Bryan Harsin explains Auburn’s late fourth-and-goal call in loss to Penn State

Sep 18, 2021; University Park, PA, USA; Head Coach Bryan Harsin pregame on field between Auburn and Penn State at Beaver Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Todd Van Emst/AU Athletics
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Bryan Harsin wanted a moment to assess the situation.

Auburn faced a critical fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line with 3:12 to play and his team trailing Penn State, 28-20, in Beaver Stadium. So, the Tigers’ first-year head coach called a timeout.

Auburn had to go for it on fourth down in that situation, with precious little time remaining on the road against a top-10 opponent. It was just a matter of what play the Tigers planned to run out of the timeout.

“We talked about it; everybody kind of gives their input,” Harsin said. “Those plays are pre-planned and scripted in those areas, so, you know, those are things you work on.”

Auburn came out of the timeout in a four-receiver set — two to either side of the formation — and running back Tank Bigsby, sitting at 23 carries for 102 yards and both of the team’s touchdowns, lined up in the backfield. The Tigers’ star running back didn’t touch the ball in the game’s biggest moment, though; instead, Bo Nix dropped back and threw a fade to the right-back corner of the end zone intended for Kobe Hudson.

The sophomore never had an opportunity to make a play on the ball, as he tangled with a Penn State defensive back. The pass fell to the ground, incomplete, and with it went Auburn’s best chance at staking a comeback against Penn State. Bigsby, for his part, appeared upset on the field after the play unfolded.

The Tigers ultimately fell by the same score, 28-20, for their first loss of the season — one that Harsin said “should burn” for everyone in the visiting locker room and on the flight home.

“Obviously, we didn’t execute it and it didn’t play out how we wanted,” Harsin said. “So, those are things that you go through in the gameplan. Believe it or not, we actually spend time on it, working through it and working through the different scenarios and getting to that moment. That’s the play selection that you had and that you choose, so. We went to that play, and it didn’t hit like we wanted it to.”

Harsin elaborated further on the thinking behind the play-call on that pivotal fourth down, explaining that Nix had five options on the play, with Hudson being one of them. The sophomore receiver, he noted, was “out of phase with where the throw was,” which resulted in the incompletion.

He did not say whether Hudson was the first read on the play but added that he wanted to go back and rewatch the whole play to determine whether Nix made the correct decision in targeting Hudson in that situation.

“I’ve got to go back and watch and see where the progression starts,” Harsin said. “And that’s really the one thing with the quarterback position: sometimes those plays don’t work out, and the main question is, ‘Well, he made the wrong read.’ Not necessarily; sometimes either it’s a route, it’s the defense doing a good job in their coverage…. But ultimately, you know, you want to give yourself a better chance in that situation right there. I don’t know if that was a decision — we’ve run that thing quite a few times and we’ve had some really good plays on it. So, I trust that what he saw out there, we’ll look at it, we’ll learn from it, and we’ll go from there.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

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