Auburn was blown out by No. 1 Alabama 52-21 in what was a disappointing end to a disappointing season.
The game played out in a way that Auburn fans are used to by now. The game was close at halftime, then Auburn’s offense lost what little success it had and the defense could no longer contain Alabama’s historically great offense.
As has been said before, this Auburn team could never find an offensive identity. Last year’s Auburn team ran Kerryon Johnson over and over to open up the passing game. Johnson was a special player, and was able to make plays where 99 percent of players could not.
Last year’s offense was not perfect, and many fans could tell you that when the offense was not working, it was ugly. It was a heavily flawed system that had the benefit of a special player covering up most of those flaws. In the games where Johnson was not 100 percent against high-level competition, the offense stalled and performed poorly.
The point in looking at the past is to identify what works for Malzahn offenses and what does not. This year has been a clinic of what does not work, so it’s easy to forget just how good a Malzahn offense can be. The key to a Malzahn offense is misdirection and speed — keeping the defense off balance and forcing them to have figure out what is happening between one of several options.
On this play, fullback Chandler Cox goes in motion right before the snap. He runs to be in front of Auburn receiver Ryan Davis. The Alabama defense knows that Davis is commonly thrown screen passes due to his ability in the open field.
As a result of this motion, both middle linebackers take their attention away from the ball and shift over, and the strong safety also shifts up. Alabama’s defense is worried about the screen, and that lets Auburn take them by surprise when Stidham hands the ball off.
Stidham also fakes a read option on the play. Stidham acting like he’s making the read for the read-option forces the strong side defensive end and the inside linebacker to wait instead of committing to chasing the play. On misdirection alone, three of the defense's important run stoppers have been taken out of the play despite not actually being blocked.
It is also worth noting that Auburn guard Mike Horton does a textbook job of blocking up to the linebacker on this play. Alabama’s weakside inside linebacker is one of the few players to read the play correctly. Horton helps with the defensive tackle, then delivers a perfect block on the linebacker in order to free up running back Jatarvious Whitlow.
The free safety is the first player even able to make a play, and that comes after an 8-yard gain.
The problem is that the defense eventually figures out something. The defense realizes that Stidham rarely, if ever, actually pulls the ball and runs it. Once the defense stops worrying about the threat of the quarterback run, the things the defense’s front seven have to worry about is reduced, and they key in on stopping the run.
On this play, later in the first quarter, the defense is not at all concerned about Stidham running the ball. Both inside linebackers go to fill their run gaps, and the defensive end that should be worried about Stidham instead serves as contain and collapses the bounce-out lane.
The defense not being the slightest bit paused by the threat of a quarterback run is what hurts a Malzahn offense ability to run the ball. In fact, a few plays later, the offense would utilize having a runner lined up as a quarterback.
On this play, Auburn lines up in the Wildcat with running back Whitlow. Speedy receiver Anthony Schwartz comes in motion and serves more or less as the running back on this play — even though the defense knows that Auburn will not be passing the ball.
The defense does not know how the ball is going to be run. They know it can be run one of two ways, and because of this the front seven cannot commit to a direction. The motion on the play allows Schwartz to get a running start, and by the time he touches the ball, he is already near top speed.
The defense is flat footed, and by the time they realize Schwartz has the ball, it is too late. Schwartz gets the edge and scores a touchdown. This shows how effective running the ball can be when the front seven have to worry about who is carrying the ball.
On almost every play that Stidham hands the ball off, he fakes pulling it and runs. Eventually, the defense keys in on the fact that it is just a fake and stops caring. In an offense that is designed around option plays and keeping the defense off balance, taking away one of those options does not seem to make sense. For whatever reason, Auburn has rarely utilized Stidham as a runner.
Auburn’s next touchdown came from a double pass and was thrown by receiver Ryan Davis. This play begins with one of variation of the screen to Davis, with Cox in motion. The reason this play works is that the running back is designed to catch the pass, not a receiver.
Corners and safeties are often reacting to the receiver, so they will not be fooled by a fake screen. You can see that on the right side of the field, Davis runs a route and the corner stays with him. However, he runs his route across the field in order to make sure that the corner is taken out of the play.
Auburn running back Malik Miller stays at the line of scrimmage for a second before taking off. He gets lost in the shuffle of the defensive linemen and linebackers and winds up uncovered. It is no fluke or mistake by the defense that Miller is so open. It was a result of excellent play design and misdirection and was one of the last bright spots in the game for the Tigers.
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