Auburn Football: Grading the Tigers by Position After South Carolina

Auburn was one of the worst defensive teams in the country entering this past week’s contest against the Gamecocks. Stopping the run had been one of the biggest issues of the season so far, but against South Carolina, the Tigers looked like they finally had pieced some of the defensive puzzle together.

Marcus Lattimore rushed for only 66 yards against the Tigers as the Auburn defense recorded its strongest defensive game since LSU week a year ago. Keeping Lattimore pinned down was a must, and the young defenders answered the call.

Auburn struggled a bit offensively and still looked completely ineffective at times from the quarterback position. The call to ride Dyer to the finish line was finally answered, as he tied an all-time school record for rushing attempts in a game with 41.

At the end of the day, this was a must win for the Tigers, and they got it. It was a hard fought game that both teams had an opportunity to win. At the end of the day, the Tigers were able to control the clock, contain the Gamecocks offense and force turnovers.

Taking one last look back to the week that was, here are the grades for the Tigers at South Carolina.

Quarterback: D

Auburn was able to come away from Columbia with a big win on Saturday night. There was very little that Barrett Trotter did to assist in the win. At times, he seemed to assist the Gamecocks.

It’s easy to take a win and come out pumping sunshine around, but the quarterback play was pretty terrible for Auburn this week. For the third week in a row, Auburn turned the ball over through the air. There were four interceptions thrown in the game. Two came from trick plays; two were from the starting quarterback.

Trotter looked unsure often this past week showing an inability to throw the ball downfield. There were throwaways that barely made it out of bounds. It almost looks as if Trotter is afraid that he can’t make certain throws, so he doesn’t take the chance. As he waits, he loses time and his blocking breaks down.

Trotter completed only 52 percent of his passes continuing with his pattern of mediocrity this week. With two interceptions on the books, the performance is well below average.

Kiehl Frazier received more snaps this week than he has so far in his young collegiate career. He has become a very effective change of pace weapon and has a cannon for an arm, but his play recognition may not be there just yet for him to make the leap from Wildcat to starter.

The quarterback play has to get better quickly as the Tigers charge towards the heart of the schedule, but who to turn the keys over to permanently is a question that remains unanswered.

Running Backs: A

Michael Dyer had a career day against South Carolina, as he carried the ball 41 times, tying a mark left by Carnell Williams in his freshman season. Dyer finished with 141 yards on the ground as well, winning the head to head matchup of top backs.

Dyer pushed through pain later in the game as he tweaked an ankle in the third quarter, but showed his strength and tenacity as he continued to scratch and claw for crucial yards late in the game. He was impossible to bring down after the first strike and carried the Auburn offense this past Saturday.

Onterio McCalebb added 58 yards on the ground on nine carries and also caught three passes for 33 yards. McCalebb has become a very effective utility back, making his way out of the backfield often on passing downs and making plays in the receiving game.

The combo punch that Dyer and McCalebb form is becoming increasingly dangerous, as Auburn is finding different ways every game to utilize their skill sets. Auburn will continue to lean on these backs, as they showed they could handle the load Saturday.

Receivers: B

The Tigers receivers didn’t have many opportunities this past week to make plays, but when the chances came, they made the most of what they got. The final touchdown was a crucial conversion to Philip Lutzenkirchen that strongly resembled the winning toss at Alabama a year ago.

The perimeter blocking held up relatively well for the Tigers this week, which allowed for some big gains on the ground. DeAngelo Benton made a big catch that converted a crucial third down for the Tigers, finally making his presence felt on the field.

Philip Lutzenkirchen had quite a scare in the fourth quarter when he fumbled the winning touchdown pass coming across the goal line. He the scooped up the fumble and recovered control inside the end zone, sealing the victory for the Tigers. 

Overall, when only 112 yards is gained through the air, there is some severe limitation to the abilities that the receivers have to make plays or there is a lack of playmaking ability from the quarterback. At this point, it appears to be a quarterback issue.

If the Tigers can get more catches in the hands of their perimeter players, the points will begin to tally shortly after.

