Auburn has the ingredients to challenge Alabama, and in the Iron Bowl, anything could happen. Auburn coach Gus Malzahn has installed a complex, high-speed offense built on misdirection with heavy doses of zone read by quarterback Nick Marshall. The Tigers have maintained one of the best rushing attacks in the nation, averaging 266 yards on the ground, good for ninth in the nation.
“This game requires a tremendous amount of discipline and focus and preparation to be able to go out there and play the kind of football game that you want to play,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “The focus needs to be on what do I need to do to go out there and be able to do my job well. Gus has done a fantastic job last year and this year. They’ve got lots of returning starters, nine on offense, six on defense. I think that obviously their offense is one of the most productive in the country and certainly in our league. They’ve got a very good scheme.”
Auburn runs a dual-back system which features pre-snap movements on more plays than not – especially difficult for a defense to cover when Auburn is running its hurry-up, no-huddle offense. That misdirection, coupled with a powerful offensive line, has helped running back Cameron Artis-Payne become the leading rusher in the SEC.
“There’s a method to what they do,” Saban said. “Everything that they do, I think, is for a reason. It’s very well-founded. I think Gus does a really good job, because I think he knows how people would try to defend that if they just lined up in the formation. The camouflage that he uses with the motions and all that is something that defensive players have to adjust to, but it also doesn’t allow you to get set like you’d like to get set. It takes more adjusting on the defensive players’ part. But you have to defend all those things too, because they don’t just do it, they have something that they can do with it that you have to defend.”
Auburn’s offense is built on several package plays, or sets out of which a team can run many different plays. When Auburn goes into the zone read, Marshall takes the ball, reads one of the opposing teams defenders and decides whether to hand off, keep or pass the ball. Saban said Marshall is one of the most improved players in the conference, particularly when it comes to the passing game.
“The guy is really, really a fantastic athlete, and he’s very instinctive as a player, especially doing the things that they ask him to do in their offense,” Saban said. “So the combination of his athleticism when he keeps the ball on the options when he’s got an opportunity to throw it or run it is a bit of a mismatch a lot with the defensive ends that have to try to contain him. The guy’s a really, really good player especially doing the things that they ask him to do.”
This year, Alabama has its own mobile quarterback in Blake Sims to help prepare the Crimson Tide for Marshall and the Auburn offense. Cornerback Cyrus Jones said getting the correct reads from the linebackers and not getting confused by Auburn’s motion will be key to stopping the Tigers.
“We’re about to go against a guy like Blake in practice every day to get us prepared for playing against quarterbacks like that,” Jones said. “I just think we just got to come out, be honest and not get too excited about him running or him throwing it. We’ve just got to play our keys and play the defense like we’ve been taught to.”
