Last week, we talked about the keys to the Mississippi State-Auburn game. Sunday, we dropped some “instant analysis” on the game, as the Tigers walked away with a W and Mississippi State’s SEC West woes continued. Today, we’ll take a look at that final drive and how the Bulldogs turned success into failure or, more specifically, how Auburn went from zeros for nine plays to heroes for two snaps that ultimately won them the ball game.
You can pull the drive chart with the play by play but that will only tell you part of the story. The part where the Bulldogs gained positive yards on nine straight plays, including four straight first downs, only to be stopped for a total of 0 net gain on the final two plays from scrimmage. The part where Mississippi State goes from absolutely dominating up front to being mere mice in the face of the Tigers’ defense when they needed the most to be the body-moving men they were all game.
I’ve watched this drive far too many times for a guy who has no dog in the hunt and saw it play out live. But the more I watch it, the more I’m totally in awe of a few things. First and foremost Auburn’s effort on second and goal against what, to me, was a crappy play call by Dan Mullen’s side. Secondly, the individual effort of reserve safety Ryan Smith to seal the win for the War Eagle nation.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here, let’s start at the beginning of this drive.
Mississippi State gets the ball at its own 33-yard line with plenty of time on the clock and two timeouts remaining. The Bulldogs have been moving the ball nicely all game and there is no legitimate reason to expect that to stop. Mullen’s team opens with three straight running plays, and Auburn’s defense has no answer, giving up 9 yards, 4 yards and 9 yards in succession, with the four-yard pickup being nullified by a penalty. First down at the Auburn 45 and the Bulldogs are on the drive to tie the game.
Mullen leans on LaDarius Perkins in the next series of downs, going to the smaller, shifty sophomore to move the sticks once and get the Bulldogs into third and manageable from the Auburn 29. They’re knocking on the door as Chris Relf hits Vick Ballard for 16 yards to get inside the 15, then Relf picks up five more to give his team a shot at a first down inside the five with 24 seconds on the clock.
Ballard’s amazing run gets Mississippi State the first down and we’re now seeing the clock dwindle as the Bulldogs have the ball inside the 2-yard line. A bad call by Dan Mullen here as he runs a slow developing inside run play with Ballard that loses a yard. The clocks tick, the Bulldogs lose a play because of Ballard fighting for positive yardage, but they eventually get the timeout called with just 10 seconds on the clock.
Ordinarily here, you’d see two plays. Teams with a capable passing attack would throw a slant or a fade to give their best receiver a chance to make a play in the endzone. Perhaps even a sprint out with a run-pass option for Relf to tax the defense and if nothing is there early you throw it away, to play another play.
Mullen doesn’t do that. He goes back to the Bulldogs’ bread and butter. The play that has been killing Auburn all afternoon, the option. And it kills them again. Ballard has been busting their ass all day and Auburn adjusts to that, the pitch is not their for Relf and so he correctly decides to take it himself. That was the right decision by Relf, a veteran at running Mullen’s power option from the spread.
Now, for the problems. First was time management for the Bulldogs. They got jobbed on the slow timeout call, Vick Ballard and his players have to go down but the refs also need to blow the play dead and every player for the maroon and white that wasn’t pushing the pile should have been in the nearest referees face calling for the timeout. That’s coaching. Being aware of the situation and recognizing that you get a timeout called and you regroup to get this ball game tied.
On that last play specifically you’re looking at a kid in Chris Relf who made the perfect decision with the football. What he didn’t do right was make a decision to score.
He’s got two options and they’re both there for him to take. Commit to the score early and turn upfield with a purpose. Get to the goalline with bad intentions. Relf has got 45 lbs on his tackler Ryan Smith and with his power, momentum and shoulders squared to the goalline he’s got a touchdown on the board for the Bulldogs. By running “sort of” wide he left the gate open for Smith to cut him down at an angle, dropping him mere inches from paydirt.
However, if Relf isn’t going to use his power to get into the endzone then he must commit to getting wide. You’ve watched the film, he has room and blockers in front of him, he has to outrace Smith and the oncoming Neiko Thorpe to get wider for the touchdown. Those are your choices, commit to getting upfield with some power or outrace the boys to the pylon. Relf did neither and was chopped down by a pursuing safety because of that.
For Auburn, enjoy the win but you’re by no means out of the woods. Too, too much bad on this drive to do more than say you escaped with some timely stepping up by the sophomore safety. The linebackers were woeful in getting off of blocks, especially the cut. They had Bulldog offensive linemen at their knees all day and failed to use their hands, attack the cutter and shed the blocks cleanly to make a play. This drive was a microcosm of the entire day.
The linebacker coverage on the wheel route to Ballard on the seventh play of the drive was atrocious. They’re either too slow to make the play or as it appears they failed at diagnosing the route and sprinting with the back. Note this for future games but also remember quite vividly the Clemson game from a season ago where Jamie Harper scored on the same route. Covering the wheel is something that has to be done.
All in all hats off to Smith who made the play of his young career. Without that effort and dropping the bigger, stronger Relf this game goes into overtime and given the way Mississippi State was abusing the Tigers’ front seven it could have had a very different ending.
