Is Auburn a Second Half Team? Cameron Newton Has His Best Game of the Season

By

John Reeves

(Contributor) on September 26, 2010

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First Half
Behind five total touchdowns from Cam Newton, Auburn defeated South Carolina 35-27. Just like in the game last week against Clemson, Auburn trailed going into halftime, then made the proper adjustments needed to win.
Auburn came out very aggressive taking the ball away from the Gamecocks, then scoring on their first drive. It sent the message to me that we could dominate South Carolina. Then South Carolina put Auburn in a 20-7 hole, and I wasn't sure we'd win.
My expectations are high for the 2010 program. They returned most of the starters from 2009, the schedule is friendly and, we played above my expectations last season. Adding Juco transfer Cameron Newton, then seeing him play, only raise my lofty expectations.
When South Carolina quickly answered Auburn's touchdown on their second possession. There were too many holes in the Auburn secondary. The way the Gamecocks passed the ball so easily, I thought we were in trouble. I could see the old Spurrier teams in the 2010 Gamecocks.
Gene Chizik downplayed this being a huge game against Marcus Lattimore, however the Auburn defense was talking trash every time they tackled him. I do believe Auburn wanted to roughly welcome him to the SEC. They weren't going to win by running the ball, their rushing attack did enough to open the pass.

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Auburn who scored off the scrambling ability of Newton, tried to get the traditional running game going, and they couldn't get enough yards on the ground to open up the passing game. Mario Fanning makes his return from injury, only to fumble the football. I wondered where McCalebb was, then Auburn found a way to get his speed on the field.
With the legs of Cam Newton Auburn got within six points going into halftime. Despite the fact that South Carolina was killing our secondary and, we only had two successful drives. We were still in the game 20-14.

Second Half
When you can run the football against a defense, it opens up the passing game. If you can't run the football the defense won't allow your quarterback time to pass. Auburn knew this going into halftime. Micheal Dyer hadn't been effective in the first half, that's why Auburn used the threat of Newton's legs to open up the defense.
After last weeks thriller against Clemson, I said the line must improve. I noticed even in the rough first half that they looked better. The defensive line held the running attack of South Carolina better than anyone has to date. Lattimore had been running over the competition, not Auburn though. Very solid performance by the Tigers.
The offensive line looked real good too. Even though South Carolina was making the plays in the first half, Auburn was opening holes for Micheal Dyer. The Gamecock linebacker did an incredible job in run support. Dyer tried to break free several times, with spin moves, or a quick step. He couldn't get free and, that really is on the running back, not the offensive line.

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It was in my opinion that Cam Newton needed to throw the ball more. I needed to know that he wasn't a faster Kodi Burns. Auburn fans everywhere needed to see Newton to make the throws. The first half was crucial for that happening in the second half. Newton made them respect his scrambling ability. All the adjustments for the South Carolina defense were based on him running.
Gus Malzahn did a great job of calling the right plays once we had them out of position. He used their fear of Newton against them. The deception plays Auburn ran off of what Newton had done, where the reason the South Carolina defense got beat.
Onterio McCalebb is a quick running back, he's not the kind of guy you pound the ball with. Auburn found was to utilize his strengths in the second half. He made some huge plays on the end around and reverses. It could be very easy to overlook what McCalebb meant to Auburn winning the game, make no mistake Auburn doesn't win without his contributions.

When the Going Gets Tough
Auburn has shown for two weeks in a row they're not going to give up. As an Auburn fan this is something you like knowing. Cam Newton seems to have really taken over as a leader, which is what you want to see from your quarterback.
The defense has had a bend but don't break mentality. As we move on into the season there must be some improvements made. Most of the improvements that need to be made are with the secondary. Against South Carolina, there were too many open receivers.

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Auburn will have one more game at home before having to travel to Lexington to play Kentucky. Auburn needs to use the game against UL Monroe, to get ready for the Wildcats a week later. Kentucky is going to try the pass against Auburn. Why wouldn't they? It's been our glaring weakness.
The problem for Auburn comes when the wide receivers get in one on one coverage. The big physical receivers routinely beat the small corners. I think Auburn needs to see how they can get the advantage in these situations.
In the last two games Auburn had hurt the opposing teams quarterback, I feel like in both games it was a key factor in coming from behind. Unlike Clemson who stayed with their starter, Steve Spurrier switched quarterbacks.
It appeared to me that starting quarterback Stephen Garcia was still able to play. I don't understand why the went with Connor Shaw cold in the fourth quarter. The game was on the line, on the road, in a very hostile environment. Bad decision not to go back to Garcia who had acclimated himself to the situation at hand. This move helped Auburn secure the win after getting the late lead in the game.
For the Tigers to get where I think they they can go (SEC Championship Game) they must continue to play aggressively. The strong physical style breaks the opponent down, then Auburn has them exhausted late as they take over the game.