aubiefifty 18,231 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 al.com Auburn's bowl loss shows Bryan Harsin how much works needs to be done By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com 5-6 minutes Oct 3, 2020; Orlando FL, USA; Auburn’s offensive line blocking during the game between Auburn vs Northwestern at Orlando. Mandatory Credit: Todd Van Emst/AU Athletics Todd Van Emst/AU Athletics Donning a white-and-navy blue striped polo shirt emblazoned with Auburn’s logo, Bryan Harsin watched from the suite level at Camping World Stadium as the program he’s set to take over finished out its season against Northwestern in the Citrus Bowl. Much like he had the last week, when he was hands off during bowl preparations, Harsin took a step back to assess his new program and formulate his plan for reshaping the Tigers’ in his image. “When we get on the other side of this, what are we doing moving forward?” Harsin said while joining ABC’s broadcast team for a live segment in the first half. “We’ll start building on what we want to be.” On Friday, Harsin saw firsthand the difference between what Auburn currently is and what the former Boise State coach wants it to be. The Tigers ended their tumultuous season in disappointing fashion, falling to the 14th-ranked Wildcats, 35-19, in Orlando, Fla. “The biggest thing is that, as far as our players, as coaches, the coaching staff, our hats are off to them,” defensive coordinator and acting head coach Kevin Steele said. “Like every other team in the country, their life got turned upside down in March. They fought through it like champions. The season was obviously the same for everybody else. That was difficult for everybody across the country. Then we added on that they lost their head coach -- or, we lost our head coach in Coach Malzahn. That was added on. Those are not excuses; what it is is to say how resilient these young men are and how they love Auburn and they love to fight. They’ve done everything they asked them to do.” The loss dropped the Tigers to 6-5 on the season and 2-5 in their last seven bowl games since coming within 13 seconds of a national championship back in 2013. That BCS title game at the Rose Bowl seven years ago seemed like a distant memory for this Auburn program, and a reminder of just how much work Harsin has to do to get the Tigers back to his stated goal of competing for championships. “We got a lot of work to do, but that’s what I’m excited about and why Auburn was such a good fit,” Harsin said during the game. That work for Harsin began in earnest once the final seconds ticked off the clock against Northwestern. His immediate focus will be on assembling his inaugural staff at Auburn. Whether that will include any holdovers from the Malzahn era remains to be seen. Several of Auburn’s assistant coaches have contracts set to expire at the end of this month, while some are still under contract for one or two more years. Steele, who has two years remaining on his three-year deal, said after the game his future has not yet been addressed and that it’s up to Harsin and the administration to decide what’s next. As for the on-field work that needs to be done, Friday’s loss to Northwestern further highlighted the biggest area Harsin needs to address in building his new program. Auburn’s offensive line — playing without starting right tackle Brodarious Hamm for the second game — was a glaring weakness in the Citrus Bowl. The depleted unit, which has suffered from years of recruiting misses and insufficient development of quality depth, struggled to get any sort of push up front against Northwestern, while starting left tackle Alec Jackson was responsible for three false start penalties. Auburn, which was without star freshman running back Tank Bigsby, rushed for just 61 yards on 26 attempts and clearly did not trust its ability to establish the run. The Tigers’ two available running backs, Shaun Shivers and D.J. Williams, accounted for only 15 total carries and 31 yards rushing, with no run longer than 5 yards. Auburn handed the ball off to its running backs only three times in the first quarter and seven times in the first half. “We came out in this game and struggled a little bit in the first half offensively,” Steele said. While Auburn’s defense had its own issues, particularly in the first quarter when Northwestern quarterback Peyton Ramsey shredded the secondary, the unit mostly found its footing before suffering from defending short fields late. Harsin will continue his evaluation of Auburn’s program in the coming weeks, but it’s clear that if he hopes to get the Tigers competing at a championship level again, the focus will have to be on the offense, beginning with the line of scrimmage. “I ain’t gonna lie, the only thing you gotta do right here is recruit,” senior defensive end Big Kat Bryant said. “You know, it’s just plain and simple…. I really think he has the right coaching philosophy to lead this team to one day be able to win championships. I really do believe that.” Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oct 3, 2020; Orlando FL, USA; Auburn’s offensive line blocking during the game between Auburn vs Northwestern at Orlando. Mandatory Credit: Todd Van Emst/AU Athletics Todd Van Emst/AU Athletics
