Auburn Tigers Football: 5 Questions Still Left Unanswered from the Spring Game

Spring practice almost never puts questions to rest about the future of a football program. Spring only adds more questions to the mix and sometimes makes apparent solutions even bigger problems. Auburn entered spring with more questions than most after losing over one-third its national title team to graduation and early draft enrolment.

Losing so many players hurts not just the starting lineups but also the quality of the players that fill in the depth at key positions. Replacing starters is a must but also finding guys to fill role play gaps will be difficult.

There are some major questions that need to be answered by the time that two a days start and the sooner the answers the better for the Tigers. Who will win the starting quarterback position? Who will the starter throw to and will a freshman be snapping the ball this season?

The answers aren’t easy to come by but these five questions will determine the success of the Tigers season. The sooner the solutions are found to these pending questions the sooner the Auburn faithful will be watching wins appear on the schedule.

Who will start at quarterback?

A year ago a starter was not named in the quarterback race until spring practice had concluded. Fortunately for the Tigers and Cameron Newton, the announcement was made the Friday after A-Day. The coaches have reached that deadline and the Tigers still do not appear to being close to naming a starter.

Barrett Trotter was the heir apparent but there was a tight race with Clint Moseley through spring. Both players have been in the offense for multiple years and should not have an issue of knowledge. The separators will apparently be execution and judgment.

 With no leader heading into the summer workout sessions the sooner Keihl Frazier can make it to campus the better. In no way am I saying that Frazier comes in and starts right away, but it would not surprise me to see him as the starter as the year closed out.

Mazahn has started freshman before and will most likely do so again at some point this season. Mitch Mustain went 8-0 under Malzahn at Arkansas as a freshman. Because there was no clear leader after spring, I would expect Frazier to get his shot and fair shake at the starting position.

This is the most glaring question and one that needed to be answered but at this point seems to be out of steam awaiting Frazier.

Will the Tigers find a go to receiver?

Darvin Adams was the face of the Tigers receiving corps the last two seasons. Every game that needed a spark, 89 was found crossing the field or shooting down the sideline open. Adams would catch the ball in traffic and he would put his body on the line consistently for the success of his teammates.

Emory Blake made his fair share of wow plays a year ago as well and is seemingly fitting into the role of expectation well. The determining factor is whether or not Blake can be that feature receiver that Adams seemed to be.

One player that has come on strong this spring and has aspirations for the fall is DeAngelo Benton. Benton sat out nearly two years of football in an attempt to qualify academically and has struggled with injuries since arriving at Auburn. Benton takes his work seriously however and has the talent to be the next big name receiver from the SEC.

A wildcard that will surely be another go to receiver will be Phillip Lutzenkirchen. Moving into a more traditional slot receiver position this year will set Lutz up for a great season. Allowing him to use his quickness against linebackers and size against safeties will make for a dangerous weapon for this Auburn offense.

It may simply be a host of Tigers that share the wealth and help keep opposing defenses on their toes in 2011.

Will Reese Dismukes be the starter at center?

Starting freshman anywhere on a college football field is a difficult endeavor and transition for any coaching staff and player. A lot of things will not be clear or understood by a freshman but if he gives you the most talent and best effort you have to toss them out there from time to time.

That being said, the offensive line is one of the most difficult positions on the football field to learn. Add on the duties of protection calls and it becomes difficult for a veteran much less a guy still wearing his senior’s ’11 t.

Reese Dismukes gave himself and this team the benefit of the doubt by showing up for spring ball and enrolling early at Auburn. It gives Reese a jump start on learning the offense and drill work that makes a raw talent a great one.

Filling in the starting center role however is going to be a very tough task. Looking at the results from spring and the starting lineup for the spring game, it appears that Dismukes is the likely starter already for this line. That means the coaches trust him.

With the offensive line being one of the largest glaring holes for the Tigers they have to get the center position right. With coaching and repetition will come success. Look for Dismukes to be the starter come fall.

What will the Auburn offense look like in 2011?

Cameron Newton walked onto the field and immediately took it over. Whether by his rushing attack or passing game, Newton was going to ensure the success of his team. He led and the team followed.

Newton gave the Auburn offense a very non-traditional ability to churn up hundreds upon hundreds of rushing yards. At times, Newton threw the ball it seemed for fun, not out of necessity. 2011 will surely be a much different scenario.

Whoever gets the starting nod for the Tigers will have huge shoes to fill but no one expects the results of a Cam Newton. Look for Auburn to open the play book more this season. Malzahn has reached his third year at Auburn which makes it the longest he has ever served at one institution since joining the college coaching ranks.

This offense will have a Chris Todd look to it. There will be a lot of zone read draws for the running backs and there will be a lot of hitch and go’s thrown to the outsides. The difference is the quarterback will have the arm strength to make it out in front of the receivers.

The Tigers will look to run a balanced offense with a heavy emphasis on the screen pass and short yardage high percentage throws and a huge dose of power and speed rushing. Dyer and McCalebb will complement each other well in the offense and will likely top the 2,500 yard mark combined.

After it is all said and done the Tigers will most likely have an even split of play selection and will have a few extra tricks up their sleeves now that Mazahn can seem to settle into his role.

Will the Auburn defense be dominant in 2011?

The Auburn defense lost two starting linebackers, two starting linemen and three starting defensive backs from the 2010 team. Finding starters and depth at these positions seemed to be an early concern for the Tigers and still is an issue that is being shaped and molded for the right fit.

Auburn ended the season with a huge defensive game against Oregon and looked every bit the part of the traditionally powerful SEC. How the Tigers will be able to build on last year’s success remains to be seen as Tracy Rocker left for the pros and so did the Lombardi winner. The leading tacklers also disappeared. Will the Tigers be able to fill the void?

At this point, the defensive secondary for the Tigers may be the strongest position on the field. The secondary showed the fans on A-Day that they will play hard and hit ferociously on an every play basis. There are still a few signees left to join the team as well that will only continue to solidify that hard nose mentality.

Looking at the linebackers, there will be a drop off from a production and experience stand point but the talent will be superior. Auburn has a wealth of talent at the linebacker position it is just getting the guys to be on the same page that will take time and a trial by fire process will be the only way that the talent will grow.

The defensive line loses some key players and starters from a year ago. The defensive ends may be the most talented in the country however and using some non-traditional blitz packages this fall will allow a wealth of speed on the field during passing downs. It will make the defense more unpredictable and get the most talented players on the field.

Moving forward this defense will be better than it was a year ago. There is more talent on the field and a lot more experience in some key roles. Filling the void on the interior line is the biggest question and if that hole can be at least monitored, the defense for the Tigers will be extremely dangerous as they will play fast, hard and will hit intently.