The Auburn Tigers defeated the Kentucky Wildcats
in a thrilling game that came right down to the wire on Thursday night
in Lexington, Kentucky.
Auburn gained an early lead, and although the Wildcats kept it close
the entire came, the Tigers were in control from start to finish,
winning by a final score of 30-27.
It was a much-needed win for the Tigers, who picked up their first
SEC victory in three tries. The Tigers will look to build off the win
next week when they take on the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Auburn Tigers Grade Analysis
Pass Offense
The passing game had to be a refreshing sight for Auburn fans. The
coaches decided to stick with Sean White at quarterback, and the
decision paid off. White connected on 17 of his 27 passing attempts for
255 yards through the air.
The White-to-Ricardo Louis connection was on fire from the start, as
Louis racked up over 100 receiving yards in the first quarter before
eventually finishing with 154 total yards.
The dismissal of Duke Williams had many wondering if the Auburn
passing game was doomed to sputter even further, but the performance of
Auburn in the passing game was anything but sputtering.
Rush Offense
The offensive struggles for Auburn this season have had many Tigers
fans wanting the team to get back to its roots on offense and work to
re-establish the power running game.
The Tigers were fairly balanced on Thursday night, and the running
game was effective, rushing for 152 yards, 92 of which came from Peyton
Barber.
Kerryon
Johnson also worked his way into the mix, rushing for 36 yards and
finding the end zone on a touchdown. It might not have been a dominant
performance on the ground, but it was definitely good enough to keep the
offense moving the entire night.
Pass Defense
The Auburn pass defense gave up some big numbers through the air
Thursday night, but it didn't let the numbers translate to an
overabundance of points. Kentucky quarterback Patrick
Towles threw for 359 yards but not a single touchdown.
The Auburn secondary made what in retrospect might have been the play of the game when
Carlton Davis intercepted
Towles in the end zone.
Garrett Johnson also made some big receptions against Auburn's defensive backs. He pulled in nine catches for 160 yards.
Rush Defense
Stanley Williams gashed the Auburn defense on a 60-yard rush in the
first quarter. But outside of that play, the Auburn defensive front was
solid against the run for the rest of the evening.
Williams finished with 113 yards on the ground, and Kentucky managed
138 yards rushing on 33 attempts. Without the big run from Williams,
that's 78 yards on 32 attempts for an average of fewer than three yards
per carry.
However, all three of the Wildcats' touchdowns came on the ground.
Special Teams
It was a virtually mistake-free night for the Auburn special teams
units. Daniel Carlson was perfect on all three of his field-goal
attempts, including an impressive 52-yarder that split the uprights.
Kevin Phillips also averaged over 40 yards a kick on his five punts, including a long of 53 yards.
There wasn't much in the return game, as Auburn was only able to
return one of Kentucky's four punts. But in a game as close as this one,
a single mistake could be the difference between a win and a loss.
Sound execution ensured that mistake never came on special teams.
Coaching
Gus
Malzahn
did a great job these past two weeks of keeping his players focused
despite the Duke Williams turmoil and disappointing start to the season.
It's common for a team to fall into a deep slump when the players
realize their preseason championship expectations are likely out of
reach. Auburn didn't look like that type of team on Thursday night.
Also, the decision to stick with Sean White turned out to be the correct call, and the balanced
play-calling on offense kept the Tigers moving the ball downfield consistently.
Source :
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2579688-auburn-vs-kentucky-game-grades-analysis-for-the-tigers
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