Mailbag 187: Is Auburn's offensive strategy shift here to stay?

This week: Keionte Scott, Na'eem Offord, field position, JP Pegues, The Death Lineup, superpowers, Halloween candy and hot chicken

RB Jarquez Hunter (Austin Perryman/Auburn Tigers)

AUBURN — Welcome back to another Thursday edition of the mailbag.

We don’t have a lot of space for a long intro — which is a good thing, because I’m sure a lot of you want to dive right into the lead question this week:

Is what Auburn did at Kentucky last Saturday night actually replicable moving forward?

We tackle that important question, along with some other big ones facing Auburn football at the moment, before switching over to several great basketball topics ahead of the home exhibition Friday night. We also close with Halloween candy, hot chicken and places that bring us the most joy.

Let’s go.

We saw a huge shift in offensive strategy after the 1st quarter on Saturday night. It really went away from what we’ve seen from Coach Freeze in the past.

Do you see Auburn becoming a “run, no matter what” offense over the last four games, or was it a 3-quarter aberration for a desperate team?

Bandit

It took eight games, but Auburn finally ran the offense that a lot of fans had wanted to see Saturday night against Kentucky.

I was surprised that the Tigers went in that direction, to be honest. I thought Hugh Freeze and his offensive staff would still try to throw the ball around against a Kentucky defense that had been struggling in defending the pass. And I had long said that Auburn’s offensive line wasn’t a “run, no matter what” type of unit this season.

There had been too many mistakes and too much inefficiency, as evidenced by the Tigers’ low EPA/rushing attempt stat heading into that game. Auburn ran the ball more against Missouri a week earlier and didn’t get the results it wanted. Plus, Kentucky had been a strong run defense for most of the season.

But Jarquez Hunter had a record-breaking night. He kept getting touches, and he kept punishing a Kentucky defense that couldn’t deal with his tackle-breaking or his great speed over the course of an entire game. Auburn’s offensive line played some of its best ball in a while when it came to run-blocking, and Payton Thorne made enough good throws and good decisions down the stretch to keep Kentucky honest.

Auburn’s win over Kentucky won’t earn many style points, but the time for those has long passed. The Tigers stuck to what worked, melted the clock and leaned on their defense for a much-needed road win. Even with the slow start, the negative plays in the passing game and the botched final drive in the second quarter, Auburn did what it needed to do to win.

Now the question is if Freeze and his staff will keep that up.

It’s possible. As I wrote earlier this week, Vanderbilt gave up five yards per carry against Kentucky and Missouri, and Georgia State wasn’t far off from that average when it pulled off a stunner in Atlanta earlier this season. Vanderbilt might play hard-nosed, clean football, but Auburn has a talent and depth advantage — and it needs to show that in the trenches.

Now, Vanderbilt’s tendency to play ball-control football on offense might push Auburn to want to throw the ball down the field more than it did against Kentucky. Thorne only had a couple of deep throws all game, and the rest were quicker, shorter stuff that were designed to take what the defense gave him. Auburn’s offense could use a (much) better start and some truly explosive plays Saturday, because Vanderbilt will try to shorten the game as much as possible.

But being as pass-heavy as Auburn was before the Kentucky game doesn’t feel like a smart strategy. This offensive line still struggles in protection. Thorne has had his moments this season, yet he’s not a consistently efficient passer. The strengths of this team are getting the ball to Hunter — and others, creatively, in space — while run-blocking and trying to set up the occasional shot play.

Doing this against a Texas A&M team that has a dominant run defense in a few weeks will be a much different story. However, Auburn can cross that bridge when it gets there. Right now, the focus should be on playing your best brand of football in order to beat Vanderbilt and set yourself up for a situation where you can get bowl-eligible with a win over ULM plus one upset in the final two games.

I don’t think Auburn will have the same amount of success running the ball against Vanderbilt because a) that’s a high bar to clear and b) Kentucky looked like a team that was tapping out in the second half. Vanderbilt is fighting for a bowl bid and another upset over a traditional powerhouse in the SEC.

Still, letting the running game lead the way and using the passing attack to play off of that — instead of the other way around? That’s a strategy that should work against Vanderbilt and should be the path forward for the Auburn offense.

I’m guessing I’m not the only Observer observer writing in about how glad they are Jarquez got fed. No matter how he finishes his Auburn career, I’m always gonna wish we could have seen him with more touches.

Who else is on that list for you? Mario Fannin and Anthony Schwartz stand out for me.

Honorable mention: Trovon Reed’s film had me titillated, but he never quit had the chance to put it all together.

JD