JD PicKell: Auburn's loss to Penn State falls on the coaching staff

The Auburn Tigers lost a tough one at home to the Penn State Nittany Lions on Saturday, 41-12, and the program and on-lookers are searching for the reason why. Well, On3’s JD PicKell has broken down their game tape and has an idea of where the problem is — the coaching staff. In particular, head coach Bryan Harsin.

“Penn State went into Jordan-Hare won the game 41 to 12. And the fashion in which they did it is, I think, what is most telling about both these programs, more about Auburn,” said PicKell. “The sloppiness that we saw from weeks before where Auburn looks sloppy against San Jose State. And you say, ‘OK, week two, they’re still kind of getting it together.’ Those sloppy characteristics continued in this game. They continued, and the difference between Penn State and San Jose State is Penn State is going to make you pay. And they had four turnovers.

“They didn’t look clean in terms of an operation, getting to the line, and getting the play started. They struggled at square one, which is concerning. Because they got guys in this program like Tank Bigsby, an absolute dog, was held in check most of the day. TJ Finley has a lot of physical ability; he didn’t look very polished during the game.”

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Aside from the Tigers’ first and third drives of the game, which resulted in field goals, Auburn’s offense struggled with consistency. Finley was responsible for Auburn’s first two turnovers of the game, an interception followed by a fumble. And although you could link Finley to the Tigers’ 14-6 deficit at halftime, he had little to nothing to do with the complete collapse in the second half; he was benched after the first drive for Robby Ashford.

PicKell: It’s hard to look anywhere else besides the head coach

The struggles, particularly on offense, were a major concern for the team heading into the game. Despite winning their first two games, Auburn did not look polished in those two victories. Passing game-wise, they threw more touchdowns than interceptions; one touchdown and four interceptions.

“There’s a lot of these things that happen for Auburn to where you continue to look at this and say, ‘OK, you look sloppy in the game.’ But I promise you before it happened in the game; it happened behind closed doors at Auburn, meaning this coaching staff. I don’t know what needs to happen, but there needs to be something where they’re putting their foot down and saying, ‘Listen, this cannot be the way we present ourselves as a program.’ Because there were so many things that you could link to discipline or way of doing things. Whatever it is, the way that Auburn went about this game on Saturday points a lot to their coaching staff.

“When you look at the coaching staff, it’s hard to look anywhere else besides the head coach. The man who’s in charge of running the program. So, for Bryan Harsin, the seat is getting just ever so slightly more toasty week in and week out. Because the schedule doesn’t get easy for Auburn. I mean, you still have to play Georgia, Alabama, and Texas A&M. Auburn schedule the rest of the way; Penn State was just started your problems,” said PicKell.

Entering the 2022 season, Harsin’s job security was a hot topic. That came after a tumultuous first year and rumors of his termination swirling during the spring. But the Tigers’ athletic director gave him a vote of confidence heading into the season. Fast forward to now, and it is questionable if he would do the same today.

Harsin must act fast to turn things around for the Tigers. Otherwise, the plans to scrap his era in Auburn will commence and possibly be executed before seasons end.