Harsin wants Auburn to learn valuable lessons

[aubiefifty 17,487]

Bryan Harsin wants Auburn to learn valuable lessons from loss to Penn State

By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

6-8 minutes

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Bryan Harsin doesn’t want to dwell on Auburn’s loss to Penn State, but he also doesn’t want his team to forget it, either.

The Tigers fell to the Nittany Lions, 28-20, Saturday in a thrilling game that didn’t provide the desires result for Harsin’s team as it took the first loss under the first-year head coach. It was an outcome that Harsin said afterward “should burn” for those within the program, but one he wants his team to learn valuable lessons from.

“I think everyone’s disappointed, and should be,” Harsin said. “There’s that sting of not getting the job done. We didn’t accomplish the mission that we set out to accomplish. You use that. There’s a lot of positives in that. You use that as motivation. You use that as, alright, ‘I’m not good enough. I’m not good enough in these areas. We are not good enough in these areas.’

“One, it starts with you. And as a team, we have to understand that what we did wasn’t good enough.”

Auburn wasn’t good enough on the road against a top-10 team, as it was unable to take advantage of key opportunities to pull an upset Saturday night in Beaver Stadium. The Tigers had their struggles — an inability to create a consistent pass-rush, difficulty defending the pass and an out-of-sync passing offense of its own, plus a costly turnover on the opening play of the second half — but they also did some things well in a difficult road environment.

In the end, though, Auburn didn’t do well enough executing the things it could control, according to Harsin. Now, after taking time to review the entirety of the game, the Tigers have to ask themselves some critical questions: What needs to improve? What things weren’t executed well, and why? Did those issues begin in practice during the week? Was there a lack of focus? Was there not adequate time spent in preparations throughout the week?

Winning can mask some issues for a team, but a loss can sometimes provide more value in improving from within. That’s what Harsin hopes can happen with his program after last weekend’s setback.

“What a loss does is not so much exposes but gives you the understanding of just how important everything we do is,” Harsin said “And the time that you have to spend to really have yourself prepared to play the way you want to play for four quarters of football — that’s the reality. And with a loss, that sting, that drive, that motivation — whatever you want to call it — you’ve got to move on, and you can’t let the last game beat you twice.”

That’s the message within the program this week: Don’t let the loss to Penn State linger and impact how you prepare for Georgia State; rather, recognize what the shortcomings were that led to that result and get better from them.

“You don’t go out there and do the same thing,” Harsin said. “You make sure you do those things, but you do them better — you do them with more urgency; you do them with better focus.”

That began following Sunday’s review session, as Auburn closed the book on Penn State and turned its attention to Georgia State, which will come to Jordan-Hare Stadium for Saturday’s homecoming game (3 p.m. on SEC Network).

Now, the Tigers will focus on what they need to do to improve and avoid a similar situation as the one they faced in Happy Valley. That begins in film study and making sure you know everything there is to know about an opponent so that, come gameday, the preparation is adequate enough for the team to able to “play fast and play confident.”

“That’s a driving factor; there’s no doubt about that,” Harsin said. “To me, that should always be the driving factor. I don’t think you have to have that kind of motivation to make you want to do those things better; I think you have to have the type of discipline to just do those things at that level, every single day, every single week we go and play.”

For some players, Harsin said, they need that sort of motivation stemming from a loss to light a fire under them. For everyone, though, Harsin wants the desire to improve each day in practice and on Saturdays, regardless of the result on the scoreboard.

The experience of a loss, especially one like the team endured last weekend on the road, can provide a better understanding of what needs to be accomplished — whether it’s regarding discipline, or focus, or toughness — daily to improve and find future success.

“I hope for our players and everybody in this program, that stings, that’s a reminder,” Harsin said. “…That’s a reminder for this program right now that it takes what it takes. Regardless of how the day is going, when we lock in and we get in those meeting rooms, there’s a certain way of doing it; when we practice, there’s a certain way of doing it. Understanding that from what we just experienced, and then whatever happens next.”

And while Harsin hopes his team can apply those difficult lessons learned in defeat, he made one thing abundantly clear Monday: It’s time to move on from that disappointing loss.

He acknowledged that a lot of the talk within the program has been focused on last weekend’s result and the what-ifs that could have turned the tide in Beaver Stadium. But now, everyone’s attention needs to be focused on Georgia State and the team’s final task before the start of a grueling SEC schedule next month that includes games against five teams currently ranked in the AP top-25.

