Malzahn wants offense to pick up the pace

Blame the referees.

Or, at least, include the referees if you’re looking for someone to blame for Auburn’s offense not being fast enough in its season-opening win against Louisiana Tech.

What, you thought 556 yards and 37 points were more than enough, especially after last year, when the Tigers matched that point total just once and didn’t even sniff that yardage?

You’d think that.

Then again, you’d think Gus Malzahn would crack a smile once in a while, too.

In Malzahn’s, Gene Chizik’s and, in turn, the players’ opinion, Auburn’s offense wasn’t moving close to its potential.

The standards, apparently, get raised when you start so well.

“It really wasn’t,” Malzahn said. “That’s one of our advantages if we can get to the pace we’re looking for. We weren’t really close at times to what we need. Hopefully, we’ll improve on that this week.”

So where to start?

Ah, the referees.

The habit of getting the ball to the nearest official as soon as your knee hits the ground is something Malzahn has tried to drill into Auburn players’ heads since the first spring practice. It’s something so seemingly simple, yet it’s a tough habit to break when you’re used to huddling up, or being so confused that your no-huddle milks as much time off the clock as a huddle — like the Tigers were last year.

Multiple players brought this up as a source for the Tigers’ alleged slowness.

“Sometimes you forget,” tailback Ben Tate said. “It’s just something that you’re not really accustomed to. The last three or four years I have been here, you just lay the ball on the ground.”

Offensive lineman Byron Isom, who has touched the ball exactly zero times since coming to Auburn, didn’t feel the need to call out his teammates.

He took it to the Man.

“I felt like it was the referee,” Isom said. “He was standing over the ball, holding us back a lot. We just have to get up there quicker and get set up quicker, so we’re ready to go.”

Malzahn sees all that as excuses. He does see it as a simple task, not a mindnumbing ordeal.

“We’re very precise on our expectations,” Malzahn said. “We’ve got to do a better job in those areas.”

It goes beyond the simple things, of course. There are some more big-picture hangups that have Malzahn concerned, but understanding.

He’s installed this offense at a new place three times now.

It’s been beaten into just about everyone’s head that Auburn is low on depth and will continue to be throughout this season and probably even in 2010. It affects the offense, defense, special teams and even the scout team.

And now it’s affecting Auburn’s pace.

Certain plays require certain players with certain skill sets to be at a certain position. Ideally, Auburn would have players who had a variety of those skill sets, enabling Malzahn to call a play and have it run without having five or six players running back and forth.

“That’s where we’re at as a program,” Malzahn said. “We’ve got to use a lot of different personnel, and that slows us down. We’ve got to play different people to go to their strengths. Each year we should be more effective in keeping 11 guys on the field with all the formations.

“But really, us being urgent, our communication, getting lined up and running the play, can be a lot more effective.”

Malzahn said the quarterback and the center are key to getting the offense on the pace it needs be. He stopped short of lumping Chris Todd in with the problem, though, as this first dry run was a team effort.

“We did some nice things, but our tempo and the pace of our offense was not one of the things that we were satisfied with,” Chizik said. “It has got to be faster.”

Andrew Gribble covers Auburn University sports for the Opelika-Auburn News. He can be reached at or 334-737-2561.