Auburn Tigers Football 2011: Grading the Tigers from Week 1

Auburn struggled in every facet of the game on Saturday. Auburn looked weak on both lines and lacked aggression on defense. Utah State should have won the ballgame. Auburn has a lot of work to do before the Mississippi State Bulldogs come to town this coming Saturday.

Auburn has some major adjustments that have to be made if they want to be competitive when the heart of the schedule arrives. Changes to personnel and scheme are likely to be in order when the Tigers open up this week's practice.

Before the projections for Week 2 begin, let’s take a look at the takeaways from each position in the first week of the season. Did Trotter perform as expected? Did the offensive line create the holes expected? How did the linebackers pursue and tackle? These questions are answered and more as we dive into the grades for the Tigers by position.

Quarterback: B

Barrett Trotter started his first game for Auburn this Saturday. Prior to the opening pass he had only attempted eight total passes in his career.

On Saturday Trotter completed 17 of 23 passes and finished with 261 yards in the air. He also polished off three touchdowns. He showed his ability to scramble in the pocket and proved to be slightly lighter footed that most would expect, but there won’t be any lengthy touchdowns on the ground for Trotter.

Trotter moved the offense when it was asked of him and kept his poise down the stretch and during the race to the finish. Play calling hampered Trotter’s ability to positively take over the game through the air, but when he was given the opportunity, he performed up to expectations.

There were some missed throws and some miscues that made a few scrambles seem awkward, but a 74 percent completion percentage and three touchdowns at the end of the day is good for a first-time starter. Trotter was a rare bright spot for the Tigers on Saturday.

If Trotter can grow from week to week and improve on his miscues then he should be a good quarterback for Auburn this season. He seems to have an understanding of the offense and what to expect from his receivers. Improvement is a must.

Running Back: D

Dyer and McCalebb were very mediocre this past Saturday. Some of that is to blame on the offensive line (more to come later) and some is to blame on their decision making.

McCalebb was utilized often on blast and isolation plays but he refused to take the ball up the middle. Instead of attacking downfield McCalebb returned to his 2009 form and tried to outrun everyone to the outside and take it to the house.

McCalebb was asked to play a more traditional role this week and he failed epically. He did average 4.9 yards a carry and was able to add five catches and 43 yards receiving, but he could have made a much bigger impact.

Dyer finished with 14 carries for 57 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged 4.1 yards a carry against the Aggies which was mediocre at best. Dyer attempted to take it through the center of the line often and got stuffed time and time again.

Tre Mason saw limited action and so did Anthony Morgan. Mason did earn one carry and gathered only two yards but his largest contribution came on special teams. Morgan did not register a carry.

Auburn expected to have some of the most dynamic rushers in the conference and country this season. If there isn’t some drastic improvement soon then the Tigers will be very average out of the backfield.

Receiver: A

Outside of Trotter the only bright spot for the Auburn Tigers on offense was the receivers. Auburn showed a lot of skill on the outside with Emory Blake, Travante Stallworth and Trovon Reed.

Philip Lutzenkirchen also made a big grab to bring the Tigers within three late in the fourth quarter.

The receivers ran crisp routes and didn’t register a drop in the game against the Aggies. The Tigers showed that given the opportunity to get players in space, they will be one of the most dangerous offenses in the country.

Emory Blake proved why he is a major leader for this team as he registered the first touchdown and earned three catches for 95 yards. On the heels of his big performance was Travante Stallworth who earned four catches and 93 yards of his own.

It seems that the Tigers have found their playmakers to make up for the losses of Darvin Adams and Terrell Zachery. If the Tigers can gain some additional production from DeAngelo Benton or Quindarius Carr they will be scary good through the air this season.

Offensive Line: F

The offensive line earns a failing grade for their performance this past weekend. Their performance was almost laughable.

The Tigers did a decent job at pass protection but had an extremely difficult time with getting push off of the ball and forming holes for their running backs. The Tigers looked like they lacked aggression in trenches and were owned by a much less skilled defensive line.

One positive note would be that despite starting true freshman Reese Dismukes, there were no apparent miscues on snaps. There was one fumbled snap but that was on Trotter. Outside of this bright spot, there is a large cause for concern.

The Tigers coaching staff knew that this would be an area of concern but in no way did it seem apparent that the Tigers would have such a struggle with the Aggies' defensive front. At this point the Tigers need to be prepared to play anyone and everyone that is aggressive and can fire off of the ball.

