Grading Auburn’s 24-16 win

[aubiefifty 18,248]

Grading Auburn’s 24-16 win against San Jose State

Published: Sep. 11, 2022, 6:50 a.m.

6-8 minutes

---

Auburn survived a scare in Week 2, overcoming a slow start and a halftime deficit to defeat San Jose State on Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

The Tigers navigated two first-quarter turnovers, some breakdowns in coverage and a three-point deficit at halftime before taking command in the second half against the Spartans, coming away with a 24-16 victory on a Saturday when several other favorites couldn’t say the same. It wasn’t always pretty, but Auburn is 2-0 heading into its marquee nonconference showdown with Penn State next weekend.

Read more Auburn football: Instant analysis: Auburn avoids scare against San Jose State, pulls away late

What Brent Brennan, SJSU players said after losing to Auburn

T.J. Finley starts at QB despite last-minute depth chart tweak

Before the Tigers turn the page to the Nittany Lions, though, let’s take a look at how they fared against the Spartans. Here are AL.com’s position-by-position grades for Saturday’s win:

Quarterback: B-

It was a rough start for Auburn’s quarterbacks, with T.J. Finley and Robby Ashford combining to complete just 2-of-7 passes for 10 yards and two interceptions in the first quarter. Finley in particular settled in after his interception to end the opening period, completing 12 of his final 15 pass attempts on the night for 162 yards while leading all four of Auburn’s scoring drives. He also put SJSU away with his first rushing touchdown of the season early in the fourth quarter, on a drive that was sparked by a 30-yard run by Ashford. Finley certainly seems like the best choice to start at quarterback through two weeks, but Ashford has shown he can still provide some flashes in certain situations.

Running back: B

Auburn’s rushing attack had a difficult time getting things going in the first half, especially early on, with 21 yards on six attempts in the first quarter. Jarquez Hunter scored Auburn’s first touchdown of the night, giving him four on the season, and Tank Bigsby set the tone in the second half. He had five carries for 53 yards and a touchdown, as well as an 11-yard reception to convert a fourth down in the third quarter alone, as Auburn seized control of the game after halftime. Freshman Damari Alston also provided some oomph to the offense, with a 35-yard run. The numbers weren’t as flashy as last week, but Auburn’s running backs got the job done when they were needed against SJSU.

Wide receiver: C

It was a quiet night for Auburn’s wide receivers — and the passing game as a whole, with the wideouts accounting for just six of the team’s 14 completions. Bigsby led the team with four receptions, but Ja’Varrius Johnson again led the team in receiving yards (41), and he came up with a big 24-yard gain early in the fourth quarter to set up Finley’s touchdown run.

Tight end: C

John Samuel Shenker is often referred to as “Ol’ Reliable” for a reason—he was just that against SJSU. He finished with three receptions for 39 yards, with two of his catches producing first downs. One of those was a key fourth-down conversion on a pass from Finley during Auburn’s first scoring drive. The other was a 20-yard reception on that same drive, setting up Hunter’s touchdown. Although he made some key plays in the passing game, Shenker was also flagged for three penalties—a block below the waist, a block in the back and a holding call.

Offensive line: B-

Auburn’s offense struggled to get a push early on against an experienced San Jose State defensive front, but the Tigers managed to finish the game averaging 5.5 yards per rushing attempt. The unit also allowed just one sack — a 3-yard loss late in the fourth quarter as Auburn was trying to salt away the game. Auburn’s offensive line also accounted for two false starts and a holding penalty on a night in which the Tigers committed nine penalties for 86 yards.

Defensive line: A

Auburn’s defensive line was stout against San Jose State, coming up with a pair of sacks and five tackles for loss, as well as five hurries. The unit was particularly effective against the run, as the Spartans finished the game with just 54 rushing yards while averaging 1.9 yards per attempt. Edge defender Derick Hall led the team with eight tackles, while Marcus Harris had three tackles for loss, including two key stops during a crucial goal-line stand.

