Auburn Football: Grading the Tigers' Performance in the Win over Ole Miss

Auburn played its most complete game of the season this Saturday against Ole Miss. The Tigers were able to defeat the Rebels, 41-23, and earn their sixth win of the season, making the Tigers bowl eligible. The Tigers have struggled to look consistent this season, but this week’s game seemed to put all the pieces together.

Auburn looked fluid on offense. Clint Moseley finished with more touchdown throws than incompletions. Part of that came from the insane playmaking ability of Philip Lutzenkirchen. Add in big days from the running backs, and Auburn looked overly efficient on offense.

The defense looked terrible at times against the Ole Miss rushing attack, one of the worst in the SEC, but it managed to make plays when it were needed. Eltoro Freeman had another career day, making stops all over the field and wreaking havoc on the Rebel offense.

Auburn will look to the coming by week with relief as the young team is beat up and in need of a quality week off after facing nine straight opponents. Auburn will then hit the road to Athens to face Georgia in the “Oldest Rivalry in the South” on November 12^th.

Taking one last look back at this week’s performance against the Rebels, here are the grades for the Auburn Tigers' victory. 

**Photos courtesy of www.auburn.247sports.com **

Quarterback: A

Clint Moseley has a lot of people wondering why he didn’t earn his first start against Utah State. When asked if there was regret in not starting Moseley earlier in the season, Gene Chizik responded simply with “no regrets.”

No matter what the past looks like, the future looks bright if this past Saturday’s performance is any indication to what the future holds with Moseley at the helm. Moseley went 12 of 15 for 160 yards and four touchdowns against Ole Miss. He managed the game well and threw a beautiful deep ball on more than one occasion.

For the first time this season, the Auburn offense looked under control. Moseley looked very composed and seemed willing to stay in the pocket to try and make plays. To the credit of the line, the protection was much better this week, but Moseley still managed to thread the needle on his way to completing 80 percent of his throws.

Kiehl Frazier was limited in his activity this past weekend, but he did earn a few carries in the game. He was relatively ineffective from the Wildcat position, as most can predict what his presence on the field will bring.

With the effectiveness of the offense with Moseley on the field, it becomes a questionable decision to take him off the field at all. Moseley is no burner, but he is fast enough to keep defenses honest on the option. 

Running Backs: A

Auburn was able to control the clock and run at will last Saturday against Ole Miss. Michael Dyer finished three yards shy of his career-best game with 177 yards on the ground and one rushing touchdown.

Dyer looked powerful and explosive as he moved piles and took the ball around the edge on numerous carries. He finished the game needing only 11 yards to hit the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the second season in a row. Dyer is now tied with Trent Richardson for first in the SEC for total rushing yards with 989 yards.

Onterio McCalebb was able to add another 61 yards on the ground as the Tigers finished the day with 254 total rushing yards against the Rebels. Overall the Tigers rushing attack was much improved over the previous week’s contest at LSU.

Freshman fan favorite Tre “La Soul” Mason was limited in his carries as he only managed two on the game, but still managed to finish with nine yards a carry.

Receivers: A

The receivers may have had their best game of the season against Ole Miss. Moseley was able to spread the ball to multiple pass catchers and the Tigers were able to secure the perimeter on running plays. Quindarius Carr has made it his business to be the deep threat each game and is good for at least one burned defender per contest.

Emory Blake was able to return this week to the Tigers lineup claiming to be “around 75 percent.” The Tigers will happily take that performance as he was a game changer with five catches for 71 yards and one touchdown.

Philip Lutzenkirchen continued his touchdown phenomenon as he secured three catches, two of which finished in the end zone. Both were diving pylon-type touchdowns, but his final catch was highlight-worthy.

In fact, it was Saturday’s No. 4 play on ESPN's SportsCenter. Lutzenkirchen caught the ball one-handed and switched hands while diving for the end zone, barely reaching the ball inside the pylon. He now holds the record for most touchdown receptions by a tight end in Tigers history. 

