Amidst an exodus of players this week and endless turmoil capped off by Auburn dropping another SEC game, one player proved his commitment with his consistent stellar play: Tank Bigsby.
Based on Bigsby’s demeanor pregame, one would not expect Auburn to be 3-4, winless in three consecutive games and on the verge of dropping its 10th game out of 13. Bigsby entered Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday morning honoring an Auburn great - sporting a hoodie with Heisman trophy winner and Auburn icon Bo Jackson on it.
Between Jackson and Bigsby, Auburn has produced numerous hard-nosed running backs who give their all each weekend for Auburn. Saturday was no different, as Bigsby poured in another solid performance in limited touches.
Bigsby recorded 100 total yards and a touchdown on 17 touches. The running back’s number of touches marked the sixth time this season Bigsby had less than 20 carries in a game. The two games where Bigsby eclipsed 20 touches was the Tigers’ lone conference win against Missouri and the loss to Ole Miss, where Bigsby accounted for 179 yards.
With eight carries and five catches in the first half, Bigsby seemed prime to touch the ball well over 20 times. After all, Auburn’s offense moved the ball well against Arkansas.
Even though it trailed by four at halftime, Auburn logged 246 total yards, 144 yards rushing, 10 first downs and won the time of possession in the first half.
But his day seemingly stopped after the first half when Auburn changed its plan of attack. Auburn threw the ball eight times in the third quarter. While that is not much different from the number of throws in the previous two quarters, Auburn was throwing the ball to Bigsby in the first half (five first-half receptions), but in the third quarter only one pass went his way.
With the reduced chances for Bigsby, Auburn went scoreless in the third, and its yards per play was a measly 4.1. In comparison, Auburn averaged 6.5 yards per play in the first half. Bigsby did not record a carry or catch in the fourth quarter.
“It’s (the scoreless third quarter) huge,” said head coach Bryan Harsin. “You’re driving down. You have a chance to put points on the board… Then the two scoring drives after that, we don’t answer. You’re playing a good team. They score, you got to answer.”
Despite the rushing success in the first half, Harsin said “being able to run the ball more effectively than we did” was one of the keys of the game, as the run game faltered when Bigsby did not receive those carries.
Quarterback Robby Ashford touched postgame on the letdown that comes with inconsistent offensive outings.
“It’s always frustrating just when we know we can get out there and put the ball in the endzone and we don’t,” Ashford said. “At the end of the day, we just have to execute.”
Despite the light workload, Bigsby surpassed Kerryon Johnson in the Auburn career-rushing mark to move to No. 11 all time in program history with 2,514 career rushing yards.
If Bigsby sticks to his 73.5 yards per game this season and plays the final four games, he will catapult himself comfortably into the top 10 - an incredible feat given the running backs before him and the inconsistency he has dealt with at Auburn.
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Jacob is a sophomore from Leeds, Alabama. This is his second year with The Auburn Plainsman.
Twitter: @JacobWaters_
