It’s no secret that the Plains have been anything but “lovely” the past season and a half for the Auburn Tigers. With the Tigers 3-10 in their last 13 contests, the entire fanbase is desperate for answers.
Following the 41-27 loss to the Razorbacks, Auburn dropped their fourth straight SEC game. Frustration was shown immediately through the players.
“The struggle we’re in right now, it sucks,” said Auburn’s redshirt freshman Robby Ashford following the game. “We didn’t play Auburn football, we all know that." Ashford finished 24/33 through the air with 285 yards and a touchdown. He also added 87 yards on the ground.
Second half adjustments have proven to be a struggle for the Tigers, having a stretch of eight straight second halves with 6 or fewer points earlier in the season. To make matters worse, in the 13 losses during Harsin’s tenure, The Tigers are -113 in second half points.
The third quarter Saturday afternoon was once again the turning point and added to the overall concern of what, if any, adjustments are being made during the halftime break.
After kicking a field goal to (essentially) end the half, Auburn received the second half kick. After a promising start, a pivotal sack on third down stopped the offense. The long field goal attempt was blocked, and Arkansas never looked back. Scoring two touchdowns in the third and another in the fourth for 21 unanswered points by the Hogs, the Auburn defense had no answer and the offense sputtered.
Looking from the outside in, every fan is going to have their moans and groans about the team, regardless of any situation. Take Georgia with the Stetson Bennett situation, with him winning a national championship and now an 8-0 start this season and there are still some out there asking for a change to be made. The concerning thing for the Tigers is prior to this game the team still seemed very “gelled” together. The locker room was positive, as if wins were the outcome, but Saturday said otherwise.
“We’re getting accustomed to doing things that will not allow us to win”, Senior tight end and offensive captain John Samuel Shenker said early on. “(We can’t be) allowing guys to settle for mediocrity and I think that’s what was seen in this game… if you’re fine with losing, then that’s not what we need here, but I think that’s become a big problem for the team to some extent”.
Head Coach Bryan Harsin was asked what he thought about Shenker’s comments about the team and ultimately agreed with them saying “that’s a serious message” for the locker room.
“We’re not good enough… Everyone’s got these intentions for what they think they are, and then you have the actions of who you really are. Those have to marry up. We say we want to win and say we want to do these things, but are we doing the things to put ourselves in a position to be good enough. And right now we’re not.” Harsin later mentioned, “There’s no getting around hard work, otherwise you’re hoping to get lucky” in regards to what steps needed to be taken.
With Arkansas in the rear view, eyes turn toward a coin flip Mississippi State team. Similar to Auburn, the talent with the team is shown, but the execution is the question mark that determines their week by week success. The 5-3 Bulldogs are coming off a bye week and host the Tigers at 6:30 PM CT.
For Auburn fans, maybe a trip to Starkville wouldn’t be the worst idea. The Cowbells could block out the cries or maybe the bells could remind you of Christmas… somehow. I guess there’s that to look forward to.