wareagleguy 1,397 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 No doubt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butthead 525 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Osu seems to know how to utilize the TE position. Maybe we can barter a few for some o line help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodford 3,732 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 A culture change could help cover of some deficiencies. Biggest problem with this team is attitude and culture. Program needs to be cleaned up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
au701948 1,064 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Offensive Lineman and RB’s for sure..then whatever else Coach wants to recruit. Go get them Coach! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDUBB4AU 5,287 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 6 minutes ago, woodford said: A culture change could help cover of some deficiencies. Biggest problem with this team is attitude and culture. Program needs to be cleaned up. 6 minutes ago, woodford said: A culture change could help cover of some deficiencies. Biggest problem with this team is attitude and culture. Program needs to be cleaned up. I agree twice I guess . I’m excited to see what that alone does for AU. The Cupboard is not bare for talent and mentally the challenge is creating a championship mindset and consistently working towards being better every play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleEye67 1,948 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Ready for CBHs first practice - LETTTTSSSSSSGOOOOOO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUx 3,165 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Interesting. Ay-El-dot-com now can report problem and causes in this article, whereas I don't think they did so in the last several years where it was painfully obvious (OL weakness, poor OL recruiting). What a scoop! It took Friday's game (orange bowl) to identify that. Thanks ay-el-dot-com. Stay tuned for the next Marvel movie from disney, "Captain Hindsight". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUx 3,165 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmer Brown 2,461 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 I hate that rag for a website. JD Crowe is insufferable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DyeCampAlum 335 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Several freshmen showed out today, especially on D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meh130 1,056 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 The O-Line has been a problem since 2015. We had a good run in 2017 after we fixed numerous problems by moving Austin Golson to left tackle and bumping graduate transfer Casey Dunn up to starting center. Herb Hand's off-season and early season mismanagement of the offensive line that year was really bad, as shown by the disastrous Clemson game. Left tackle Prince Tega Wanogho improved considerably over the course of the year, which allowed Golson to fill in for the injured Darius James. Dunn was the hero of the OL that year, freeing up Golson to move initially to left tackle, then over to right tackle. Add to that, Braden Smith was a beast. I think it was against LSU, Smith pancaked a defensive lineman, and with James missing a block, and the edge rusher coming after Stidham, Smith ran over and blocked the edge rusher allowing Stidham to complete the throw. In 2017 we literally succeeded in spite of ourselves. I still remember an interview with Herb Hand before the season opener, and he had three different OL lineups he planned to try out the first few games to figure out which one was best. Game 2 was Clemson in Death Valley, and Clemson had the highest rated defensive line in college football. My jaw was on the floor. Hand had all of spring and summer to figure out his starting five, and which positions they should be in. In his three different line-ups, some were in different positions. He was running all three different lineups in practice, which means there was no chemistry developing. It is amazing they were able to fix that mess. You would think we would have learned our lesson after losing so many OLs after 2014, struggling in 2015, 2016, and early 2017, and then fixing the OL in 2017. But we didn't, and we have struggled since 2017. It is like the OL is a complete afterthought. As I posted on another board, we can see Anthony Schwartz's lack of catch radius, in part because Bo is often inaccurate on his long balls. Part of the reason Bo is inaccurate is because he is not setting his feet. Part of the reason he is not setting his feet, is because he is running for his life. Part of the reason Bo is running for his life is our offensive line is not capable of providing a solid pocket against a high quality pass rush. So Schwartz's weakness as a wide receiver is exposed because of our OL. I can say much of the same about the DL. We were blessed to have Davidson and Brown return. But it spoiled us, and we simply did not have top tier person behind them. Also, we have not had a standout edge rusher since Jeff Holland in 2017. Our linebackers and DBs seem solid, but we need improvement on the DL. It all starts up front on both sides of the ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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