ESPN's Todd McShay Breaks Down Auburn Offense vs Jacksonville State on Twitter

Todd McShay, an analyst at ESPN, had some thoughts on the Auburn vs Jacksonville State game. You can see his Tweets below.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Studied Auburn OFF today. Takeaways: 1.Both INTs vs Jax St were QB Johnson&#39;s fault (failed to see LB on both) but he&#39;s not biggest problem</p>&mdash; Todd McShay (@McShay13) <a href="https://twitter.com/McShay13/status/644267702719225858">September 16, 2015</a></blockquote>

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Auburn QB Johnson missed two other throws (off-target) but otherwise was efficient in a screen/hitch/swing heavy pass attack.</p>&mdash; Todd McShay (@McShay13) <a href="https://twitter.com/McShay13/status/644268122032209920">September 16, 2015</a></blockquote>

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Auburn&#39;s OL eventually wore Jax St DEF down but took too long. This group needs to play better (esp pulls/on move) than it did 1st half</p>&mdash; Todd McShay (@McShay13) <a href="https://twitter.com/McShay13/status/644268600476499969">September 16, 2015</a></blockquote>

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Auburn WR Williams missed 2 chances in RZ -Not same page as QB + mistimed jump. Failed to make contested catch later. Plus bad body language</p>&mdash; Todd McShay (@McShay13) <a href="https://twitter.com/McShay13/status/644269836428800001">September 16, 2015</a></blockquote>

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">RB 25 Payton Barber is a good one. Good fit in this scheme. Has a lot of juice in his legs. Get to/thru creases in a hurry.</p>&mdash; Todd McShay (@McShay13) <a href="https://twitter.com/McShay13/status/644271085681278976">September 16, 2015</a></blockquote>

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I said on the radio this afternoon with SportscallAuburn.com that I think Jeremy Johnson played better on Saturday than many give him credit for. McShay (and others) agree with that to a point. He definitely still struggled at times with the two interceptions and some overthrows.

The offensive woes have not all been on him, however. Jason Caldwell of Inside the Auburn Tigers had similar thoughts as McShay on the failed redzone opportunity early on when two passes were thrown towards Duke Williams.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I&#39;m saying the throw was caused by a wrong route or route that was cut short. <a href="https://t.co/0SGGcg8cPe">https://t.co/0SGGcg8cPe</a></p>&mdash; Jason Caldwell (@ITATJason) <a href="https://twitter.com/ITATJason/status/644257205919703040">September 16, 2015</a></blockquote>

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As for the "contested catch" McShay mentions, I think that's the 3rd down pass on Auburn's second drive of the second half that ended in Auburn's only punt of the half. The ball was thrown a bit behind Duke, but it was still a catchable football.

I think anyone who watched the first half knows about the issues with the offensive line pulling. Maybe it was Avery Young being out and the lineup being shuffled, but Danzey in particular was too slow on one pull that led to a tackle for loss on what otherwise would have been a big gain early on. Credit JSU's defense, as well. They did an excellent job defending Auburn's game plan early on to force passing plays.

Jeremy Johnson still has some things that need working on, but for all the struggles, Auburn's offense wasn't as ineffective in the game as some fear. In the second half, there was a touchdown, the Duke Williams drop on a drive that was moving along nicely, the bad interception, a great sustained drive that ended with the Roc Thomas fumble, and the touchdown to tie. Then there was the touchdown in overtime. A good bit of Auburn's offensive woes on Saturday hinge on the defense not being able to get off the field and give them more opportunities to score.

So what do you think of Todd McShay's thoughts? Are the things he points out fixable before this weekend? Will the injured defensive players return and shore up the defense enough to give the offense more opportunities? We'll see this Saturday, I guess.