After two consecutive losses to start conference play, Auburn needed to get back on the drawing board during the bye week.
Head coach Hugh Freeze and his staff spent the bye week as much on self-scouting as they did preparing for No. 10 Georgia. Freeze, like many observers of the Tigers’ first five games, recognizes that his squad’s most significant issues are internal – not the fact of being outclassed in either loss, but of self-inflicted mistakes.
Of course, most of the focus was on the offensive side of the ball. Freeze said that Auburn not being able to move the ball is something that “Doesn’t sit well with any of us in that room.”
It’s in large part because the Tigers are starting behind the chains on most of their drives. And, although that’s certainly no recipe for success, it’s been Auburn’s offensive line that has left much to be desired.
A unit that has combined for 285 career games played and 164 games started has allowed 21 sacks on the year, the worst mark in the nation.
“The pass protection, can we strain more? Sure. We’re not going to win those one-on-ones all of the time in those situations when they know what you have to do, nor are a lot of other teams,” Freeze said. “The teams that are successful on third downs are the teams that are winning first downs and staying ahead of the chains.
“Yes, we can work on technique. Yes, we can work on our backs protecting better and using our tight ends, but the bottom line, let’s not get in those situations too much where they don’t have to be where the defense has their ears pinned back, constantly coming after us.”
When asked if the Tigers’ offensive line may see any personnel changes in the coming weeks, Freeze named one player who could see some more action.
“(Izavion Miller) will probably get some more rotation, for sure,” Freeze said.
Starting 19 games over the span of two seasons with the Tigers, Miller began the season as a rotational piece due to Auburn bringing in two high-caliber tackles through the transfer portal.
But one of those tackles, Virginia Tech transfer Xavier Chaplin, has struggled mightily on the road this season and has played a large part in Auburn’s 18 offensive line penalties. Ten of which have been false starts.
During the self-evaluation week, Freeze and his staff discovered a problem that was holding Chaplin back.
“We’ve done some testing on his hearing, and there’s an issue there,” Freeze said. “That goes back to us; we should’ve handled the cadence stuff differently for him, but he really struggles to hear in those environments, and we’ll make adjustments for that. When he’s on time off the ball, he’s pretty dang good. Nobody hurts more than him. He was really distraught. I wish that we would’ve put him in a better position.”
Needless to say, Auburn’s offensive woes rest upon more than just the offensive line. But after an offseason of nothing but high praise surrounding that room – and that side of the ball as a whole – the Tigers must see improvements, beginning on Saturday against a feisty Georgia defense.
“We know that we have good enough players to have a much better performance, and you have to take it personally,” Freeze said. “So, it was not a good feeling, but a good time for us to evaluate all that.”
Auburn will host Georgia on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC.