This week's edition is behind a little. I apologize. We had National Guard drill this weekend (on veterans appreciation weekend at Ole Miss, no less) and I had to play catch up all day today, so I just got finished watching the Auburn tape.
Offense
448 rushing yards in an SEC West game! Against Auburn! WOW! Jayden Williams really seems to be growing into the LT position. He was very physical on the run blocking this week. The same can be said for Micah Pettus. Both are freshmen too. I liked the influence blocking and false keys we gave to the AU DL and linebackers throughout the game. We kept them guessing, leading to Auburn playing slow and unsure, which led to 448.
I know his brother's antics and some untimely drops give most pause, but Casey Kelly deserves a shout-out. When other TE's are hurt, he is there. He plays hard. He plays hurt. He blocks pretty well. He had a timely catch Saturday. Glad to have him on the team, on scholarship, consistently contributing.
One week after setting a school record for reception yards in a game, Mingo had no receptions Saturday. I counted 3 targets, one of which was intercepted after he bobbled it. He was open on 1 of the others but the QB was late getting the ball there. The 3rd was forced and should have been intercepted. We have to get consistent production out of him moving forward. 8-10 targets with 6-8 receptions is the neighborhood of ideal, in my mind. The same can be said for Malik Heath. He did not have a catch either. Dayton Wade played well. His continued development would be huge down the stretch. I loved his route on the TD. He turned the DB completely around. Watkins is rounding into a solid performer for us in the slot that we really need to make the defense defend all quadrants of the field.
Dart had a solid game running the ball. He is reading the RPO/RRO really well right now. He is improving as a runner weekly. I liked the under-center package we seem to be building. Do you think the staff read my Tulsa game assessment? I am still concerned about his vision, as he was late on several throws that resulted in incompletions. He doesn't seem to get past his primary target very often in his progression and wants to force it when it isn't there. The int should have been thrown at Mingo's feet as Auburn had it covered. The forced throw to Mingo in the endzone should have been picked. He made a great read on the RPO TD throw to Evans. 9/19/130 won Saturday, but that won't hunt in the games we have coming up. We will need 200+ yards through the air per game down the stretch to take pressure off the run game.
What can I say about Evans and Judkins that hasn't been said? We have the best 1-2 RB punch in the country. They run hard behind their pads with great vision, they catch the ball out of the backfield, and they complement each other well. I wouldn't trade our 2 for anybody else's. As long as they both stay healthy, we can be in every game.
Defense
I am going to talk about the DL and LB's in one paragraph this week, because they both got bloodied a little bit, especially when Auburn went 11 and 12 personnel, both in the gun and under center. We have got to show that we can play physical on the LOS, starting this weekend at LSU, or we will get a weekly dose of smash mouth until we do. Ivey and Robinson played pretty well, but we really need to get Cedric Johnson back. He is a difference-maker.
JJ did not have a particularly good game. He was too high several times, resulting in being steered out by AU. Not sure about that. Going against former brothers is handled differently by everyone. KD got whipped several times as well. Troy Brown was steady, but not spectacular. Sistrunk made 7 tackles, but plays too high, doesn't shed blocks particularly well, and doesn't take good angles often. Keys only had 3 tackles. Coleman is still not back to form. The bottom line, we gave up 300 yards on the ground to a team that wasn't a huge passing threat and our 2 leading tacklers were DBs, which means AU RBs were in the secondary too much. That has to improve, as I am sure LSU will check our oil early and often.
Reese led the team in tackles and played a lot of snaps but he also blew the coverage on the big 3rd down pass play down the sideline with us up 21-0 that let them back in the game. Did Washington even play? Finley was 2nd in tackles and had a big play Int. That was a tremendous effort on his part. Young was not as active in this game as in past games. Not sure about that. That dude is a baller. Tennison had 7 tackles but missed a couple of tackles that were huge, namely on Bigsby's TD run to start 3rd. He has to make that play for a 2 yard gain instead of a 50-yard TD.
Bottom line on the defense, we have GOT to get off of blocks AND tackle better. Missed tackles everywhere. We will see more of the same from LSU this weekend. They will line up and try to bloody our nose. We have got to play with better technique, better pad leverage, and tackle with better fundamentals than we have the last couple of games.
Special Teams
Cruz has just been MONEY all season. What a great get he has turned out to be. That onside kick was executed perfectly. Big momentum changer. Gutty call by the coaching staff, even though Auburn's alignment seemed to invite it. Masin punted twice with no return yards given up. Hard to top that.
