WHAT WE LEARNED: Game 1

Todd Van Emst/Auburn U.

Hey everyone.

So we know Auburn earned a 52-26 win against Arkansas State on Saturday night. We also know from careful observation that Cam Newton is a pretty dynamic quarterback. He certainly can run and he certainly can throw deep balls with the best of ‘em.

So what else is there? It’d be my pleasure to walk you through.

• Lack of defensive improvement. Craig Stevens didn’t play because of some type of nebulous suspension, but his replacement, Eltoro Freeman, played at least a decent game Saturday night. I expected far more overall. I saw sloppy tackling. I saw defenders taking odd angles to the ball. I saw a senior, Zac Etheridge, get undressed by a play-action pass in the first quarter that led to a touchdown. The Tigers certainly have more depth, but they don’t appear to be much better.
• Though I wasn’t impressed with the Tigers’ defense overall, Arkansas State’s offensive breakdown may signal some type of improvement:
• ASU, first half: 44 plays, 231 yards
• ASU, second half: 40 plays, 135 yards
• I’m certain there are Auburn coaches disappointed with Arkansas State being allowed to run 84 plays Saturday night. That number jumps out at me. It’s important to note, though, that the Red Wolves were only 5-for-18 on third down. That’s surely within Auburn’s defensive target range. I’m guessing Ted Roof is happy with anything less than 33%.
• Arkansas State’s sophomore quarterback, Ryan Aplin, is pretty doggone good. I’m not making excuses for the Tigers, but that kid played a really nice game last night. He finished 28-of-42 for 278 yards and 4 touchdowns.
• We saw someone else run the Wildcat. Newton is now an option in that specialized position. Based on what we saw last night, the argument could be made that Newton is a much better option because he’s faster than Kodi Burns and throws more effectively. I guess it comes down to: Does Newton afford enough Wildcat deception?
• These coaches must really like Demond Washington as the kickoff guy. He fumbled to open the second half because he failed to switch the ball to his guarded hand while crossing the field. It’s a basic technical mistake. I totally expected to see Onterio McCalebb or Mario Fannin during the next return, but Washington trotted out after the scoring drive he facilitated with his error.
• Speaking of Fannin, he didn’t earn a single carry after his third-quarter fumble. Coaches instead doled out carries to freshman Mike Dyer, who looked at least passable during most of his team-high 14 carries. Gene Chizik said afterward to not read much into the carry distribution, but I don’t buy it. Dyer is going to cut into Fannin’s workload to a bigger degree than I expected. McCalebb, of course, is a different kind of runner and probably won’t be affected by the Fannin-Dyer quandary.
• Who had Davis Hooper in the tailback pool? He had five carries to Fannin’s three.
• Daren Bates led the team with 10 tackles, but I noticed Antoine Carter (3.5 tackles for loss) far more often.
• Arkansas State finished with 43 rushing yards on 35 attempts. I’d say the Tigers’ defensive front was on point. Will that translate into a strong performance at Mississippi State?
• I counted 18 players making their first varsity appearance Saturday:
• TRUE FRESHMEN (14): Chris Davis, Shaun Kitchens, Mike Dyer, Antonio Goodwin, Ryan White, Demetruce McNeal, Craig Sanders, Ryan Smith, Jessel Curry, Cody Parkey, Jeff Whitaker, Corey Lemonier, Brandon Mosley, Kenneth Carter.
• REDSHIRT FRESHMEN (1): Blake Burgess
• JUNIOR (2): Cam Newton, Davis Hooper
• SENIOR (1): Jorrell Bostrom

PHOTOS THAT I TOOK YESTERDAY BUT COULDN’T UPLOAD FROM AUBURN

… ALSO: As you may or may not have read in my notebook, “Tex” Williams missed his first Auburn home game in 53 years last night. He’s part of the stats crew and a really funny dude. I missed him being there last night. Tex was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year and he simply couldn’t make it. May God bless you, Tex!

The stats guys at the 2008 SEC Championship game (Tex, left, Tommy Elliott and David Storey)