10/20/22 Auburn Articles

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247sports.com

 

Time for Auburn to make 'new mistakes' after bye week

Nathan King

6-7 minutes

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Auburn football has some formulas through seven games. Just not winning ones.

Yes, the Tigers have their game-by-game tropes entering their bye week, and many of them have consistently contributed to the team’s 3-4 mark and 1-3 clip in SEC play — including a three-game losing streak. Many of them are on offense, but the defense’s run-game struggles have reared up in recent weeks, too.

Bryan Harsin doesn’t want to wipe the slate clean; he knows there was too much improvement in the loss at Ole Miss, particularly with his rushing attack. But one of Harsin’s biggest goals of the bye week is to flip the whiteboard over and begin taking new steps over the final five games.

Even if some of those are backwards, Harsin is tired of seeing the same issues reflected in each of his team’s four losses.

“At the end of the day, we’ve just got to start making some new mistakes,” Harsin said Wednesday on the SEC coaches teleconference. “There’s been some things that have hurt us that have been repeated. We have to eliminate those; we have to move on. There’s got to be new things that show up with every opponent we face — some new mistakes. We’ve got to start making those.”

Essentially every position group on Auburn’s roster has its fair share of problems at the moment, whether by its own accord, or in relation to the other units that need to be successful — like the offensive line and the running backs — in order to find success. But if there’s one statistic that can be traced back to many of Auburn’s shortcomings, it’s certainly the minus-11 turnover margin. No one in college football is worse in that department, and just above the Tigers are programs like Temple, Eastern Michigan and New Mexico State.

Auburn would have a much stronger upset bid in itd 48-34 loss at Ole Miss had it avoided a pair of early turnovers — one on an overthrown screen pass from Robby Ashford, and the other on a strip-sack where T.J. Finley coughed up the ball on the next possession. The Rebels scored off both short fields and went up 21-0 in the early stages of the second quarter.

The Tigers have now committed eight turnovers in their last three games, and 12 in the past five games. Ashford has the most fumbles (eight) of any player in college football, though he’s only lost two this season. In terms of ball security, Auburn is also the worst in the country by a wide margin, with 18 fumbles on the year; the next-closest teams, UConn and Akron, have 14 apiece.

Limiting turnovers has been harped upon by Harsin and Auburn’s coaching staff since the Tigers had four against Penn State. But they haven’t seen many positive returns.

“I think we’re at the very bottom when it comes to turnover margin,” Harsin said. “That’s just a recipe for a unsuccessful season, if that doesn’t change. That’s an area we’ve emphasized and haven’t quite seen the results of that yet.”

Harsin also mentioned missed tackles (of which Auburn had 19 against Ole Miss, the most for the Tigers in a game since 2016) and a consistent running game (301 yards in Oxford essentially came out of nowhere) as focuses this week in practice.

Of course, Auburn could also stand to find more consistency in its offensive line, and its quarterbacks are, statistically, the worst in the SEC in several categories. The run defense is now the nation’s 12th-worst and has given up the second-most touchdowns (19) int he country.

None of those developments are news to the Tigers, though, as they attempt to orchestrate a late-season turnaround and avoid missing a bowl game for the first time since 2012.

“What I like about our team is that you can talk about those things and be very matter of fact,” Harsin said. “I think they understand why — when you watch the film, it’s very obvious why there’s an issue here or an issue there. … It’s teaching the game, and really just being consistent with that until we can go put a full game together of all three phases.”

A complete game, or even a decent success rate in all three phases, has evaded Auburn to this point — even going back to a one-score win over San Jose State in Week 2. Against LSU, Auburn grabbed a 17-0 lead, but turnovers handed the Bayou Bengals a win. At Georgia, the Tigers held down the defending national champions’ offense for most of the first half until the dam broke because of one of the worst passing performances for Auburn in the past decade. And at Ole Miss, Auburn easily posted its best offensive outing of the season, scoring on six of its final eight drives of the game and running for 301 yards. But the Rebels were even better on the ground against a reeling Auburn run defense, putting up 448 yards.

If there was ever a time to put things together, it would be next Saturday, at home, coming off a bye week, against Arkansas, a team Auburn has won six straight games over.

“Those guys know we’re a lot closer than what it seems,” Harsin said postgame after the Ole Miss loss. “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.”

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gadsdentimes.com

 

The four biggest problems Auburn football needs to fix coming off its bye week

Jacob Shames

4-5 minutes

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AUBURN — While Bryan Harsin remains coach, Auburn football is still in a precarious position.

