10/19/22 Auburn Articles

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An Auburn player's account of the arguments on the sideline against Ole Miss

Zac Blackerby

2-3 minutes

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It was a weird scene on Saturday. 

Auburn's offense took a few drives to get going against Ole Miss and once it found the endzone, an argument broke out between Auburn quarterback Robby Ashford and running back Tank Bigsby. Not the type of reaction that you would typically see after a score. 

Auburn captain and tight end John Samuel Shenker chimed in on it during an appearance on the Locked On Auburn podcast. 

"It wasn’t a huge deal. It was just miscommunication," Shenker said. "We were excited, we had just scored. We’re trying to get back into the ball game. So guys came over there excited and then some guys were just talking about staying focused, and I think it got misconstrued by what some of us meant by that. Tempers were high, we were really locked in and focused… I just think it got a little blown out of proportion, which that happens on TV and things like that. But no, nothing came of it. It was all good afterward."

The ESPN cameras also followed Ashford as he looked to be told that he was coming out of the game. Several fans reacted to him being upset by the news. Shenker discussed this as well. 

"I didn’t see most of the reactions until after the game on Instagram," Shenker said. "When TJ came in, obviously I didn’t get to see his reaction until later… Obviously, the guy is a competitor, he wants to play. But when things happen you can’t - especially when TVs are all over the place, that’s what they're going to look for to create stories. Yes, I love the competitive spirit, but there’s a fine line there. He’ll learn that as he gets older and plays more games on how to show that emotion in certain situations when things happen."

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Auburn football's bye week: Five questions, five stats at the halfway point of the season

Five questions, five interesting stats for Auburn entering the bye week.

• Lance Dawe
• 18 hours ago

 

Auburn enters the bye week in desperate need of answering a few questions, healing a few injuries, and just overall reevaluation.

If Harsin is going to save his job, he's got some serious adjusting to do.

Or none, considering the offensive scheme just hasn't tried to change through seven games. Not really much Auburn could do to change given the situation across the offensive line.

Here are five questions and five important statistics to keep in mind as the bye week rolls on.

Is this Robby Ashford's team for the rest of the season?

 

Austin Perryman/AU Athletics

Since taking over the starting job against Missouri, Ashford is completing 46.8% of his passes and has thrown three touchdowns to three interceptions (while adding three TDs on the ground).

Although many are frustrated with Ashford's extreme turnover issues and inaccuracy, there are a couple of reasons to believe he remains the primary signal caller through the end of the season.

Ashford is significantly more explosive than TJ Finley. Robby is third in the SEC in yards per completion and has been the better downfield passer of the two.

Finley's lack of mobility also hinders the offense, especially considering the offensive line's inability to pass block.

Even if TJ returns from his shoulder injury fully healthy next week, it could still be the Robby Ashford show from here on out.

Turnover woes

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Here's a stat that has been floating around the Twittersphere for quite some time: Auburn is now dead last in FBS (131st) in turnover margin, sitting at -11.

They're dead last in fumbles and last in the SEC in interceptions thrown. For all of the talk about Harsin being a quarterback developer this offseason, it's not been even a underneath average product that they've put on the field - it has been downright terrible.

If the Tigers even cut the margin in half (which would still put them at last in the SEC), it's almost certain that Auburn would have won at least one more game thus far.

Can the running game truly improve?

Todd Van Emst/AU Athletics

The rushing attack popped off for over 300 yards against the Rebels last Saturday after being inept against Power Five schools so far this season.

Because of the initially slow (and now sharp) decline in the trenches over the last several years, it's hard to sit here and predict that because of one performance, the team is all of the sudden going to find a spark within their offense that they didn't know they had.

Bigsby being able to just get to the second level against any defense is huge, but keep in mind Auburn still has four more SEC games left on the slate.

No amount of statistical data in Auburn's favor can accurately predict a positive game moving forward because the Tigers have been bad against everybody.

Well, until last week.

 

Explosive plays negated by bad offensive line play

Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

It's been feast or famine for the Tigers' offense. Auburn is top five in the SEC in plays of 30+, 40+, and 50+ yards, yet is 10th in the league in total yards per game.

There's not much else to say here other than the extremely lackluster offensive line performance has killed the Tigers' ability to do just about anything consistently on offense. A lot of third down and long situations where Ashford is asked to just do something (more often than not, he hasn't) which results in a boom or bust offense.

An interesting correlation: Auburn ranks 58th out of the 64 Power Five teams in passing yards per game. Of the six schools underneath the Tigers, two of them have already fired their head coach (Colorado, Georgia Tech) and the other four are a combined 9-11 against FBS competition (Iowa, Kansas State, Rutgers and Vanderbilt).

So, if you can't throw the ball, your coach is either getting fired or you just are bad (excluding Kansas State, we love the Wildcats)

One would think that this is not company Auburn wants to be in (again, excluding Kansas State, who is a glorified military academy) .

Is bowl eligibility possible?

Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Here are the Tigers' final five games and what ESPN's FPI says about the Auburn's odds:

Vs Arkansas (55.4% chance to win)

At Mississippi State (20.3% chance to win)

Vs Texas A&M (45.1% chance to win)

Vs Western Kentucky (58.7% chance to win...!!!)

At Alabama (4.0% chance to win)

If the FPI gets it right, Auburn would finish with a 5-7 record. An upset against MSU, A&M or Alabama would be needed in order for Auburn to make a bowl game (while not messing up against Arkansas or WKU).

Oscar Chapman is a weapon

© Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK

Auburn is 2nd in the SEC in total punting yards. Punter Oscar Chapman should at the very least be in contention for the Ray Guy Award (he is on the watch list) and will likely end up being an All-SEC selection at the end of the season.

His ability to control the field after the Tigers stall on offense has been valuable.

 

Why is Auburn's rush defense so bad?

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

The Tigers just haven't been plugging gaps. They've been missing assignments all season long, and it doesn't look like things are going to get any better - the linebacking core has been awful up until this point in the year, and what was once thought to be one of the better defensive lines in the league has just sort of been average at best.

It feels like a coaching issue more than anything, considering the Tigers still have a decent amount of talent on that side of the ball. I find it hard to believe that it's mostly a talent issue because it would mean that Auburn has just simply missed on the majority of their four-star talent types. All of these missed tackles are just chock up to a lack of talent...? That's really hard to believe.

Weird how the dam seems to have burst after the Penn State game.

A strong pass defense

Todd Van Emst / AU Athletics

Despite being awful in the front seven against the run, Auburn has been decent against the pass thus far. The Tigers rank 20th nationally in passing yards per game.

Of course, opponents haven't really felt the need to throw against Auburn this season (only 28.6 pass attempts per game) because of how bad the run defense has been, but overall there haven't been as many defensive breakdowns as there were last year.

When will Bryan Harsin be let go?

Todd Van Emst/AU Athletics

According to reports, Harsin will likely be retained until either:

a) An athletic director is hired (which could happen this week)

b) The end of the season, regardless of whether or not there is an AD in place

It feels like it's all but been decided that Auburn will be moving on without him one way or another before 2023.

Even if the Tigers find a way to finish 7-5, there are several signs pointing towards this being a poorly operated team, so even if that mark is reached it still feels like he will be out.

 

Auburn can't stay on the field

Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Ahh yes, third down. The Tigers have faced 96 of them this year (third-most in the SEC). They've converted 33.3% of them. That's last in the league and eighth-worst among Power Five schools.

The list of schools that are worse?

Virginia Tech, Northwestern, Kansas State, Colorado, Rutgers, Boston College, Georgia Tech, and Iowa.

Really, really bad company to be in.

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247sports.com

 

Taking a look at Auburn's defensive rotation through seven games, potential for 2023

Jason Caldwell

4-5 minutes

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AUBURN, Alabama–Through seven football games this season the Auburn Tigers find themselves at 3-4 overall and 1-3 in SEC play following losses to LSU, Georgia and Ole Miss the last three weeks. With five games left in the regular season we have a pretty good idea of how this roster has shaped up as well as what the Tigers could look like next season based on how the playing rotation has gone down on offense and defense.

Defensively, Auburn still has a very talented rotation with Derick Hall and Dylan Brooks both 4-star prospects at the edge position along with Western Kentucky transfer Marcus Bragg. On the defensive line, Colby Wooden was a 4-star prospect along with Oregon transfer Jayson Jones. Another 4-star prospect, Zykeivous Walker, appears headed for a redshirt year after dealing with some injuries early in the 2022 season.

Auburn’s only 5-star prospect is Owen Pappoe. The senior linebacker has been a starter since his freshman year. He’s joined in the playing rotation by a pair of 4-star prospects, Wesley Steiner and Cam Riley. Another 4-star linebacker, Eugene Asante, is redshirting after not getting into the rotation following a transfer from North Carolina. True freshman Robert Woodyard is another 4-star, but has yet to see playing time despite being on the travel roster.

In the secondary the Tigers feature a trio of 4-star prospects in the playing rotation led by junior cornerbacks Jaylin Simpson and Keionte Scott along with junior safety Zion Puckett. True freshman J.D. Rhym has seen some playing time as well, but didn’t see action against Ole Miss last weekend.

That gives Auburn a total of 11 5-star and 4-star prospects in the playing rotation on defense this season, but now the question is what will the group look like next season?

There are several players who are definitely done after this season for Auburn, including defensive linemen Marquis Burks and Memphis transfer Morris Joseph along with Bragg. The expectations are that both Hall and Wooden will also be gone after the 2022 season. Even though Eku Leota has a season available to him if he wants to return next year, he’s another player who could also be gone from the front seven and he already has a degree in hand.

With Pappoe another player who has a year available, but almost certain to be gone, that’s a big chunk of Auburn’s experience that will likely be missing from the front seven on defense.

In the secondary Nehemiah Pritchett is the lone senior of the group, but both Simpson and Scott could be potential draft guys along with Oregon transfer DJ James. If the trio all return, that would give the Tigers a solid group to build around in the secondary along with Puckett, Donovan Kaufman and Cayden Bridges.

