Bryan Harsin’s first game as Auburn’s head coach featured a blowout win over Akron and an energetic return to full-capacity football. While speaking with the media on Monday afternoon, Harsin reviewed successes from Saturday's game and previewed the Tigers' next opponent: Alabama State.
The two words of the day? Preparation and development.
With the return of Tiger Walk and a full-capacity Jordan-Hare Stadium, Harsin’s first gameday on the Plains was one as close to normal as a coach can get mid-pandemic. The white-out game held a packed student section and a crowd of over 83,000 total fans.
“I do want to recognize the fans, the students," Harsin said. "I thought that the crowd was tremendous and I’m looking forward to seeing that again this Saturday."
Harsin began by recognizing players of the game for both athletic and academic performances of the week. He said the team plans to continue this recognition as long as they are successful and able enough to do so.
Auburn’s offensive player of the game was Bo Nix and the Tigers' defensive player of the game was Zakoby McClain. Brodarius Hamm was the offensive line MVP, with T.D. Moultry and Marquis Burks picking up the honors for defensive line.
Harsin also highlighted academic scholars of the week: Kilian Zierer for offense and Donovan Kaufman for defense. Wesley Steiner earned special teams’ player of the week.
The team met Sunday to review game film and some non-starters put in some work on the practice field. They will have a team meeting Tuesday, discussing how players have begun to prepare for Alabama State and then return to the practice field to apply the changes discussed.
“The goal today is that we create that mentality for the week," Harsin said. "We put the work in to get the base schemes ready before practice tomorrow, and then we come out and have a great Tuesday practice. That’s our focus going into this week, is getting ourselves prepared for Alabama State and the things that we have to do to be a better football team than we were for the previous game.”
Harsin touched on his players' performance against Akron. Here's what the first-year head coach said:
On Jarquez Hunter:
“He was good. He came in and his first run, he had just a downhill play where he got to bounce it and you could see his speed. You could see the ability that he has running inside the tackles and being able to get on the perimeter and utilize his speed. He also had a couple of opportunities in pass protection that he did a good job in. So a young player who took advantage of his opportunity, played hard, and was prepared and ready, so we didn’t have the mental mistakes that young players sometimes have. That’s a credit to him.”
On Shedrick Jackson:
“We talked about him coming back from injury and once he’s been back in the summertime, really going with the guys. He showed up in practice. It was really nice to see him show up in the game. I know he had several catches in the game, which was good and he’ll continue that.”
On Austin Troxell:
“He was solid: consistent in the run game, did a good job in pass protection. I know his story, the injuries and the things he’s overcome, For Austin and his performance, that goes back to all his preparation that he had put in leading up to the game. He’s another guy, he works hard. He does things, in my opinion, at a high level or to the best of his ability each and every day.”
A few Tigers were absent from Saturday's game. Harsin gave an update on them and on Jaylin Simpson, who exited the Akron game early to an apparent injury.
Safety Ladarius Tennison and receiver Tar’Varish Dawson were those absent from the game for the Tigers. Harsin says the two had no discipline issues and simply were not available to play. He hopes they will be available to play this week.
Meanwhile, cornerback Jaylin Simpson was seen going into the locker room during the first half of Saturday’s game. Harsin said he would be receiving an update later in the day to hear about when Simpson would be ready to return to play.
“[Simpson] is definitely a guy that we need to have out on the field," Harsin said. "He’s worked very hard, had a great camp, and has done really well in his preparation, so hopefully he’s feeling good enough to get out there and practice,” Harsin said.
A major talking point coming into the game had been the experienced, veteran offensive line Auburn would have the opportunity to play with. Past seasons have shown that to be an issue, but both before and after the game, their experience is a motivating factor for the Tiger offense.
“I thought our offensive line was solid," Harsin said. "I thought, in the run game, they did what they were supposed to do. They double-teamed to the right linebackers. I think we got movement on the D-line, so I think there were some opportunities for the running backs to press the line of scrimmage. We protected well for the quarterback, so I thought we did a good job in those areas and I think overall the offensive line communicated well.”
Utilizing tight ends was also something people knew to watch for on Saturday. It was another aspect of Harin’s game plan that would be a notable change to spectators. A combination of veterans like John Samuel Shenker and newcomers like Landen King will be a position group to keep an eye on throughout the season.
“[Tight end] was the first position I coached as a full-time coach and I think, in my opinion, that’s an important position. You see that position utilized in the NFL and if it’s good enough for those teams in the NFL, it’s certainly good enough for us,” Harsin said. “I think we’ve got a good group of tight ends. I think they’re smart and they work hard. Shenker had a chance to get a couple opportunities in the pass game.”
Coming into the season, the much-repeated slogan of Harsin’s team was going “1-0” each day. This mentality is in no danger of going away. He spoke about enjoying the win and recognizing it as a success for the team, but their focus would be moving on and treating the victory as an opportunity to grow before facing their next opponent.
“Right now for this team, we’ve had one game and it was good to win that game," Harsin said. "We came back on Sunday. We made corrections. We focused on the things that we needed to improve, that we’re going to see, probably, from our opponents in the future and I thought the guys handled that well. I thought their focus was good.”
“We didn’t have a ton of mental mistakes on either side of the ball and we’ve got a few other things to clean up, but I thought guys came into that game prepared,” Harsin said. “There’s more now that is on their plate as far as preparation goes and that will continue as the season goes on when you get more games, more film to watch and so now we’re going to see how this starts to mount for some players.”
End-of-half scoring drives also provided Auburn some live opportunities to focus on scoring in time-sensitive situations. These are obviously a focus in practice, but Harsin also got to capitalize on them Saturday, giving his team the chance to drive down the field in a more realistic setting, as well as providing non-starters valuable reps during a game.
“I thought we did a good job executing down the field," Harsin said. "We put ourselves in a position, with seven seconds left, to kick a field goal. Anders [Carlson] did a great job. We finished the drive. We got points and so it was a good opportunity for Bo and the offense to go out and execute,. We spent a lot of time on that, so that gave us an opportunity to do that. As far as the end of the game, that was a chance for our guys to keep playing, to get reps.”
Starters were given a physical rest from practice on Sunday, shifting focus to film as they evaluate their performance. For those who are lower on the depth chart, they went back to work on Sunday.
“We came back in on Sunday and we had some of the guys who didn’t play as much in the game, they went out there, they put the pads on and they got a few pops and some reps of some of our base stuff, just so we can continue to keep developing players on this team,” Harsin said. “I told those guys our entire goal is to figure out ways, if you’re not a starter, to get you in a role where you can contribute and you can play.”
Game balance was another feature discussed. Harsin spoke on the importance of establishing a consistent run game in first and second down situations, so that passing can be an option in third down plays if necessary.
“You want to be able to run the ball effectively and when you can do that, it gives you opportunities to stay in manageable downing distances. You’re going to throw it, obviously, in passing situations, third downs, quite a bit, and so we were able to do that. We didn’t have a ton of third downs, so we were executing on first and second downs.”
Auburn will take the field again on Saturday, Sept. 11, against Alabama State. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. CST and the game will be broadcast on SEC Network.
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Callie Stanford is from Springville, Alabama and is currently a sophomore at Auburn. She has been with The Plainsman since January 2021.
Twitter: @Stanford1Callie
