Corey Grant: Foes Better Prepared for Auburn's Offense in 2014

Hmm I do get what he is saying, but considering everything, it was their defense that cost them some games this year.

RTR91 said:

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same thing pretty much happened to sumlin.

92tide said:

same thing pretty much happened to sumlin.

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add to it the fact that he Houdini took his services to the bench in Cleveland.

Grant is pretty much echoing the same sentiments most of us on this board and the rest of the SEC teams were saying after the 2013 season. their offense while still good needed the right pieces to be very effective ( Cam Newton and a senior laden OLine in 2010 and Tre Mason, Greg Robison, and Jay Prosch in 2013) and not too mentioned, the luckiest bounces in all of CFB to be playing in the NC in both years. their putrid defense last year didn't help matters, but it takes two sides of the coin to cause their meltdown. truth be told, their defenses have been horrible under Chizik and Malzaln. Tubberville was the last HC on the plains that actually preach and practice SEC type defenses. Muschamp might change that in 2015, but I don't think he stays long enough to see a major difference.

They were pretty darn lucky in 2010 too! Could have been a 5 loss team that year. Notre Dame luck has nothing on Auburn anymore!

Bamabuzzard said:

I think the style offense Gus runs will hinder Muschamp from having a good defense.

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You could be right Buzz, but I am not totally sold on this. Those who have said this use the rationale that the HUNH style offense scores so quickly that the defense does not get a rest and wears down over the course of a game. In game preparation doesn't the defense practice against a scout team running the opponent's offense which may or may not be HUNH?

If Muschamp is as good as most think he is and, if he recruits talent and depth, it may not be this year, I would expect a huge improvement in auburn's defense.

Bamabuzzard said:

To be honest the stats look too close to point to whether it was the offense's fault or defense. But one thing that is obvious that doesn't show up in those stats are the key lucky breaks in 2013 that didn't break for them in 2014. THAT is why they did so well in 2013. That was the luckiest season (minus the title game) I'd ever seen a team have.

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Exactly, BB. Hit the nail right on the head.

RTR91 said:

That's the way I understand it, but some say it's the opposite.

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saban and some other defensive-minded coaches have commented that practice is hindered because when the starting units go against each other the defense has to defend HUNH and as a result they aren't prepared for game situations at full speed against first team quality talent.

GrayTide said:

You could be right Buzz, but I am not totally sold on this. Those who have said this use the rationale that the HUNH style offense scores so quickly that the defense does not get a rest and wears down over the course of a game. In game preparation doesn't the defense practice against a scout team running the opponent's offense which may or may not be HUNH?

If Muschamp is as good as most think he is and, if he recruits talent and depth, it may not be this year, I would expect a huge improvement in auburn's defense.

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The thing is Auburn's defense looked good early in the year. In fact, people forget that Ellis Johnson was being praised mid-season when AU shut down Kansas St and LSU. They actually held Dak Prescott to around 50% completion percentage and picked him off 3 times. AU fumbling twice and Marshall throwing 2 picks on their side of the field made their defense seem much worse than they actually played in that game. Their defense did begin to slide in that game, and they played worse and worse down the stretch. The same can actually be said for our defense as well. Our defense also played a lot more snaps this year, played poorly late in the season. I think the accumulation of snaps (from being on the field in the game more, and in practice from defending a fast paced offense) just wears the defense out as the season goes along.

When I played HS football, we were a 5A school that essentially played a 6A schedule. We played Auburn HS, Opelika, Benjamin Russell, Central of Phenix City, Booker T. Washington, and Troup Co (GA) most years. More than half of our schedule was against bigger teams with way more players (we dressed out 40 on average, before injuries). We beat a lot of those 6A teams in those years, and almost always took them to wire, even if we lost. As the season went along, we wore down because most of us were playing both ways. Towards the end of the season, and especially as into the playoffs, we had no legs. One year we beat 4 good 6A schools, and in our last regular season game and in the 2nd round of the playoffs, we lost to teams that had no business beating us. We were just gassed. I remember running onto the field to warm up in some of those late season games, and I felt like I did at the end of games earlier in the year.

I think this same thing that happens to the defenses of teams that run HUNH offenses. Until I see a team that runs the HUNH and has a top 5 defense that plays strong all year, I have no reason to think otherwise because, so far, we've never seen that happen.

The difference was their contract with the devil - it expired and they didn't renew.

The only way HUNH offenses work over the long haul, is if you have a defense to go with it. This is why I tend to think TCU and Gary Patterson will have the longest staying power of all the HUNH teams.

davefrat said:

saban and some other defensive-minded coaches have commented that practice is hindered because when the starting units go against each other the defense has to defend HUNH and as a result they aren't prepared for game situations at full speed against first team quality talent.

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While I understand this, when we are preparing for a game during the season are we not preparing for that team and not having the 1's going against each other running our offense. And yes, when preparing for an opponent's offense being run by the scout team there is not expert quality talent on the scout team.

People were a bit better at disrupting their offensive rhythm in 2014. The defense is definitely at fault but the Auburn offense misfired more this year than last. It happens. You win the conference and you get the bullseye. Every coach spends a bit more time on you in the off-season.