Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Grading Auburn - Sort Of

I apologize to my two or three readers for the delay, but the wife, dogs, and house come first!

QB – C+
Cox is slower than frozen molasses on Christmas Eve. His interceptions weren’t really bad passes, but good execution on the defense’s part. Several of his incompletions were dropped balls. He gets the + for not completely losing his head.

RB – I
This could have been an A, but do to "unresolved academic issues", Lester had to sit out. The rumor fairies have been working overtime on this situation, but no one really knows what’s going on. KSU was stacked the box against a young offensive line, and Tate still managed to pick up 82 yards. Stewart is 6’2, but looks like he’s 6’5 when he runs down the field. He’s been at Auburn for what seems to be ten years. He should know by now that he needs to get low to bust through tackles.

WR – B
There were too many dropped balls. And I’m not talking about dropped balls after acrobatic leaps. There is no excuse for dropping a perfectly thrown ball. The tight ends looked great, and are the only reason this is a B and not a C.

OL – C
KSU brought the house. Ziemba had a few mental mistakes. Dunlap apparently had the worst game. I put 3 of the 5 sacks on Cox.

Offense – C+
I would like to think that the vanilla offense was by design. You know, a “don’t tip you hand before SEC play” kind of deal. That’s merely wishful thinking, but when they REALLY needed points, the playbook expanded a little. Overall, they just looked lackadaisical.

LB – B
Blackmon and Evans both had interceptions. Other than that, I didn’t even realize there were LBs on the field. KSU only had 16 rushing attempts, though.

DL – A
Quinton Groves is an animal. Sims, Coleman and Marks did there parts as well by putting pressure on the quarterback.

DB – B
Overall, they looked good. There were several dropped interceptions, but most DBs aren’t known for their hands.

Defense – B+
Other than the first drive, I don’t see any major complaints about their performance. They did what they needed to.

Special teams – B
The kicking game looked good. Dunn seemed to have borrowed his gloves from Tre Smith. Catch the ball before you start moving!

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