Auburn football abandoned its rushing identity in a 44-39 loss to Florida, finishing with just 102 rushing yards. Alex Golesh admits he chased explosive plays as Jeremiah Cobb received only nine carries and Byrum Brown was sacked seven times. Can the Tigers fix their running game?
Alex Golesh has been pretty clear about what he wants the Auburn Tigers offensive identity to look like.
The Tigers are supposed to run the football. It's something he preached all offseason.
And after rushing for 343 yards against Southern Miss in Week 2, it looked like Auburn was starting to figure things out.
But that wasn't the case in Saturday night's 44-39 loss to Florida.
Auburn finished with just 102 rushing yards, while Jeremiah Cobb carried the ball nine times for 32 yards. Bryson Washington had three carries for eight yards.
Meanwhile, Byrum Brown was asked to carry much of the offensive load.
That's not exactly what I expected from an offense that spent the offseason emphasizing its running game.
And Golesh acknowledged afterward that he might have gotten away from it.
“I think I say selfishly, maybe greedy would be the word, of trying to create a chunk to get it going,” Golesh said.
He explained that Auburn was looking for explosive plays to get its offense moving, particularly after falling behind. Which may be a reasonable strategy then, but early in the game, the running game had plenty of potential.
Take the first drive, for example. Jeremiah Cobb rushed for 7 yards on the second play of the game. The Tigers then followed with a third-down and short pass from Byrum Brown that resulted in an interception. A pass that had no business being thrown.
Instead, the Tigers finished the first quarter with minus-3 yards of total offense. They were struggling to move the football, and Florida was controlling the game.
At some point, you have to find a way to create something.
But I think Auburn's running backs have to be part of that equation.
Golesh has talked about creating favorable matchups and getting his playmakers into space. Against Southern Miss, Auburn showed what that could look like when the running game was working.
Against Florida, the Tigers struggled to establish anything consistently on the ground.
And when they fell behind, the offense became increasingly dependent on Brown to make plays through the air, which wasn't easy, as he and the offensive line were sacked 7 times.
Golesh admitted Auburn didn't run the ball well enough, but said he needed to watch the film before identifying exactly why.
“We’ve got to find a solution, but I can’t really tell you why right this second,” Golesh said.
Maybe Auburn's offensive line wasn't creating enough running lanes. Maybe Florida's defensive front was simply winning those matchups.
But I still think the running backs need more opportunities. They have the talent and experience to be seen as the deepest room in the SEC.
Florida controlled roughly 40 minutes of possession, and Auburn's defense spent much of the night struggling to get off the field.
Establishing the running game could help Auburn sustain drives and take some pressure off that defense.
I'm not suggesting Golesh should abandon his aggressive approach, but being a tad bit more conservative early on to establish a rhythm and extend your first drive past 3 plays probably isn't a bad idea.
There is certainly a balance Auburn has to find.
