Final word with Bryan Harsin: Close isn't good enough

Auburn’s best chance to win on Saturday night was old school, blue collar football behind the legs of Tank Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter. The Tigers rode them, along with some Bo Nix scrambles, to 189 yards rushing. But, it wasn’t enough, as No. 22 Auburn fell at No. 10 Penn State, 28-10, in front of over 109,000 fans inside Beaver Stadium.

Auburn has now lost their last nine games against ranked opponents away from home. The Tigers last win on the road against a ranked opponent was when they defeated No. 25 Texas A&M in 2016. Auburn’s only come within eight points twice in that stretch, falling to Clemson in 2017, 14-6, and falling to LSU in 2019, 23-20.

As Bryan Harsin begins to build this Auburn program, close losses aren’t good enough.

“We came here and we played a really good Penn State team on the road, and gave ourselves an opportunity to win. Those are games you want to win,” Harsin said on Saturday night. “We didn’t come here to play and be in the game. That’s the mindset for everyone around this program. Not just showing up and playing well, but finding a way to win.

“If you want to be a championship team, you have to win on the road. From this point on, what do we do tomorrow? What’s the attitude? What’s the focus? I thought we had a lot of guys that prepared themselves to win. I don’t think it’s OK to feel good about playing and losing the game. It needs to have that sting and it’s got to be that fuel to get back to work.

“Hopefully tomorrow, when we get back out there, we all feel that way and we learn from that. There’s a lot of guys in that locker room that are disappointed. Now, you figure out how to do everything in your power to not let it happen again. Once you do that and learn that, that’s how we operate every day. Then we don’t have to lose a game to figure that out. That’s what I saw tonight. That’s what Auburn football, in my opinion, should be about.”

[Real-time analysis: Auburn falls at Penn State]

The stats, as Auburn comes up short

Nix finished the game 21-of-37 passing for 185 yards. Bigsby broke the 100-yard mark, and Hunter has still yet to carry the ball 10 times in a game, but continues to make the most of his playing time.

Defensively, Auburn allowed 264 total first-half yards to Penn State. And while they limited Penn State to around 130 total yards in the second half, the Tigers’ were unable to create pressure all game. And the secondary, thought of to be a strength, took a step backwards.

Sean Clifford had a career night, throwing for 280 yards on 28-of-32 passing and two touchdowns. Auburn did hold talented running back Noah Cain to 45 yards on 19 carries, but the busted coverages in the back end were devastating.

First down was a problem for Auburn – on both sides of the ball. Auburn averaged 3.6 yards per play on first down, while Penn State averaged over seven yards per play on first down. Penn State completed 10-of-12 passes for 163 yards on first down

Auburn converted nine third downs, but attempted 17 third downs. That’s just too many. Staying ahead of the chains has to be paramount moving forward. Nix was good on third downs, passing 8-of-11 for 100 yards

Auburn’s 4th-and-goal missed opportunity raises questions

With just over three minutes remaining, Auburn faced a fourth-and-goal from the Penn State 2-yard line. Trailing 28-20, it was obviously a crucial call. Auburn used a timeout before the play to talk things over, leaving them with just one timeout remaining in the game. When Auburn returned to the field, Nix snapped the ball and attempted a fade route to the corner of the endzone to Kobe Hudson. Hudson was tangled with the Penn State cornerback, and with the ball overthrown anyway, a low percentage pass had nearly no chance to be completed.

Bryan Harsin didn’t want to dive into the play too much, before watching on film, but did offer this insight into the pivotal moment.

“We talk about it, everybody gives their input,” Harsin said. “Those plays are pre-planned and scripted in those areas. Those are things you work on. I’ll have to go back and look at what happened. We went to that menu of plays and it didn’t hit like we wanted to.”

Harsin mentioned that there were five “options” on that play, although Nix’s quick pass to Hudson seemed premeditated.

“We have to see where the progression starts,” Harsin said. “We will assess that tonight, look at the film on the plane, but ultimately you want to give yourself a better chance right there.”

