What Hars said about San Jose State, playing 2 QB's

[aubiefifty 17,098]

What Bryan Harsin said about San Jose State, playing 2 quarterbacks again

Updated: Sep. 05, 2022, 1:57 p.m.|Published: Sep. 05, 2022, 1:25 p.m.

4-5 minutes

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Fresh off a season-opening win against Mercer, which finally brought an end to Auburn’s five-game losing streak the team ended last season on, the Tigers will look to improve to 2-0 this weekend when San Jose State comes to Jordan-Hare Stadium.

In advance of that 6:30 p.m. matchup (ESPNU), Auburn coach Bryan Harsin previewed the game and put some finishing touches on review of the Tigers’ season-opening performance with his weekly Monday press conference.

Read more Auburn football: T.J. Finley explains what he saw on his two interceptions against Mercer

Statistically speaking: Where Auburn’s defense can improve after Week 1 win

Auburn adds “funk” to offense with dual-quarterback trick play inspired by RGIII’s Baylor

Below is a recap of Harsin’s remarks Monday afternoon:

BRYAN HARSIN

-- “Our guys, I thought, did a great job yesterday of putting Mercer away.”

-- Offensive player of the game: Tank Bigsby, Defensive: Cam Riley, Special teams: Jarquez Hunter, Offensive lineman: Brandon Council, Defensive lineman: Colby Wooden, plus a couple of academic acknowledgments for Brandon Frazier and Zion Puckett.

-- Disappointed Auburn didn’t win the turnover battle. Tigers were minus-two in turnover margin against Mercer (T.J. Finley’s two interceptions).

-- Knows San Jose State will come in prepared and ready to play hard. “We just have to make sure we’re ready.”

-- On the QBs, he says one of Finley’s interceptions was a poor decision and the other was poor fundamentals. “It’s a matter of fact.... We cleared that up, and we moved forward.” Believes both QBs operated well throughout the game.

-- On QB rotation: “It’s hard to tell... I expect both guys to play” but is working on the snap distribution.

-- A couple players were sick and not at practice yesterday, but no further details there.

-- Reiterates that taking Finley out after the second interception was not an indictment of Finley, but they wanted to get Robby Ashford some more reps.

-- Compliments Ja’Varrius Johnson’s attitude and approach, both at receiver and on punt returns. “Var makes plays. He’s kind of a veteran a little bit for us.”

-- Harsin gives a really insightful response about managing a multiple-quarterback system: If they feel guys are good enough to contribute, they’re going to find roles for them. Notes that Finley and Ashford can run all of Auburn’s plays, and could have been interchangeable against Mercer.

-- Kam Stutts and Keiondre Jones will continue to rotate at right guard. Stutts is now listed as the starter on the depth chart.

-- Proud of Tate Johnson and how he handled his first start. “Overall, the offensive line, I think they were solid.”

-- Defense did a good job in the run game, could have had a few more sacks. Harsin notes there were some missed tackles. “Mercer’s quarterback did a good job; he was slippery.”

-- Harsin offers some praise for San Jose State’s quarterback, who transferred in from Hawaii. “He can really go.”

-- Harsin believes the hardest thing to fight in the sport currently is the “individualization” and guys making it all about themselves instead of the team. “You got to kind of pick your poison a little bit: Is it about me, or is it about the team?”

-- On the wide receivers in Week 1: “They were good. I thought they were a little nervous, some of those young freshmen who got out there, which they should be.... They’ll be much better this week.”

-- Reiterates that Auburn didn’t have any “stupid penalties” in Week 1.

-- On Brandon Council: “It was good to see him get out there and showcase what he was capable of doing” after his injuries. “There’s a lot more to his story than just this one game.”

-- Secondary “needs to be better.... We need to do a better job in the back end.” Says he has a high standard for the secondary.

--Next step for the passing game? “Just keep building on what we’re doing.... I think the schemes are there. I really like what Coach Kiesau is doing.”

-- On Landen King: He’ll play. We’ll get him in the rotation, get him in the mix. “You can call him whatever,” adding that King is a receiver but can still play tight end.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

[DAG 34,034]

1 hour ago, aubiefifty said:

King is a receiver but can still play tight end.

This was highly debated for whatever reason. Can we put this to rest now?

[AUatHeart 624]

I’m just going to say that I was disappointed with our secondary.  I was really thinking they would be a strength of our D.  Hopefully it was just first game jitters.

[Builder 86]

This was so much better than one of Gus's canned comments.

 

[aucom96 1,639]

8 minutes ago, Builder said:

This was so much better than one of Gus's canned comments.

 

No doubt. 

[GreenTiger 1,007]

[WDE_OxPx_2010 5,322]

2 hours ago, DAG said:

This was highly debated for whatever reason. Can we put this to rest now?

You know better 

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

4 hours ago, AUatHeart said:

I’m just going to say that I was disappointed with our secondary.  I was really thinking they would be a strength of our D.  Hopefully it was just first game jitters.

First game. They weren't bad, but a LOT of room to grow. I think we will see some shuffling around this next week. I expect Scott to take a spot. Lot of talent back there, just have to figure out the best combos and who does the best under the lights. We will be solid on the backend. I firmly believe it.

[bigbird 60,580]

8 minutes ago, Tigerpro2a said:

Lot of talent back there, just have to figure out the best combos and who does the best under the lights.

It's gonna be hard to keep Scott off the field.  

[KansasTiger 3,261]

16 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

 

Notes that Finley and Ashford can run all of Auburn’s plays, and could have been interchangeable against Mercer.

Not the narrative the 'start TJ' crowd has been saying.