STATE COLLEGE, PA | Bryan Harsin preaches a 1-0 mentality. The goal is to go 1-0 every day and do what it takes to win that day. They weren't able to get that done on Saturday as the Tigers fell to Penn State by a score of 28-20.
Instead, it was a learning opportunity for the new staff and the team as SEC play looms large not to far in the distance.
While Harsin credits his team for not throwing in the towel early or quitting, he also recognizes that a lot has to be worked on.
"I didn’t see anybody that was on the field — nobody quit. Alright, everybody was locked in on the sideline as far as running everything and make decisions and adjustments and those things," Harsin said when asked what he learned about his team. "And that there’s plenty of work to do. That’s one thing. Just, this loss, it should burn."
Saturday's game was an opportunity for Bo Nix to turn the page. Where he had historically struggled — on the road in big games — he had a chance to change things. But Nix went 21-of-37 for 185 yards with no touchdowns. The receivers struggled at times, too. Leading Harsin to zero in on that as an area to improve upon moving forward.
"Um, well, we had 185 yards. Yeah, not good enough," Harsin said. "That's really -- we needed to hit some, some explosive plays. We got opportunities to do that. We need to catch the ball, and we need to be in the right areas in the pass concepts."
Harsin also emphasized a need to find a way to win. Not just showing up in the road games — winning them. Looking ahead, Auburn still has trips to play in Baton Rouge and at Texas A&M.
"We didn’t come here to just play and be in the game, we came here to win the game. That’s going to be the mindset with everybody around in this program — not just showing up and playing well, but finding a way to win," Harsin said. "And, the goal is a big part of that, if you want to be a championship team you have to win on the road. Half the games are on the road."
Moving forward, Harsin wants Saturday's loss to be fuel to the fire. An opportunity for players to learn and improve moving forward.
"You’ve gotta leave no stone unturned and prepare yourself in a way that you’re going there to win — not just be a part of it," Harsin said. "I thought we had a lot of guys that prepared themselves to win. I think we’ve got to get better at that. I don’t think it’s okay to feel good about just getting there and playing and losing a game. I think there’s a lot of things that we can take away from it and learn that will be positives, but at that same time, it’s still gotta have that sting.
"And that’s gotta be that fuel for the fire that you come back and go to work — it’s gotta be that internally that you want to go out there and do a better job. That’s everybody. That’s not just our players, that’s everybody in this program. "
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