The Tigers (3-4, 1-3 SEC) entered this week's bye on a three-game losing streak. While they'll have extra time to prepare for their Oct. 29 game against Arkansas (11 a.m., SECN), there's much they'll have to overcome if they want to turn their season around.

Many of Auburn's problems are that of the bigger-picture sort — recruiting, uncertainty, the fallout from February's internal investigation into Harsin — but here are the four biggest on-field problems the Tigers will need to sort out.

REPORT CARD:Auburn football report card vs. Ole Miss: Did the Tigers' offense earn first 'A' of the season?

'DAMN CLOSE:'Auburn football showed fight in loss to Ole Miss, but was it Bryan Harsin's last stand?

Offensive line woes

A poor offensive line can sink any team, no matter how deep it is at other positions. On offense, the issues don't end with Auburn's offensive line, but they begin there.

Per Football Outsiders, the Tigers rank 111th nationally in line yards per carry — a measure which gives the offensive line full credit for rushes between 0-3 yards and half credit for rushes between 4-8 yards. They're also 117th in stuff rate, meaning that over one-fifth of their rushes have been stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage. Passing-wise, they've allowed 18 sacks, the third-most in the SEC.

Auburn is on its third center of the season, Brandon Council, after injuries to Nick Brahms and Tate Johnson. Council moved from left guard three games ago, meaning the Tigers had to shuffle the rest of their offensive line. They did so again against Ole Miss to adjust for the injured Alec Jackson and Austin Troxell.

The Ole Miss performance was Auburn's best, by far, of the season. Killian Zierer, Jeremiah Wright, Council, Kameron Stutts and Brenden Coffey paved the way for 34 points and a 179-yard outing for Tank Bigsby, who got space to run free for the first time in weeks. Only time will tell if the Tigers have found something that works.

Run defense

What appeared to be only a minor issue through the season's first five weeks has skyrocketed in urgency. The Tigers gave up 292 yards on 39 carries to Georgia and seven days later, Ole Miss gained 448 yards on 69 rushes. Auburn hadn't given up that many yards on the ground in at least 20 years and likely far further back.

The gashings by the Bulldogs and Rebels have caused the Tigers' season stats to plummet. Per Football Outsiders, they rank 121st in line yards per carry and 123rd in stuff rate. Opponents have gained over four yards on half their carries against Auburn.

The Tigers' average of 204.4 rushing yards allowed is the 12th-worst figure in the country.

Turnovers

Auburn has hemorrhaged possessions without stealing back many of its own. Nationally, the Tigers are dead last in turnover margin, having forced five turnovers and given up 16.

"That’s just a recipe for an unsuccessful team if that doesn’t change," Harsin said on Wednesday's SEC coaches teleconference. "That’s an area that we’ve emphasized. We haven’t quite seen the results of that yet. We have to take care of the football."

Auburn has lost six fumbles but has committed 19 in total, another figure which ranks at the very bottom of the country.

Utilizing wide receivers

The Tigers rank at the bottom of the SEC in just about every passing category. Their offensive line issues, as well as Robby Ashford's inaccuracy, have limited their ability to maintain a consistent aerial attack, but so has inconsistent wide receiver involvement.

Just 53% of Auburn's receptions and 62% of its receiving yards have gone to its wideouts. Both those figures rank 13th in the conference, ahead of Georgia (though the Bulldogs have two potential first-round picks at tight end in Brock Bowers and Darnell Washington). It took until the fifth game of the season for a Tigers wideout to score a touchdown.

Without a vertical threat, Auburn will continue to be hard-pressed to move the ball against quality opponents, as teams can stack the box against Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter. Ja'Varrius Johnson, Koy Moore and Shedrick Jackson need more touches on the outside, and Ashford will have to get the ball to them.

Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com, by phone at 334-201-9117 and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.

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How Bryan Harsin is handling Auburn’s open date

Published: Oct. 19, 2022, 6:30 a.m.

6-7 minutes

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Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin isn’t using this week’s open date to sit on a beach with his feet kicked up. His Tigers won’t play a game this week but will practice on Tuesday and Wednesday, coming off a three-game losing streak after Saturday’s 48-34 loss at No. 7 Ole Miss.

Harsin started the week continuing a tradition that goes back to Shug Jordan and Pat Dye of the Auburn coach speaking in Birmingham with the Monday Morning Quarterback Club during the week of the Tigers’ open date.

Harsin’s flight to Birmingham took about 30 minutes.

