What Harsin said after the win

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What Bryan Harsin said after Auburn's 62-0 win vs. Alabama State

By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

15-19 minutes

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Auburn is now 2-0 in the Bryan Harsin era after dispatching with another overmatched opponent.

No. 25 Auburn overcame a slow start in the first half before turning things on in the third quarter and shutting out Alabama State, 62-0, on Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium. It was the Tigers’ final tune-up before next weekend’s nonconference showdown at No. 11 Penn State.

After the game, Harsin met with the media via Zoom to discuss his team’s performance. Here’s everything he had to say about the win:

BRYAN HARSIN, Auburn coach

Opening statement…

“Good win for our guys, told them that. Every week you get a chance to go out there and play is good. To see these guys finish the game, I thought the second half we came out and did what we wanted to do, made the adjustments and we executed those in the second half. Early on, just a little bit slugging there in some areas but we responded. Overall, it was good. Scored on offense, scored on defense, scored on special teams so made big plays in all three phases. We had some individual performances that were very good today.

“Overall, one thing I’d say with Alabama State, I know the score doesn’t necessarily show this, but I thought they did a very good job with their game-planning. I thought they had guys that played hard and they did some things we had to make adjustments to. So they had a good game plan early on for us. We made the adjustments. Our guys came out there and executed it. So our staff, players, it was a credit to them. It was good to see our halftime adjustment actually show up there in the second half. We had a big third quarter. But overall, probably the biggest thing that stands out from a negative standpoint is just the penalties. I think we had 10 penalties. We need to clean that up. Those are things that we can control for the most part. Then some turnovers as well. We lost one of the fumbles. We put the ball on the ground a couple of times. Those are things we need to make sure we continue to keep working on as we had into this next week.

“Same rule as we had before, 24 hours the guys get to enjoy it. It’s an early game so we’ll have a chance to go relax a little bit and watch some other teams play, which will be good. Tomorrow, we’ll go correct what we had, what we needed to fix in this game and then we’ll get onto Penn State. We’ll start focusing on that and be ready to go for this next week. The goal is every week that we continue to get better in the things that we’re doing and then we focus on the most important things each and every week, which goes right back to our process and what we do Sunday through Friday. A new challenge with the Penn State game being on the road with the travel and obviously the environment. We’ll talk about that as the week goes on.

“But proud of our guys. Proud of the defense. We did not allow a point. That’s hard to do. So those guys did a great job. Coach Mason and his staff, I thought had a really good plan. We were out there tackling and making plays and Roger’s interception was spectacular. He did a great job of just being ready on that particular play.

“Overall, I’m happy for what our guys were able to do. Proud of our guys. Looking forward to coming back tomorrow and making these corrections and getting ready for another week.”

On what Alabama State did to bother Auburn’s offense in the first half…

“I think we bothered ourselves probably more than anything, but they played hard, and we felt like that too. I thought their d-line, they did some things up front, their front seven. They had some pressures in there that they were able to hit a couple of times. I think more of it really came back to us. I thought we had answers for it. We needed to maybe execute a little bit better in some of those situations. Really as we go back and watch the tape, I hope what I saw on the field is what I see on the film and those would be corrections that we all can make. But they just played hard. I thought their defense played hard. I thought they were getting to the ball, they were tackling. We had a couple of drops that really were open and probably big-play opportunities early on.

“Those are the fundamentals about the game that we try and preach each and every week, and our players know that. They know what it is we need to work on. And no one goes out there and tries to drop a ball. But there’s a focus and there’s a detail to that we believe you’ve got to be able to execute that in a game situation.

“So, we missed a few opportunities early, and maybe the momentum wasn’t quite there because of that. But we made some big plays; we cashed in on some opportunities that we had in the first half but just weren’t able to get to. I thought that was good from our guys.

