Auburn Football: Grading the Tigers' Performance Against Arkansas

Auburn headed into Fayetteville, Arkansas looking to knock off the No. 10 team in the country for the second week in a row. Instead, the Tigers were handed their second loss of the season.

The Tigers jumped out to an early lead against the Razorbacks and looked as if they may be able to compete, but things began to fall apart toward the end of the second quarter offensively for the Tigers. At times in the second half, the offense looked downright terrible.

Auburn uncovered some serious issues against Arkansas in the passing game but looked to gain confidence and strength defensively. The young Tigers defensive line held strong and without one long breakaway run by Joe Adams, the Tigers kept the Razorbacks to less than 100 yards on the ground.

The defense continues to look as if it is gaining strides and finding the right positions. They are also striking more solidly and are tackling as a team. There were numerous occasions that the first guy to the ball didn’t bring the carrier down, but they held on well enough to wait for backup.

Overall, the performance failed as the Tigers finished with the loss. There was some good play scattered however so let’s take a look at how the Tigers grade after their away loss to Arkansas.

Quarterback: F

Barrett Trotter had one of the worst performances of any quarterback that I have witnessed against Arkansas. He was absolutely atrocious. Trotter completed an abysmal 31 percent of his passes Saturday against Arkansas.

There were a few drops, three that come to mind distinctly, but even with those added to the completion total he is still below 50 percent. No matter which way you look at that stat line, it is absolutely amazing that he is still getting the starting nod at Auburn.

There is no doubt that Trotter is an Auburn man with a heart of gold, but so was Neil Caudle. So were many other Auburn backups that didn’t take the amount of snaps they would have liked in their careers. At this point, Trotter’s snaps need to stop happening.

Trotter looked lost way too often in the game. For a fourth year junior and a guy that has been with the same coordinator for three years, his performances are inexcusable. Trotter looks to be getting worse as the season progresses. It may be time for the curtain call on Trotter. Moseley can’t do any worse.

There was a bright spot offensively for a while in the game with the performance of Kiehl Frazier. Frazier was able to carry the ball 13 times for 54 yards and scored his first collegiate touchdown. He did toss two obvious interceptions in the game, but that is why he isn’t starting right now. Freshmen make mistakes, it happens.

Frazier’s running ability is a huge boost from the quarterback position, but for him to take over this offense he will have to get a lot more time and attention with his reads and throws in practice.

Running Backs: A

The rushing attack for Auburn was one of two bright spots offensively. The Tigers were able to produce 291 yards on the ground averaging 5.6 yards a carry. Michael Dyer received the bulk of the load for the second week in a row as he carried 21 times and earned 112 yards.

As the game wore down the Arkansas defense began to key on No. 5 a little more and his yards were getting more difficult to come by. Dyer is still proving his worth every week to this Tigers team as he brings a lunch pail mentality to the game and never stops driving.

This was another great performance for one of the best backs in the SEC.

Onterio McCalebb had one of his best games of the season as he added 13 carries for 91 yards, returning to his old form with seven yards a carry. He was a great change of pace option for the Tigers and worked his way in on a few speed sweeps as well, allowing him to turn the corner at full speed.

McCalebb also added three catches for 28 yards to his stat line. His ability to find space in the passing game has earned him a great deal of yards so far this season as a receiver.

Another big contributor from the running back position was Tre Mason. Mason has inspired the Auburn team time and again with his electric kickoff returns but this past Saturday, his role increased again as he earned three carries from the backfield.

Mason took the three carries and added 30 yards to the Auburn rushing total looking absolutely fearless on every attempt. Mason is going to be special for the Tigers in the future. The guy just goes full speed into whatever is in front of him, whether it’s a rushing lane or a defender. 

Receivers: F

How good does Emory Blake appear to be today? Without the star receiver on the field the Auburn receiving corps looked laughable in their efforts against the Razorbacks. There were numerous dropped passes and multiple holding calls on big runs that were handed out to the pass catchers.

Even Philip Lutzenkirchen, usually Auburn’s most sure handed receiver, dropped a pass on a crucial down. DeAngelo Benton showed a strange inability to catch the ball himself on two different occasions. One was slightly high; the other hit him in his gut.

There was again an inability for receivers to get passes again this week. I am not sure if that is a receiver issue or a quarterback issue as there were times that receivers seemed to separate and times where they didn’t.

At the end of the day, the receivers have to make more things happen for Auburn to have a chance in the future. Auburn rushed for almost 300 yards but only managed 104 through the air. If the receivers could finally catch some footballs, the Tigers could soon produce more through the air and balance out the offense.

Offensive Line: B

The offensive line for Auburn has been one of the better performing skill sets so far this season. Most predicted it to be a major concern for the Tigers but so far the line has done a good job every game.

The rushing lanes can’t be denied as the Tigers earned 291 yards on the ground. The other side of the coin does lead to questions in the pass protection. Looking back at the game there are numerous times where it looked as if Trotter had the time but just didn’t make decisions.

In no way am I saying that the offensive line graded out perfectly, but overall they performed well enough to let the Tigers earn the win.

There was one minor setback in the game as starting offensive guard Jared Cooper went down with an injury. At this point there is no indication as to what type of injury it was or how long he will be out just yet. Chad Slade is a redshirt freshman that stepped in but there will be a drop off as Cooper is a senior leader for the line.

Overall, the Tigers' offensive line performed well enough to support a win. They are still not hitting on every cylinder every time but the effort is there. This was the only other bright spot for the offense.

