Auburn in familiar spot after loss to LSU
Auburn is going through the process of getting over a gut-wrenching loss to LSU on the final play of the, but at least the No. 9 Tigers (2-1) can lean on past experience and rather recent experience at that.
It was just a year ago that they lost a late lead and suffered an early loss to LSU, but by the end of the season, they had recovered and beaten Alabama for the Southeastern Conference’s West Division title.
“At the first of the season, from a head coach’s standpoint, you get up in front of your team and you give them the plan for the whole year,” Malzahn said as his Tigers began for preparing for Saturday’s home game against Arkansas.
“And you’ve got to be aware of what you’re going to go through. And like I said before, at least we went through it last year and know what it feels like, know what it looks like.”
It’s a matter, he said, of flipping the switch and focusing on the game just ahead.
“You can’t worry about last week,” he said. “You can’t worry about the next week. You can’t worry about how good this team’s playing or that team’s playing.
“That’s the simple answer, and that’s easier said than done. A lot of teams can’t do that. That’s our challenge, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
At least the Tigers seem to be holding an overwhelming advantage over an Arkansas team that has struggled with only a win over an FCS team, 55-20 over Eastern Illinois, on the plus side of its ledger.
The Razorbacks (1-2) dropped a 34-27 game at Colorado State before taking an embarrassing 44-17 whipping at home against North Texas last week.
It’s a tough beginning for first-year coach Chad Morris and his staff. Malzahn can empathize.
“You’ve got quite a few starters back on offense,” Malzahn said. “They’ve got quite a few starters back on defense. We expect them to improve.
“I think back in 2013 when I first took over here, it took three or four games to kind of really get in a rhythm, so we expect to get their best.”
Malzahn is still working on getting the more out of his running game. The Tigers rushed for only 130 yards in the loss to LSU. Junior Kam Martin has started at running back, but is getting a heavy push from freshman Ja’Tarvious “Boobee” Whitlow, Shaun Shivers, and Asa Martin.
“Those freshman running backs, every snap they are getting better,” Malzahn said. “They are understanding the blocking scheme, whether it’s a gap or zone scheme. You even started to see Boobee start to slow down a little bit. We’ve been trying to get him to slow down some and read it.
“We are still in the early stages of our run game, and it’s kind of what I said with our offensive line. With the running backs, I’m confident we are going to get better just with the more experience that group has.”