Linebackers: B

Owen Pappoe shook off the rust from last week and finished with seven tackles against San Jose State, while Cam Riley and Wes Steiner had five tackles apiece. The linebacker corps was key in helping the defense limit San Jose State in the run game.

Defensive backs: C

Auburn’s secondary again left Bryan Harsin wanting for more in Week 2. The Tigers allowed Spartans quarterback Chevan Cordeiro to complete 60 percent of his passes for 275 yards—the most allowed by Auburn against a non-Power 5 team since 2015—and saw the Hawaii transfer complete seven passes of at least 15 yards. That included five completions of 20 yards or more, as there were some busted coverages and other lapses on the back end. The secondary was also flagged for two defensive pass interference calls on the same drive, which aided SJSU in its go-ahead scoring drive just before halftime.

Special teams: A

Harsin noted that special teams wasn’t exactly a factor against San Jose State, but some credit here to Anders Carlson, who connected on his first field goal attempt post-ACL surgery. The sixth-year senior drilled a 45-yarder for his first of the season. He was also 3-for-3 on extra-point attempts. Keionte Scott had a big 22-yard punt return, which helped lead to Carlson’s field goal attempt. Oscar Chapman averaged 43.3 yards on three punts, pinning one of them at the SJSU 5-yard line.

Coaches: C

Harsin said as much himself after the game: He needs to do a better job of coaching and making sure his team plays a cleaner game — fewer turnovers, fewer penalties and just better execution from start to finish. Although Auburn stumbled out of the gate, credit to Harsin and Eric Kiesau for keeping it simple after halftime and looking to establish the run with Bigsby. That opening drive of the third quarter eased some of those first-half concerns. Still, Harsin and his staff must do better next week, when the competition levels up with Penn State coming to town.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

[80Tiger 907]

Pretty generous grades. With 2 picks and extremely poor 1st half play would give the QB a C grade. I think the DL was more B to B+. Not sure anyone deserved an A

[weagl1 1,809]

I give the QBs a D, the O line a D, the TE a D because of Shenker’s stupid penalties, and the DB’s a D.  The D line did a good job but couldn’t get off the field because of the terrible job by the DB’s.  

[Sizzle 3,948]

Those grades are generous as hell.

The QB’s get no higher than a D+ in my grades. 

The RB’s I’ll give a B+

WR’s didn't get too many chances but I’d give a C-

The DL I’d give a B-

The LB’s a C+

The DB’s a D-

Special teams A

Tight ends D+

OL, B-

Coaches D

(that unnecessary and untimely QB switching was killing drives)

 

Edited September 11, 2022 by Sizzle

[TexasTiger 14,303]

1 hour ago, Sizzle said:

Those grades are generous as hell.

The QB’s get no higher than a D+ in my grades. 

The RB’s I’ll give a B+

WR’s didn't get too many chances but I’d give a C-

The DL I’d give a B-

The LB’s a C+

The DB’s a D-

Special teams A

Tight ends D+

OL, B-

Coaches D

(that unnecessary and untimely QB switching was killing drives)

 

Why a B- for DL? What stat line warrants that?

[shabby 2,040]

I'll have what your smoking Aubiefifty

It was a competition with a team that was vastly inferior in talent. This  had Georgia State 2021 all over it though slightly better. And your grading had all A's, B's, and a couple of C's?

uhm ok.

Quarterback: C-

Could have been better but Harsin never let either get in rhythm

 

 

Running back: A-

Considering the line got zero push and created few openings I think the backs did pretty damn well

Wide receiver: C

.

Tight end: F

Just ugly

Offensive line: D-

once again no push, no holes, and adequate pass blocking

Defensive line: B+

 

Linebackers: B

 

Defensive backs: D

 

Special teams: B

 

Coaches: D-

Was waiting for the return of  the Whirlybird.  If you are gonna rotate qb's put them in for the entire series. 

