What Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin said about Penn State ahead of Saturday’s matchup
Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin’s team will be facing one of the top defenses in the country when his Tigers take on Penn State football this Saturday. He and his Tigers are prepared for several looks from the group that, after two games this season, currently ranks No. 5 in SP+, a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency.
The Auburn head coach stood in front of a lectern and delivered his weekly press conference Monday afternoon with the defense featuring in the session.
“Defensively, redzone defense is one that stands out,” Harsin said. “They’re second in the Big Ten, 12th overall. They’ve done a very good job there. Scoring defense, 21st in the country right now. Turnovers forced at 16, so they’re doing a good job of getting the ball from the teams they play.”
Harsin’s Tigers have shown a strong offense through their first two games, scoring 60 points against Akron and 62 against Alabama State. The unit ranks No. 20 in SP+, but could have its hands full with a defensive front that has been strong for Penn State through two games against Ball State and Wisconsin.
“I think Penn State’s front is very good,” he said. “I think their front seven, they do a very good job. I think their linebackers are very good players. That’s a program that’s had historically very good linebackers in it. And their d-line plays hard. Schematically they do things with them that creates a challenge.”
The Tigers will travel to Happy Valley Saturday for the White Out game to defend its No. 20 ranking against the No. 10 team in the country.
Here’s everything Harsin had to say about the Nittany Lions going into the matchup.
Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin
(on Penn State’s offense)
“Penn State, 2-0, they’ve played two really good teams, in my opinion. Wisconsin in the first game, who is always very good each and every year. Just a little bit about these guys, some guys we’ve seen that stand out. (Jahan) Dotson, one of the wide receivers, third team All-Big Ten, honorable mention All-American. Parker Washington was a freshman All-American, another wide receiver. Their running back (Noah Cain) set records as a freshman, a very good player, had some injuries but is back from that. The quarterback (Sean Clifford) has had 22 starts and (is) a very good player, does a very good job for them. Offensively, they can be explosive, those are things that we have to focus on this week and things that we’ve seen the last couple things that they’ve been able to do.”
(on Penn State’s defense)
“Defensively, redzone defense is one that stands out. They’re second in the Big Ten, 12th overall. They’ve done a very good job there. Scoring defense, 21st in the country right now. Turnovers forced at 16, so they’re doing a good job of getting the ball from the teams they play. They’ve got some guys returning, mostly in the secondary, a couple in the secondary there. Some guys that stand out — their inside linebacker No. 13 (Ellis Brooks), No. 17 (Arnold Ebiketie) their d-end and the free safety, No. 1 (Jaquan Brisker). They’re gonna have some different packages for us on that side of that ball from what we’ve seen.”
(on Penn State’s special teams)
“Special teams has done very well. They’ve got a very good punter/kicker/placekicker, he does it all — Jordan Stout. I don’t think there’s been many returns and he’s shown to be a very good player and has a big leg. They’ve done some good things on special teams, their longsnapper is very solid.”
(on preparing for the crowd noise in Beaver Stadium)
“The crowd noise, there’s a lot of different ways (to handle it). ... Ultimately, we have speakers, we have a speaker system and all that. I don’t think that we’re going to get it exactly like it’s going to be on game night. We’ll crank the music up, or the sound and the crowd noise and the music, whatever it is that we have to use to make it very loud. And then we’re gonna have to simulate a little bit that we can’t hear at certain times. ... That’s not going to be an excuse for us. We’re not going to let that be, we’re not going to make any excuses throughout the week. We’ll have all the opportunities to prepare ourselves properly and if we do that right then it’s just a matter of getting out there and playing, enjoying the environment, enjoying the opportunity to be in somebody else’s house and then going out there and executing what we need to do.”
(on Penn State’s defensive line)
“I think Penn State’s front is very good. I think their front seven, they do a very good job. I think their linebackers are very good players. That’s a program that’s had historically very good linebackers in it. And their d-line plays hard. Schematically they do things with them that creates a challenge. That’s going to be something for our offensive line. We know that, and we’ve got to go out there and we’ve got to be able to get that done from this week in practice.”
This story was originally published September 13, 2021 at 4:29 PM.
