Auburn football had its worst day in several seasons against Penn State Saturday as the Tigers were outclassed in a 41-12 beatdown that has cast doubt on the coaching future of Bryan Harsin on the Plains. Against the Nittany Lions, the Tigers looked hopeless on both ends of the ball — particularly on the defense, where they were lit up for 477 total yards and 245 rushing yards from Penn State’s backfield.
If the defensive front can’t hang with elite offensive lines, and Penn State’s isn’t even quite on that level, there is little hope of contending against the physicality they’ll face against Georgia, Texas A&M, and Arkansas.
On the other side of the ball, offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau made major mistakes in delegating touches to his rushing threats. Tank Bigsby had just nine carries, while Jarquez Hunter had five. T.J. Finley called his own number as many times as Bigsby, while Robby Ashford ended up with the most carries (11).
Jake Crain of ‘Crain & Company’ called that offensive game plan ‘malpractice’ in a tweet Sunday afternoon:
TJ Finley and Tank had the same amount of carries. It’s malpractice.
— Jake “JBOY” Crain (@JakeCrain_) September 18, 2022
How Auburn football could shift their game plan moving forward
Evidently, minimal touches for Tank Bigsby, Jarquez Hunter, and the rest of the RB room isn’t cutting it for Auburn football fans. Nor should it. T.J. Finley and Robby Ashford have completed 58.5% of their passes while throwing 3x as many interceptions (six) as touchdowns passes (two).
With a Penn State analyst making the Cam Newton comparison to Finley, we saw No. 1 try to unsuccessfully emulate No. 2 on the field. The former state champion with Hoover, Ashford, is by nature a run-heavy quarterback.
The best way to ensure the running backs will be the most active rushers on the team would be to insert Zach Calzada, or possibly even Holden Geriner, under center.