That was one of the ugliest wins I have seen from Auburn in recent years, and it took a blown call from the referees to save the Tigers from an embarrassing loss.
Trying to down the ball and set up a field goal, Tigers quarterback Bo Nix fumbled the snap and then spiked the ball … backwards. It was a clear fumble, something that was as clear as how ineffective the Auburn offense was under the tutelage of Chad Morris.
We know how it ended though. Anders Carlson, who missed an earlier field goal attempt to put the Tigers ahead, nailed a 39-yard field goal to give Auburn the win over an overmatched Arkansas team.
This is all gravy if you are a cup always full Auburn fan. For the rest of the people who yell “War Eagle!” at the top of their lungs, it was a sign of bad things to come.
The play-calling, especially by Morris in the red zone, was atrocious. During one trip, I was trying to figure out whether he or Gus Malzahn was calling the plays because it really looked like everything we have seen for the past eight years.
Tank Bigsby led the Tigers down the field and then, with three plays within the 10-yard line, he didn’t receive the ball once. Morris must have received his Bachelor’s Degree from Overthinking University because this was a classic case of it. Bigsby had been shredding the Razorbacks’ defense all series long.
But this isn’t all about Morris’ play-calling, although a lot of the spotlight shines on him. Nix was mediocre at best and, at times, looked like a confused high school freshman in the pocket. It was no help that the offensive line, who actually came through with some run blocking this game, was basically another swinging door when Nix dropped back to pass.
Mostly, this was another showcase of what Auburn will be during the Malzahn era. Mediocre. Boring at times. Lucky to have calls go for them. And really, not a real competitor anymore when it comes to SEC supremacy.
We saw what the Tigers did against Georgia, a real contender, last week. It was embarrassing and, to be honest, not shocking. The Tigers offense smells of 2008 when Tony Franklin was brought in to help energize Tommy Tuberville’s team offensively. So far for three games, the Morris experiment is far from working.
Don’t blame the new guy, though. This falls all on Malzahn. He brought in Morris and handed him the proverbial keys to the offense after multiple attempts to be both the head coach and offensive coordinator. Yet he has ignored many reasons why his team has struggled in the past, mostly offensive line play. Oh, and the fact one of my friends can predict the play 30 seconds before it happens? Yeah, that is not a good sign.
From my perspective, it is hard to see the Tigers winning games against teams that aren’t at the level of Arkansas this season. Unfortunately, many of those games don’t exist. If you are honest to yourself, can you see Auburn beating Tennessee, Texas A&M, Alabama or (gulp!) even a 1-2 LSU team? I don’t.
Yet Auburn pulled it out in the end thanks to a blown call and a last-second field goal. That’s not something that fans can feel good about.