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AUBURN — Big plays aren’t a bonus. At least not in the mind of Auburn football offensive coordinator Derrick Nix.
They’re a prerequisite to having a successful offense, a necessary tool to be effective on that side of the ball. It’s a facet of the game Nix, who joined the Tigers following a 16-year run at Ole Miss that featured him coaching running backs and receivers, helped the Rebels be efficient at last season.
Amongst the 14 teams that played in the SEC in 2023 − this means Texas and Oklahoma are excluded because they didn’t play SEC schedules − Ole Miss ranked No. 4 in explosive runs, which are defined by Pro Football Focus as rushes that pick up at least 10 yards. Removing contributions from quarterbacks, which are often born of broken sets and scrambles rather than schemed-up plays, the Rebels ranked No. 3 in the conference with their running backs collecting 59 explosive runs.
The passing game also featured a knack for big plays, as quarterback Jaxson Dart averaged 9.3 yards per attempt. That ranked No. 3 amongst the 14 conference QBs who led their teams in dropbacks.
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Nix is hoping to bring some of that pop to the Plains.
“Being a fundamentally-efficient scoring machine, it requires us to make explosive plays,” Nix said Thursday. “It becomes a standard, and expectation. We just try to challenge our guys to expect it. If our offensive line can protect (and) the quarterback makes the right read against the right coverage, you should make the play and it should be an explosive.
“We should be able to count on that, week in and week out. That is something that we talk about and something that’s expected and needed for this offense to…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/auburn-footballs-offense-requires-explosion-122007703.html
Author : The Montgomery Advertiser
Publish date : 2024-08-12 12:20:07
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