Instant analysis: Auburn A-Day demonstrates new Auburn look
Auburn head football coach Bryan Harsin watches the action during the A-Day spring NCAA college football game, Saturday, April 17, 2021, at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/Julie Bennett)AP
Auburn opened the gates of Jordan-Hare Stadium then opened its playbook to show off everything it’s learned over the last four weeks of spring practice in the annual A-Day scrimmage.
Saturday, the team kicked off the Bryan Harsin-era with a kickoff return for a touchdown. Anders Carlson kicked it off while Tank Bigsby showed off his speed as he blew past his teammates for a touchdown. Auburn’s returners went on to return numerous kicks for touchdowns during the scrimmage.
As the team faced off against itself, coach Harsin had his first team offense play the backup defensive players and the first team defense go against the backup offensive players. For the sake of clarity, the first team offense and defense were referred to as “Auburn” while the backup offense and defense were referred to as the “Tigers.”
Some of the names were familiar and seeing them line up with the first team wasn’t a surprise. For example, the offensive line, running backs and quarterbacks looked much the same as last season. But others, like the wide receivers and the secondary, looked very different since they were replacing key starters.
The scrimmage featured explosive plays by each side’s first team. However, as Harsin said before the game, when you’re scrimmaging, a good play by one side is a bad play by the other. Despite that, there were still some valuable takeaways:
Defense is deeper than offense
With the first team offense going against the defensive backups and vice versa, it is not a surprise that the numbers were skewed. However, the way they skewed demonstrated one side is a lot further along than the other.
While the first team offense beat the backup defensive players, they did not dominate them, whereas the first team defense had the offensive backups locked up.
After the first quarter, the Auburn defense held the Tigers to negative yardage. There weren’t many explosive plays by the offense. While it improved in the following quarters, the numbers were still at a level that would not be competitive in a real-game situation. The Tigers offense finished with 122 yards.
On the other hand, the Tigers defense held its own. Even though it was going against the starters, the Tigers defense made big plays, like Kamal Hadden’s forced fumble in the first quarter. It held the Auburn offense to 304 yards, which, in a real game, is a strong enough showing to give an offense a fighting chance to win.
The difference between the defense and the offense is not surprising — the defense is typically ahead at this time of year.
Definitely not the offense of old
It became immediately apparent that this is a very new Auburn offense when Bo Nix went and lined up under center in the first series of the scrimmage. While he didn’t take snaps under center on every play, the fact that he’s doing it at all is a change of pace.
Before the ball was even snapped, there were more signs that this offense is different. Last season, the fact former offensive coordinator Chad Morris’s offense had a tight end out there on almost every play seemed novel. Harsin and Mike Bobo’s offense had one, two and even three tight ends out on the field at once.
Once the offense got going, the differences just kept showing. The wide receivers utilized the whole field rather than running a handful of routes. Bigsby was the first running back on the field, but Shivers rotated in often. When he did, it demonstrated how this new offense really fits Shivers’ downhill style. Bigsby, meanwhile, played a larger role in the receiving game than running backs had previously.
Tank Bigsby will be key
This is not breaking news since Auburn lost its top three wide receivers. But A-Day highlighted just how much Auburn will rely on its running back next season.
Although the first team offense went up against the backup defensive players, the receiving corps did not dominate. Running backs Shivers and Bigsby were the most productive players, and Bigsby was clearly the star out of all 11 offensive players.
Bigsby led the team in rushing yards, even though he had less rush attempts. He finished with 64 yards on seven carries, averaging 9.1 per carry. He also figured prominently in the passing game, making two catches for 22 yards.
The receivers have a while to develop before the season starts, but there’s no changing the fact they have little SEC game experience. Although Bigsby is also young, a true sophomore, in terms of starting experience, he’s a veteran. He’s been tested by some of Auburn’s toughest opponents and still found ways to make an impact.
The threat of Bigsby will do a lot to open up the passing game for the young receiving corps. With a shallow room behind him and Shivers, it will be key that Bigsby stays healthy and continues to improve.