Offensive Line: B

The offensive line for the Tigers returned to the regular starting rotation this week against the Gamecocks. Auburn was able to get a good push up front, as the Tigers finished with 246 yards on the ground.

The pass protection was good enough, as it has been all year, but after three to five seconds, there isn’t much you can do as a lineman to stop the defense from making it through. The Tigers have executed the Tiger Sweep zone read play to Dyer to perfection so far as well. That has become a staple for the Auburn offense.

The offensive line faced some serious talent in Melvin Ingram and Jadeveon Clowney, but they were able to hold back the rush pretty well throughout the game. Eliminating the biggest threat defensively for the Gamecocks was a huge win for the Tigers offensive line.

Defensive Line: A

The Auburn defensive front looked the best it has all season in the win over South Carolina. The Tigers were able to shed blocks and fill gaps for the first time efficiently this season. The Tigers played in the Carolina backfield keeping Marcus Lattimore at bay and plowing through Stephen Garcia time and again.

The Tigers mixed five man fronts and tossed in numerous line formations in the game. On some passing downs, the Tigers played four defensive ends as the front four. The ability for the ends to speed rush into the backfield was a big reason the Tigers had two interceptions.

The largest difference in this week’s performance up front defensively and weeks past is simply execution. The Tigers played confident and nasty in the trenches and owned the line of scrimmage. These Tigers played well enough to hold any back in the country at bay.

Linebackers: A

Auburn played lights out from the linebacker position this week. The Tigers were hitting the correct holes on blitzes and were wrapping up and finishing tackles. Jake Holland was even able to play lockdown coverage on Marcus Lattimore out of the backfield.

Daren Bates showed huge improvement, earning his first sack of the season this past Saturday. He also was able to finish tackles, which has been his biggest issue this season.

Auburn was able to neutralize the center of the field and key on the rushing attack of the Gamecocks, forcing Garcia to either push the ball deep or utilize the flats to dump off the ball to his check down receiver in the slot.

Auburn showed great speed and play recognition as well, something that has been missing to start the season. 

Defensive Secondary: A

A major focus for the Tigers this week was stopping the South Carolina passing game by neutralizing Alshon Jeffery. Jeffery is one of the best receivers in college football and earned 86 yards, five catches and touchdown Saturday. One catch went 50 yards.

Jeffery was locked down the majority of the game by T’Sharvan Bell. Bell gave up the touchdown but also played extremely well the majority of the contest.

The Tigers walked away with two more picks this week, as the defensive line and linebackers forced Garcia into bad plays and the secondary was finding itself in good coverage consistently.

The Tigers also turned and played the ball in the air in the secondary this week. This has been the first week that the Tigers secondary has played the ball with their eyes in the past three years. It showed confidence in their skills and proved that the confidence was well based.

The other big piece to the defensive secondary’s success was the schemes. The Tigers actually played bump man coverage, and it worked to perfection.

Special Teams: C

The Tigers special teams were one of the few position sets that had some questionable play this past Saturday. Auburn was very effective in the punting and kickoff games, but had a questionable return decision on a punt return and tallied a missed extra point.

Cody Parkey is usually a very accurate kicker, but somehow missed the easiest kick in football: the extra point. There is absolutely no excuse for missing a chip shot, and that one point could have been very detrimental if the Gamecocks would have had the chance to kick a field goal and tie the game at the end.

Quan Bray made a questionable punt return decision by fielding a punt he shouldn’t have early in the game. He managed to claw for yards and not cause an issue for the offense, but those bad decisions have to stop.

Coaching: A

Going into this game, there were a wealth of issues that faced this Auburn Tigers team. The most obvious issue was the defense. Auburn was struggling, and there seemed to be no end to the bleeding in site.

The coaches came into this game with a phenomenal defensive gameplan. The Tigers played press man coverage for the first time this season, and the multiple fronts and looks really kept the Carolina offense confused.

Offensively, the Tigers fed Michael Dyer and rode their star back to success. That was a decision that took way too long to develop for most Auburn fans. The coaches were able to put the offense in position to win the game and put up points, but the players failed to execute consistently.

These coaches have won a national title and only lost six total games in their tenure so far. They know what it takes to have success, and they look to have found some of the winning recipe this week.