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Bryan Harsin doesn’t want to dwell on Auburn’s loss to Penn State, but he doesn’t want his team to forget about him either.
The Tigers fell to the Nittany Lions, 28-20, on Saturday in an exciting game that did not deliver the desired result for Harsin’s side as they suffered the first loss under the first head coach. year. It’s an outcome Harsin later said “should burn” for members of the program, but he wants his team to learn some valuable lessons.
“I think everyone is disappointed, and should be,” Harsin said. “There’s that prick of not doing the job. We did not accomplish the mission we set for ourselves. You use that. There are a lot of positives there. You use it as motivation. You use that like, okay, ‘I’m not good enough. I am not good enough at these areas. We are not good enough at these areas.
“One, it starts with you. And as a team we have to understand that what we did was not good enough.
Auburn hasn’t been good enough on the road against a Top 10 team as he was unable to take advantage of key opportunities to surprise Saturday night at Beaver Stadium. The Tigers had their struggles – an inability to create a consistent pass, difficulty defending the pass and an out of sync pass attack, plus an expensive turnover in the opening play of the second half – but they have also done so. some things good in a rough road environment.
In the end, however, Auburn didn’t perform well enough on the things he could control, according to Harsin. Now, after taking the time to review the entire game, the Tigers must ask themselves some crucial questions: What needs to be improved? What things went wrong, and why? Did these problems start in practice during the week? Was there a lack of concentration? Wasn’t there enough time spent on preparations throughout the week?
Winning can mask some problems for a team, but sometimes a loss can add more value to improving from the inside out. That’s what Harsin hopes he can achieve with his schedule after last weekend’s setback.
“What a loss does doesn’t expose so much but lets you understand how important everything we do is,” Harsin said. “And the time you need to spend to really prepare to play the way you want four Quarterbacks of football are reality.And with a loss, that sting, that motivation, that motivation – whatever you call it – you have to move on, and you can’t let the last game beat you. twice.
That’s the program’s message this week: don’t let the loss of Penn State linger and impact how you prepare for Georgia State; instead, recognize what were the shortcomings that led to this result and take them back.
“You don’t go out and do the same,” Harsin said. “You make sure you do these things, but you do them better – you do them with more urgency; you do them with better focus.
It started after Sunday’s review session, as Auburn closed the book on Penn State and turned his attention to Georgia State, which will travel to Jordan-Hare Stadium for Saturday’s return game (3 p.m. on SEC Network ).
Now the Tigers will focus on what they need to do to improve themselves and avoid a situation similar to the one they encountered in Happy Valley. It starts with studying the film and making sure you know everything there is to know about an opponent so that on match day the preparation is adequate enough for the team to ‘play fast. and play with confidence ”.
“It’s a determining factor; there is no doubt about it, ”Harsin said. “For me that should always be the determining factor. I don’t think you need to have that kind of motivation to make yourself want to do these things better; I think you have to have the type of discipline to do these things at this level, every day, every week that we’re going to play. “
For some players, Harsin said, they need that kind of motivation from a loss to start a fire beneath them. For everyone, however, Harsin wants the desire to improve every day in practice and on Saturday, regardless of the scoreboard result.
The experience of a loss, especially the one the team endured last weekend on the road, can provide a better understanding of what needs to be accomplished – whether in discipline, focus or tenacity – on a daily basis to improve and find future success.
“I hope for our players and everyone in this program it stings, it’s a reminder,” Harsin said. “… It’s a reminder for this program right now that it takes what it takes. No matter how the day goes, when we lock ourselves in and walk into these meeting rooms, there’s a certain way to do it; when we practice, there is a certain way of doing it. Understand this from what we have just experienced and then whatever happens next. “
And while Harsin is hoping his side can apply the tough lessons learned from the loss, he made one thing very clear on Monday: It’s time to move on after that disappointing loss.
He acknowledged that much of the discussion within the program has focused on the outcome of last weekend and the assumptions that could have turned the tide at Beaver Stadium. But now everyone’s attention must be focused on the State of Georgia and the team’s final task ahead of the start of a grueling SEC schedule next month that includes games against five teams currently ranked in the top 25. of the AP.
“So take what you’ve learned and apply it and do it in a way where it doesn’t have to be over on game day – that’s exactly how we’re going to prepare,” Harsin said. “… Georgia State is a damn good football team. They will be ready to play. They will come here and they will give us their best. If we don’t prepare like that and decide that it’s not as important on Tuesday or Wednesday to be ready, and then Thursday and Friday is when we really start to think hard, then Pay attention. Because Saturday is going to be a tough day at the end of the day.
“It is reality, and the sooner we learn it and do it every day, the better off we will be.” And for our team and this program, we have to learn that, and we have to do it consistently every day. “
Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on twitter @Tomas_Verde.
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