Spectacular first half, sluggish second half. What does the rabbling mob say?
We witnessed an Auburn team run out to a big lead over a divisional opponent, and cruise to a victory by three touchdowns. The second half left a bad taste in our mouth after the lead we did have, and the garbage points are always bittersweet — on one hand, it’s nice that we’re a bit miffed about Ole Miss scoring a couple of late touchdowns to put a damper on what was otherwise a domination from start to finish, but those points still suck. We care about the stats, damnit!
Alright, so what do our contributors think about this one?
JAMES JONES
38-3 after 31 minutes. At that point it was smart to close ranks, get out with the W, and get ready for Baton Rouge. I’m not 100% happy with the tackling, but Ole Miss is the best offense we’ll face this month. Job done. Go to hell Ole Miss.
TUCO
Ole Miss left their starters in the whole game to ensure they could walk out of Jordan Hare with their fins high. Auburn is dangerous. The offense has the ability to put up 30+ against pretty much the rest of our schedule and the defense should be able to hold opponents under 17. Our offense isn’t perfect. Kerryon is still feeling the hamstring. The receivers need to run consistent routes. The line let the pressure get to Stidham. But this is a very balanced offense and that’s creating favorable matchups.
DUSTY MILLER
Very happy with the win. Loved every minute of the first half. KJ was a beast. Stidham and the receivers were on the same page. Play calling was beautiful. Defense was strong.
Despised just about everything about the second half. I know it was an early kickoff, but next time can they at least wait until after the game is over before taking a nap?
SON OF CROW
Perfect win. Auburn is averaging over 45 points in SEC play and is 3-0 in conference. I have zero complaints and can not fathom how anyone could have any. Who deserves the credit for this offense? Who deserves the credit for this quarterback’s astronomical improvement over week 1?
Gus haters, @ me.
DR. Z
First half was a thing of beauty. Kerryon looked like Adrian Peterson against the land (chuckle) sharks. Stidham made some great throws. Defensively I thought we weren’t crisp, even in the first half. Also really nice to see Noah Igbinoginee show a flash of greatness on the kickoff return.
The team lost focus after the kickoff return. The offensive line began to wallow a good bit. It’s tough to go back out and keep the sam level of intensity when mentally you know it’s over.
Give Ole Miss credit for not completely quitting like they did last week.
All things being said, it’s pretty hard to complain about about the win. Next week we’ll get LSU’s best shot. My guess is they’ll be pretty desperate by then.
RYAN STERRITT
I don't remember the last time consecutive games in JHS have been so relaxingly fun. Sure, maybe a few things weren't perfect, like the coverage in the middle of the field, but when you're facing a guy that lives outside the pocket like Shea Patterson, there's eventually going to be some coverage breakdowns. The young guys gave up some plays late, which happens, but as I heard someone else say, if you lose the second half 21-9 but still win by 21... You had a pretty good day.
Kerryon Johnson had a heck of a game and Stidham just kept up the ridiculous completion percentage numbers. Casey Dunn at C looks like the tweak of the century for the O-line right now. The offense is bon-a-fide, y'all.
All is well on the Plains. Let's enjoy the ride.
EMILY RIOS
I mostly listened to this game on the radio and missed the entire third quarter. So, I can’t add too much other than 1) great first half 2) even an injured KJ is a damn force 3) good to see Legatron back and breaking records 4) we’re damn lucky to have Rod and Stan on the radio.
JACK CONDON
Yeah, seeing the final score be much closer than it actually was is stupid, but for the third straight week in conference play, we’ve had backups in while the other side is playing starters. This is the first time in three games that those backups failed to play all that well against a team trying to save face. I can accept that. Let’s not turn into those Bama fans (or head coaches) upset that each game doesn’t start 40-0 in their favor, and any win by less than 50 is a travesty and a poorly-played game.
It’s clear that we’re improving every week on offense, implementing new things, and we’re still not all the way there yet. Stidham is playing like the most efficient quarterback in the SEC, and one of the best in the country lately, and the run game started to finally hit its stride yesterday without the help of the big play in the passing game.
Kerryon Johnson is definitely still hobbled, but if he can run for 11 touchdowns in three SEC games, and cross the 200-yard mark as well, I think we’re in good shape. Kam Martin even looked like a bit of a power runner yesterday at times. I was glad to see the intermediate passing game come back in, with Stidham going for some second and third options for short gains instead of focusing on the long ball.
On defense, they’re still great. We just haven’t really faced a passing attack like the Rebels’, and when they’re trying to score late, it’ll be hard to stop them with a team that frankly was 1) backups and 2) already looking ahead to Baton Rouge.
LSU winning yesterday was probably the best thing that could’ve happened to us, as they won’t be frothing for a victory quite so much now. Our late game struggles also didn’t hurt, since there’s something to work on now in the film room. We should be favored to get our first win in Baton Rouge, and I think we’ll be up to the task.
You’ll have a top ten team, Tiger fans, once the polls come out in a couple hours. Enjoy it! War Eagle!
from College and Magnolia http://bit.ly/2wGICFL
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