[JMassie11 1,660]

People really need to take a step back and look at the “why” it was a massive struggle. We had 1 first down the entire first quarter and was a direct result of penalties #1 and the obvious 2 ints. One was a great play and the other a terrible pass. Offense was on the field for 5 minutes the entire first half

[AuCivilEng1 12,106]

I think the DB’s played the worst of any group, but I think a lot of that has to do with scheme. Maybe Schmed knows something we don’t, like if our corners play tight, they’re going to get smoked. But you gotta think, with a pass rush like we have, playing tight would clean up those trash yards people are getting on us. I dunno, I’m not a coach. It’s so frustrating to watch though.

Best group of the night was definitely the stable of running backs. We are so lucky to have Caddy and those 3 studs.

[TexasTiger 14,303]

8 minutes ago, shabby said:

I'll have what your smoking Aubiefifty

It was a competition with a team that was vastly inferior in talent. This  had Georgia State 2021 all over it though slightly better. And your grading had all A's, B's, and a couple of C's?

uhm ok.

Quarterback: C-

Could have been better but Harsin never let either get in rhythm

 

 

Running back: A-

Considering the line got zero push and created few openings I think the backs did pretty damn well

Wide receiver: C

.

Tight end: F

Just ugly

Offensive line: D-

once again no push, no holes, and adequate pass blocking

Defensive line: B+

 

Linebackers: B

 

Defensive backs: D

 

Special teams: B

 

Coaches: D-

Was waiting for the return of  the Whirlybird.  If you are gonna rotate qb's put them in for the entire series. 

Whatever you’re smoking is plenty powerful. Fifty didn’t write this.

[fredst 9,070]

6 minutes ago, AuCivilEng1 said:

I think the DB’s played the worst of any group, but I think a lot of that has to do with scheme. Maybe Schmed knows something we don’t, like if our corners play tight, they’re going to get smoked. But you gotta think, with a pass rush like we have, playing tight would clean up those trash yards people are getting on us. I dunno, I’m not a coach. It’s so frustrating to watch though.

Best group of the night was definitely the stable of running backs. We are so lucky to have Caddy and those 3 studs.

Would love to hear @bigbirdweigh in on this. A lot of the trash yards are scheme related, ie playing soft zone. Would love to see us mix it up with some press man which I haven’t seen much but admittedly have missed a lot of viewing  of the first two games. I do wish I saw more good plays on the ball; on at least two plays I did see last night our guys (Simpson, Kaufman)seemed to be perfectly “in phase” and in good shape to make a good play on the ball: one resulted in a catch by SJSU for a substantial gain and the other was broken up without a real attempt at trying to catch/intercept. I think some of the criticism of the secondary is undeserved but there are some areas we could do better.

[Sizzle 3,948]

34 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

Why a B- for DL? What stat line warrants that?

I have high expectations for this DL and it Just wasnt enough sacks/TFL’s for my taste against a supposed inferior opponent. They did good in the run game though

Edited September 11, 2022 by Sizzle

[Carnell 600]

3 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

Grading Auburn’s 24-16 win against San Jose State

Published: Sep. 11, 2022, 6:50 a.m.

6-8 minutes

---

Auburn survived a scare in Week 2, overcoming a slow start and a halftime deficit to defeat San Jose State on Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

The Tigers navigated two first-quarter turnovers, some breakdowns in coverage and a three-point deficit at halftime before taking command in the second half against the Spartans, coming away with a 24-16 victory on a Saturday when several other favorites couldn’t say the same. It wasn’t always pretty, but Auburn is 2-0 heading into its marquee nonconference showdown with Penn State next weekend.

Read more Auburn football: Instant analysis: Auburn avoids scare against San Jose State, pulls away late

What Brent Brennan, SJSU players said after losing to Auburn

T.J. Finley starts at QB despite last-minute depth chart tweak

Before the Tigers turn the page to the Nittany Lions, though, let’s take a look at how they fared against the Spartans. Here are AL.com’s position-by-position grades for Saturday’s win:

Quarterback: B-

It was a rough start for Auburn’s quarterbacks, with T.J. Finley and Robby Ashford combining to complete just 2-of-7 passes for 10 yards and two interceptions in the first quarter. Finley in particular settled in after his interception to end the opening period, completing 12 of his final 15 pass attempts on the night for 162 yards while leading all four of Auburn’s scoring drives. He also put SJSU away with his first rushing touchdown of the season early in the fourth quarter, on a drive that was sparked by a 30-yard run by Ashford. Finley certainly seems like the best choice to start at quarterback through two weeks, but Ashford has shown he can still provide some flashes in certain situations.

