AUBURN | Bryan Harsin wasn’t holding anything back. The Auburn coach, known for his even demeanor on the field and during press conferences, showed rare emotion when the topic of the play of the special teams against Ole Miss came up on Monday during his weekly press conference. He was extremely blunt.

“For whatever reason, Ole Miss was just kicking our butt, or we just sucked at some of the stuff we were doing, flat out,” Harsin said.

Yowzers! But Harsin was spot on with his analysis. An illegal block in the block by John Samuel Shenker wiped off a 21-yard kickoff return by Jarquez Hunter in the second quarter. Holding by Luke Deal brought back a 50-yard return by Nehemiah Pritchett on the next Ole Miss kickoff. Yet another big Pritchett return was for naught due to Trey Elston holding in the third quarter.

Oh, and there was the muffed punt by Demetris Robertson that the Rebels recovered, giving them field position at Auburn’s 29-yard line. Fortunately for the Tigers, the defense held Ole Miss on four straight plays, and it didn’t prove costly. Still, Harsin doesn’t like what he’s seen from the special teams unit, which includes their preparation.

“I don’t think guys study special teams like they need to,” the coach said. “I don’t think we get the time, away from the meetings that we have, from guys to really be great in those areas. Guys need to step up.”

Harsin has proven that he’s more than willing to shake things up personnel-wise when players aren’t living up to expectations. Those might be seen on special teams soon as the Tigers focus on getting the right guys out there to get the job done and execute. Otherwise, the Auburn coach might go with a strategy that goes against his aggressive mentality.

“If we’re going to keep making those same mistakes, we’ll just fair catch it,” Harsin said with some anger. “Don’t block anybody and fair catch it and take it at the 25. We would be better off.”