Report Card: Auburn’s defense disappoints in Outback Bowl loss

Offense: B+

Although the Auburn Tigers did lose this game, the offense for Auburn did it’s part in keeping the Tigers competitive in this game. At times, Auburn struggled to get anything rolling, especially early on. However, quarterback Nick Marshall was an efficient 15-of-22 for 217 yards and two touchdowns, including a number of pretty throws downfield. Cameron Artis-Payne did his thing, bowling over Wisconsin defenders for a tough 126 yards and two touchdowns. More importantly, Auburn didn’t turn the ball over. It wasn’t pretty on every drive, but for the most part Auburn’s offense was very effective against the Badgers. Unfortunately for the Tigers, the defense couldn’t play at the same level.

Defense: D+

This bowl loss falls squarely on the shoulders of the Auburn defense. The Tigers couldn’t stop Wisconsin from moving the ball down the field and Melvin Gordon exploded for 251 yards and three touchdowns in his final collegiate game. Auburn’s defensive line got pushed around at the line of scrimmage and the tackling was poor, to say the least. Too many yards after contact for Wisconsin, so it’s not surprising the Badgers racked up 521 total yards of offense. The only saving grace for Auburn’s defense was the three interceptions, which kept Wisconsin from pulling away. Despite the turnovers, it was an overall underwhelming performance for the defense.

Special Teams: D

It’s never comforting when a game can come down to a field goal, and for the Tigers, their kicker couldn’t come through in the game’s biggest moments. Freshman Daniel Carlson went just 1-for-3 throughout the game and his biggest kick, the one to tie it up in OT, hit off the upright. Special teams was not on Auburn’s side.

Coaching: C

There weren’t any egregious mistakes by Auburn’s coaching staff, but the play calling at times was questionable, especially during Auburn’s overtime possession. Malzahn was a little too cute and called a double-pass play, which resulted in minimal gain and a long field goal for Carlson. Auburn actually moved backwards three yards in its lone overtime possession and the drive was capped off by Carlson’s miss. I think Auburn’s coaches overthought some of the play calls and it came back to bite them in the end.

Overall: C-

Auburn’s Outback Bowl performance was certainly one-sided. The offense came through when it needed to and made plays to win the game. Unfortunately for the Tigers, the defense wasn’t able to do the same and Melvin Gordon and the rest of the Badgers were just too tough and too good for Auburn to contain for 60 minutes. Auburn was a good team this year and was downright impressive at times in 2014, but the better team won on Thursday in Tampa, Fla.

Drew Laing

Drew Laing will be providing analysis and insight on Florida, Georgia, Missouri and South Carolina.