Running back: B

Auburn’s rushing attack had a difficult time getting things going in the first half, especially early on, with 21 yards on six attempts in the first quarter. Jarquez Hunter scored Auburn’s first touchdown of the night, giving him four on the season, and Tank Bigsby set the tone in the second half. He had five carries for 53 yards and a touchdown, as well as an 11-yard reception to convert a fourth down in the third quarter alone, as Auburn seized control of the game after halftime. Freshman Damari Alston also provided some oomph to the offense, with a 35-yard run. The numbers weren’t as flashy as last week, but Auburn’s running backs got the job done when they were needed against SJSU.

Wide receiver: C

It was a quiet night for Auburn’s wide receivers — and the passing game as a whole, with the wideouts accounting for just six of the team’s 14 completions. Bigsby led the team with four receptions, but Ja’Varrius Johnson again led the team in receiving yards (41), and he came up with a big 24-yard gain early in the fourth quarter to set up Finley’s touchdown run.

Tight end: C

John Samuel Shenker is often referred to as “Ol’ Reliable” for a reason—he was just that against SJSU. He finished with three receptions for 39 yards, with two of his catches producing first downs. One of those was a key fourth-down conversion on a pass from Finley during Auburn’s first scoring drive. The other was a 20-yard reception on that same drive, setting up Hunter’s touchdown. Although he made some key plays in the passing game, Shenker was also flagged for three penalties—a block below the waist, a block in the back and a holding call.

Offensive line: B-

Auburn’s offense struggled to get a push early on against an experienced San Jose State defensive front, but the Tigers managed to finish the game averaging 5.5 yards per rushing attempt. The unit also allowed just one sack — a 3-yard loss late in the fourth quarter as Auburn was trying to salt away the game. Auburn’s offensive line also accounted for two false starts and a holding penalty on a night in which the Tigers committed nine penalties for 86 yards.

Defensive line: A

Auburn’s defensive line was stout against San Jose State, coming up with a pair of sacks and five tackles for loss, as well as five hurries. The unit was particularly effective against the run, as the Spartans finished the game with just 54 rushing yards while averaging 1.9 yards per attempt. Edge defender Derick Hall led the team with eight tackles, while Marcus Harris had three tackles for loss, including two key stops during a crucial goal-line stand.

Linebackers: B

Owen Pappoe shook off the rust from last week and finished with seven tackles against San Jose State, while Cam Riley and Wes Steiner had five tackles apiece. The linebacker corps was key in helping the defense limit San Jose State in the run game.

Defensive backs: C

Auburn’s secondary again left Bryan Harsin wanting for more in Week 2. The Tigers allowed Spartans quarterback Chevan Cordeiro to complete 60 percent of his passes for 275 yards—the most allowed by Auburn against a non-Power 5 team since 2015—and saw the Hawaii transfer complete seven passes of at least 15 yards. That included five completions of 20 yards or more, as there were some busted coverages and other lapses on the back end. The secondary was also flagged for two defensive pass interference calls on the same drive, which aided SJSU in its go-ahead scoring drive just before halftime.

Special teams: A

Harsin noted that special teams wasn’t exactly a factor against San Jose State, but some credit here to Anders Carlson, who connected on his first field goal attempt post-ACL surgery. The sixth-year senior drilled a 45-yarder for his first of the season. He was also 3-for-3 on extra-point attempts. Keionte Scott had a big 22-yard punt return, which helped lead to Carlson’s field goal attempt. Oscar Chapman averaged 43.3 yards on three punts, pinning one of them at the SJSU 5-yard line.

