Coming off a disappointing loss to Texas A&M, Auburn was looking to bounce back. All was going well, the score was 28-3 and it looked like it was going to be a blowout. That narrative was quickly flipped as Mississippi State scored 40 unanswered points to upset Auburn at home. How did it happen?
Offense
Auburn bolted out of the gate in the beginning as Bo Nix darts a throw over the middle to Shedrick Jackson. This was a perfect start to the game, as in the past Auburn ran the ball a lot of first down. Jacksons route was just a simple slant over the middle. Nix received the protection he needed as the Tigers marched their way across midfield to start the game.
In the first half, Auburn had committed to establish the run and was getting success out of it. That seems to be one of, if not the biggest, abandonments in the second half. The offensive line looks to be zone blocking on this pay. Pushing whoever you come across first in your area. Tank Bigsby does a great job of bouncing off defenders to get the first down.
With the ball just over the 50-yard line, Auburn continues to exploit the Mississippi State defense. This time Jarquez Hunter is able to jolt for the first down. This blocking scheme by the offensive line seemed to work every time in the first half. Pushing defenders in a diagonal way, which trapped the defense in sort of a maze. If a defender broke of their block there is a good chance they run into another. Hunter shows great vision on this play too.
Deep in the red zone, Auburn is looking to get its third touchdown of the game. Nix fakes the handoff to Hunter, which is believable with how the run game had been so far. This keeps the linebackers locked in the middle as Nix rolls out to the right. He has plenty of room to see a wide open Luke Deal in the back of the end zone. This tight end crossing route seems to be a favorite of the offense lately.
As we fast forward to the fourth quarter, Auburn is spinning out of control and trying to get back into the game. Hindsight is 20-20, so we know that Nix was playing through his injury at this point and time. Nonetheless, this seems even more the reason to continue what worked in the first half. It is third-and-10, running the ball did not seem to be in the playbook. Nix receives good protection but slings the ball a little high to Demetris Robertson. The ball looked catchable from a spectators view and you have to make those catches on important third downs.
This last play does not impact the game drastically, but it is a good example of the season growth of Kobe Hudson. Hudson continues to show he could end the season as Auburn's go-to guy. Again, this offensive line continues to show it can pass block effectively giving Nix time to throw. Hudson has come across the field towards the sideline and catches a perfectly-timed throw by Nix. This was a beautiful play and a glimpse of the first-half performance. Consistency seems to play a big part in their offensive issues.
Defense
Facing Mississippi State’s explosive air-raid offense, Auburn’s defensive approach was to mostly play press-man coverage with one or two high safeties and a three or four man pass rush. For the first quarter and a half, this was a smart gameplan as it allowed the Tigers to drop seven or eight defenders in pass coverage and limit explosive plays down the field. Before Mike Leach made his adjustments, the cornerbacks were forcing the Bulldogs’ receivers outside. This play is a perfect example of this, with both cornerbacks getting inside leverage and forcing the receivers to hug the sideline and catch what would have to be a perfect pass with not much room to stay inbounds. Prior to the drive where State scored their first touchdown with 1:55 left in the second quarter, it had gained 62 yards on 23 plays, or around 2.7 yards per play.
The sheer number of defenders in the middle of the field also kept the running back check down at bay and forced quarterback Will Rogers to make tough throws. On this play, Auburn keeps three defenders within, or just at, the hashmarks and near the line to gain. The running back runs a delayed route out of the backfield to serve as the check down but doesn’t get far enough outside of the right hashmark to create enough space. Because of this, the linebackers can quickly rally and stop him for a short gain on third-and-11, which forces the field goal attempt.
This is where the wheels started to come off for Auburn’s defense. To open up that compressed block of defenders sitting in the middle of the field, Mike Leach takes advantage of the man coverage and aggressive nature of Auburn’s defense by utilizing motions. Here, State motions a receiver out of the backfield for what looks like a bubble screen. Smoke Monday tries to be aggressive and get to the flat quickly, but he also leaves a wide-open lane for the other receiver to make an easy catch. Once defensive coordinator Derek Mason showed that he was sticking with man coverage, it was inevitable that State was going to create confusion this way.
Later on in the same drive, another Mississippi State adjustment becomes evident. Prior to this, the Bulldogs’ running backs were not getting closer to the numbers than the hashmarks on their delayed checkdown routes. Here, you can see the running back get more into the flat on his route, and that extra bit of separation from the linebackers in the middle of the field allows him to reach top speed, which results in a big gain on third-and-6. While there was a block in the back that forced State to replay the down, it was evidence that Leach and company were making the necessary adjustments to beat Auburn’s scheme.
For most of the game, Auburn utilized only three defenders in the pass rush. This is beneficial at the start of the game, so you can free up a defender or two to contribute to coverage, but eventually the opposing offense will adjust and you must respond accordingly. Mississippi State has an excellent offensive line when it comes to pass blocking, and only rushing three defenders allows Will Rogers to sit back and find an open receiver once the coverage eventually breaks down. Here, that lack of pass rush burns Auburn, as Rogers has over six seconds to pick a pass.
While this was a theme throughout the second half, this play was chosen because it is most symbolic of the defensive collapse. Against a spread or air-raid offense, pursuit angles and solid tackling are of the utmost importance, since air-raid offenses excel at attacking space. After allowing 26 unanswered points, the defense has a massive opportunity on the first-down run play after an obvious breakdown in State’s blocking scheme. This should be a gain of only one yard. Instead, a lack of awareness, some bad pursuit angles and a wild diving tackle attempt from the cornerback allows a 25-yard run. This ultimately leads to another Bulldog touchdown and in retrospect, puts the game out of reach.
By continuing to play man coverage and rush only three or four defenders each play made the unit predictable, and while Leach may seem like a mad scientist careening from one ill-fated experiment to the next, he is the godfather of the air-raid offense and is an expert at making little tweaks based on what the defense gives him.
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