Auburn players believe 'swagger' on offense will return: 'We have to get back to it'

AUBURN – It is not surprising that Auburn players believed the confidence and “swagger” of the offense was missing against Texas A&M. It is interesting, though, that defensive players at Auburn have offered encouragement to the offense.

The Auburn defense, who has been very good for the Tigers through four games, knows the offense is capable of becoming tough to deal with. They had to deal with a more confident offense during fall camp. Auburn defensive lineman Marcus Harris is not worried about the Tigers’ offense whatsoever.

I know and I have seen it happen,” Harris said. “Any day in fall camp, we would be beating them, the next day they come out and look totally different. So, I know those guys want to buy in and try to change it up.”

Harris believes the test the offense faced at Texas A&M was a big one and a first despite the away game at Cal. Again, he understands the capability of the offense, and would know as well as anyone after dealing with them all fall camp.

“Way more capable,” Harris said of the offense. “I know those guys, I know they’re going to lock in. A lot of people don’t know that was their first real away game with a real crowd and the crowd makes a big difference. We know that because we use that as an advantage at Jordan-Hare. We know how much of a difference a big crowd is. I know those guys are going to pick it up, that is their first test. I know those guys are resilient and will get in here every day and try to get better. They will look at those mistakes and not try to do those again.

Deal wants to get the ‘swagger’ back on offense

Auburn tight end and team captain Luke Deal could feel the tightness on the offensive side of the ball. He felt like the game plan, the plays, and the execution was all there to be had.

“I feel like there are parts of our offense that played really hard, played good,” Deal said. “But, there wasn’t that connection, there wasn’t that swagger, there wasn’t that being excited for each and every play. There was no rhythm. That is something that we have to get back, something that we definitely had all offseason, fall camp, and all of that. If you were out there you saw it. It’s in there. There are just some things we have to clean up and do the little things right and being excited doing them. That’s a big deal, just getting our swagger back.”

Deal remembers that the offense was firing on all cylinders at times in fall camp. He said the offense was having fun doing it as well. That is what has to be fixed in his opinion.

“Like I said, in fall camp, and I think the defensive guys would agree, I think we had it there,” Deal said. “We were taking it to them pretty good in fall camp. I think the biggest thing is being on the same page. Just having that same mindset that each and every play is a big play. Be excited for the good ones and flush the bad ones. That’s something we’re going to have to get back to. We have done it before. We didn’t have that Saturday and we have to get back to it.”

Deal, who was voted team captain by the team, is calling others up to the plate. He knows the task ahead with Georgia coming to Jordan-Hare Stadium. He feels as though the team has handled the loss and offensive deficiencies well. The defense has call the offense up to be what they were in fall camp.

“I think it is ok to call people up, not call people out,” Deal said. “Calling them up is necessary and I think this week, Georgia is a great team, they have had a great program for a long time so we are going to respect that, but for us, we just need to get ourselves right. We need to get back to our roots. The swagger that we had, the swagger that their defense knows we can play with. I talked with some of the guys on defense and that is probably the most encouraging thing. When you have performances like that, you have finger pointing. But, there’s a bunch of guys still around us which is good. So, no finger pointing. I think just staying together, staying consistent and getting our mojo back.”