Offensive Line: A

The Auburn offensive line made huge strides over the past week leading into the Ole Miss game. Auburn protected very well in pass protection and opened huge gaps for the running game. The Tigers looked aggressive for the entire four quarters, which is a new and pleasant surprise.

The Auburn offensive line was able to get to proper position on its guard pulls and opening up the inside well for both McCalebb and Dyer. The Tigers were able to impose their will late in the game, as running basic dive plays looked simple in the final quarter of competition.

Auburn will look to continue to build on the formula that was so successful this past weekend. Auburn will face a tough Georgia defense in two weeks, so finding continuity is a must.

Defensive Line: D

The Auburn defensive front has been getting better every week. They have continued to grow and perform well down the stretch, but against the Rebels they seemed to have hit a bit of a speed bump.

Ole Miss was running the speed option very efficiently against the Tigers. Auburn struggled to get to the perimeter to stop the speed sweeps that the Rebels ran with Jeff Scott.

Brandon Bolden was quite successful against the Tigers, carrying only 13 times but gaining 114 yards. A lot of his yards were churned after contact. That contact was happening at the first level of the defense, and the line was missing the tackles.

There wasn’t an overabundance of a pass rush by the Tigers in this game. A lot of that had to do with Auburn flushing Mackey from the pocket and him using his legs to make plays. Either way, the Tigers line did not handle the speed option offense very well up front.

Linebackers: C

The linebackers performed about to the same level as the defensive line did against the Rebels. There were some missed tackles and some points where the Auburn defense looked silly against the Ole Miss rushing attack.

One player that absolutely stood out was Eltoro Freeman, who had his best day of the season totaling 11 tackles and two sacks in the game. Watching Eltoro Freeman explode to success has been a treat for Auburn fans, and the expectation is that he will continue to grow in his contributions.

Auburn will look for the linebackers to get better against Georgia as the rushing attack of the Bulldogs will be much better than the one offered by the Rebels this past Saturday.

Defensive Backs: B

Against Ole Miss the Auburn secondary looked very good in coverage, as that has become a consistent theme for Auburn this season. The Tigers have been much improved in their passing defense this season over last year’s championship team.  

Ole Miss attempted to challenge the Tigers deep and the Auburn defense responded with one interception and numerous defended passes. There were numerous opportunities for the Rebels to make plays, but the Tigers defense shut down those attempts.

The one area where the Tigers must improve if they want to push for eight or more wins this season is tackling. Auburn missed numerous tackles in the second level against the Rebels, especially from the safety position. For Auburn to beat good teams, the Tigers must improve their tackling.

Special Teams: A

Auburn returned to regular form this past week as it performed well in every facet of the special teams game. The kicking game was accurate, and Cody Parkey blasted numerous kickoffs through the end zone.

Steven Clark looked to have fixed his woes as he produced more yardage on his punts this week. He still managed a wealth of hang time, enabling the coverage units the ability to consistently force fair catches by Ole Miss.

The kick return team looked to be in better position and seemed to hold their blocks better this Saturday. The Tigers were able to consistently find room in the kickoff return game and looked potent every time the ball was in the air.

Coaching: B

Auburn looked to have one of the best game plans of the season against the Rebels. The Tigers were able to control the flow of the game for the majority of the contest and really taking over the game after halftime.

Auburn looked efficient on offense and offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn appeared to have opened the playbook a bit for Clint Moseley. Moseley has the ability to make any throw that will be asked of him and the more he connects, the more Malzahn will let loose of the reins.

Defensive coordinator Ted Roof prepared his unit decently well this week as the Rebels were held to 17 points. The Tigers did make some mistakes defensively, but the majority of those were on-field issues, not play-calling or preparation problems.

In Closing

The Tigers played their best game of the season against Ole Miss this past weekend. The good news for the Tigers is that they get a much-needed off week this week before facing the Georgia Bulldogs between the hedges.

The Tigers must continue to improve if they plan on taking a win against the Bulldogs in Athens. Georgia has improved drastically as the season has progressed, so the Tigers will need to play even better than their showing against the Rebels.