Bryan Harsin comments on Auburn blowing big lead to Mississippi State

After Auburn’s 43-34 loss to Mississippi State, AU coach Bryan Harsin told reporters he was unhappy with blowing an 18-point lead. That was the margin at the half, but the Tigers truly blew a 25-point lead, as it was 28-3 Auburn before MSU started its comeback.

Auburn's Bryan Harsin on the second half against Mississippi State

"We didn't extend drives and keep ourselves on the field.

"At the end of the day, we've got to make plays… Can't be satisfied with 28 points in the first half."

— Auburn Gold Mine (@AUGoldMine) November 13, 2021

Bryan Harsin: "An 18-point lead, that's not enough."

Neither was a 25-point lead. But Auburn led by 18 at halftime.

— Tom Green (@Tomas_Verde) November 13, 2021

Harsin said handling those situations starts with him and the rest of the coaching staff.

Harsin: "I've got to do a better job of making sure we understand how to finish … Right now, we just didn't do that"

— Jordan D. Hill (@JordanDavisHill) November 13, 2021

In his postgame press conference, Harsin also discussed second-half struggles in the ground game, Mississippi State QB Will Rogers’ performance, preserving morale and more. Here are the highlights shared by reporters on Twitter:

Bryan Harsin: "We gotta be better on third downs, we had too many penalties. We are not going to make excuses."

— Henry Zimmer (@henryzimmer) November 13, 2021

Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin: "It starts with every single day. It starts with guys loving ball and doing the work.

"You've got to be able to start like we did. You've got to be able to finish much better than we did"

— Jordan D. Hill (@JordanDavisHill) November 13, 2021

Bryan Harsin: "Nobody's happy in the locker room. We're all disappointed… We started fast but didn't finish."

— Tom Green (@Tomas_Verde) November 13, 2021

Bryan Harsin on Will Rogers: "Obviously he played well. It is a tale of two halves. That is what they do- throw the ball. We have to be able to prevent that."

— Henry Zimmer (@henryzimmer) November 13, 2021

Harsin on the ground game in the second half: "I don't know. There were some things — they made adjustments. I don't know if was one thing in particular that they did"

— Jordan D. Hill (@JordanDavisHill) November 13, 2021

Bryan Harsin: "As far as the run game goes, there were some assignment errors in there and it wasn't consistent enough. We didn't run it well in the second half because we weren't consistent."

— Henry Zimmer (@henryzimmer) November 13, 2021

Bryan Harsin on the Moultry targeting: "What I saw on the replay was him going up to try and block the pass because the quarterback's in a passing position and the quarterback freezes and he sacks him… Targeting, you've got to define it."

— Christian Clemente (@CClemente247) November 13, 2021

Harsin on Auburn's special teams issues today: "It was not good enough, in my assessment"

— Jordan D. Hill (@JordanDavisHill) November 13, 2021

Bryan Harsin on Auburn's inability to affect Will Rogers: "I thought in the first half, we got more pressure on him, at least we made him move… I don't know why we didn't get as much pressure or why he felt more comfortable in the second half."

— Tom Green (@Tomas_Verde) November 13, 2021

Auburn is 6-4 on the season with games remaining on the road at South Carolina (Week 12) and at home against Alabama (Week 13).

SDS Staff

Saturday Down South reports and comments on the news around the Southeastern Conference as well as larger college football topics.