I'm not even going to discuss the offense, which had a terrible night featuring bad throws, drops and penalties. We know what the problems were there.
Here's a look at the defense, which played hard, controlled the line of scrimmage for the most part and deserved a better fate, although it had a few miscues of its own.
STUFFING THE RUN
I went over the series where Auburn had first-and-5 on its second series and tried to run JaTarvious Whitlow up the middle four straight times to no avail in my Advocate game day feature on the defensive line, but they have not put it up yet, so here's what happened in that sequence.
First-and-5: Whitlow had a crease but Cam Sample, while being blocked, reached for him and stopped him for a 3-yard gain. Nice individual effort and an impressive display of strength.
Second-and-2: Jeffery Johnson, who had a huge gain, just stoned Whitlow at the line of scrimmage and drove him backwards.
Third-and-2: Patrick Johnson, unblocked, got there faster than Auburn expected and tackled Whitlow a yard shy of the first down. Johnson showed his quickness there.
Fourth-and-1: Whitlow got a head of steam going after taking the handoff but got hit by Sample and Lawrence Graham short of the first down and fumbled. Even if he had not fumbled, he was hit so hard he would not have gotten the first down.
Davon Wright subbed for De'Andre Williams on second and third downs, but Tulane's line played this series perfectly. I probably should have included Wright in my defensive line feature but had not watched the tape of the game when I did interviews. He pressured Bo Nix into a third-down throwaway on Auburn's third series.
BAD LUCK
Will Harper almost had an interception but let the ball go through his hands for a first-down completion in the third quarter. Auburn ended up scoring a TD to go up 21-6, but if Harper had finished the play, it would have been Tulane ball. There were a lot of instances like that.
Tulane was incredibly unfortunate right before Auburn's second TD. Never mind the catch that Tulane thought was a Willie Langham interception. It wasn't an interception, but it very well could have been ruled an incomplete pass. The problem was the replay angle sucked. Regardless, on the next play Whitlow took a direct snap, dove for the end zone and was met head on by Graham, who stopped him cold and forced a fumble that the defense recovers at least 80 percent of the time. Unfortunately, as Patrick Johnson pointed out to me, the pulling left tackle for Auburn happened to turn around and see the ball. He dove on it and made better effort than Juan Monjarres, who would have recovered it for sure if the lineman hadn't seen it. That would have been a tremendous momentum swing. If the ball had bounced backward a little more and the lineman had not been so alert, Monjarres might have had a touchdown return. Instead, Auburn scored on the next play when Graham and Sample got blocked out of the way uncharacteristically, creating a seam.
Graham was a half-step away from a pick six in the second quarter but could only get one hand on the ball when Nix did not see him on a throw in the middle of the field.
BAD PLAYS
I'm not sure exactly what happened on the busted coverage that gave Auburn its first TD.
Larrry Brooks and Chase Kuerschen were trailing a receiver for what could have been a touchdown on Auburn's third series. If Nix had led him on the post pattern, he would have been gone, but he dropped it as he dove for the ball. The receiver, Hastings, lined up inside the far left hash and ran his route unimpeded, veering slightly inside. Patrick Johnson was lined up slightly outside him but told me he was not his responsibility. Will Harper lined up well inside of him and did not react. Cornerback Chris Joyce ended up being responsible for the outside receiver and Hastings and had no chance to stop it. If he had covered Hastings, it would have been an easy throw for a TD to the outside guy. Everyone else was on the other side of the field. Someone had to be lined up wrong. The tackling was shoddy by Joyce, but it would have been first-and-goal inside the 5 anyway.
That was not the only issue for the pass defense. The secondary let guys get behind it two other times and was fortunate Auburn did not connect. Here are the instances:
1) Larry Brooks and Chase Kuerschen let someone get behind them on the second series, and it would have been a touchdown if Nix had led the receiver properly on a post pattern. Brooks showed good closing speed, and the guy dropped the underthrown ball as he tried to dive for it. Kuerschen was left in the dust.
2) Right before the half, Chris Joyce got fooled by an out and up move as Hastings ran wide open down the sideline for what could have been a 59-yard TD. P.J. Hall might have angled him out inside the 20, but Nix overthrew him badly.
Those issues need to be fixed and Tulane will have a complete defense.
MISCELLANIOUS
---Sample had a tremendous game. He tipped a pass on third down to force a 3-and-out on Auburn's fourth series. He pressured Nix into a rushed pass later in the first half. He is going to be an All-AAC performer.
---Alfred Thomas had a couple of nice plays. I didn't even see him practicing last week, and he practiced sparingly this week despite being in uniform. Jamiran James worked with the second unit.
---Graham made a nice tackle on a punt return that looked like it my burst open. He just got his hands on the returner as he flew by him and forced him to fall down about five yards past contact. Interestingly, Jeffery Johnson was the next guy in position to make the tackle. You don't see too many defensive tackles on coverage units.
