Harsin wants more from Auburn’s secondary

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Bryan Harsin wants more from Auburn’s secondary after uneven opener

Published: Sep. 07, 2022, 7:05 a.m.

Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

Bryan Harsin holds Auburn’s secondary in high regard.

It’s why, even after his team’s 42-16 season-opening win against Mercer — a game in which the Bears only had one drive in Tigers territory before the fourth quarter — Harsin wasn’t completely satisfied with the performance of Auburn’s defensive backs.

“We need to be better,” Harsin said. “We need to be better. I thought the guy (Mercer quarterback Fred Payton) moved around, and we had some guys that were uncovered at times, so we need to do a better job on the back end. To me, I have a really high standard for our secondary, and I always have.”

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Auburn’s defense only surrendered 197 yards through the air, as Payton completed 21-of-36 passes (58 percent) and tossed two touchdowns — both in the red zone. Though Auburn limited Mercer to 5.5 yards per pass attempt on the night, Payton was also 9-of-11 passing for 92 yards on third downs, though only five of them were enough to move the chains and keep Mercer drives alive.

The Bears’ quarterback was particularly efficient after the 87-minute weather delay. He completed nine of his final 13 attempts for 104 yards and a touchdown. During that stretch, he had his three longest completions of the night — plays of 26, 24 and 17 yards. The 26-yarder converted a third-and-20 against Auburn’s defense on Mercer’s second scoring drive of the night.

Harsin noted after the game that he wanted to see his team do a better job of finishing games.

Auburn’s defense also did not produce a turnover against its Week 1 FCS opponent, and the Tigers’ defensive backs only broke up four of Payton’s pass attempts.

“I think if that ball is in the air, and just speaking from (the perspective of) an offensive coordinator, if they’re going to put the ball in the air, we should have a chance to go compete for the ball,” Harsin said. “That’s what I think you do in the back end when you have a good football team. I want to see our DBs — I want to see them compete for the ball. If they make the catch, if he places it perfectly, if he can do all those things as a quarterback, great; we’ll accept that. And we’ll move on to the next play.”

Auburn’s defense put an emphasis this offseason on trying to create more takeaways after struggling in that area a year ago. The Tigers last season forced just 12 turnovers — including nine interceptions — which was the second fewest in the SEC and 112th among FBS teams. First-year defensive coordinator Jeff Schmedding said in the spring that the defense was making its focus “all about the ball.”

That mindset didn’t yield the kind of results the Tigers, and specifically Harsin, wanted in Week 1.

“We need to read more of our keys, be more disciplined with our eyes, and basically just focus on what we have to do every play and each play,” safety Zion Puckett said.

The second-year head coach expects to see adjustments in practice this week and improvement this weekend when Auburn hosts San Jose State at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

“If they’re going to put the ball in the air, we’ve got to have a chance to compete for it,” Harsin said. “I know our guys want to do that, and I believe in our guys: When we have a chance to compete for the ball, we’re going to come down with it. So, I want to see our guys play a little bit more -- we’ve just got to do a better job.”

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