aubiefifty 18,231 Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 Auburn Football Auburn ‘about as bad’ as imaginable on offense in loss to Georgia Updated Oct 03, 2020; Posted Oct 03, 2020 Georgia defenders Nolan Smith, Jordan Davis and Malik Herring, from left, take down Auburn quarterback Bo Nix for no gain during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020, in Athens, Ga. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)AP By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com Auburn’s seventh straight loss between the hedges had all the characteristics of the team’s most disappointing offensive performances in recent years rolled up into one. In losing to No. 4 Georgia, 27-6, Saturday night in Athens, Ga., No. 7 Auburn had its worst offensive output since 2017 and was held out of the end zone for the first time in two years. The Tigers totaled just 216 yards of offense against the Bulldogs—their worst effort since being limited to 117 in a loss at Clemson in Week 2 of the 2017 season—and failed to score a touchdown for the first time since a disheartening 23-9 loss at Mississippi State in 2018. If last week’s performance in a win against Kentucky laid the foundation for first-year offensive coordinator Chad Morris, Saturday’s showing in Sanford Stadium against an elite Georgia defense revealed some unnerving cracks in that foundation. “Sometimes you just have to man up and you’ve got to see it like it was,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “… They got after us.” Instant analysis: Auburn "whipped" by rival Georgia Auburn’s offense was out of sync from the start, drawing back-to-back false starts before its first official snap on that side of the ball. It was an ominous beginning to a nightmare of a night for the Tigers' offense, which failed to establish any semblance of a running game while losing the battle at the line of scrimmage and saw another uneven road performance from sophomore quarterback Bo Nix. By the time Georgia built its 24-3 halftime lead, Auburn mustered just 81 yards of offense and ran only 11 plays in Bulldogs territory. “They were the better team,” Malzahn said. “…. It’s tough to get behind a team like this defensively, and that’s what we did, and they made us one-dimensional.” Auburn rushed for just 39 total yards—its worst rushing performance in a loss since being held to 38 yards on the ground in that 2017 trip to Clemson—with freshman Tank Bigsby providing the lone bright spot in that regard. The former four-star prospect and the gem of the Tigers' 2020 class made his first career start in place of a banged-up Shaun Shivers, finishing with 31 yards on eight attempts while also finishing the night as Auburn’s leading receiver. The ineffective run game left Auburn reliant on its passing attack, especially in the second half. Nix, who struggled on the road last season, didn’t fare much better in his first road start of 2020. The sophomore, fresh off an impressive debut last week, completed 21-of-41 passes for 177 yards and threw an interception on the final play of the third quarter, snapping a streak of 251 consecutive pass attempts without throwing a pick. He didn’t complete a pass to No. 1 receiver Seth Williams until the third quarter, and while the offense found more success in the second half, it stalled out time and time again, leaving the Tigers without much hope of mounting a comeback. “Any time you find yourself down 21 points, really that quickly in a game, is not a good way to start,” Nix said. “Really, we tried to come out in the second half and throw all our bullets at them…. We had some successful drives but just stalled.” Nix shouldered much of the blame for the offense’s struggles, calling many of his pass attempts “pitiful” while acknowledging that Georgia’s defense stepped up to the challenge. “They played about as good as they could play and we played about as bad as we could play,” Nix said. “We just got beat. That’s really all you can say about it.” Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barnacle 9,107 Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 Good for Nix for shouldering the blame. Still rooting for him. He's our only option at the position, so nothing else to do besides get behind him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicitytiger 281 Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 This is the type of game that triggers Gus to take over the offense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyAU 3,745 Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 Just for reference, Tank accounted for ~80% of Auburn's rushing yds and almost 40% of Auburn's receiving yards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowebb11 9,871 Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 55 minutes ago, Barnacle said: Good for Nix for shouldering the blame. Still rooting for him. He's our only option at the position, so nothing else to do besides get behind him. I’m rooting for him too, but after last night if I were coach every position on the team would be open for competition, including his. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
japantiger 4,117 Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 18 minutes ago, Gowebb11 said: I’m rooting for him too, but after last night if I were coach every position on the team would be open for competition, including his. We know that's not gonna happen. Nix never had to earn the job...apparently it's a hereditary position. This was never a game. When you can't even run a play without getting a penalty; correction; two plays!!! without going back 10 yards on your opening possession; you're simply not prepared to play ball. Same old crap...8 years now...another loss to a team you have to beat. Gus is Kirby's bitch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shabby 2,040 Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 The offense looks slow. I still am baffled why there was so little urgency to line up and snap the ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen66 53 Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 Look at what Lashlee is doing at Miami. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barnacle 9,107 Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 2 hours ago, Gowebb11 said: I’m rooting for him too, but after last night if I were coach every position on the team would be open for competition, including his. That's fine, but who on our roster will compete? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurfMonster 5 Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 I think UGA laid bare some of our biggest flaws. I am afraid they will not be the last team on our schedule to do it. I just hope and pray we get this figured out because if we get blown out by Alabama the decent is going to be very deep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aucanucktiger 1,889 Posted October 5, 2020 Share Posted October 5, 2020 Dont let me get in the way of these downer freight train threads but the pitch forks & torches crowd are outdoing themselves after this loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Win4AU 4,182 Posted October 5, 2020 Share Posted October 5, 2020 12 hours ago, johnnyAU said: Just for reference, Tank accounted for ~80% of Auburn's rushing yds and almost 40% of Auburn's receiving yards. Too bad he only got 8 attempts. I know the Oline was struggling but you’ve got to keep the defense honest with at least the possibility of a running game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PigskinPat 2,610 Posted October 5, 2020 Share Posted October 5, 2020 12 minutes ago, aucanucktiger said: Dont let me get in the way of these downer freight train threads but the pitch forks & torches crowd are outdoing themselves after this loss. I don’t mean this sarcastically, but were you able to come away from this game with any positives? If so, what are your top 5 takeaways from this game? The only one I have is the potential of Tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAYLORKEETON 845 Posted October 5, 2020 Share Posted October 5, 2020 8 minutes ago, PigskinPat said: I don’t mean this sarcastically, but were you able to come away from this game with any positives? If so, what are your top 5 takeaways from this game? The only one I have is the potential of Tank. Yep. Only two positives IMO. Tank. JJ Peages. Tank is a tank, I saw why he was so highly touted. JJ is an athletic freak at 300 & looked quick hitting the holes when he ran wildcat (he should stay the wildcat QB IMO). I know he’s 300 but just imagine him at 275. Love the potential of these two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdburger 37 Posted October 5, 2020 Share Posted October 5, 2020 13 hours ago, musicitytiger said: This is the type of game that triggers Gus to take over the offense. Yep, but Gus and his coaches are the problem. We have good players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PigskinPat 2,610 Posted October 5, 2020 Share Posted October 5, 2020 49 minutes ago, TAYLORKEETON said: Yep. Only two positives IMO. Tank. JJ Peages. Tank is a tank, I saw why he was so highly touted. JJ is an athletic freak at 300 & looked quick hitting the holes when he ran wildcat (he should stay the wildcat QB IMO). I know he’s 300 but just imagine him at 275. Love the potential of these two. JJ was definitely another bright spot last night. I've never seen someone his size move like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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