Defensive Line: B

The Auburn defensive front four has come the farthest of any position group so far this season. At the start of the year it appeared that the Tigers would have no chance at stopping even the most juvenile of rushing attacks.

That perception has been changed in the past two games. The front four is looking more settled than ever in their roles in the defense. Jeffrey Whitaker is continuing to make plays and hold the gaps in the middle. Kenneth Carter is beginning to come on strong and made some plays Saturday for the Tigers.

Even true freshmen on the interior like Angelo Blackson, Gabe Wright and Devaunte Sigler have come on and shown an ability to stop the run and cause havoc in the backfield.

The defensive ends for Auburn have been stellar in the past few games. Corey Lemonier is finally finding his way to the quarterback. He often makes it around the end of the tackle untouched. Lemonier earned sacks again on Saturday and forced a fumble for the Tigers.

Guys like Craig Sanders and Nosa Eguae have also performed well this season and continued with that trend against Arkansas. The Tigers were constantly in the backfield making plays and were able to seal the rushing lanes consistently against the Razorbacks.

Linebackers: C

Auburn was off and on from the linebacker position against Arkansas. There were few missed tackles and the Tigers played the run very well against Arkansas. One issue that appeared to occur on a few occasions was a lack of coverage from the middle linebacker.

Jake Holland played a good game otherwise but simply could not pick up the crossing route in front of him on more than one occasion. The most obvious miss was when Greg Childs took a crossing route and could have touched Holland as he passed him. Holland started in the wrong direction and could never catch up. His pass coverage was terrible; the rest of his game was very effective.

On the outside there were numerous Tigers that were making plays. Jonathan Evans was back in the lineup and very effective from the outside. Daren Bates also played well, held his own and made tackles but he did get an unsportsmanlike penalty that was not needed.

Eltoro Freeman may have played the best game of his career against Arkansas. Freeman was all over the field against the Hogs making tackles and blowing up plays. Freeman has always had a nose for the football and this week was no different as he found the runner often and made a form tackle every time.

Finding the right mix of defenders has been a very inexact science this season. For Ted Roof to finally get this type of play out of his defense and more importantly, his skill position, has to be fulfilling for the Tigers. This is just the beginning though as the tests are going to continue to roll in. 

Defensive Secondary: B

Auburn allowed a stretch of completions that made Tyler Wilson look like a Heisman candidate for a while. He finished the game with a 66.7 percent completion score but only 262 total yards through the air against the Tigers' secondary. Considering he threw for 510 against Texas A&M, half that production is a win.

Auburn faced possibly the best receivers in the country this past weekend and stood the test really well. No Razorback got to over 100 yards against the Tigers and only Jarius Wright made it over 50 yards.

The Tigers showed a great ability to play man coverage for the second week in a row turning towards the ball and reading the routes with precision.

T’Sharvan Bell had another great day at corner and Neiko Thorpe showed great flashes of coverage breaking up more than one pass. Erique Florence looked every bit the part of a veteran making one big hit after another against the Hogs.

Overall the defensive secondary played as good if not better than anyone expected. Unfortunately they weren’t able to stop the Arkansas offense completely. 

Special Teams: B

Auburn played well as always on special teams again this week. There were two miscues that were glaringly obvious and pretty bad plays, but as a whole the Tigers were able to execute and not give up dumb plays.

Steven Clark had a terrible punt to start the game that totaled 11 yards. That’s about as bad as a punt can get. The good news for Clark is that Auburn was able to hold strong on defense and keep the Razorbacks at bay as they missed the first field-goal attempt of the game.

Quan Bray also made a bad decision letting a kickoff lay on the ground in the end zone thinking it would be a dead ball but made some good returns in the punt return game. Auburn has been successful at getting extra yards out of the return game and setting up a stagnant offense with good field position. 

Coaching: C

Auburn entered the game against Arkansas with a plan to control the clock and churn up yards offensively. Defensively the Tigers wanted to pressure the quarterback and hopefully force incompletions. Both units looked to be in great position and schemed well enough to win.

For the plan that Auburn went into the game with and the tough play of the defense, the Tigers coaches earn high grades. The biggest separator from grade “A” coaching and “C” grade coaching was the personnel left on the field until the end of the game.

Leaving Barrett Trotter in the game until the bitter end did nothing but hurt the Tigers chances at a win. Trotter showed that he could not play consistently from behind and could not complete a pass to save his life. Putting Frazier in was a great move but he just isn’t ready to take over permanently. At this point, trading Trotter for Moseley couldn’t make the Tigers offense any worse.

Final Verdict

At the end of the day the Tigers finished the game with a loss. Despite the score, Arkansas didn’t run away with this game. Auburn had the opportunity to score and stick around until the end but bad choices by both Auburn quarterbacks sealed their fate.

Trotter finished with 81 yards passing. The Tigers simply aren’t good enough everywhere else to make up for that severe lack of production from the most key position in the Auburn offense.

Defensively the Tigers have may great strides in the past few weeks and have gotten much more stingy against the run and the pass. There is still a lot of growth that needs to happen for the Tigers but the play defensively was very encouraging.

After the coaches and team watch film on Sunday, I would be surprised to see Barrett Trotter as the starting quarterback against Florida. There just isn’t an argument that seems plausible that would keep him at the helm. If anything, Moseley deserves a shot for watching the shenanigans called quarterback play so far this season from the sidelines.

Auburn should finish the season bowl eligible but the Tigers could have a long road ahead if they don’t get more diverse offensively. The young defense is getting better but can’t carry the entire load.