Lean On Me

[aubiefifty 17,487]

What Auburn players did in the locker room during weather delay

Nathan King

4-5 minutes

AUBURN, Alabama — If any groans were heard from Pat Dye Field upon the PA announcement of a weather delay Saturday night, it could have been from any number of Auburn players.

The Tigers were humming with a 35-7 lead over Mercer, with 1:33 left in the third quarter, just having passed midfield again after Robby Ashford’s deep shot to Tar’Varish Dawson drew a pass interference. Then the ominous clouds that had been swirling in Auburn got too close: A lightning strike was detected within eight miles of the stadium, sending Auburn into its first weather delay since the 2018 Southern Miss game.

Luckily, this stoppage was less than half the time of that one: an hour and 27 minutes as compared to three-and-a-half hours four years ago. Still, it was a bummer for a Tigers team that felt they were gathering a good rhythm in their season opener.

“It was aggravating, to be honest with you,” quarterback T.J. Finley said postgame. “Sitting down there in the locker room, it’s freezing cold in the locker room, you’re sweating, it’s rained on, cold, stuff like that.”

For the seniors who were on that 2018 team, the setting was all too familiar.

“Man, not this again,” joked Kameron Stutts, who was a true freshman that year.

Of course, Auburn handled business upon its return to the field — and it was welcomed back by a few thousand fans, including a wet and rowdy student section that crammed its way down to the lower seats for the final 13-plus minutes of action. Tank Bigsby scored a 39-yard touchdown on the first play back in action, and the Tigers notched a 42-16 win over the Bears to open the 2022 season.

Both teams received a 12-minute warmup period after the delay concluded. But the Tigers continued to stay loose during the delay, thanks to the strength staff, which was “on top of us the whole time.”

“They don’t want injuries and things like that to happen,” edge rusher Derick Hall said. “First of all, we came in and chilled. Then it kept restarting. Coach Pit (strength coach Jeff Pitman) did a great job; he had a timer running, and every time, we started stretching, doing range of motion, got everybody up. They did a really good job.”

Bryan Harsin admitted postgame that the delay affected some of his plans for the offense late in the game, since conditions were slick and players were obviously more fatigued than they expected to be. It was the first lightning delayed game of Harsin's career where the teams resumed play and finished the game, he said.

Still, four of Auburn’s nine plays run in the fourth quarter were passes; it was still an opportunity for the offense to get reps.

“The coaches don’t let you not focus,” Finley said. They walk around and they talk about the game plan.”

It wasn’t all business, though. Players were allowed to get loose and have some fun. Music was blasting almost the whole time. Running back Jarquez Hunter said he was watching some of the Florida-Utah game.

At some point, Bill Withers’ classic hit, “Lean on Me,” started blaring — and the team began singing along.

“I don't know,” edge rusher Eku Leota laughed when asked who had control of the playlist. “It just came on and we were like, 'Let's do it.'”

Quarterback Robby Ashford told reporters the story behind the song. Auburn’s senior leadership had a meeting before the season and decided on “lean on me” as one of their mottos for the year. Their plan is to play it after every game, win or loss.

But on Saturday, they got to test out their singing chops a little early.

“We've got each other's back,” Ashford said. “We've got every coach's back. They've got our back, training staff, just everybody, equipment, everybody.”

[ShocksMyBrain 9,401]

Reminds me of this video from the 2010 season, I believe this was after the MSU game. 
 

 

[maryland tiger 616]

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