Tiger wideouts improving
AUBURN | It’s been a month since Bryan Harsin made the decision to fire Cornelius Williams and replace him with Eric Keisau as Auburn’s wide receiver coach.
Six days later, the Tigers’ receivers had just one of the five dropped passes in a 24-19 win at LSU according to PFF. The next game, however, the wideouts had three of the six drops against Georgia.
The improvement really showed the following week in a 38-23 win at Arkansas when the only drop of the game was by a tight end.
There’s been some ups and downs but the development has been noticeable. Auburn’s receivers had 10 drops in the first four games and a total of four in the next three.
“I think we've made strides,” said Harsin. “I think that's part of just the progress that our team is making because of the amount of time that we spent together. I think coach Kiesau brings a lot to the table from an experience standpoint of coaching that position, from a knowledge standpoint of just being able to sit in the room and provide value as an assistant coach for the coordinators and for what we're trying to do offensively.
“I think that room has improved through the work and their attention to detail in certain areas in the wide receiver room that's helped those guys make some strides. Still got a long ways to go, but I think there's been improvement there.”
Kiesau has a 22-year coaching resume including the last five years under Harsin. He was the wide receiver coach at Boise State from 2017-18, added the co-offensive coordinator title in 2019 and served as the quarterback coach and offensive coordinator in 2020.
He was an offensive analyst at AU before his promotion.
“I give coach Kiesau a lot of credit: he stepped in,” said Harsin. “We talked about it before -- a quarter through the season there, and he's able to step in there and kind of get things the way that he needs it in that room in order to maximize the potential of those guys at the wide receiver position. We're still working on that. We're still working through those things, but I have seen improvement over the past few weeks, and hopefully that continues.”
The receivers have improved in other areas along with catching the ball. Against the Razorbacks, Ja’Varrius Johnson caught a 39-yard touchdown pass and Demetris Robertson a 71-yarder.
Those were two of the three longest touchdown passes of the season.
“Yeah those guys were very consistent the last time we played. They made just the routine plays over and over and over. A bunch of them made plays after they caught the ball which was good to see and we know those guys can do it and now they’re just starting to put that kind of stuff on film and do that for our offense,” said quarterback Bo Nix.
“When those guys play well, usually we play well. That’s kind of what we’ve seen throughout this year. When those guys do a good job and they make the consistent plays, and even some explosive plays that the guys made, we usually do pretty good on offense because it usually helps the run game.”
No. 18 Auburn returns to action Saturday night against No. 10 Ole Miss. Kickoff at Jordan-Hare Stadium is set for 6 p.m. CT on ESPN.