Coaches: C

Harsin said as much himself after the game: He needs to do a better job of coaching and making sure his team plays a cleaner game — fewer turnovers, fewer penalties and just better execution from start to finish. Although Auburn stumbled out of the gate, credit to Harsin and Eric Kiesau for keeping it simple after halftime and looking to establish the run with Bigsby. That opening drive of the third quarter eased some of those first-half concerns. Still, Harsin and his staff must do better next week, when the competition levels up with Penn State coming to town.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

Agree Findley should be the starter.  He showed that bad plays and slow starts doesn't effect him like Ashford let's bad plays effect him, his reads and decision making seem to be improving even on his interception he made the correct read but the pass should have been more to the sideline than to the center of the field giving his receiver the only one that had a chance to catch the ball and RA appears more of an athlete playing QB than a dual threat QB.

Defensively oh where to start with that mess.  Leaving the center of the field wide open.  DBs being isolated on side of the field with a WR.  These coaches should know the DB should line up with his outside shoulder to the inside shoulder of the WR thus denying the WR the inside.  The line straight up to WR and the inside is wide open.  The DBs would continue to play back when blitzes were called, coaches didn't dequise the blitzes, on the fades DBs never looked for the balls.  While I never like the DC hire because he would never be able to recognize the schemes, sets, and shifts of big time college football and implement a defensive scheme, the above things I cited above is fundermental and these coaches can't even handle the fundermentals correctly.

[TexasTiger 14,303]

8 minutes ago, Sizzle said:

I have high expectations for this DL and it Just wasnt enough sacks/TFL’s for my taste against a supposed inferior opponent. They did good in the run game though

I expected more sacks, but they did have a quite a few hurries.

[aubiefifty 18,248]

47 minutes ago, shabby said:

I'll have what your smoking Aubiefifty

It was a competition with a team that was vastly inferior in talent. This  had Georgia State 2021 all over it though slightly better. And your grading had all A's, B's, and a couple of C's?

uhm ok.

Quarterback: C-

Could have been better but Harsin never let either get in rhythm

 

 

Running back: A-

Considering the line got zero push and created few openings I think the backs did pretty damn well

Wide receiver: C

.

Tight end: F

Just ugly

Offensive line: D-

once again no push, no holes, and adequate pass blocking

Defensive line: B+

 

Linebackers: B

 

Defensive backs: D

 

Special teams: B

 

Coaches: D-

Was waiting for the return of  the Whirlybird.  If you are gonna rotate qb's put them in for the entire series. 

you would be mistaken if you think  i did not hurt a little because we looked bad. i see posts like this and i am amazed people think i agree with what i post. not true. i post everything i can find even if i do not agree with the article. my job is to try and help the board. other people enjoy stats and that sort of thing but they do little for me. i do hope you enjoy my efforts.

[Sizzle 3,948]

11 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

I expected more sacks, but they did have a quite a few hurries.

With the way our DB’s look, hurries won’t be good enough we’re gone need some more sacks

[shabby 2,040]

1 minute ago, aubiefifty said:

you would be mistaken if you think  i did not hurt a little because we looked bad. i see posts like this and i am amazed people think i agree with what i post. not true. i post everything i can find even if i do not agree with the article. my job is to try and help the board. other people enjoy stats and that sort of thing but they do little for me. i do hope you enjoy my efforts.

Apologies

I thought this was you write up.

[aubiefifty 18,248]

1 minute ago, shabby said:

Apologies

I thought this was you write up.

i am not that smart my friend. i can barely copy and paste. no problems.........

 

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

I think the grades were a generous, but I don't think it was as bad as everyone here is thinking either. Truth is usually in the middle.

From my POV, Finley redeemed himself after the pick. Played very well. He just needs reps and avoid the costly throws. IF he can eliminate those 2-3 plays a game he will be plenty good enough for us to do well. I also love Ashford, but I don't think he is ready to be a full time starter. I don't mind him coming in and getting a couple series, but Harsin has to be careful with this.IT can ruin momentum. It can also give a huge spark. 

RBs I am perfectly fine with. All 3 look great and I think we have one of the better RB rooms in the conference.

WRs- Still a ways to go, but J Johnson just gets open. He is our go to guy right now. We need to continue to get better and WR will be fine.

