Auburn blew a 17 point lead and lost 21-17 against LSU on Saturday in what was the perfect culmination of everything wrong with coach Bryan Harsin’s tenure.
Auburn blows 17 point lead in loss to LSU
Harsin’s time at Auburn has been quite the rollercoaster. In year one, he went 6-7 (the team’s worst record since 2012) and capped it off with a five game losing streak to end the year. Following his underwhelming debut, he hit the recruiting trail and finished with the 21st ranked recruiting class in the country and eighth in the SEC. That would be a great crop for most teams, but it was no where near the high bar that is Auburn’s standards.
It was the Tigers worst rated recruiting class since 2009 and was miles away from their biggest rivals in Tuscaloosa and Athens who had the number two and number three classes, respectively. Auburn expects to compete on a yearly basis with those two juggernauts and that all starts with recruiting the same caliber of talent.
To make matters worse, an internal investigation was conducted in the football program after anonymous sources called Harsin’s culture “toxic” and “dysfunctional.” As the cherry on top, 18 players entered the transfer portal and his offensive coordinator, Austin Davis, resigned just 47 days after being hired. Defensive coordinator Derek Mason also left for the same position at Oklahoma State for nearly half a million less per year.
The investigation found no wrong doing and Harsin was allowed to come back for a second year despite the red flags.
This is all a long-winded way of saying that expectations on The Plains weren’t great going into year two. But even the most pessimistic fan couldn’t have predicted what we’ve seen so far.
The 48-12 shellacking at home against Penn State was bad enough, but then the Tigers followed it up with a miracle overtime win against Missouri that was one of the most painful games to watch all year. The “miracle” term is not used lightly because Auburn only escaped after Missouri missed a chip shot field goal in regulation and fumbled the game winning touchdown into the back of the end zone in overtime.
Auburn fans probably felt that it couldn’t get any worse until Saturday when they felt something they haven’t felt all year: Hope.
The Tigers jumped out to a 17-0 lead and it looked like they could do no wrong. The defense was flying around and the offense actually looked competent with Robby Ashford flinging it in the passing game. LSU eventually got back into it but Auburn still led 17-14 at halftime. All the offense had to do was have a similar outing in the second half, but like most times during the year, they simply couldn’t score.
The Auburn offense was completely shut out in the second half. Incredibly, the team has only scored just six total second half points over the last three games. This was also their second straight game in which they blew a two touchdown lead. It wasn’t like the Tigers’ offense didn’t have a pulse. They actually moved the ball well in the second half, but it was mistakes and boneheaded decision making that has become all too prominent that cost them the game.
Auburn had 438 yards of total offense. LSU had 270. The difference? Auburn had four turnovers all more gut busting than the last.
The first turnover was what let LSU back in the game. Ashford rolled out to his right and was promptly strip sacked, leading to a scoop and score to make it 17-7. With 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter down 21-17, Auburn was inside the ten and knocking on the door. Harsin decided to run a little razzle dazzle with his LSU transfer receiver Koy Moore. On second and goal, Moore got the ball on a jet sweep motion with the intent to pass it but nobody was open. Rather than throw it away, he threw it up for grabs and it was promptly picked off.
The last and most painful one happened when Auburn was driving with under three minutes left. Ashford threw the ball to the middle of the field, and LSU defensive back Greg Brooks Jr. somehow ripped the ball out of the Moore’s hands for an interception to seal the win for the Bayou Bengals.
After the game, Brooks said he knew what play was coming because Auburn had run it six times before.
Comments like that are not good to hear for a coach who finds his seat smoldering. On top of the turnovers, Auburn was penalized eight times for 80 yards, with a few of those stifling what looked to be promising drives that would’ve helped Auburn build on its lead.
Auburn fans will look back on this game as one they should’ve won. The defense played good enough to win and for the most part, held Jayden Daniels in check. The offense moved the ball well enough to score 35 but once again, mistakes got in the way.
Mistakes costing you games once or twice can be seen as anomalies, but when it’s costing you every week, that’s coaching. There’s a reason Harsin finds himself on the hot seat and his days are almost surely numbered.
Auburn expects to be more and they know they can be more. If Harsin is fired as expected, the question is who will be the guy to take them there?