Auburn felt its offensive line could only improve.
After a poor showing from the Tigers’ front five in last week’s win over Arkansas, right tackle Jack Driscoll ensured that the “best was yet to come” in terms of gelling as a unit, protecting quarterback Jarrett Stidham and creating a push in the ground game.
Gus Malzahn is still waiting, as the Tigers’ offensive line was man-handled Saturday night in a 24-13 win over Southern Miss inside Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Not only was Stidham flushed from the pocket often, but the line failed to improve its run blocking. Although Kam Martin (90 yards on 24 carries) proved to be the most effective back after JaTarvious Whitlow exited the game with a shoulder injury in the second quarter, three sacks on Stidham buried Auburn beneath the 100-yard mark on the ground in back-to-back games for the first time since 2012.
“Offensively, I think the big thing is that we had trouble protecting,” Malzahn said postgame. “And at times I think it made things a little bit ugly. Running the football, once again we have to be more consistent.
“I am very proud of Kam Martin coming in. Boobee Whitlow had a little bit of an injury and wasn’t able to return. Kam Martin did a super job coming in.”
After grading out as one of Auburn’s top performers on the line last week, freshman Nick Brahms earned his second straight start at center over Kaleb Kim, who started Weeks 1-3. Brahms, along with guards Mike Horton and Marquel Harrell, remained intact, but tackles Prince Tega Wanogho and Jack Driscoll both went to the locker room with injuries in the fourth quarter.
At first, Auburn slid redshirt freshman Austin Troxell in at right tackle to replace Driscoll. The ride side of the line was bulldozed on Troxell’s first play for a sack. Redshirt freshman Calvin Ashley then manned that slot for the remainder of the game.
Tega Wanogho was replaced by Bailey Sharp, who was out-leveraged by Southern Miss’ Jacques Turner on a strip-sack with under six minutes to go. The Golden Eagles took over at midfield, down 21-13. Freshman defensive back Christian Tutt bailed out the offense with his first career interception two plays later.
“Growing pains,” Stidham said of the reason for the line’s struggles. “Especially when you have guys that go down. It's just part of playing football. We're going to have to find a way to get better. We just wanted to come out and execute. I thought we did some things really well and some things that we've obviously got to fix.”
Malzahn and players provided no further updates on the statuses of Tega Wanogho, Driscoll or Whitlow.
Malzahn also experimented with multiple looks in the backfield. In addition to leaning on Martin in the second half, Chip Lindsey’s offense relied on the services of Malik Miller, an injury-prone junior known mostly for his ability to pass-protect.
Miller blocked well and sprung free in the passing game, catching a screen and bouncing off Southern Miss defenders for a 30-yard gain on his first touch since Week 2.
Lindsey also continued to utilize freshman receiver Anthony Schwartz in the eye-candy aspect of his offense on motions and sweeps. Schwartz scored from 6 yards out in the second quarter for the team’s lone rushing touchdown.
“Obviously, I think we still didn’t play our best game,” junior receiver Darius Slayton said. “We had some execution errors in there, but we got the win.”
Auburn plays the second of three Mississippi schools on its schedule next Saturday at Mississippi State, which lost 13-6 Saturday night to former head coach Dan Mullen and Florida. The Tigers’ struggling offense will have its hands full with a pair of preseason All-SEC picks — Jeffery Simmons and Montez Sweat — along the Miss State defensive line.
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Nathan King, senior in journalism with a minor in business, is The Plainsman's sports editor.