By the time Auburn got the ball back, they only had 40 seconds remaining and no timeouts.

The Tigers’ trick play to start the second half turns disastrous

Auburn came out of the locker room only trailing 14-10 and receiving the second-half kickoff. The Tigers had the opportunity to establish field position to start the half at minimum, but that’s not what happened. Instead, on the first play, Auburn ran a trick play that attempted to see Hudson take a reverse and attempt a pass. The Penn State defense was all over it.

When Hudson tried to tuck the ball and reverse field, he fumbled and Penn State recovered. A few plays later, Penn State was in the endzone and had stretch their lead to 21-10.

“We thought we had something throughout the week, we thought it was going to be a good call,” Bryan Harsin said. “If it’s not there, get what you can out of it, and we fumbled the ball. Anytime there’s a turnover in the game, that becomes a major factor. We were trying to be aggressive and when it wasn’t there, he tried to do what we talked about and the ball ended up the ground.”

Where did the Auburn pass rush disappear to?

Auburn started the season with six sacks and 11 tackles for loss. That dropped to no sacks and a handful of tackles for loss in the second game. Against Penn State, the Tigers managed 11 tackles for loss, but none of those were sacks. Clifford enjoyed a career night, and Bryan Harsin isn’t quite sure what happened.

“There was one that he stood back there for 10 seconds early on, but I thought it was better after that,” Harsin said. “You have to find ways to get after the quarterback. I thought (Clifford) did a good job, if I remember. He escaped a few times and made some throws. That goes back to coverage. Ultimately, we have to get after the passer. I didn’t think we’d keep in the pocket the entire time, but we have to do a better job.”

Auburn recorded exactly ONE quarterback hurry. That was by Zakoby McClain, who hit Clifford on his one interception at the end of the first half.

The passing game ‘not good enough’

Nix completed 56 percent of his passes for five yards per completion on Saturday night. That’s right on par for Nix’s career on the road. Now, Nix didn’t throw any interceptions, but he also didn’t throw any touchdowns. Overall, Nix’s performance appeared more under control from the last two years, but unfortunately for the Tigers, the results were the same.

“Not good enough,” Bryan Harsin said. “We needed to hit some explosive plays — had an opportunity to do that, and we didn’t catch the ball. We need to catch the ball and be in the right areas in our pass concepts. Those are things we have to work on for this team. Those are things that have to be focused on and becoming priorities. We have to execute those concepts.”

Receivers Shedrick Jackson and Demetris Robertson both dropped passes that hit them in the hands. Jackson dropped two, and Robertson dropped one, with all three being potential 10-plus yard gains.

Jackson was targeted eight times, but only came away with two catches. Robertson was targeted 10 times, but only came away with five catches. They combined for 29 yards receiving.

“We have to come down with the ball and make some plays,” Harsin said. “There were opportunities to do that. There will be more opportunities to do that. Explosive plays — you have to hit on those plays. We’ll continue to be a work in progress this season.”

Outside of John Samuel Shenker’s five catches for 62 yards, Hudson was the best Auburn receiver, hauling in four receptions for 66 yards. Ze’Vian Capers and Elijah Canion barely played and recorded no catches and no targets.

Additional postgame notes

Linebacker Owen Pappoe left the game in the second half and didn’t return to action. Harsin didn’t provide any details on Pappoe’s injury, only to say Pappoe is a tough player and they missed his presence. Pappoe was seen on the sidelines engaged in the game.

Wideout Ja’Varrius Johnson played very sparingly, catching one pass for a first down conversion. Johnson has been slowed with an ankle injury.

Shaun Shivers and Jaylin Simpson and Brandon Frazier didn’t travel.

This was Bigsby’s seventh career 100-yard rushing game and his fourth consecutive 100-yard game dating back through last season.

Hudson’s 36-yard reception from Nix in the second quarter was a career long for Hudson.

Shenker’s 62 yards receiving are a career best.

Marquis Burks recorded his second forced fumble of the season (also vs. Alabama State).

Colby Wooden (10 tackles) was the leading tackler for the Tigers for the first time in his career.