Auburn football’s spring game was a more typical scrimmage than Bryan Harsin’s first. The game was a four-quarter live scrimmage, ending with team Tigers defeating team Auburn 10-9.
“Overall defensively, we had an opportunity for a takeaway so we want to continue with that. I thought up front with the guys on the starting defense, they played the run well and pressured the quarterback,” said head coach Bryan Harsin. “We did some things on the back end coverage-wise, which I thought was good to see at my angle.”
The scoring was a bit atypical. Rather than a true two-team format, the team was split roughly in half for teams of white and blue, but the on-field participants were a medley of each color. Team Tiger or Auburn would then gain points when a team scored in the end zone with that word.
The game concluded with a back-shoulder pass from freshman quarterback Holden Geriner to newly converted tight end Landen King. King went over the shoulder of his defender to make the catch and draw team Auburn within a winnable margin, but their two-point conversion effort failed.
“It was fun today, getting guys to compete. Having that opportunity late (with the game coming down to the final play) to have some fun, to compete and everybody getting up for that last play, win or lose, it was fun,” Harsin said. “To have a little bit of bragging rights after this game, it was fun. It’s been a good spring.”
The entire defense finished the day with 65 tackles, 43 of which were solo. Eight of those were for a loss, for a total of -31 yards.
“I think our preparation was pretty good. This was practice 15, obviously the last one of the spring. Guys have made strides over the spring as a whole,” said senior edge Derick Hall. “We had the call sheet. We knew everything that was going to happen.”
The defense also logged three pass breakups, one quarterback hurry, and four sacks. The quarterbacks were non-contact, so sacks were assumed for the purpose of statistics but not actually executed on the field.
“We have a checklist, and the number one thing is stopping the run. After stopping the run, you can pressure the quarterback, eliminate explosives,” Hall said. “We want to be a run first offense, so stopping the run puts us in a position to rush the passer and get the ball back to our offense.”
With the conclusion of spring practice, players are done with coach-led practices until fall camp, where those practices will resume and the battle for starting positions truly begins.
“We’ve got finals and all coming up. Really, that’s the biggest thing: academics, finishing school. We’ve got two weeks of training, then we get a discretionary period. We get four weeks, the month of May, off,” Hall said. “You’re not thinking about ball for a couple weeks, then come back June 1 that’s when we start our summer training.”
Following a brief period of rest and recuperation, the team will return to Auburn for summer practices and then fall camp in August. Starters at the edge position will likely be known leaders like Derick Hall and senior Eku Leota, with players like freshman Dylan Brooks making strides to be firmly behind that pair.
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Callie Stanford, junior in communications, is the sports editor at the Auburn Plainsman. Currently a junior, she has been with The Plainsman since January 2021.
Twitter: @Stanford1Callie