33COMMENTS

What does that mean for Auburn in the short term? It means help is needed in this recruiting class as well as in the transfer portal. Best-case scenario likely means replacing your top three players at the edge position, your best defensive tackle, two reserves at the position, and your top linebacker from a defense that is already struggling to slow  the running game.

That’s not a great recipe for success heading into 2023. While Auburn’s offensive line is going to need some serious help from the transfer portal heading into next season, the same is true of the front seven on defense if the Tigers hope to make strides on that side of the ball. Adding quality players from the high school ranks is big and Auburn has a chance to have a good group up front, but finding guys ready to hit the ground running is going to be a must.

">247Sports

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Bryan Harsin: Success for Auburn ‘a lot closer than what it seems’

Published: Oct. 18, 2022, 10:01 a.m.

5-7 minutes

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There was a moment Saturday in Oxford, Miss., when it seemed as things could truly go sideways for Auburn in what has already been a frustrating season.

On the second play of the second quarter, Ole Miss running back Zach Evans punched in a touchdown from 3 yards out. It was Ole Miss’ second touchdown off an Auburn turnover early in the game, and it put the Rebels in front 21-0 just under 16 minutes into the teams’ Week 7 matchup.

Read more Auburn football: Business as usual for Bryan Harsin on bye week despite swirling job rumors

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Things were getting out of hand, and a rout felt entirely possible, given the Rebels’ proclivity for points and the Tigers’ overall struggles against Power 5 opponents. Except that rout never came, and Auburn didn’t fold—even as it eventually lost its third straight game, 48-34.

“It’s just about pride,” Auburn linebacker and team captain Owen Pappoe said. “You can’t lay down just because you’re down 21. You’re not playing a video game; that’s when people pass the sticks, but nah, we ain’t passing the sticks, man. We’re going to keep fighting until the end.”

That was perhaps the biggest takeaway from this Auburn team in its latest setback. After falling behind by three scores early, the Tigers clawed their way back into the game. They cut the Rebels’ lead to four early in the third quarter after Tank Bigsby’s 50-yard touchdown run on the opening possession of the second half, and they remained within striking distance for the rest of the game.

They just couldn’t fully close that gap and get over the hump while dropping falling to 3-4 on the year, 1-3 in SEC play and 3-9 in their last 12 games under coach Bryan Harsin.

“Those guys know we’re a lot closer than what it seems,” Harsin said. “And so, a few things here and there. That’s what changes the game. But that’s football as well. And the reality of it is we didn’t win. Ole Miss did. They did it better than we did today. So, what we have to do is go back and figure out what we can control and how we’re going to improve and get better and what we can do going into the next game to find a way to win.

“But those guys will fight. And they want to win. And they’re not going to throw in the towel. That’s one of the things, they won’t do that.”

That resiliency is holding Auburn together throughout this difficult stretch as the team continues to try to find a winning formula. A lesser team surely would have folded under the circumstances, but Auburn showed fight at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, finally rediscovering its ground game even as its run defense put forth a historically bad performance.

The Tigers have struggled in some capacity against each of its five Power 5 opponents this season, with the lone win coming in its SEC opener against Missouri — an overtime escape in which Missouri fumbled away the winning touchdown just shy of the goal line in overtime. Better lucky than good, the saying goes, but Auburn wants to get to good enough — finding a balance of success on offense and defense to overcome its deficiencies — and the Tigers feel like they’re on the precipice of getting to that point.

“I think we’re damn close, man,” Pappoe said. “But we just can’t keep — it’s, like, once we fix one thing we’ve messed up on, it’s always something else, you know? Once we get to a point where it’s not always something else, it’s lights out.”

That’s what Auburn hopes to figure out during the bye week, which comes at a welcome time for the program. The Tigers are beat up physically and have endured an emotional toll over the last seven weeks, with on-field struggles contributing to a buildup of outside noise pertaining to the future of the program and, specifically, the future of Harsin as its head coach.

The week away from competition will provide an opportunity to reset, recover and refocus as the team tries to iron out the finer details that have hindered its success. Correcting those issues, be it ball security, gap integrity, pass protection or any other aspect of the game the team has been inconsistent in, will be crucial if the Tigers plan to turn things around over the final five games of the regular season.

“We can salvage the season,” edge and team captain Derick Hall said. “The season isn’t over…. We still have a nine-win season if we win out. The season isn’t over. I think that’s the biggest point of focus, to go in and correct a lot of things we need to see.”

While Harsin believes his team is inching toward pulling it all together, he acknowledges the Tigers aren’t there just yet. The results speak for themselves. So long as they keep fighting, he’s confident they’ll have a chance to get to where they want to be.

“Obviously, they want to find a way to win,” Harsin said. “We all want to find a way to win…. That’s the message, right? We’re not there yet. It’s not showing up on the field, in the W’s that we want, but we are improving in some areas. We have got to continue that.”

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

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