Bryan Harsin said it best after Auburn’s come-from-behind victory against Georgia State: It wasn’t pretty, and it wasn’t perfect.
But Auburn found a way.
The Tigers overcame a 12-point second-half deficit during homecoming against the Panthers to move to 3-1 on the season. It was nothing if not eventful, as Auburn’s defense was in shambles for much of the first half before shutting Georgia State down in the second half, while the offense couldn’t finish drives early and rallied late. Special teams, meanwhile, kept Auburn afloat for much of the game.
It was truly a mixed bag for Auburn in a game that provided a wild and thrilling 34-24 finish.
“The storyline is ‘get better,’” Harsin said. “That’s the storyline. Auburn football: Get better, every single day moving forward. You’re playing chess, not checkers. Prepare yourself. Have yourself ready. Coaches, get better. Everybody improve, every single day.”
Here are AL.com’s position-by-position grades for Auburn’s come-from-behind win:
Quarterbacks: B-
Full disclosure: This grade was boosted big-time by T.J. Finley’s late-game performance. The LSU transfer finished 9-of-16 passing for 97 yards and a touchdown after taking over for Bo Nix, but he showed poise under pressure on Auburn’s 98-yard drive. Even after misfiring on a sure touchdown to Kobe Hudson on third down from the 10-yard line, he came through on a broken play on fourth down to find Shedrick Jackson for the go-ahead touchdown.
As for Nix, the third-year starter struggled to find any sort of rhythm against Georgia State. He completed 13-of-27 passes and misfired on deep balls and would-be touchdowns. He passed for 156 yards, failed to lead a touchdown drive and just generally looked like he was unsure of where to go with the ball.
Running backs: C
This was Auburn’s worst rushing performance of the season, as the Tigers were held to just 166 yards and 4.7 yards per carry—despite having their full complement of running backs available, thanks to the return of Shaun Shivers. Tank Bigsby’s streak of three straight 100-yard games to open the season ended, as he had just 60 yards on 18 carries and committed a fourth-quarter fumble that Auburn was fortunate to rebound from. Freshman Jarquez Hunter led the team with 62 rushing yards on 10 carries, but his involvement in the offense early on was minimal. Shivers had two carries for 29 yards, including a 26-yarder on sweep while split out wide.
Wide receivers: B-
Looking for answers at receiver, Auburn cycled through nearly its full arsenal at the position against Georgia State. Auburn’s receivers couldn’t get on the same page with Nix for much of the night, but there were some bright spots from the group. First, certainly, was Jackson’s decisive touchdown catch. The senior helped salvage a broken play in a critical spot and went up and made a play — something Harsin challenged his receivers to do after last week’s loss at Penn State. Secondly, Kobe Hudson is emerging as a go-to guy among the group, leading the team with five catches for 76 yards. Still, Auburn is going to need more from its receivers as it heads into SEC play.
Tight ends: C
John Samuel Shenker remains the only tight end for Auburn to catch a pass this season, hauling in two of his four targets for 26 yards, including a 19-yarder on a controversial replay review that helped set up Auburn’s go-ahead score. Luke Deal was finally targeted in the passing game, but Nix sailed a pass beyond him over the middle of the field.
Offensive line: C-
Auburn was dominated at the line of scrimmage, on both sides of the ball, in the first half against Georgia State. The offensive line turned things around somewhat in the second half, as Auburn had better success offensively, but it was an inconsistent performance in the trenches against a Sun Belt opponent that was credited with two sacks, four quarterback hurries and held the Tigers to just 4.7 yards per carry.
Defensive line: C
Auburn’s defensive front was porous in the first half, as Georgia State accumulated nearly 300 yards of offense, 219 of which came on the round. The Tigers struggled to control the line of scrimmage in the first half but reversed their fortunes after halftime with a rejuvenated effort. Auburn surrendered just 85 second-half yards against Georgia State, with 48 of them coming on 23 rushing attempts. The Tigers also notched all three of their sacks after halftime, with two of them coming from the defensive line.
Linebackers: B-
What a difference one player can make. Zakoby McClain served a first-half suspension stemming from last week’s targeting call in the Penn State game, but upon returning in the third quarter, the man they call Ricochet Rabbit helped provide Auburn’s defense with the spark it needed. McClain brought the energy, and his tackle for loss on Georgia State’s second drive of the half ignited Auburn’s defense—and helped set up the blocked punt that was recovered for a touchdown. It wasn’t just McClain, though. Chandler Wooten stepped up when McClain was out and without fellow captain Owen Pappoe available. Wooten finished with a career-high 12 tackles, eclipsing the previous best of 10 he set against Penn State. But like all of Auburn’s position groups, there were some issues at linebacker, particularly with run fits in the first half as Georgia State ran roughshod in the opening 30 minutes.
Defensive backs: B-
Georgia State quarterback Darren Grainger completed just 12 of his 24 passes for 117 yards, but he made the most of a couple of blown coverages in Auburn’s secondary, with two touchdown passes to inexplicably wide-open receivers in the second quarter. Auburn ultimately cleaned some things up, holding Grainger to just 4-of-10 passing for 37 yards in the second half, which was capped by Smoke Monday’s third career pick-six.
Auburn’s secondary still has plenty it needs to fix, and soon, but credit to Monday and Nehemiah Pritchett, both of whom had pass breakups, as well as Donovan Kaufman, who finished with a sack, a pass breakup and a forced fumble.
Specialists: A-
Auburn’s special teams kept the team in the game, with Anders Carlson connecting on four first-half field goals — one of which was set up by a 72-yard kickoff return by Nehemiah Pritchett — and Caylin Newton’s third-quarter blocked punt being recovered by Barton Lester for a touchdown and a needed boost for the Tigers. The only things keeping this from a perfect mark for the special teams units: Carlson’s missed field goal from 40 yards out in the second half and a muffed punt (which Auburn fortunately recovered).
Coaches: C
Harsin spoke throughout the week about making sure the loss to Penn State didn’t linger and affect Auburn against Georgia State, but it certainly seemed like that was the case for much of Saturday. That has to fall on the coaching staff for not having the team adequately prepared, whether it was mentally or from a gameplan perspective. Harsin and Mike Bobo’s offense was inefficient in the first half, struggling to finish drives in Georgia State territory, while Derek Mason’s defense displayed coverage issues yet again and had trouble stopping the run early on.
Then came halftime, and Auburn’s staff seemed to make the right adjustments. Mason had his defense dialed in and suffocating Georgia State after the break. Auburn’s offense saw some more success, ultimately, and it took guts for Harsin to make the call to bench a struggling Nix in favor of Finley. Not every coach would make that call in that situation, but Harsin did — and it gave Auburn’s offense the spark it needed to emerge from Saturday’s dogfight.
Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde
