Auburn football coach Bryan Harsin praises improved secondary: 'Those guys are flying around'
AUBURN — One of the lone bright spots for Auburn football, halfway through the season, is one many wouldn't have expected.
Early on, the Tigers' pass defense was one of their weaknesses, especially over the middle of the field on short throws. In a 41-12 loss to Penn State, they were burnt by the Nittany Lions' quarterbacks in much the same fashion as they were in last season's meeting. Sean Clifford, who went 28-for-32 in 2021 in Happy Valley, completed 14 of 19 attempts.
Since that game, though, Auburn has held opposing quarterbacks to a 56% completion rate and 157 yards per game. Against LSU, the Tigers allowed 3.2 yards per pass attempt, their best performance against an SEC opponent in 14 years.
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"Those guys are flying around," Auburn coach Bryan Harsin said Monday. "They're around in coverage, around receivers, they're not giving those guys many opportunities just to be wide open or cutting loose. We've gotten better at that."
Harsin also credited the defensive line for generating more pressure — the Tigers (3-3, 1-2 SEC) have recorded eight sacks in their last three games compared to four combined vs. Mercer, San Jose State and Penn State.
Auburn next plays Saturday at No. 9 Ole Miss (6-0, 2-0), with kickoff scheduled for 11 a.m. The game will be televised by ESPN.
Ole Miss has the sixth-best passing attack in the SEC, completing almost 62% of its passes for an average of 248 yards per game. It has 10 total touchdown passes and six interceptions among three quarterbacks, who have only been sacked twice so far this season.
"It's a combination of getting to the quarterback and your secondary doing a good job," Harsin said. "On some of the scramble stuff too, we're plastering better, we're covering better, we're getting better on the back end. I think that's one of the reasons why we're able to have those numbers."
Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com, by phone at 334-201-9117 and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football coach Bryan Harsin praises improved secondary