If the Auburn offensive line does not improve its play by this coming Saturday, the Bulldogs will have a field day in the trenches.

Defensive Line: D

The defensive line didn’t quite get an F, but it was close. The defensive front for Auburn was absolutely owned by the Utah State Aggies. The front four for Auburn rotated often but looked like hot garbage time and again.

There were a few series where the Tigers looked to be gaining life defensively and the Tigers defensive line made plays, but for the majority of the day they looked absolutely ineffective.

There is a wealth of talent for the Tigers at defensive end but the Aggies relied heavily on the quick out and screen passing game rendering a pass rush virtually ineffective.

Against the run the Tigers allowed gaps large enough that a Suburban could skid through sideways. There was no push into the backfield and the middle of the line was allowing the Aggies to block them out of plays.

The Tigers face one of the best downhill rushing attacks in the conference this coming week. If there isn’t some drastic improvement on the front it will be a long Saturday afternoon.

Linebacker: F

Missed tackles and misalignment ruled the day for Auburn and its linebackers this past Saturday. Daren Bates picked up where he left off missing tackle after tackle against the Aggies. Jake Holland had a decent game finishing with 11 tackles but he missed a few of his own and constantly struggled with getting the defense aligned properly.

Jonathan Evans played consistent and quietly as always. A few big plays came from Evans but nothing spectacular. Just spectacularly consistent.

The Tigers found out just prior to kickoff that Eltoro Freeman would miss the game do to an academic issue that was a mistake by the University. His presence may have made a big difference for the Tigers. Then again, it may have added to the confusion.

Freeman is listed as second string to Jake Holland at the middle linebacker position, but Freeman is likely to float around to the outside as well this season. His aggression and passion are intoxicating and the weak play that occurred Saturday needed his passion.

Coach Ted Roof will need to go back to the drawing board and find out what went wrong Saturday, but the abuse the Tigers took through the short passing game and screens is a testament to the misread plays from the linebackers.

The Tigers did rotate numerous young players, but they played like their brains were still in middle school. Coach Roof has a lot of adjustments to make and hopefully they will come sooner than later as Auburn fans are growing weary of the lack of consistency in the defensive backfield.

Defensive Backs: D

The Tigers' defensive backfield was a position set that was returning some leaders and some playmakers from a year ago. After losing so much experience this past season, one bright spot appeared to be the defensive secondary.

The secondary fooled the predictors Saturday as they looked lost at times and constantly overran tackles. It was so bad at one point that senior Neiko Thorpe was pulled for true freshman Erique Florence.

T’Sharvan Bell is a leader for the defense but even he played out of position and showed an inability to shed blocks and make tackles on screen plays. He made some excellent tackles on special teams and on regular defense but overall Bell played like a younger star but not a leader.

Players like Chris Davis played terribly inconsistent from the cornerback position. Demetruce McNeal played decently from the safety spot but also had his fair share of miscues.

Aggressive play leads to big hits and hard tackles. Nothing about this defensive secondary was aggressive or good. Auburn needs to find a fix quickly.

Special Teams: A

Special teams were one of the few bright spots for the Tigers on Saturday. Auburn was able to lean on their special teams units to keep the game close and to make plays when neither the offense or defense seemed capable.

Cody Parkey was one of the brightest spots for the Tigers on special teams. The new starting kicker proved his worth time and again by booting the football out of the end zone on kickoffs. One of his kicks even shot through the uprights. His abilities to bury an offense on the 20 will be a huge weapon this season.

Another bright spot was the kickoff return team. Tre Mason kept history alive by returning a kick for a touchdown every year since his seventh grade middle school season. Mason found holes and fired through them with reckless abandon.

Quan Bray was the second returner alongside Mason and returned one kick of his own nearly 40 yards. The Tigers have speed and quickness in the return game and will be very dangerous as the season progresses.

Trovon Reed really didn’t get a chance to return a punt solidly but he did make a stupid mistake by attempting to return a punt from the five-yard line. One other special teams miscue came when Mason tried to jump in front of Bray for a kickoff return.

Punter Stephen Clark was not overly impressive but he did finish with a 43.5 yard average.

There is no doubt that the one bright shining spot for the Tigers was the special teams play. The Tigers need to build on the success and confidence found in the special teams units and spread that confidence to other parts of the team this week.