Success has followed bye weeks for Auburn's Harsin

Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin watches his players during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss., Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022. Ole Miss won 48-34. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

FAYETTEVILLE — Auburn Coach Bryan Harsin’s teams have been tough to beat after an open date.

Really tough.

Harsin’s teams at Arkansas State University, Boise State and Auburn are a combined 10-1 after in-season open dates.

The Tigers (3-4, 1-3 SEC) will try to make it 11-1 when they play the University of Arkansas (4-3, 1-3) at 11 a.m. Central on Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala.

Auburn has lost consecutive games to LSU at home and on the road against Georgia and Ole Miss — teams currently ranked No. 18, No. 1 and No. 15 in The Associated Press poll — but the Tigers are coming off an open date after the Rebels beat them 48-34 on Oct. 15.

In Harsin’s only season at ASU in 2013, the Red Wolves beat Idaho 48-24 after an open date.

Auburn beat No. 10 Ole Miss 31-21 coming off an open date last season.

The only game a Harsin-coached team has lost after an open date was New Mexico’s 31-24 victory over Boise State in 2015.

Harsin’s teams have won six consecutive games after an open date since then, including Boise State’s 17-9 victory over Wyoming in 2020 when the Broncos had three weeks between games during a season affected by cancellations because of covid-19.

“Just a good time for us to get healthy and do a lot of self-reflection,” Auburn senior linebacker Owen Pappoe said of the open date. “Just looking in the mirror, viewing things that we did wrong from the beginning of the season and knowing what we need to attack last week in practice.

“I feel like we had a really good week, those few practices that we had, and we’re going full speed into this week.

“It was a breath of fresh air. Got to go home, see fam and all that. Everybody here is refreshed and we’re ready to go now.”

Harsin said he believed the Tigers took advantage of their bye week to get healthier.

“Now, not everybody’s fully healthy, but guys will play,” Harsin said. “I don’t think that’s anything uncommon this time of year.

“I think you’ve got guys that the first day of fall camp is the best they’re going to feel. So you’re going to have a few bumps and bruises and aches and pains and things like that that we have to manage really through the season. Not just this week, but the rest of the season with some of these guys.

“But guys are toughing through it and they’re also in there wearing the trainers out. They’re getting themselves in the best shape they can.”

Bo Nix, Auburn’s starting quarterback the previous three years who passed for 292 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a score in the Tigers’ 38-23 victory at Arkansas last season, is now at Oregon.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Robby Ashford, who transferred from Oregon, has started the last four games for Auburn after T.J. Finley sustained a shoulder injury in a 41-12 loss to Penn State.

Ashford, who didn’t play in his two seasons at Oregon, has completed 67 of 140 passes (47.9%) for 1,014 yards and 4 touchdowns with 5 interceptions. He’s also rushed 74 times for 307 yards and 3 touchdowns.

“Robby can extend plays, he can make plays,” Harsin said. “He’s doing a better job keeping his eyes down the field. He’s also a threat in the run game, so he’s that dual-threat guy that can do a lot of different things.”

Auburn junior running back Tank Bigsby rushed 20 times for 179 yards at Ole Miss two weeks ago and on the season has 99 carries for 524 yards and 6 touchdowns and 15 receptions for 97 yards.

In two previous games against Arkansas, Bigsby has 38 carries for 214 yards.

“Bigbsy, probably last week he showed who he really is,” Razorbacks Coach Sam Pittman said. “They opened up against Ole Miss a lot of holes for him, and he made a lot of good runs out of that.

“I’ve always liked Bigsby. I think he’s a really, really good player. Breaks a lot of tackles, and that’s the emphasis this week, trying to get him down before he gets started.”

Junior Ja’Varrious Johnson leads the Tigers with 19 receptions for 333 yards and 1 touchdown.

John Samuel Shenker , a senior who holds Auburn’s record for receptions by a tight end with 66, this season has 18 for 184 yards and 1 touchdown.

Pappoe leads Auburn with 58 tackles.

“Pappoe’s a guy that just gets you on the ground,” Pittman said. “He can run. Played a lot of ball for them. But he can run and is a very, very smart player. Seems to be in position all the time.”

Auburn senior end Derick Hall has 40 tackles, including 7 for losses of 27 yards and 4 sacks.

“Hall’s really good,” Pittman said. “He’s a problem. … It’s not just the sacks. It’s that he’s a good run defender, he can chase you down on quarterback reads.”

The Tigers, like the Razorbacks, played seven consecutive games before getting an open date.

“Recovery was huge,” Hall said. “We think Coach Harsin did a great job making sure this team recovers and gets back healthy, and that’s going to be beneficial for us.”

Pappoe referred to himself as “a rehab addict” when asked about his routine during the open date.

“I’ve got people back at the crib I go see from a massage therapist to doing hyperbaric chambers, cryotherapy, different stuff, needling,” Pappoe said. “Really, just everything to get back as close to 100% as I can.

“Midway through the season, nobody’s going to be 100% for real. It’s like a race to every Saturday feeling as close as you can to 100%.

“I just went through my regular routine that I do. I had a little extra time so it was good.”