'Fought Hard': Auburn rushing attack finds success in loss at Ole Miss
The Auburn running game did their part today, but it wasn’t enough.
The Tigers lost to the Rebels, 48-34, on Saturday in Oxford.
Auburn’s performance marked the most rushing yards against a Power Five opponent during the Bryan Harsin era, ending the game with 301 total rushing yards.
“We felt like we would be able to run the ball going into the game,” Auburn offensive line coach Will Friend said. “The kids fought hard. We had a lot of guys banged up and a lot playing new for the first time… They fought pretty well and executed for the most part. The backs ran hard, they really did… We’ve just got to keep improving at it and keep going.”
Ole Miss quickly took a 21-0 lead, but Auburn was able to respond with two straight rushing touchdowns to cut into the deficit.
Quarterback Robby Ashford was the first to put points on the board for Auburn in the second quarter. Running back Tank Bigsby scored the second touchdown in the following drive, making the score 21-14 and putting Auburn back in the ballgame.
Bigsby led the team with 179 yards on the ground. He averaged nine yards per carry. As a whole, Auburn averaged 6.3 yards per carry for the game.
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“I thought (Tank) did pretty damn good- ran the ball hard, broke tackles,” running backs coach Cadillac Williams said after the game. “He actually had a couple of blitz pickups that he actually did a good job of stoning guys. I thought he showed his dual potential where he can catch it, run the football, and protect the quarterback.”
With Auburn battling injuries, there were a few changes in the lineup today. Jeremiah Wright had his first start at left guard. Coach Friend said that Wright “played hard” and “brought some physicality” to the offense.
Since Auburn has a bye week coming up, there is extra time for preparation for their next opponent, Arkansas, who knocked off BYU on the road on Saturday. Hopefully, the Tigers will continue to be able to improve the run game and form a game plan that will produce a much needed win.
“We’ve got a week off and we’re going to put in the work and study our opponent, we have two weeks to study up,” Bigsby said. “When the time comes, we’re going to do what we have to do to get better and better… We have to do our jobs, limit the turnovers and we just have to go out and play ball. This team, we can do whatever we put our minds to, we just have to capitalize and keep pushing.”
