'the type of team we want to be'

[aubiefifty 17,492]

Harsin: Georgia 'the type of team we want to be'

ByNathan King

4-6 minutes

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Highlights: No. 2 Georgia at No. 18 Auburn

 

AUBURN, Alabama — Bryan Harsin certainly knew how talented Georgia while studying Kirby Smart's team all week, but he didn't get the full experience until Saturday afternoon inside Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Harsin's Tigers fought and had a handful of competitive moments, particularly in the first half, but were ultimately corroded by what will be the No. 1 team in the country in Sunday's polls in a 34-10 home loss.

And halfway through his first season at the helm at Auburn, Harsin knows Georgia's model of success under Smart is what he needs to be striving for.

"They played well; they’re coached well," Harsin said postgame. "That showed up in our preparation as we watched them. That showed up today, and they made plays. So, very good football team — the type of team we want to be. We want to be in that position. That’s where we want Auburn football to be, to have a chance to go into every single game and be able to win, be able to do all the things on special teams, offense and defense that we know we’re capable of doing on a consistent basis. So, they were able to do that tonight, so a lot of credit to Georgia."

The matchup was Harsin's first as a head coach against a No. 1 or No. 2 team. Auburn was tied 3-3 at the end of the first quarter before its offense sputtered out, and Georgia put two touchdowns on the board on consecutive 70-plus-yard drives. Georgia scored 31 of the game's last 38 points.

Auburn's losing streak to the Bulldogs has now carried over from the previous coaching regime to the new one. Dating back to the 2017 SEC championship game, Georgia has won five straight in the series for the first time since 1944-48.

Harsin was asked postgame whether he believes Auburn to be a "rebuilding job" after the difference in talent level he saw Saturday. It's not a notion Harsin entirely subscribes to, as he noted that a rebuild would imply he's only looking to the future and accepting that this year's team won't be overly impressive. Instead, the 2021 season needs to be a jumping-off point for Auburn's future successes under the new coaching staff, Harsin said — successes that he hopes mirror what Georgia has accomplished recently.

"Our focus is on this team and the players on this team being a foundation for the new staff and the things we want to do moving forward," Harsin said. "As you look at a team like Georgia and my point behind that, Kirby has done a good job. They’ve got good players. They are consistent each and every year. They are one of the better teams. They have themselves in the mix every year he’s been the head coach. That model of consistency and other teams like that, that’s exactly what we want to create here at Auburn."

Auburn is now 4-2 at the midway point of its season, with a road test at Arkansas (11 a.m. CST, CBS) next on the docket.

"Everybody who considers themselves a leader has to show up this week," senior linebacker and team captain Chandler Wooten said. "We've got the right kind of guys in this locker room. I know the kind of guys we've got in this locker room. We'll show up tomorrow pretty mad, pretty upset, we'll watch this film, learn from it, grow from it, then come Monday, we'll flush it and move on."

For Harsin, who said "we're always recruiting" on the subject of the gap between his program and Smart's, the challenge of closing said gap is a difficult climb, but he's not getting ahead of himself. There exists a blueprint for getting Auburn to those heights, and it doesn't have to include upsets over top-ranked teams in Year 1.

"There’s a vision for where we want Auburn football to be," Harsin said. "That vision is every single year we have an opportunity to be considered as one of the teams to play for a championship and ultimately to play for a national championship. I think that’s why you come to a place like Auburn because you want to be able to do that. That’s a lot of work, but that’s the vision for our program.”

[AU9377 5,575]

Harsin is correct.  I don't think his statement is some groundbreaking mentality.  Every coaching staff wants that, especially when they are in year 1.

[JDUBB4AU 5,140]

Kirby had a tough first year . He’s a candy ass , but he has built a bunch of meat eaters . Harsin will do the same 

[woodford 3,688]

If you don’t want your program to look like Georgia then what the hell are you doing in the sport? Lol

[drsteve87 91]

I recall in one of Pat Dye’s first seasons we went to Nebraska and were soundly defeated. Coach Dye came away saying the same thing. 

It’s good to be blue to recognize a good program and also realize we’re not there yet.

[Eagle-1 3,821]

26 minutes ago, drsteve87 said:

I recall in one of Pat Dye’s first seasons we went to Nebraska and were soundly defeated. Coach Dye came away saying the same thing. 

It’s good to be blue to recognize a good program and also realize we’re not there yet.

Actually, we went to Nebraska and only lost 17-3. We played them pretty well out there, then got blasted 42-0 the next year at home. They won the natty that year. Had Dave Remington at center, at that time the biggest human I had ever seen.

[fredst 9,064]

25 minutes ago, drsteve87 said:

I recall in one of Pat Dye’s first seasons we went to Nebraska and were soundly defeated. Coach Dye came away saying the same thing. 

It’s good to be blue to recognize a good program and also realize we’re not there yet.

Actually, we hung with them his first year at Nebraska. Next year they came to Auburn and stomped a mud hole in us. But agree, no shame in acknowledging excellence and stating that what we aspire to

[Guest MustardSeed]

2 hours ago, JDUBB4AU said:

Kirby had a tough first year . He’s a candy ass , but he has built a bunch of meat eaters . Harsin will do the same 

Kirby was the reason bama had great defenses. When you look at the numbers since he left there they are getting worse every year. Last 3 years in yards given up per game they were outside top 10, then outside top 20, then outside top 30. 
This becomes very evident when you look at UGAs defense. They are what bama used to be. 

[bdc81 90]

1 hour ago, drsteve87 said:

I recall in one of Pat Dye’s first seasons we went to Nebraska and were soundly defeated. Coach Dye came away saying the same thing. 

It’s good to be blue to recognize a good program and also realize we’re not there yet.

It was Pat Dye's first year, we got beat 17-3 but the defense had the better of Nebraska the whole game, offense could not move the ball.  Nebraska was a powerhouse.  Pat Dye kicked his only returning All SEC player off the team during the first team meeting.

It was obvious by the Nebraska game the CPD was going to build something different on the Plains.

CBH has a tougher job, more competition, but I think he is going to build the program.  Want a team like UGA then do the things that UGA has done to be successful.  We need to quit worrying about immediate results and do the things that produce results.  Per Coach John Wooden, do things the right way and winning will take care of itself

Someone tell me about the pass catching videos, do we only have one machine for pass drills.  Looks like the players are standing around 90% of the time?