Brad Law of the Auburn radio network hosted a 30-minute question and answer session at the Harbert Center in Birmingham with Harsin for members of the long-standing club, many of whom are Auburn alums and significant supporters. The second-year coach also had an opportunity to see several high-level Auburn boosters while visiting the Magic City.

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

Business as usual for Bryan Harsin on bye week despite swirling job rumors

Takeaways and impactful plays from Auburn’s 48-34 loss against No. 9 Ole Miss

Next up for Harsin was a flight from Birmingham to Mobile. Harsin visited Saraland, Vigor, and Mobile Christian high schools before heading to dinner at the 1st & 10 Club for a charity event. Auburn initially planned for assistant coach Zac Etheridge to attend the event, but Harsin wanted the chance to speak to Auburn fans he wouldn’t usually get a chance to directly.

Harsin met with UMS-Wright Preparatory School athletic director and football coach Terry Curtis in Mobile before flying back to Auburn. He conducted practice on Tuesday and will on Wednesday before giving his team a much-needed weekend off after seven consecutive games.

Thursday and Friday will be busy days for Harsin and his coaching staff. He and every assistant coach will make stops at high schools in Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, and Alabama. His team visited over 300 high schools in Alabama and several others during spring.

Per NCAA rules, the Auburn staff has 42 days to visit high schools in the fall evaluation period. They are not allowed to visit any school more than once during this period, making the use of the 42 days very strategic, as each coach on the road on a given day counts as an individual evaluation day.

Coaches aren’t permitted to talk to players from September 1 until December 3rd during the eval cycle. However, school visits are imperative for relationship-building with high school coaches.

Offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau and Defensive Coordinator Jeff Schmedding stay with the team on Friday nights to conduct the regular unit meetings and activities less than 24 hours before kickoff.

Wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard, defensive line coach Jimmy Brumbaugh, Etheridge, running backs coach Cadillac Williams, and edge linebackers coach/special teams coordinator Roc Bellantoni have spent Friday nights at high school games during the season as part of the 42 days allotted to Auburn for high school visits.

Harsin’s son Davis is a quarterback for 7-1 Auburn High. Harsin regularly attends his son’s games. Observing his son’s games allows Harsin to support Davis while getting the bonus of watching players at Auburn High that would interest Harsin in recruiting. He also watches opposing players from some of the top schools in Alabama’s highest classification. Auburn plays powerhouses such as Hoover, Enterprise, Opelika, and Central Phenix City, with each school having top players from the class of 23 and 24.

When Harsin goes to watch his son, it doesn’t count against the 42 days in the fall evaluation period. Harsin plans to use four days this week, including a stop in Atlanta on Friday before visiting Kansas on Saturday for some Junior College action.

A possible visit for Harsin would be to Coffeyville Community College for their game against Georgia Christian CC. Keyshawn Blackstock is a 6′5 300-pound tackle at Coffeyville.

Auburn is among 60 schools, including Oregon, Penn State, Tennessee, Florida, and Jackson State, with scholarship offers to Blackstock.

Harsin plans to start his day on Friday by driving from Auburn to Phenix City and into Columbus, Ga, for stops at high schools in middle Georgia before hitting several metro-Atlanta high schools. A logical stop for Harsin would be Nationally ranked Langston Hughes in Fairburn Ga when they host Newnan High.

Auburn defensive back commit Terrance Love attends Langston Hughes. Georgia Bulldog O-Line commit Bo Hughley, who took an official visit to Auburn, is a teammate of Love’s. There is a belief in recruiting circles that the Tigers can flip Hughley similarly to four-star offensive lineman Clay Wedin from Tampa. Josh Horton, Jelani Thurman, from the 2023 class, and 2024 quarterback Air Noland also play for Langston Hughes.

Increased dedication to recruiting is getting notice from high school coaches and internally at Auburn. The Tigers expect over 20 players to leave for graduation or early entry to the NFL. Edge rusher Derick Hall and running back Tank Bigsby could return, but with each having first-day draft grades, it’d be hard to expect them not to test the waters of the NFL.

As it goes, in today’s ever-changing college football landscape, Auburn could lose players to the transfer portal as they did last season. The NCAA announced a two-year waiver to the 25-scholarship cap per year signing rule in May during the preseason. Auburn still is limited to 85 scholarships, but if more than 25 athletes leave for graduation, NFL, or the portal, the Tigers could replace each one instead of having fewer than 85 scholarship athletes on the active roster.

Auburn expects to have two or three days for visits left out of the 42 once the open date week is over. Harsin could use those to attend a state playoff game of a recruit heading into December’s early signing day.

Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn for Alabama Media Group.