The added value

[aubiefifty 17,488]

The added value Auburn found in 2 of its Week 1 scoring drives

By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

5-7 minutes

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Auburn put 60 points on the board in its season-opening win against Akron, which was the most ever for a Tigers team in their head coach’s first game with the program. The team had 11 drives in its Week 1 win, with nine of them producing points.

It’s difficult to read too much into a 50-point win against one of the worst teams in the FBS, but Auburn coach Bryan Harsin found some added value in two of his team’s nine scoring drives Saturday night — the ones that came at the end of each half.

Auburn’s two end-of-half possessions against Akron resulted in a 44-yard field goal by Anders Carlson in the waning seconds of the first half to give the Tigers a 37-0 lead, and a 9-yard rushing touchdown from freshman running back Jarquez Hunter with 28 seconds to go for the final score of the game. It wasn’t so much those 10 points that provided the additional value for Auburn, but it was the situational value of those two possessions that Harsin wanted to take advantage of.

Although Auburn had the result against an overmatched Akron team in hand well before halftime, the Tigers had a chance to work on their 2-minute offense late in the first half after getting the ball back with 66 seconds on the clock.

“The end of half, the goal is always to try to get points or keep the other team from getting points, depending on what side of the ball you’re on,” Harsin said. “So, that’s always the mentality.”

Auburn forced an Akron punt inside the final two minutes of the first half and took over at its own 8-yard line. The Tigers went to work, with Bo Nix quickly moving the offense down the field. He completed a 7-yard pass to Demetris Robertson, followed by a 10-yarder to John Samuel Shenker to move the chains. Nix then completed a 14-yard pass to Shedrick Jackson, who got out of bounds at the Tigers’ 39-yard line and stopped the clock.

Nix scrambled on the ensuing play, picking up 15 yards before getting out of bounds at the Akron 46-yard line. After a 13-yard completion to Kobe Hudson, Nix tried to go back to the receiver again—but this time it fell to the turf as one of Nix’s two incompletions on the night. After a 6-yard pass to Shenker, who ran out of bounds at the Akron 27-yard line with 7 seconds left in the half, Auburn trotted Carlson onto the field for the 44-yard field goal with 2 seconds left.

Auburn covered 65 yards in eight plays while getting into scoring range in just 1 minutes and 4 seconds of game time.

“I thought we did a good job of executing down the field,” Harsin said. “We put ourselves in a position with 7 seconds left to kick a field goal. Anders did a great job; we finished the drive and we got points. And so, it was a good opportunity for Bo and the offense to go out there and execute in kind of a 2-minute situation. And we spent a lot of time on that, so that gave us an opportunity to do that.”

Then late in the game, with Auburn leading 53-10 following an Akron field goal, the Tigers got the ball back with 2:38 left on the clock at their own 35-yard line. The night ended for Auburn’s starters well before that point, and Harsin and his staff wanted to get valuable game reps for the team’s reserves.

“That was a chance for our guys to keep playing, to get reps,” Harsin said. “We had some other players in the game, and so those guys, it’s important that they get a chance to get out there and play and to have a chance to run the ball, to make decisions, to block, to do all the things on the offensive side that we need to just be able to do in live games and we haven’t had a chance to do that.”

Auburn could have sat on the ball late with Akron out of timeouts, but that wasn’t the case. The Tigers kept the ball on the ground—but they also kept the chains moving. The reserves put together a five-play, 65-yard scoring drive that was capped by Hunter’s vicious 9-yard touchdown run. The freshman running back did much of the heavy lifting on the drive, carrying it four times for 49 yards to cap his 110-yard rushing debut.

“Those guys were able to finish, and we scored in that situation, but ultimately it’s more about our guys having a chance to play and being able to take those valuable reps that they all get, you know, into the season because you never know what’s going to happen,” Harsin said. “Those guys get a chance to play in the game, they get an opportunity to go against an opponent, things happen in football, and before you know it one of those guys could be in there playing a whole lot more. And so, every bit of reps that we can get I think matter as far as our development goes.”

It was a message that Harsin carried over into practice Sunday, when the Tigers focused on getting their reserves in full pads and developing them further with game-like situations.

Harsin’s message afterward?

“I told those guys, our entire goal is to figure out ways, if you’re not a starter, to get you in a role where you can contribute and you can play,” he said. “And that’s all about development. That’s all about becoming a better football player, and so those opportunities in games or practice — you know, whenever you get it, take advantage of it. And hopefully those are going to help you be a better football player and give you a chance when you get in the game to go execute at a high level. When you do that, more opportunities will come.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

[bigbird 60,624]

[aubiefifty 17,488]

11 minutes ago, bigbird said:

since we are having fun bird if i might inject some humor? have you ever laid an egg? do you eat eggs? and if you do does it make you feel weird? and i am not high yet just warped.

[Randman5000 4,245]

Quote

“Those guys were able to finish, and we scored in that situation, but ultimately it’s more about our guys having a chance to play and being able to take those valuable reps that they all get, you know, into the season because you never know what’s going to happen,” Harsin said. “Those guys get a chance to play in the game, they get an opportunity to go against an opponent, things happen in football, and before you know it one of those guys could be in there playing a whole lot more. And so, every bit of reps that we can get I think matter as far as our development goes.”

It was a message that Harsin carried over into practice Sunday, when the Tigers focused on getting their reserves in full pads and developing them further with game-like situations.

Harsin’s message afterward?

“I told those guys, our entire goal is to figure out ways, if you’re not a starter, to get you in a role where you can contribute and you can play,” he said. “And that’s all about development. That’s all about becoming a better football player, and so those opportunities in games or practice — you know, whenever you get it, take advantage of it. And hopefully those are going to help you be a better football player and give you a chance when you get in the game to go execute at a high level. When you do that, more opportunities will come.”

Seriously!! This is amazing. This is what a real coach does. Yes! Refreshing. 

[PowerOfDixieland 3,228]

One of the key areas of player development that seemed to completely escape the previous HC.  From a player perspective, making it into a game that had already been decided was almost a slap in the face.  They were pretty much used as placeholders, especially on offense.  "Get in there and just don't turn the ball over....."