LOOKING BACK: FAU @ Auburn

Hey everyone.

Opinions are mixed about Auburn’s 30-14 win against Florida Atlantic on Saturday night. I myself thought the defensive effort was pretty good while the offense was absolutely atrocious. Some other writers whose I respect, namely Phillip Marshall, believe what we saw last night yields as much insight as a 63-0 blowout win.

Auburn didn’t scheme at all last night. We saw the most basic plays on both sides of the ball. So in that sense, yeah, we didn’t learn a lot. I saw evidence of better execution on defense. Whether you’re playing Talladega College or Oklahoma, execution is the one thing that translates — you need to be in the right place.

• So let’s take a look at something Jake Holland did last night. We’ll start with what he didn’t do against USU:

This is a Tampa Two coverage. It's two deep safeties and the MLB (Holland) must drop quickly to cover the middle zone.

Holland (5) is lollygagging. He's not dropping fast enough.

The WR is wide open because of Holland's mistake.

FAU attempted a similar play last night, though the slot receiver was on the other side and Auburn was in a 4-3 look rather than dime. Same basic concept — FAU is attacking the middle zone against a two-deep look.

Base alignment. Holland (5) in his usual spot.

No lollygagging here. Holland is dropping fast.

Now Holland is in position to read the QB's eyes and adjust. The ball is on its way and Holland is ready to make a play.

Pick.

This is what happens when a young guy gets burned and learns from his mistake. Great play that demonstrates aptitude.

• Onterio McCalebb surprised me Saturday night … and not in a good way. He seems hell-bent on proving his ability to run inside. He’s not that guy. He’s a 175-pound bolt of lightning who attacks the perimeter. And even when he gets those opportunities this season, he’s now trying to cut too many of those runs inside. It’s hurting the team.

Here comes a run.

This is that studder-pitch play they run. McCalebb (23) has taken the pitch and he's supposed to run between Jaylon Denson (89) and Trovon Reed (1). That DL was released on purpose; AJ Greene (77) is headed elsewhere.

This is a bad read by McCalebb; he cuts back right into the (designed) pursuit. The perimeter blocking was at least OK. The play should have gone for at least 7 yards. Instead, it's a loss.

• Barrett Trotter’s pass to Emory Blake for the first touchdown was pretty incredible. There are plenty of reasons to be unhappy with Trotter, but this throw explains a lot about why Gus Malzahn likes him.

The play was a fade/stop route at the first pylon. The coverage was fantastic, so things had to work perfectly. Blake shielded the defender with his left shoulder, which created a target on his outside hip. Trotter’s throw was flawless.

• You will forever remember the Clemson game as the time Auburn’s defense conceded 10 consecutive third-down conversions. It was a coaching problem; Clemson’s OC identified Auburn’s love affair with two deep zone under coverage that day and ran plays designed to beat it. FAU was watching.

The safeties drop and split the field in half (not pictured) for deep routes. That leaves the corners and three linebackers (or two LBs and nickel) to cover five underneath zones. Think of it as five evenly sized blocks just beyond the line stacked side by side.

Basic staffing; Harris Gaston (58) showing a weak-side blitz.

Everyone's dropping into coverage and the zone boxes I discussed earlier are lined up. Except Daren Bates is slow with his drop -- and FAU has overloaded T Bell's (22) outside zone. Outside WR fakes a go route, draws Bell away. Inside WR runs a hitch. This is exactly what Clemson did.

Throw is on time, Bates isn't, receiver is away cleanly.

S Ryan Smith (24; orange sleeves) ends the play, but it's still a 10-yard gain.

• What is the difference between two deep zone under and the “Tampa Two”? The main difference is that the MLB must make a deeper and more expeditious drop, but the two concepts are nearly interchangeable. Auburn did mix in some man coverages last night, which they didn’t do very often against Clemson, and this one worked really well.

Basic set.

Auburn is in man coverage. Gaston (58) has TE responsibility and he's headed that way.

Gaston knows he has deep help from Demetruce McNeal (12), so he uses a trail technique in coverage.

McNeal times things well, but the throw is a little behind the epicenter here. Gaston bascially knocks McNeal out of position, but that's not Gaston's fault. Still very good coverage.

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