On Demetris Robertson’s three-touchdown game…

“Yeah, he’s got great speed. He was able to take a little reverse and go score. I thought that was a really good run. He ran the sideline well; I believe that was Shenker out in front of him that was blocking. So we had done a good job with the boundary wide receiver; I believe it was Shenker out there, and Demetris worked off of him. He also had some opportunities in the passing game. I think he’s done a good job. He came in late, so he didn’t get the entire summer like everybody else; I think that’s important. He was able to come in and pick things up fairly quickly. He’s a really bright player and a great person; he takes care of his business — everything leading into getting him here, he was on it.

“That’s what I appreciate, too; the portal allowed us to get a player like that. But he handled everything that he needed to, and he was very proactive. And that’s how he plays and prepares himself. So today we had -- he was back there as a punt returner; we had some opportunities for him in the pass game; we had the big run. So, he’s going to continue to keep getting better and better. What I love about him is that he’s got a great attitude -- he’s always positive, he’s going to fist-bump you, he’s excited for his teammates, he enjoys when we have success on the offensive side, whether it’s him or someone else. I think he really just appreciates being out there and playing good football and being a part of this team.”

On Auburn’s sluggish first half…

“Well, I don’t know. I wish I could answer that; I would have tried to correct it before we went out there. It was an early game. There was no -- it wasn’t about the 11 a.m. kick; we talked about that from Sunday through Friday. I think when you’re going into a game, you have to have the expectation of playing one play at a time, especially on offense, and just executing and doing your job, and not thinking about, you know, that we’re going to go out there and this first play is going to be this or that. Just execute the play. Like I said, I thought Alabama State was doing a good job; they were tackling. I thought there were some opportunities in there, the week before, where we broke some tackles; these guys tackled well. And we needed to -- we probably missed a few things in there.

“There were probably a few assignment errors, and we got a little bit behind the chains. We didn’t capitalize on some plays we could have made, so, you know, it goes back to us. We handle what we need to and we take care of our business, then it just comes down to our execution. And we’re going to spend a lot of time on that during the week. What I liked was the offense came over -- maybe it wasn’t the best series -- but we made adjustments. Coaches and players were communicating; there wasn’t panic on the sideline. It was really just matter of fact on what we need to do, and we did that in the third quarter in particular. We did that from there, and we were able to run the ball and be a little bit more consistent.”

On Demetris Robertson being a leader for the receivers…

“Well, I think that’s part of his role being an older player. I think he needs to be an example for the younger players, and I believe that about the older players on our team, especially the ones that are on the field.

“So, you know, today some of our more veteran players, there were some mistakes made by guys on this team that are veteran players, and they overcame it. But he’s a guy every week that, you know, just as far as habits go and being alert and engaged in meetings and practicing well -- like, those are the things that set examples for the younger players. If your better players go out there and they just kind of go halfway through things during the week -- like, what example does that set for everybody on this team? You know, this is your better player, he doesn’t do things full speed, that becomes the culture of your team and ultimately you see that in games and you lose games that way.

“I think as far as the Penn State game goes, you know, we’ll shift gears to that. I don’t know what they did today or what’s happened. I think they played Ball State, so we’ll figure out what that game looks like. I know they played Wisconsin before, got a chance to see a little bit of that. And we’ll be onto that game, but really, it comes back to what do we have to do this week to get ourselves ready for a Tuesday practice so that we can maximize that and build off the last two weeks of preparation and just be better going into this week.

“That’s always the focus, and I believe that. I think there’s going to be -- everybody wants to hit that fast-forward to Saturday and we go play Penn State, and if we skip days or we don’t take care of the things that we need to then we won’t be prepared properly. So, we’re going to aim high for each and every day. We’re going to be focused on that. You know, the older players on our team need to help with that from a mentality standpoint with the team because they should be the guys that know if you look too far ahead that’s where it gets you and if you’re not preparing properly then you’re not going to have the confidence you need to go play in a game like that.”

On freshman running back Jarquez Hunter…

“I knew this: when he popped on the one, no one was going to catch him. Yeah, he can go, and that was one of the things watching his high school film: when he was in the open -- and he did that in high school. He could go. He had the longest run for a freshman in school history; I believe that’s exactly what the stat was, but we gave him the game ball anyhow.

