Auburn's offense finds confidence, highlights and yards

Auburn's offense finds confidence, highlights and yardsAuburn's offense finds confidence, highlights and yards

Sept. 12, 2016

By Charles Goldberg
AuburnTigers.com

AUBURN, Ala. - The numbers added up quite nicely for Rhett Lashlee.

No punts. Fifty-one points. Eighty-five offensive snaps.

About a million highlight-reel catches, fakes and runs.

Auburn's offensive coordinator heads into Saturday's 6 p.m. game against Texas A&M with a better feel for the Tigers' offense after beating Arkansas State 51-14 over the weekend.

"We definitely showed great improvement," Lashlee said.

Auburn straightened things out against the Sun Belt opponent by relying on its run-first offense and striking gold with big plays. The upside? The Tigers finished the week leading the Southeastern Conference in rushing. Lashlee said Auburn had 17 explosive plays, and, in the Tigers' playbook, that means a run of at least 12 yards and a pass of at least 16 yards.

If those are explosive, then these plays were downright nuclear:

- The 64-yard run by Kamryn Pettway.

- Kerryon Johnson's 47-yard touchdown run in which he began on one sideline, crossed the field and scored racing down the other sideline.

- The one-handed 42-yard catch by Kyle Davis.

- The 41-yard run by John Franklin III.

- Bonus: The 20-yard touchdown run on a faked field goal by place-kicker Daniel Carlson, which helped him win SEC honors Monday.



Quarterback Sean White also impressed by proving he can pass, and run, too.

"He did a nice job throwing the ball," Lashlee said. "I think that's probably from just the standpoint of knowing, 'Hey, I've got the support and I'm the guy and I've got a lot of reps with these guys.'

"He just played with confidence. We're going to have to do that to stay balanced every game."

The first week's quarterback revolving door was slammed shut until Franklin came in with Auburn leading 48-14. White's willingness to run - he had a career-high 60 yards - helped Saturday night, and figures to help open up other opportunities for the offense as defenses watch White more closely.

Auburn's balanced offense Saturday produced 462 yards rushing, 244 passing for a combined 706 yards, the second most in school history. White was in for most of it.

"What I thought he did well was trust his instincts," Lashlee said. "He showed some confidence in his ability to make some plays with his feet. We need that."

Lashlee said White play should give him confidence.

"You go out and play well, the guys catch the ball and make plays for him. Make no mistake: Those guys made some plays, he had a lot of time and we ran the ball well, and that helps, so it all works together."



Auburn used 66 players, and has played 20 true and redshirt freshmen in the first two games.

"We probably played more wideouts in one game than we ever have. We were rolling units. After two or three series, it was 'All right, let's let the young guys go play a series.'

"We think they can help us win this year. I think they're really talented guys, so the best way they can get better is to play the game. You never know when you're going to have an injury. It may be Week 6 or 7 and, not only are they playing, but they're playing in a more prominent role. You don't want that to be the first time they get meaningful reps. So that's just part of the development process."

Charles Goldberg is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @AUGoldMine