Here's a look at the defense, which played hard, controlled the line of scrimmage for the most part and deserved a better fate, although it had a few miscues of its own.
STUFFING THE RUN
I went over the series where Auburn had first-and-5 on its second series and tried to run JaTarvious Whitlow up the middle four straight times to no avail in my Advocate game day feature on the defensive line, but they have not put it up yet, so here's what happened in that sequence.
First-and-5: Whitlow had a crease but Cam Sample, while being blocked, reached for him and stopped him for a 3-yard gain. Nice individual effort and an impressive display of strength.
Second-and-2: Jeffery Johnson, who had a huge gain, just stoned Whitlow at the line of scrimmage and drove him backwards.
Third-and-2: Patrick Johnson, unblocked, got there faster than Auburn expected and tackled Whitlow a yard shy of the first down. Johnson showed his quickness there.
Fourth-and-1: Whitlow got a head of steam going after taking the handoff but got hit by Sample and Lawrence Graham short of the first down and fumbled. Even if he had not fumbled, he was hit so hard he would not have gotten the first down.
Davon Wright subbed for De'Andre Williams on second and third downs, but Tulane's line played this series perfectly. I probably should have included Wright in my defensive line feature but had not watched the tape of the game when I did interviews. He pressured Bo Nix into a third-down throwaway on Auburn's third series.
BAD LUCK
Will Harper almost had an interception but let the ball go through his hands for a first-down completion in the third quarter. Auburn ended up scoring a TD to go up 21-6, but if Harper had finished the play, it would have been Tulane ball. There were a lot of instances like that.
Tulane was incredibly unfortunate right before Auburn's second TD. Never mind the catch that Tulane thought was a Willie Langham interception. It wasn't an interception, but it very well could have been ruled an incomplete pass. The problem was the replay angle sucked. Regardless, on the next play Whitlow took a direct snap, dove for the end zone and was met head on by Graham, who stopped him cold and forced a fumble that the defense recovers at least 80 percent of the time. Unfortunately, as Patrick Johnson pointed out to me, the pulling left tackle for Auburn happened to turn around and see the ball. He dove on it and made better effort than Juan Monjarres, who would have recovered it for sure if the lineman hadn't seen it. That would have been a tremendous momentum swing. If the ball had bounced backward a little more and the lineman had not been so alert, Monjarres might have had a touchdown return. Instead, Auburn scored on the next play when Graham and Sample got blocked out of the way uncharacteristically, creating a seam.
Graham was a half-step away from a pick six in the second quarter but could only get one hand on the ball when Nix did not see him on a throw in the middle of the field.
BAD PLAYS
I'm not sure exactly what happened on the busted coverage that gave Auburn its first TD.
Larrry Brooks and Chase Kuerschen were trailing a receiver for what could have been a touchdown on Auburn's third series. If Nix had led him on the post pattern, he would have been gone, but he dropped it as he dove for the ball. The receiver, Hastings, lined up inside the far left hash and ran his route unimpeded, veering slightly inside. Patrick Johnson was lined up slightly outside him but told me he was not his responsibility. Will Harper lined up well inside of him and did not react. Cornerback Chris Joyce ended up being responsible for the outside receiver and Hastings and had no chance to stop it. If he had covered Hastings, it would have been an easy throw for a TD to the outside guy. Everyone else was on the other side of the field. Someone had to be lined up wrong. The tackling was shoddy by Joyce, but it would have been first-and-goal inside the 5 anyway.
That was not the only issue for the pass defense. The secondary let guys get behind it two other times and was fortunate Auburn did not connect. Here are the instances:
1) Larry Brooks and Chase Kuerschen let someone get behind them on the second series, and it would have been a touchdown if Nix had led the receiver properly on a post pattern. Brooks showed good closing speed, and the guy dropped the underthrown ball as he tried to dive for it. Kuerschen was left in the dust.
2) Right before the half, Chris Joyce got fooled by an out and up move as Hastings ran wide open down the sideline for what could have been a 59-yard TD. P.J. Hall might have angled him out inside the 20, but Nix overthrew him badly.
Those issues need to be fixed and Tulane will have a complete defense.
MISCELLANIOUS
---Sample had a tremendous game. He tipped a pass on third down to force a 3-and-out on Auburn's fourth series. He pressured Nix into a rushed pass later in the first half. He is going to be an All-AAC performer.
---Alfred Thomas had a couple of nice plays. I didn't even see him practicing last week, and he practiced sparingly this week despite being in uniform. Jamiran James worked with the second unit.
---Graham made a nice tackle on a punt return that looked like it my burst open. He just got his hands on the returner as he flew by him and forced him to fall down about five yards past contact. Interestingly, Jeffery Johnson was the next guy in position to make the tackle. You don't see too many defensive tackles on coverage units.
