Auburn’s start to the Florida game was their worst of the season. Quarterback Byrum Brown threw an interception on the opening drive, which resulted in a Florida touchdown. The Tigers proceeded to go three and out on their second drive. Then, despite taking over at the Gators’ 8-yard line for drive 3, following an interception by Tiger edge Da’Shawm Womack, Auburn settled for a 40-yard field goal after surrendering consecutive sacks.
Auburn did not pick up their initial first down of the game until the second quarter. Getting Brown into a groove quicker is something head coach Alex Golesh is making a priority this week.
“There’s times he feels better running it early and getting himself in rhythm. There’s times he feels good getting quick game stuff going for him. There’s times where it’s been movement passes. There’s times where it’s been shoot it down the field. It truly is a comfort deal for him,” Golesh said.
Offensive coordinator Joel Gordon felt there were several reasons for the offense sputtering for periods of the game. He attributed some of the problems to Brown’s inconsistency in deciding what to do in situations when protection begins to break down, including whether to hang in the pocket or tuck the ball and run. Gordon feels this is something that needs to be addressed before Saturday.
“He’s gotta grow and he’s gotta learn. That’s an experience thing. I think fourth year into it right now he’s making some strides and I think there’s more to be made too. I think he sees that. Great thing is he knows it and you can coach him on it,” Gordon said.
Another issue at the forefront of Auburn’s offensive struggles was the lack of execution in the red zone, Both coaches spoke about how they can better approach the situations with better play calling, so those opportunities end with seven points instead of three.
Returning to Auburn’s failure to score a touchdown after starting its third drive at Florida’s 8-yard line, Golesh said, “It’s truly we didn’t do collectively did not do a good job starting drives those first three. One of those is in the tight zone which is inexcusable. My job is to fix it and we’ll fix it.”
Gordon added, “It’s the execution as much as anything.” Some of the looks that Florida gave the Tigers, “are not the looks that you think you are going to get. That’s part of it too that the players have to overcome. Our guys have to be better in responding to those situations.”
Golesh feels Vanderbilt’s defense will provide another challenge to the Tigers’ offense. He said the Commodores like to dictate the flow of the game and pressure the quarterback. Gordon added the focus is less on similarities between opponents and more on the specifics Vanderbilt does.
“We gotta build on the things that we did. We did a lot of good things. We have to fix the mistakes. Vanderbilt is good on defense. Uniquely different than what the last challenge was,” Gordon said.
Vanderbilt leads the overall series against Auburn 23-22-1. In the last 19 meetings, Vanderbilt has never defeated the Tigers three years in a row. It is homecoming on the Plains Saturday. Auburn has not lost a homecoming game since 1991, a 34-year winning streak. The Tigers and Commodores kick things off inside Jordan-Hare stadium at 3:15pm.
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