Why You Can't "Stack the Box" vs. Auburn (with graphics/pics)

Alright, I've seen a boatload of criticism for John Chavis these past few days, most of it entirely unmerited. I'm not saying I completely agree with everything we did Saturday, but here's a look at why things are SO difficult against this Auburn offense.

1) Offense is a space game.

OC's want more space, DCs want less. The entire design of a spread (or in this case, spread option) offense is to spread the defense out. They want defenders scattered across the field to open up gaps for players to run through.

2) By running no huddle, Malzahn does not allow the defense to substitute.

This is key. What you see is that Auburn, nearly exclusively, runs a 5 man line. Rarely do they go two TEs. The one guy they do have (Lutzenkirchen) lines up as a TE/FB hybrid, at times in the backfield, at times as a true TE. Except they also sub him out a lot and play mostly 4 WRs (which is what they did a ton against LSU).

So here's how it looks:


Notice the 4 WRs (3 on the bottom, 1 at top). Notice how it spreads our defense out.

Newton ran right up the middle for about 15 yards.

Here's what it looks like on paper (different formation, same concept):



Realistically LSU is already "stacking the box." Stacking the box means having more defenders than they can block (they have 5 OL, we have 6 defenders).

People are saying we needed 7 or 8 guys in there.

If you bring in 8 guys, you leave two WRs uncovered. If you bring in 7, you leave one WR uncovered.

We chose to play them with 5 DBs most of the game. If you went "big" in terms of bringing in LBers, you have major liabilities in pass coverage.

Yes, our secondary is the best part of our team, but even an unaccomplished passer like Newton would dissect a defense leaving 2 WRs uncovered.

Their formations dictate how we line up.

Now the way you counter balance this is by having your front 4 eat space. You need at least one man to eat two blockers and the other three to occupy theirs. Unfortunately, this didn't happen for us (and we aren't really built like that defensively). So the result is, they end up with 5 on 5 every play, leaving us one LB to honor both the QB and RB.

THAT is why they ate our asses up on the ground.

Not because "we failed to stack the box."

If we stacked the box, everyone on here would be asking why the frick we allowed Cameron Newton to throw for 300 yards and had WRs running wide open down the field all day.

The bottom line is, Auburn's offense is SO difficult to defend because of a few reasons:

1) They spread you out and have speed at the skill positions.
2) Their QB is both a power runner and a speed runner. Tebow murdered defenses in this same way, but he did it by bludgeoning you for repeated first downs. Newton actually has the speed to rip a long one.
3) It becomes a game of pick your poison.

Malzahn orchestrated a great plan. It just so happens that our defense does not matchup well to this brand of offense. It's very difficult for even the best minds to gameplan against.

Saban's defense may actually have a good chance because he has a front 7 which is built more on occupying space rather than creating penetration/wreaking havoc.