“So, take what you learned and apply it and do it in a fashion where it doesn’t have to be more on gameday — it’s exactly the way we go and prepare ourselves,” Harsin said. “…Georgia State is a damn good football team. They will be ready to play. They will come in here and they will give us their very best. If we don’t prepare like that and we decide that’s not as important on Tuesday or Wednesday to have ourselves ready, and then by Thursday and Friday is when we really start getting our minds right, then watch out. Because Saturday’s going to be a tough day at the end of the day.

“That’s the reality, and the sooner we learn that and do it every day, the better off we’re going to be. And for our team and this program, we need to learn that, and we need to do it each and every day consistently.”

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

[im4aual 489]

Sounds like the long version of what Pat Dye said in the locker room after the 1981 Tennessee game.  

[Mikey 16,781]

I hope Harsin and staff learned the valuable lesson that their pass defense scheme isn't working and they change some things.

[casatiger 514]

I hope they learn that 2 plays can be the difference in winning and losing.  Fumble to open 2nd half and the 4th and goal fade route.

[shabby 1,958]

37 minutes ago, Mikey said:

I hope Harsin and staff learned the valuable lesson that their pass defense scheme isn't working and they change some things.

They didn't learn that lesson in the first two games. After two games, we ranked 111th in opposing team completion rates against mediocre talent. Why was the problem not evident then and changes made to produce pressure. Instead we get 3 and 4 men rushes and continued zone coverage issues. I feel as if this pattern will be with us all season. 

[CleCoTiger 1,957]

48 minutes ago, shabby said:

They didn't learn that lesson in the first two games. After two games, we ranked 111th in opposing team completion rates against mediocre talent. Why was the problem not evident then and changes made to produce pressure. Instead we get 3 and 4 men rushes and continued zone coverage issues. I feel as if this pattern will be with us all season. 

I hope your feeling turns out to be incorrect. If this pattern lasts all season, it's gonna be a long season.

[CoffeeTiger 5,382]

58 minutes ago, shabby said:

They didn't learn that lesson in the first two games. After two games, we ranked 111th in opposing team completion rates against mediocre talent.

Saying 'mediocre talent' is being VERY generous. 

Akron is one of the worst teams in FBS. Probably not UCONN bad....but not far ahead. 

 

Edited September 21, 2021 by CoffeeTiger

[AU9377 5,368]

1 hour ago, Mikey said:

I hope Harsin and staff learned the valuable lesson that their pass defense scheme isn't working and they change some things.

If not, Ole Miss, Miss State, uga, & bama will all embarrass us.

[AU9377 5,368]

3 minutes ago, CoffeeTiger said:

Saying 'mediocre talent' is being VERY generous. 

Akron is one of the worst teams in FBS. Probably not UCONN bad....but not far ahead. 

 

Akron vs. UConn would be a competitive game.  LOL

[IronMan70 3,277]

2 hours ago, Mikey said:

I hope Harsin and staff learned the valuable lesson that their pass defense scheme isn't working and they change some things.

Yes, this pass defense looks more like a Ted Roof or Ellis Johnson defense. If they stay with this the QBs in the SEC West will have a field day. 

[TigerTennis80 351]

Thinking about what Kiffen & Matt Corral will do to us if we don't get this fixed just makes me shudder! Not that I'm not concerned about Bama or UGa, but the idea that being embarrassed by Ole Miss is a possibility... Ugh.

[TigerHorn 1,357]

While this may be a rough year, Harsin's attitude reminds me a great deal of the one across the state, minus the anger issues. That's not a bad thing. 

[woodford 3,688]

1 hour ago, TigerTennis80 said:

Thinking about what Kiffen & Matt Corral will do to us if we don't get this fixed just makes me shudder! Not that I'm not concerned about Bama or UGa, but the idea that being embarrassed by Ole Miss is a possibility... Ugh.

I’ll take losing to a high powered Ole Miss team over Tennessee at home any day 

[e808 3,028]

I don’t want to lose to either. Ole Miss is still Ole Miss. For the most part Auburn has been able to beat them even when Freeze had a high powered offense 

[Hank2020 3,232]

48 minutes ago, e808 said:

I don’t want to lose to either. Ole Miss is still Ole Miss. For the most part Auburn has been able to beat them even when Freeze had a high powered offense 

I don’t believe Ole Miss is same. They have much better coaches and some better players. Think they wind us 2nd in West.

[Mikey 16,781]

13 hours ago, shabby said:

They didn't learn that lesson in the first two games. After two games, we ranked 111th in opposing team completion rates against mediocre talent. Why was the problem not evident then and changes made to produce pressure. Instead we get 3 and 4 men rushes and continued zone coverage issues. I feel as if this pattern will be with us all season. 

Why they didn't see what some of we fans saw after the first two games is what worries me. It should have been obvious that something had to change before Penn State.