TE- Shenker is solid, the penalties were awful. Have to clean that up.

OL- I thought the OL played pretty well. I expected SJSU to give us some trouble up front. They have a solid DL with plenty of bodies to rotate. I thought once we got some momentum going the OL performed well in both PB and RB.

DL- Solid performance entire game. Edges lost contain a couple times but that is going to happen with a mobile guy like their QB

LB- I need to rewatch but I think we had some missed tackles and bad fits at times but overall played decent.

DBS- I think some of this may be Scheme. I am not sure. I thought we were playing way to soft. I think Scott needs to be on the field as does James. They both are solid. Simpson played well. HAd some perfect throws beat perfect coverage a few times. 

Everybody just needs to chill. NExt week will give us a true gauge of where we are. The sky can fall or we can break out the NC banners. We will definitely know more by Saturday night than anyone thinks right now. 

his game was ugly wih penalties and TOs in first half, but we came out and got a win playing ugly. I will take that against any team. Ask Aggie fans. Ask Wisconsin. Ask ND. War Damn Eagle. Keep getting better boys.

[1716AU 791]

5 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

Grading Auburn’s 24-16 win against San Jose State

Published: Sep. 11, 2022, 6:50 a.m.

6-8 minutes

---

Auburn survived a scare in Week 2, overcoming a slow start and a halftime deficit to defeat San Jose State on Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

The Tigers navigated two first-quarter turnovers, some breakdowns in coverage and a three-point deficit at halftime before taking command in the second half against the Spartans, coming away with a 24-16 victory on a Saturday when several other favorites couldn’t say the same. It wasn’t always pretty, but Auburn is 2-0 heading into its marquee nonconference showdown with Penn State next weekend.

Read more Auburn football: Instant analysis: Auburn avoids scare against San Jose State, pulls away late

What Brent Brennan, SJSU players said after losing to Auburn

T.J. Finley starts at QB despite last-minute depth chart tweak

Before the Tigers turn the page to the Nittany Lions, though, let’s take a look at how they fared against the Spartans. Here are AL.com’s position-by-position grades for Saturday’s win:

Quarterback: B-

It was a rough start for Auburn’s quarterbacks, with T.J. Finley and Robby Ashford combining to complete just 2-of-7 passes for 10 yards and two interceptions in the first quarter. Finley in particular settled in after his interception to end the opening period, completing 12 of his final 15 pass attempts on the night for 162 yards while leading all four of Auburn’s scoring drives. He also put SJSU away with his first rushing touchdown of the season early in the fourth quarter, on a drive that was sparked by a 30-yard run by Ashford. Finley certainly seems like the best choice to start at quarterback through two weeks, but Ashford has shown he can still provide some flashes in certain situations.

Running back: B

Auburn’s rushing attack had a difficult time getting things going in the first half, especially early on, with 21 yards on six attempts in the first quarter. Jarquez Hunter scored Auburn’s first touchdown of the night, giving him four on the season, and Tank Bigsby set the tone in the second half. He had five carries for 53 yards and a touchdown, as well as an 11-yard reception to convert a fourth down in the third quarter alone, as Auburn seized control of the game after halftime. Freshman Damari Alston also provided some oomph to the offense, with a 35-yard run. The numbers weren’t as flashy as last week, but Auburn’s running backs got the job done when they were needed against SJSU.

Wide receiver: C

It was a quiet night for Auburn’s wide receivers — and the passing game as a whole, with the wideouts accounting for just six of the team’s 14 completions. Bigsby led the team with four receptions, but Ja’Varrius Johnson again led the team in receiving yards (41), and he came up with a big 24-yard gain early in the fourth quarter to set up Finley’s touchdown run.

Tight end: C

John Samuel Shenker is often referred to as “Ol’ Reliable” for a reason—he was just that against SJSU. He finished with three receptions for 39 yards, with two of his catches producing first downs. One of those was a key fourth-down conversion on a pass from Finley during Auburn’s first scoring drive. The other was a 20-yard reception on that same drive, setting up Hunter’s touchdown. Although he made some key plays in the passing game, Shenker was also flagged for three penalties—a block below the waist, a block in the back and a holding call.

