Countdown to Kickoff: 48 Days

Last year’s Ole Miss game is making it’s second appearance on the countdown. We previously broke down Ryan Davis’s 75 yard scamper. Today, Kerryon Johnson gets to be the hero.

For much of the 2017 season, Kerryon Johnson was the engine that made this offense go. A lot of times that involved him breaking multiple tackles or plowing through an unblocked defender or patiently picking his way through a mess to find daylight. But on this 48 yard touchdown run, all he had to do was run straight down the field.

The coach’s tape gives better perspective on how wonderfully executed this play was by everyone involved.

Just beautiful...

Auburn goes heavy on this play, bringing in an extra offensive lineman and going unbalanced to the near side. Ole Miss’s defense seems a bit confused and I suspect they are misaligned on this play. Eli Stove comes on the jet sweep motion which not only brings the CB matched up on him in man to man to the other side of the field but also causes the other DB (#21) to widen, effectively taking both out of the play.

Auburn’s running power with Kerryon Johnson on the inside and it’s blocked perfectly. Huge shoutout to Darius James who teams up with Austin Golson to drive Ole Miss’s 1-tech (#95) off the ball then peels off and seals the linebacker (#43) and opens a wide open hole for Johnson. Watch Casey Dunn as well, get down the line and seal the 3-tech (#14). All Johnson has to do is run through the gaping hole and not get caught from behind. Touchdown Tigers.

This play is a great example of how all of Auburn’s pre snap motion can confuse defenders and make life easier for the big boys up front. When the Malzahn offense is clicking it’s a ton of fun to watch.

48 days till kickoff! War Eagle!