Sept. 30, 2017
By Greg Ostendorf
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. -- Three weeks ago, Gus Malzahn stood at the podium after a 14-6 loss to Clemson and proclaimed that Auburn will be a good offense. It might not have felt like it at the time, but nobody is second-guessing him now. Not after Saturday's 49-10 win over Mississippi State where the offense accounted for 511 yards.
Over the past two weeks, the Tigers have scored 100 points and accounted for 993 total yards against two SEC opponents.
"There's so much talent on this offense," quarterback Jarrett Stidham said. "I believe that. Everybody else on the offense believes that. The coaches believe that. It's just a matter of us executing the game plan each week. I think the last two weeks, we've come really far from the first two weeks. We just have to get better every week and build off it."
Stidham has been a major reason for the success. The sophomore quarterback, playing in only his fifth game at Auburn on Saturday, finished 13 of 16 for 264 yards and two touchdowns. Over his last three games, Stidham has thrown for 846 yards, three touchdowns, and he's completing 83 percent of his passes (58 of 70).
"I think you see him every week getting more and more comfortable," Malzahn said. "We're protecting him well, and the guys are making plays. Our receivers are growing up and they're making plays down the field. I think it's kind of all starting to come together."
What's been the secret for the turnaround? It starts with the explosive plays. On Saturday, Stidham completed four passes of 47 yards or more and when you factor in Kerryon Johnson's 59-yard run on the opening drive and the 67-yard touchdown run from freshman quarterback Malik Willis late, it's clear that the explosive plays are back and playing a major role in this Auburn offense.
Like Malzahn said after Saturday's game -- when you hit shots, you score points.
"I think any time you can get those explosive plays, it kind of sets the tone," Stidham said. "And that's what we try to do. We try to execute the game plan. We had some shots in there, so we were just trying to take advantage of it."
Balance has been a major key as well. The Tigers have established the rushing attack in each of the last two games, and on Saturday, they finished with 267 yards passing and 244 yards rushing. It doesn't get a lot more balanced than that.
There are explosive plays. There's balance. There have even been some trick plays or wrinkles thrown in like the reverse pass out of the Wildcat that offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey called on 3rd-and-2 midway through the first quarter.
Johnson took the direct snap, ran right and pitched it back to Stidham, who ran a reverse from the wide receiver spot. When Stidham got it, he heaved it down the field to a wide-open Darius Slayton. The play went for 49 yards, but it could've gone for a touchdown had the ball not been underthrown. It didn't matter as Auburn scored two plays later.
"That's a play that we've had up since fall camp," Malzahn said. "I think we were 100 percent run out of the Wildcat, so Chip was wanting to wait until third-and-short to try to get a zero-look where they were playing the run. I thought we had a chance. He's repped that probably 20 or 30 times, and it was wide open. That was a big play in the game."
At the end of the day, this is the offense Auburn fans have wanted to see. The Tigers averaged 9.1 yards per play Saturday night. That's a far cry from the 1.8 yards per play the offense averaged against Clemson, but Malzahn wasn't lying when he told reporters after that game that this would be a good offense.
It just took a little time.
Greg Ostendorf is a Staff Writer for AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @greg_ostendorf