Offensive line: B-

Auburn’s offense struggled to get a push early on against an experienced San Jose State defensive front, but the Tigers managed to finish the game averaging 5.5 yards per rushing attempt. The unit also allowed just one sack — a 3-yard loss late in the fourth quarter as Auburn was trying to salt away the game. Auburn’s offensive line also accounted for two false starts and a holding penalty on a night in which the Tigers committed nine penalties for 86 yards.

Defensive line: A

Auburn’s defensive line was stout against San Jose State, coming up with a pair of sacks and five tackles for loss, as well as five hurries. The unit was particularly effective against the run, as the Spartans finished the game with just 54 rushing yards while averaging 1.9 yards per attempt. Edge defender Derick Hall led the team with eight tackles, while Marcus Harris had three tackles for loss, including two key stops during a crucial goal-line stand.

Linebackers: B

Owen Pappoe shook off the rust from last week and finished with seven tackles against San Jose State, while Cam Riley and Wes Steiner had five tackles apiece. The linebacker corps was key in helping the defense limit San Jose State in the run game.

Defensive backs: C

Auburn’s secondary again left Bryan Harsin wanting for more in Week 2. The Tigers allowed Spartans quarterback Chevan Cordeiro to complete 60 percent of his passes for 275 yards—the most allowed by Auburn against a non-Power 5 team since 2015—and saw the Hawaii transfer complete seven passes of at least 15 yards. That included five completions of 20 yards or more, as there were some busted coverages and other lapses on the back end. The secondary was also flagged for two defensive pass interference calls on the same drive, which aided SJSU in its go-ahead scoring drive just before halftime.

Special teams: A

Harsin noted that special teams wasn’t exactly a factor against San Jose State, but some credit here to Anders Carlson, who connected on his first field goal attempt post-ACL surgery. The sixth-year senior drilled a 45-yarder for his first of the season. He was also 3-for-3 on extra-point attempts. Keionte Scott had a big 22-yard punt return, which helped lead to Carlson’s field goal attempt. Oscar Chapman averaged 43.3 yards on three punts, pinning one of them at the SJSU 5-yard line.

Coaches: C

Harsin said as much himself after the game: He needs to do a better job of coaching and making sure his team plays a cleaner game — fewer turnovers, fewer penalties and just better execution from start to finish. Although Auburn stumbled out of the gate, credit to Harsin and Eric Kiesau for keeping it simple after halftime and looking to establish the run with Bigsby. That opening drive of the third quarter eased some of those first-half concerns. Still, Harsin and his staff must do better next week, when the competition levels up with Penn State coming to town.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

Incredibly generous grades.

Especially the grade for coaching.

[SumterAubie 3,086]

Win A+

[au302 2,669]

QB- C. Awful start, but Finley played well the rest of the night. 

RB- B. Would be A if not for Jarquez'a boneheaded play at the end. They follow the scheme better this year. Can't get over Quez's mistake though. That's just poor coaching and falls on both Harsin and Cadillac.

WR-B. Hard to judge this group besides Var, who is really good. They at least seem to line up better and catch what hits them in the chest, so that's good I guess.

TE- F-. About as bad of a game as a TE can have from Shenker last night. Single handily destroyed our first two scripted drives. Deal with a weak drop. Just all around pitiful. Bedell needs to light them up today in meetings, as most of the issues were focus and poor discipline by Shenker and Deal. They can bounce back by locking in.

OL-C. Seemed to struggle in first half, but made holes in the second. The left side is definitely the better side, with Zierer being our best lineman. 

Offensive coaching: D. The first half was a **** show due to how disorganized we looked and dumb penalties by veteran leaders. However, according to Pink on On3 they switched things in the run game in the second half, going out of that single back set, which he says totally changed things and helped the OL out. 