“What I love about Jarquez is, you know, even in that moment in the locker room, he appreciates it. His teammates appreciate him. He’s a pretty humble guy, and I think for him it’s just a matter of, how do I continue to keep getting better? Because I think he really likes being out there on the field, and I know he loves the game of football. So you can feel that from him, and with Tank not having Shaun out there, Jarquez stepping up, Sean Jackson, you saw Jay Sharp out there as well, Jordon Ingram. All those guys were getting opportunities to carry the ball, and that’s part of making sure that as we put a team together, you’ve got to have depth on your team, and you like that depth to be competitive so that when guys get in there -- if it’s Tank getting a big run that helps our team, if it’s Jarquez getting a big play it helps our team, if it’s Sean Jackson down there on the goal line just barreling his way into the end zone. Like, all those things are key components to our team having success.

“And I think coach Cadillac’s done a great job with that group of bringing them together. You know, there was one ball; that’s the thing that we’ve all got to remember. There’s one ball on the field, and everybody wants it on that side of the ball, but those guys are also supporting each other and happy for the success of their teammates, which makes a difference in the game.

“But Jarquez, he’s going to keep getting better. I think these two games he’s had a chance to play in gave him really valuable experience, and then we’ll see how this week goes leading into the Penn State game.”

On the team’s tackling and linebacker Zakoby McClain…

“To get the goose egg on the defensive side, that was something, even last week, we had some of the starters out, and they want ... I think any time you’re on the defensive side of the ball and you have a chance to do that, everybody wants to do it, so that was a great deal for our defense today, and rewarding for those guys. I thought we tackled well.

“And Zakoby in particular, he came in there. He’s got a great feel for the run game and where a back is trying to fit. He’s really almost playing tailback on the defensive side. He sees the hole. He’s able to hit it. And then he plays with great pad level. He gets a shoulder into the tackle like he should; he runs his feet; and I think there was probably some big hits that came from him and other guys from the defense. Tackling is something we work every single week. It’s a focus for our guys on the defense, and it’s something that is the main thing that we try to make sure that we come out of the game and we have really good examples of live tackling. because you don’t get to do that very much. You don’t do it in practice all week long. It’s really, at this point, it’s the games that you have a chance to go live.

“So, you have to simulate that in your mind over and over, and tackling is a physical thing. So those guys getting the ball ... and that’s why you want to have multiple people on the defense to the ball. That helps you to surround that ball carrier. We felt like Alabama State, one of the things we told our guys, I really feel like the skill players on the offensive side could do some damage. They had a good plan; we just were able to get some plays in early downs and put them in long yardage situations for third down, but they had some good schemes. We did tackle well. We did get to the ball, and Zakoby was certainly a guy that was an example out there of doing that.”

On Auburn’s special teams performance, which included a touchdown on a blocked FG…

“We felt we had a shot of getting that. So, Coach (Bert) Watts, he was already talking about how if the other corner that’s not coming, sort of call him the touchdown corner, to be ready. So we get a block, scoop, score. Those are things, you practice that throughout the week. You create that situation at practice. You simulate it and you go through it for the moment that we had in this game. The blocked put was huge and I thought we did a good job in that area. We were creating some big plays in special teams. I was disappointed in the second half where they came out and made that play. I thought that was something that we would be ready for. That was a good job by Alabama State. They had a good scheme and made a good play in the third quarter there.

“But overall, special teams, yeah, we’d like to have our best players out there. I think that’s something that this team, I hope they’ve bought into. Because you think about it, you’re gonna have 170-something plays or so in a game. And 30-plus of those are gonna happen on special teams. And if you want to be out there making a difference in a game, you want to find a way to be on special teams. I think every guy that starts on this team right now has a role on special teams. And that’s important. I think that’s important for them. We work on this every single week. Like today, big plays on special teams, create some momentum. It helps our team. Certainly that is what happened today. You create the momentum on special teams, defense and offense and everybody got rolling together, and when you have that, you have a chance to make some big plays and put up some big points and finish a game like we did.”

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

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