NFL scouts from the St. Louis Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots and Chicago Bears were credentialed to witness Auburn's stunning upset of No. 1 Alabama. Below is College Football 24/7's play-by-play performance analysis of Auburn left tackle Greg Robinson, a third-year sophomore who is beginning to draw significant attention from scouts:
Run blocking: It was this area in which Robinson was most effective and often dominant for the Tigers. Robinson was frequently assigned to down blocks inside on Alabama defensive tackles Jeoffrey Pagan and A'Shawn Robinson, and he consistently caved the inside while making those blocks. On several plays, he put Pagan on the ground with limited guard help. ... On quarterback Nick Marshall's 45-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, Robinson drove Pagan more than five yards off the line of scrimmage. ... Robinson also made some nice drive blocks on Auburn's second touchdown drive near the end of the first half. ... Robinson struggled on a couple plays in which he was tasked to reach a linebacker on the second level, but rarely was called on to do so. ... In the second half, Robinson continued to bury Pagan on down blocks as Auburn looked to limit pass attempts for quarterback Nick Marshall. That helped pave the way for one of running back Tre Mason's biggest performances of the season, 164 yards on 29 carries and a touchdown. He also made an excellent seal block on Hubbard to spring a 10-yard Mason gain around left end. Thanks in large part to Robinson, AU rushed for 296 yards on the day.
Pass blocking: Robinson was decent, but not perfect, in the first half in pass protection. For the most part, he worked against Alabama linebacker Adrian Hubbard, but also saw some time against fast-rising freshman Jonathan Allen. He gave up a sack in which Hubbard beat him to the outside. Robinson held and practically tackled Hubbard on the play, but with help from Allen, Marshall went down for a loss of six yards. Otherwise, Robinson was solid on the edge, handling Hubbard or at times picking up an outside stunt by Pagan. A'Shawn Robinson sacked Marshall on a play where Robinson was working against Robinson, but the block was good enough, and Marshall took too long to get rid of the ball. ... Robinson also had trouble holding a couple of blocks on quick-screen and and hitch passes. Allen got away from him on one such play to help with a tackle for loss, and A'Shawn Robinson got away from him on another. ... A fourth-quarter sack by Alabama linebacker Trey DePriest came off Robinson's side, but the tackle was assigned to an inside rusher and DePriest took advantage of a missed assignment.
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