Auburn football: Offense must sustain drives against Ole Miss

Auburn football quarterback Robby Ashford (9) passes behind offensive lineman Brandon Council (71), offensive lineman Kilian Zierer (77) and offensive lineman Kameron Stutts (62) against LSU as the Auburn Tigers take on the LSU Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022.Aulsu14
Auburn football quarterback Robby Ashford (9) passes behind offensive lineman Brandon Council (71), offensive lineman Kilian Zierer (77) and offensive lineman Kameron Stutts (62) against LSU as the Auburn Tigers take on the LSU Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022.Aulsu14

The Auburn football offensive line is surely made up of great, talented young men who are trying their absolute best, but at the end of the day, the position group has been glaringly unsuccessful on the field so far this season.

So many issues that the Tigers are having this year stem from the inability to block. Redshirt freshman quarterback Robby Ashford doesn’t have time to make decisions, and if he passes off the ball to a running back, the said back has nowhere to go past the line of scrimmage.

One of the big challenges for the Auburn football defense this past weekend in Athens was the amount of time they spent on the field. Head coach Bryan Harsin said if the Tigers want to have any success against the Ole Miss Rebels, they are going to have to sustain drives and give the defense some time off the field, per Auburn Undercover:

"“So, sustaining drives is huge. Creating field position is huge, and then ultimately those drives turning into points, and that’s got to be something we do a much better job of. That’s the consistency piece of execution, over and over, giving our guys the best chance by our play-calls to keep ourselves on the field, put ourselves in manageable situations.”"

The Tigers have to go back to their roots and hammer the run game. It’s tough when the offensive line can’t create a hole, but clearly, the offense as it is right now is not sustainable. Ashford can’t continue to throw the ball so many times throughout the game, especially when such a large percentage of his passes are throwaways.

Tank Bigsby carried the ball for just 19 yards in 10 attempts against Georgia last weekend, his fewest yards per game all season long. If Auburn football wants to have a successful game versus the Rebs this weekend, those numbers need to increase dramatically.