AUBURN | Auburn failed in a lot of ways during Saturday’s 42-10 loss at Georgia, but I want to focus on one particular play.
The one that completely changed the momentum of the game.
The Tigers’ defense was playing well, holding UGA scoreless and allowing just 67 total yards. AU’s offense was again struggling, punting on its first three possessions and facing a 4th and 6 on its own 34 with 29 seconds left in the first quarter.
One of the nation’s best punters, Oscar Chapman, came on to presumably try and pin UGA deep and perhaps see if the defense could make a play or at least force a punt and flip the field position.
Instead, Bryan Harsin opted for a fake punt. The ball was snapped directly to John Samuel Shenker, one of three protectors, who was dropped after a 2-yard gain.
The Bulldogs would score a touchdown seven plays later.
Here’s how Harsin described the decision during his postgame press conference…
“They out-executed us in that moment right there, but overall I thought we had a good design for that opportunity.”
Not for the first time, Harsin points to a lack of execution and not the decision to call for the fake or the design of the fake as the problem.
There’s one very big problem with his explanation, however. The play design was completely flawed from the start.
It called for backup offensive lineman Jalil Irvin, who was standing next to Shenker as another protector, to advance five yards and block All-American linebacker Nolan Smith in space.
It went about how most reasonable people would expect. Irvin got to Smith, lunged at him, missed almost entirely and Smith was able to slide to his left and bring down Shenker.
This is not a knock on Irvin. He was being asked to perform a task that he’s not built to do. This is another example of a coach and a staff unable to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of their own players and put them in positions to succeed.
And this is not an isolated instance. The whole foundation of what Auburn was planning to do on offense this season was built on a complete misreading of the talent on-hand.
This was an offense that was going to feature Tank Bigsby, and establish the run and play-action passing game. AU returned 15 scholarship linemen that were all going to spend the offseason adding size and strength.
The coaches were going to draw up plays that better utilized Bigsby’s abilities as a running back.
None of it worked. I repeat. It was a complete and total failure. AU’s All-SEC running back had 19 yards on 10 carries against Georgia.
Bigsby, the first NFL prospect Auburn’s had at running back since Kerryon Johnson in 2017, is 15th in the SEC and not in the top 100 nationally in rushing averaging 57.5 yards per game.
Auburn’s offense is at a Keystone Kops level of futility, last in the SEC and 112th nationally in scoring, averaging just 20.3 points per game.
But I’m sure the offense and this team would be just fine if they only executed Harsin's plans better..
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In today’s musical journey, we go back just two years to the day a country music star made history with the release of a Christmas album. On Oct. 10, 2020, Carrie Underwood’s My Gift became her eighth consecutive album to reach No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart, a record for any artist. Underwood has put together an incredible career since winning the fourth season of American Idol in 2005. She has won eight Grammy Awards, 12 Billboard Music Awards, 17 American Music Awards and set five Guinness World Records. She’s had one No. 1 single and four top 10 singles on the Billboard 100, and 14 No. 1’s and 30 top 10 singles on the Hot Country chart. Four of her albums have topped the Billboard 200 and Billboard named her the top female country artist of the 2000’s and 2010’s. Time named her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2014. She has sold over 70 million records. Underwood also has a fitness clothing line and published a N.Y. Times best-selling fitness and lifestyle book, Find Your Path, in 2020. She has an estimated current net worth of $150 million.
Carrie Marie Underwood was born in Muskogee, Okla., in 1983. The youngest of three sisters, her mother was an elementary school teacher and her father worked in a paper mill. Underwood grew up singing in her church and at local events. She was an honor student at Checotah High School and participated in basketball, softball and cheerleading. She had given up on a career in singing after high school and graduated magna cum laude from Northeastern State University in 2006 with a degree in mass communications. While a college student in 2004, Underwood auditioned for American Idol in St. Louis and eventually won a $1 million contract, a Ford Mustang convertible and use of a private jet for a year. Her first single, Inside Your Heaven, debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100, the first time ever for a country artist. Her debut album, Some Hearts, had four No. 1 country singles including Jesus, Take the Wheel and Before He Cheats. Her next album, 2007’s Carnival Ride, had four more No. 1’s including Last Name and I Told You So, and her third, 2009’s Play On, had three No. 1’s including Cowboy Casanova. She has had a number of hit albums and songs since including 2012’s Good Girl and Blown Away, 2014’s Something in the Water, and 2018’s Cry Pretty and Southbound. Her Christmas album, My Gift, had several hits including Hallelujah, Favorite Time of the Year and Silent Night. She has been singing the Sunday Night Football intro for the last 10 years and has also made appearances in T.V. and movies including How I Met Your Mother, Soul Surfer and The Sound of Music Live. Underwood is married to former NHL player Mike Fisher and the couple have two sons.