Offense
448 rushing yards in an SEC West game! Against Auburn! WOW! Jayden Williams really seems to be growing into the LT position. He was very physical on the run blocking this week. The same can be said for Micah Pettus. Both are freshmen too. I liked the influence blocking and false keys we gave to the AU DL and linebackers throughout the game. We kept them guessing, leading to Auburn playing slow and unsure, which led to 448.
I know his brother's antics and some untimely drops give most pause, but Casey Kelly deserves a shout-out. When other TE's are hurt, he is there. He plays hard. He plays hurt. He blocks pretty well. He had a timely catch Saturday. Glad to have him on the team, on scholarship, consistently contributing.
One week after setting a school record for reception yards in a game, Mingo had no receptions Saturday. I counted 3 targets, one of which was intercepted after he bobbled it. He was open on 1 of the others but the QB was late getting the ball there. The 3rd was forced and should have been intercepted. We have to get consistent production out of him moving forward. 8-10 targets with 6-8 receptions is the neighborhood of ideal, in my mind. The same can be said for Malik Heath. He did not have a catch either. Dayton Wade played well. His continued development would be huge down the stretch. I loved his route on the TD. He turned the DB completely around. Watkins is rounding into a solid performer for us in the slot that we really need to make the defense defend all quadrants of the field.
Dart had a solid game running the ball. He is reading the RPO/RRO really well right now. He is improving as a runner weekly. I liked the under-center package we seem to be building. Do you think the staff read my Tulsa game assessment? I am still concerned about his vision, as he was late on several throws that resulted in incompletions. He doesn't seem to get past his primary target very often in his progression and wants to force it when it isn't there. The int should have been thrown at Mingo's feet as Auburn had it covered. The forced throw to Mingo in the endzone should have been picked. He made a great read on the RPO TD throw to Evans. 9/19/130 won Saturday, but that won't hunt in the games we have coming up. We will need 200+ yards through the air per game down the stretch to take pressure off the run game.
What can I say about Evans and Judkins that hasn't been said? We have the best 1-2 RB punch in the country. They run hard behind their pads with great vision, they catch the ball out of the backfield, and they complement each other well. I wouldn't trade our 2 for anybody else's. As long as they both stay healthy, we can be in every game.
Defense
I am going to talk about the DL and LB's in one paragraph this week, because they both got bloodied a little bit, especially when Auburn went 11 and 12 personnel, both in the gun and under center. We have got to show that we can play physical on the LOS, starting this weekend at LSU, or we will get a weekly dose of smash mouth until we do. Ivey and Robinson played pretty well, but we really need to get Cedric Johnson back. He is a difference-maker.
JJ did not have a particularly good game. He was too high several times, resulting in being steered out by AU. Not sure about that. Going against former brothers is handled differently by everyone. KD got whipped several times as well. Troy Brown was steady, but not spectacular. Sistrunk made 7 tackles, but plays too high, doesn't shed blocks particularly well, and doesn't take good angles often. Keys only had 3 tackles. Coleman is still not back to form. The bottom line, we gave up 300 yards on the ground to a team that wasn't a huge passing threat and our 2 leading tacklers were DBs, which means AU RBs were in the secondary too much. That has to improve, as I am sure LSU will check our oil early and often.
Reese led the team in tackles and played a lot of snaps but he also blew the coverage on the big 3rd down pass play down the sideline with us up 21-0 that let them back in the game. Did Washington even play? Finley was 2nd in tackles and had a big play Int. That was a tremendous effort on his part. Young was not as active in this game as in past games. Not sure about that. That dude is a baller. Tennison had 7 tackles but missed a couple of tackles that were huge, namely on Bigsby's TD run to start 3rd. He has to make that play for a 2 yard gain instead of a 50-yard TD.
Bottom line on the defense, we have GOT to get off of blocks AND tackle better. Missed tackles everywhere. We will see more of the same from LSU this weekend. They will line up and try to bloody our nose. We have got to play with better technique, better pad leverage, and tackle with better fundamentals than we have the last couple of games.
Special Teams
Cruz has just been MONEY all season. What a great get he has turned out to be. That onside kick was executed perfectly. Big momentum changer. Gutty call by the coaching staff, even though Auburn's alignment seemed to invite it. Masin punted twice with no return yards given up. Hard to top that.
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