DL- B. Very solid group in the run game. Have trouble getting home in the pass, but the SJSU and Mercer QB's are Nix-esque with escapability, and their OC's are combating Eku/Hall with quick passes. Good news here is that Joseph and Bragg seem solid, which is more than we expected.

LB- C-. Riley apparently got hurt and missed some tackles. Pappoe has simply been a major disappointment. He has never been great, but he is not good at MIKE. But in fairness to him that's not really his natural position either. Steiner played well though. I think he needs to push OP for that spot.

CB- C-. The scheme sucked, but we are also starting the wrong guys here. James and Scott are still inconsistent, but they are more talented than Simp/Pritch. If we switch that room up it can improve, but I'm afraid they won't.

S- C. Admittedly didn't focus on them much. So busy watching CB's get lost. Don't recall any huge busts over the top, but we also can't defend the middle. I guess that falls on a Safety. Not sure.

Defensive coaching- D. Schmedding=Mason. Expected him to live more on the edge. Not helping his corners out with the soft zone stuff. I don't know, maybe he's been trying to be vanilla. But all offseason I wanted him to go big or go home and either look like an idiot or a genius. Instead, like Mason, he just seems "ok" at best and frustrating as hell at worst with the stuff he runs.

 

Special teams-B. I love Anders, but the man needs help. It's not his fault, as he had a huge injury in addition to losing confidence last year. Think they need to make Mcpherson the kickoff man or we'll get burnt due to Carlson not being able to kick it through the back of the EZ. Overall though, so far, this unit looks better coached. Let's see if that continues.

[JMassie11 1,660]

Not including the final possession Auburn had 10 possessions. 2 led to INTs one a great play by the DB the other was a terrible pass. 3 other possessions were ruined by sloppy penalties. 1 possession was 50 seconds before the 1/2. 
Big picture is it’s not as bad as it looks. Had all the makings of an upset with the turnovers, a few questionable calls, dropped passes and so on but the correct adjustments were made at halftime and we won. 

[Didba 5,510]

3 hours ago, fredst said:

Would love to hear @bigbirdweigh in on this. A lot of the trash yards are scheme related, ie playing soft zone. Would love to see us mix it up with some press man which I haven’t seen much but admittedly have missed a lot of viewing  of the first two games. I do wish I saw more good plays on the ball; on at least two plays I did see last night our guys (Simpson, Kaufman)seemed to be perfectly “in phase” and in good shape to make a good play on the ball: one resulted in a catch by SJSU for a substantial gain and the other was broken up without a real attempt at trying to catch/intercept. I think some of the criticism of the secondary is undeserved but there are some areas we could do better.

We played a base zone that was leaving the field open in the middle. Not sure why. 

[fredst 9,070]

3 minutes ago, Didba said:

We played a base zone that was leaving the field open in the middle. Not sure why. 

Yep. Under Steele it was all press man all the time it seemed. What I’ve seen mostly so far (in limited sample size) is a zone that has left us vulnerable in the middle. I hope to start seeing more complexity and a resultant improvement as we move into the next few games. Pretty underwhelmed with every aspect of the team thus far

[GoAU 1,694]

3 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

you would be mistaken if you think  i did not hurt a little because we looked bad. i see posts like this and i am amazed people think i agree with what i post. not true. i post everything i can find even if i do not agree with the article. my job is to try and help the board. other people enjoy stats and that sort of thing but they do little for me. i do hope you enjoy my efforts.

I appreciate the way you post articles to start conversation- thanks.  I think some people may mistake that these are your thoughts versus an article some times.  
 

like many others, I feel these grades are pretty generous.  
 

Pros:

1). the team didn’t get rattled, they settled down, went to work and dug themselves out of the hole they started.  

2) The defense battened the hatches and stood strong in the red zone a couple of times

3)  Some adjustments were made at the half. We realized we needed to assert ourselves physically and dominate SJSU at the line

 

Cons:

1). Just lining up overpowering the other team won’t work next week or in the SEC - gotta execute the scheme better

2) Penalties we’re horrible.   Enough said there.  

3) Turnovers - 2 bad picks, one from each QB.  And still none on the defensive side.  Need to improve both of those.