Auburn vs. Florida 2007

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Game Recap: Auburn vs Arkansas State

		1	2	3	4		T
ARST		3	0	6	0		9
AUB		14	7	7	10		38

Nick Marshall

I'd said last week that I thought Nick Marshall needed to improve. That's exactly what I saw from him in the Arkansas State game. He finished the day 10 for 17 with 147 yards and two touchdowns through the air and added 53 yards on the ground. There must be more improvement from him this week as he starts SEC play against Mississippi State.

Running Back University

There has always been good running backs at Auburn. This season is no different. Between Mason, Payne, and Grant, Auburn may have the best trio of RBs in the entire league. Auburn has almost always been a run first team, and nothing has changed with Malzahn's Hurry-Up-No-Huddle offense.

RUSHING	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD
C. Grant	16	186	11.6	2
T. Mason	29	172	5.9	2

 The Defense

There are some issues with the defense. They seem to play with a bend but don't break philosophy. I don't believe the kind of defense they've played will work over the course of the season. There are some bright spots in what has been an overall mediocre defense. I believe it will improve and it will have to in order to beat the better SEC teams.

Game Recap: Auburn vs Washington St

Auburn - 31
Washington St. - 24


Washington State was a perfect first opponent. The question marks surrounding this Auburn team was in their pass defense. I figured a Mike Leach led offense would pass at a 80/20 ratio. We needed to know whether or not we could stop a pass heavy team, and for the most part we did. It exceeded my expectations. There was no reason in the world for me not to expect a game that both teams didn't score in the forties. The Auburn defense was much better than I expected and they were put under extra pressure by their own offense.

I was not sold on Nick Marshall at quarterback. He was constantly overthrowing receivers. It was his first game and I'm sure he was nervous. He never looked comfortable passing. When he ran the football he looked right at home. It was easy to see that Marshall has a run first mentality. There is little doubt that Malzahn will work with him on his passing. I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't visible improvements in the next game against Arkansas St. Even with a run first approach we'll need more than 100 yards a game passing to win SEC games.

	WSU	AUB
1st Downs	28	16
Total Yards	464	394
Passing	344	99
Rushing	120	295
Penalties	5-21	5-30
3rd Down Conversions	7-17	4-14
4th Down Conversions	2-4	0-0
Turnovers	3	1
Possession	31:27	28:33

Auburn was out gained in total yards 464 to 394. In a close game that could have went either way the three turnovers made all the difference for Auburn. The next game against Arkansas State will tell more of the story. They're a more balanced team and should be able to test us a little more.