"You'll see a different run attack this week

[aubiefifty 18,237]

Tigers look for more ground-game punch against. Gamecocks

ByMark Murphy

4-5 minutes

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2 Minute Drill: Auburn looking to rebound at South Carolina

 

AUBURN, Alabama–Auburn will try to snap its first two-game losing streak of the Bryan Harsin Era on Saturday night and a key to that happening could be improvement in the running attack, which struggled the past two outings in losses at Texas A&M and at home to Mississippi State.

With starting quarterback Bo Nix out with an injury for the rest of the 2021 football season and his backup, T.J. Finley, making his first Auburn start this week, the Tigers will try to reverse a disturbing offensive trend.

After rushing for 207 yards on 46 carries in a victory over Ole Miss, the ground game has become anemic. At Texas A&M the Tigers managed just 73 yards on 29 carries. Although the 106 yards on 27 carries vs. Mississippi State looks like an improve ent from the game at College Station, when subtracting 57 yards on a run/pass option touchdown play to Ja'Varrius Johnson that was ruled a run, Auburn’s true ground game netted just 49 yards on 26 carries vs. the Bulldogs.

For the season the Tigers are averaging 175.8 rushing yards per contest. How important is it to make the running attack more productive on Saturday at South Carolina? Senior center Nick Brahms said that is a goal for the offense, especially with Finley making his first start of the season.

“We have got to take the pressure off him a little bit,” Brahms said. “T.J. has a great arm. He can throw really well. He is going to be excited to make some throws and he will because he can and he is capable, but, yeah, the run game is going to be big. It is always big every week, even when we had Bo. Get that run game going, and that opens up everything on offense.”

Asked what the Tigers need to do to make that happen, Brahms said, “Just execution, really our assignments and just keep communicating on the O-line and using our technique that Coach (Will) Friend harps on every day. That’s about it.”

South Carolina ranks 11th in the SEC in rushing defense allowing 169.1 yards per game. Finley agrees with Brahms about the need for more rushing production. "It’s going to be very important," the quarterback said. "We need to dominate the line of scrimmage, both in the running game and the passing game. When you are the most physical team, the outcome of success is very high. The rate of success is very high once we get the running game going, and I believe we will.

:Those guys upfront have been working their butts off," said Finley, who added, "I do believe you’ll see a different run attack this week. I just can’t wait to display that for you guys."

The Tigers will go into the matchup without their third leading rusher, Nix, who has 168 yards and four rushing touchdowns. Tank Bigsby, a sophomore, is the Tigers’ top rusher with 776 yards and nine scores while averaging 5.0 yards per carry. Jarquez Hunter, a freshman, has rushed for 556 yards and three touchdowns while averaging 7.2 yards per rush.

Freshman running back Jarquez Hunter (27) carries with a tackler on his back in the second half vs. Ole Miss. (Photo: Adam Sparks / Inside the Auburn Tigers, 247Sports)

Auburn brings a 6-4 record into the contest scheduled for a 6 p.m. CST kickoff at Williams-Brice Stadium. The Tigers are 3-3 in the SEC while the host Gamecocks are 2-5 in the league and 5-5 overall. Auburn lost 43-34 last Saturday at home to Mississippi State while South Carolina fell 31-28 at Missouri.

24COMMENTS

The Tigers lead the overall series vs. the Gamecocks 10-2-1 and had not lost to South Carolina since 1933 prior to being upset 30-22 last year's year in a game played at Columbia.

[AUBwins 10,268]

Found this excerpt from a USCe beat writer.   Wonder why our run game isn't working .... because we pass on average 42 times a game this month!!!

The Except: 

Given Finley’s passing acumen, expect Auburn to air it out plenty. The Tigers currently rank third in the SEC in pass attempts per game and are averaging 42 throws per contest in November. The Tigers are also on pace to average more throws per game this year than at any point since at least 2009.

[AU-24 3,130]

Going to be tough to do when they put eight in the box, let’s hope for the best!

Hit a couple mid-range passes, then they will back off.