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Bryan Harsin weighs in on QB controversy, run-first mentality after big win over Mercer
By Crissy Froyd
Published:
There was plenty of talk about quarterbacks after Auburn’s TJ Finley finished the team’s 42-16 win over Mercer going 9-of-14 passing for 112 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
Coach Bryan Harsin made it clear he’s sticking with Finley as the starter, though Robby Ashford will continue to see time.
“Between the two, I mean Robby’s going to play and T.J. is in there as well,” Harsin told reporters after the game.
“Both of those guys were a part of the game plan, so it wasn’t a surprise for any of us that we were going to have Robby in there playing and now we’ll go back and we’ll assess tomorrow and where we’re at, what we do moving forward and how both of those guys can improve… let’s really look at, all right, where did we go wrong and where did they make a play, because sometimes defense will do that to, and then assess what we have to do moving forward to not let those things happen and be more effective at the quarterback position, especially at the pass game.”
Outside of the quarterback position, another element of the game to look at was the run-first mentality the Tigers showcased. Rusher Tank Bigsby had a huge outing, carrying the ball 16 times for 147 yards with two touchdowns.
Ashford was second behind him with six carries for 68 yards.
“We did want to run the football, we said that coming into the game… we did run the ball well and effectively. Jarquez had a big night,” Harsin said.
“That was a great start after the lightning delay- both of those guys. You saw Damari Alston, he’s getting in there and he’s a guy that’s going to keep getting in there from what I’ve seen -but yeah, we want to run the football- Then you’ve got Robby, and Robby came in and did some things as well. If we can run the ball like that and be effective and spread it out a little bit and then hit some shots like some of those things we did tonight, that seems pretty effective. Overall, it starts with running the ball and we wanted to try to do that tonight. I thought we did a pretty good job.”
Auburn will look to continue working out the kinks as it faces San Jose State in Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT.
Crissy covers SEC football news for Saturday Down South.
