Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall throws in the first half of the annual A-Day spring game Saturday at Auburn, Ala. The Tigers did more passing in relation to running than they are likely to do in the 2014 season.Auburn’s first-team offense attempted 37 passes and ran the ball 25 times during Saturday’s A-Day football game at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
That doesn’t mean Gus Malzahn’s Tigers will be employing that same ratio when autumn rolls around.
The running game was Auburn’s bread and butter throughout the 2013 season, as the Tigers averaged 328.3 ground yards per game on the way to the Southeastern Conference championship and a berth in the NCAA title game. Auburn showcased its deep contingent of receivers in the spring game more than its solid stable of tailbacks, but Malzahn insists his rushing attack has been anything but minimized.
“We feel very good about our running game,” Malzahn said in his postgame news conference. “In the first couple of weeks, we really focused on getting better up front. Our offensive line will be one of our strengths. Obviously it should be.”
That Malzahn highlighted Nick Marshall throwing to the likes of Sammie Coates, Ricardo Louis, Quan Bray and junior college transfer D’haquille Williams did not offend the senior tailback tandem of Cameron Artis-Payne or Corey Grant. Artis-Payne rushed 91 times for 610 yards last season as Tre Mason’s primary backup, while Grant was the speed threat who amassed 647 yards and 9.8 yards per carry.