throws the ball in our area, we're going to make a play with it. We tell him not to think too hard about how he throws it. Put it in our area code, we're going to bring it in."

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Malzahn's offense may not be dominated by the ground game like it was last season, but it still uses a run-first philosophy. 

Auburn's patented inside-out running game, Malzahn said, creates chances in the passing game—and vice versa.

"We’re getting a few more yards on the perimeter, which is opening up things in the middle," Malzahn said Tuesday. "We’re hitting some deep balls down the field, which is opening the run game up. It all works together, and I feel like we’re improving."

The wideouts said they used the crucial bye week after the loss against Mississippi State to "work on the little things as a unit."

For several of them, that meant working harder at blocking, and the results have showed on the field for Auburn with more explosive runs to the outside.

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"The little things are what people may not notice," junior receiver Melvin Ray said. "But as far as blocking-wise, that’s what I want people to be able to see and say, ‘He’s a complete guy other than just being able to catch the football.' If I can do my job, I know we have explosive guys like Nick and Cam and Ricardo and Corey—we can really spring them for bigger plays."

Unlike Coates and Wiliiams, role receivers such as Ray and Marcus Davis get a majority of their snaps in running situations, where they can showcase that extra blocking work.

It might not show up on the stat sheet, but it can definitely open up opportunities for scoring plays.

In the case of Davis, it could open up the opportunity for a wide-open touchdown grab like he had against Ole Miss.

With four games left in the regular season, Auburn's star receivers are making the big plays, and the ones lower down on the depth chart are laying the groundwork for possibly even more success against Georgia and Alabama—and they are just fine with that balance.

"If the team's winning, I'm winning," Davis said. "It's all about the team for me. As long as I'm on the field playing and contributing, I'm happy with that."

All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All recruiting rankings and information courtesy of 247Sports. All stats courtesy of cfbstats.com.

Justin Ferguson is Bleacher Report's lead Auburn writer. Follow him on Twitter @JFergusonAU.