AUBURN | Did anyone really know what to expect from Auburn in Bryan Harsin's first season? If you say you did, you are lying. An unfamiliar new coach in an unfamiliar conference and almost a new staff had everyone wondering what they would see on the field from the Tigers.

There were surprises, good and bad, from Harsin's debut season on the Plains. A win in Baton Rouge for the first time this century? Awesome. A second-straight loss to South Carolina? Bleh. I ran the season through my head and came up with eight things that surprised me from the 2021 Auburn Tigers.

Off we go.

1. Tight ends utilized

John Samuel Shenker. Luke Deal! Tyler Fromm!!! Even Landen King, with the clutch touchdown catch in the first overtime session against Alabama, caught balls at the tight end position this season. Shenker was the main target, catching 28 passes for 359 yards, and there's a chance he'll be back.

It was a joy to see Auburn use this position as an asset in the passing game after mainly being ignored for several years. Expect that to continue.

2. Tank reaches 1,000 yards

No, it's not that surprising that Bigsby became the first 1,000-yard rusher for Auburn since 2017. It's that he did it despite playing behind an offensive line that struggled with pass blocking and Mike Bobo's unwillingness to give him the ball as much as he should. Bigsby got more than 20 carries in only four games and, in a game in which he rushed for 7.45 yards per carry against South Carolina, he carried the ball just 22 times.

There were likely a lot of reasons for Bobo's dismissal after just one season, but this has to be near the top of the list.

3. Secondary other than Roger McCreary

The secondary, expected to be the defense's strength, continued to give up big plays, including a complete meltdown against Mississippi State. Granted, it didn't help that the defensive line provided little to no pressure for the majority of the season, but other than McCreary, it was a group that didn't live up to its billing.

4. Big wins, disappointing losses

If someone had predicted that Auburn would beat LSU in Baton Rouge and a good Ole Miss team, you would have thought the Tigers would end with at least eight wins. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. The collapse against Mississippi State was terrible, but losing at South Carolina even with T.J. Finley at quarterback was a complete disaster. If Harsin has those two wins in his pocket, a mediocre season suddenly becomes a promising debut.

5. Nix improved

Questions were surrounding Nix after his regression during his sophomore year, but the quarterback looked like a new man for the most part under Bobo and Harsin. It's not like he didn't face adversity, getting bench for the first time in his collegiate career in a woeful performance against Georgia State. However, he responded by leading Auburn to its first win in Baton Rouge since 1999 and, outside of the Texas A&M loss, played well the rest of the season.

He finished with 2,294 passing yards and 11 touchdowns to just three interceptions. Now, think of what he could accomplish with a better offensive line and wide receiver corps.

6. Mason's lack of pass rush

Penn State's Sean Clifford had all day. So did Georgia's Stetson Bennett and Mississippi State's Will Rogers. So, why did Mason wait all season long to finally bring a blitz against Alabama, one that proved to create chaos for Bryce Young and the Crimson Tide?

Yeah, we will never know. But it was a major gripe of everyone that watched Auburn football all season, and for a good reason. The Tigers' defense likely would have had different results if Mason had let Derick Hall and company eat in other games.

7. Elijah Canion, Ze'Vian Capers lack of production

Harsin said more than once that if players don't come to practice and meetings prepared every day, they won't see the field on Saturdays. Is that the case with Canion and Capers? Possibly.

After a good outing in last year's bowl game, the expectation for Canion was for him to be one of the top receivers for the Tigers. Instead, he finished this season with four catches for 46 yards. He's now in the transfer portal.

Capers wasn't much better, recording six catches for 54 yards. Neither of them got into the end zone.

8. Special teams not special

Maybe expectations were too high for Anders Carlson after a junior season in which he went 20-of-22 on field goal attempts, but to say he was good this season would be a misstatement. He finished 14-of-21 on attempts this season.

Yet it wasn't just his play on special teams that was bad. Seemingly every big kickoff or punt return was negated by a penalty while Demetris Robertson never could figure out if he wanted to catch the ball or let it go (mostly the latter).

The only positive was the punting of Oscar Chapman, who averaged 44.80 yards per attempt.