'We're developing every single game': Auburn determined to reach potential during final five games
AUBURN — “We have a lot of potential to get better,” Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin said on Monday, as his Tigers prepare to host Arkansas in a pivotal game that will carry significant weight in determining Auburn’s ability to qualify for a bowl game.
It’s hard to find areas of real improvement in this year’s version of the Tigers.
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The team has lost four of their last five games.
Auburn’s allowed 740 rushing yards the last two games, more than any two-game span in over two decades, at least. The defense is allowing 4.85 yards per rush, the second most of any Auburn defense in the last 14 seasons ahead of only the 2012 defense.
After eight turnovers in the first three games, the Tigers have turned the ball over eight more times in the last three. Auburn is currently dead last in turnover margin nationally at -1.57 per game.
The completion percentage from Robby Ashford has fallen under 50 percent each of the last three games, dropping Auburn to 124th nationally in completion percentage as a team.
The offense did finally break through with 34 points at Ole Miss, but the positive trends are few and far between as November nears.
“That’s the motivating thing. Those things are fixable,” Harsin said.
Captain and senior, Owen Pappoe, sees the mistakes on film every single week. The missed assignments, missed tackles, dropped passes, misreads, being out of position, the list goes on. Football is a team sport. It only takes one player’s mistake to make all 11 look bad.
But don’t count Pappoe among those that have given up on the season, not in the least.
“Our record doesn’t show it, but I feel like we have a way better team than what our record shows,” Pappoe said. “We just have to go out here for these last five games and show the world that…. I believe we can turn it around.”
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The effort is there, according to Harsin. And to most observers, that’s true. It would have been easy to lay down after falling behind 21-0 through 15+ minutes at Ole Miss. Instead, the Tigers fought back to 21-14, then 28-24, then 38-31, then 41-34 with nine minutes left in the game.
“When you don’t have effort, when guys quit, when guys give up, that’s a problem. That’s bigger than a scheme, a coaching point, a drill — you don’t see that. You see guys digging in,” Harsin said. “When you have effort and guys trying really hard, and they practice like they have, there’s a lot of potential. Guys see that, too. They see it. When you’re sitting there and seeing that you’re closer, it makes you want to prepare harder. Every guy on this team has potential.”
Football is a game of development. It always has been and always will be. If you aren’t moving forward, you’re moving backward. For Auburn the lows of the first seven games provide plenty of opportunities for highs in the final five.
“Every single week, you have to be getting better. There’s no peaking, you’re playing until the last game. Every game you’re playing, you should be playing your best football. If you’re not thinking like that, you don’t get to play very long,” Harsin said.
“You want to be at your best every week. We have a long ways to go, and a lot of potential to get there.”
