Auburn football coach Bryan Harsin frustrated with offense

Bryan Harsin isn’t happy with the Auburn offense following last week’s performance. The Tigers coach said postgame in a 34-10 loss to Georgia on Saturday that the amount of drives that stalled out against the nation’s No. 1 defense was extremely alarming.

“We’ve got to finish drives,” Harsin said. “That’s the most frustrating thing right now … I know that we can move the ball. I know that. Can we score touchdowns? ‘Cause that gets pretty old if we can’t.”

It hasn’t been uncommon for teams to struggle against the Bulldogs defense this season. Georgia is allowing just 5.5 points and 203.5 yards per game, both of which rank first in the country.

The Tigers scored just twice on their 12 offensive drives Saturday. They briefly held a 3-0 advantage in the first quarter, their only lead of the game. Quarterback Bo Nix did the best he could, but ultimately finished just 21-of-38 for 217 yards and threw his first interception of the season. He had no touchdowns.

“You’ve got to score touchdowns, period, when you get the red zone,” Harsin said. “And we haven’t done that well enough. That continues to be a work-in-progress, but the game’s gotta change.”

Per the NCAA, the Tigers have scored on 89.5% of the red zone appearances, 39th in the nation. That includes 12 touchdowns and five field goals.

The loss Saturday dropped Auburn to 4-2 and 1-1 in SEC play, but the Tigers have no bad losses to speak of. Georgia jumped to No. 1 in the latest AP poll after Texas A&M stunned Alabama in Week 6.

Harsin, who previously coached at Boise State, is in his first season leading the Tigers. Although he mas managed to avoid losing games he shouldn’t, there have been a few close calls. Auburn found itself trailing against Georgia State in Week 4 and benched Nix for backup TJ Finley, who led them to a comeback win.

The Tigers rank 32nd in the country averaging 35 points per game, but those numbers are a bit skewed. They scored a combined 122 points in their first two games of the year against cupcake opponents. If you disregard those results they drop to just 22 points per game.

The challenge won’t always be as tough as the Bulldogs, but things certainly won’t be easy for Auburn in SEC play. The Tigers travel to Fayetteville to face No. 17 Arkansas at noon ET next Saturday. Can Bryan Harsin get the Auburn offense in shape before then?