AUBURN | There's no secret Carnell Williams loves to run the ball. He did it as a player for the Tigers, and now, as Auburn's interim head coach, he is showing he will stick to that game plan.
In last week's game against Mississippi State, his first in charge, the Tigers ran 46 times for 256 yards. On Saturday night in the 13-10 victory against Texas A&M, Auburn kept it on the ground again, running it 55 times for 270 yards as Tank Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter broke the century mark.
Bigsby is happy to get back to pounding the ball with his fellow backfield partner-in-crime.
"I mean a lot of our work we put in this offseason to now, and it's good to be able to see it pay off," he said. "We push each other every day, and we strive for greatness. And we try to be the best to ever do it."
Williams knows what he has in the two, coaching Auburn's running backs for the past four seasons before being promoted following Bryan Harsin's dismissal. Despite their successful game – both ran for 121 yards – there is something he will harp on this week during practice.
"Well, we had two balls on the ground, so I'm going to be at that about that," Williams said. "It's definitely going to be some ball security drills next week, and they know that I'm going to bust them."
Despite the tough love, the coach is confident that the relationship between the three has never been better.
"I'm so lucky to have the opportunity to coach two guys, high-character young men, who this whole time has let me pour into their lives and be vulnerable," Williams said. "And they know that I stand on truth, and I'm going to call a spade a spade."
That faith paid back on Saturday night as the Tigers took advantage of an A&M defense that has routinely given up big yards on the ground. In the Aggies previous two games, D.J. Durkin's defense had allowed 681 rushing yards, so Auburn knew precisely where to hit them.
On a three-play sequence in the second quarter, Hunter gashed A&M for runs of 16, 18 and 14 yards, respectively. It was apparent that Auburn was onto something, and the Aggies couldn't stop it.
"Coach Friend was like, 'We coming to it early, so be ready,'" Bigsby said. "'We coming to it early. Be ready.' So I'm like, 'OK, coach. I'm ready.' I've been waiting for opportunities to get the ball, and coach said we gonna get it. We gonna do we do, so I that's what it did."
