Alex Golesh Details Auburn's Key Issue in LSU Loss

Following the weekend to the Auburn Tigers’ loss to No. 18 LSU at home, head coach Alex Golesh knows what his group has to do better: it has to be more efficient in the trenches.

Speaking to the media on Monday, Golesh revealed that the root of all the issues for Auburn on the offensive side of the ball came from the offensive line, which began the domino effect of everything else that the Tigers struggled to do on Saturday afternoon on the Plains. Being unable to run the ball led to more throws, and more pressure on quarterback Byrum Brown.

“We didn’t play well up front,” Golesh said on Monday, “and the challenge for us is to continue to grow there and we’ve got to find ways to play better there.”

The 38-17 scoreline is a reflection of only 67 rushing yards, 2.4 yards per carry and seven sacks allowed over the course of the game. Auburn was only 4 of 16 on fourth down as well, struggling to move the chains on late downs to force punts.

Golesh believes that the root of the issue comes with the ground game, saying the group needs to find intricate ways to pick up more than three yards a carry.

“We’ve got to find ways to creatively run the football, and that’s involving everybody, and if you watch us, that’s where we’re trying to get,” he said. “Part of that is not getting down to where you can feel like you can effectively still run it.”

Then, the domino effect begins. Brown only completed 62.5% of his completions, and the LSU front was too dominant for Auburn to make any plays offensively. Add to that the Bayou Bengals added 31 points in the first half on offense, and it made life difficult for Golesh to respond effectively.

“You take the sacks out, and you’re right around four yards, but the sacks add up, and so now you’re minimized as it looks,” he said. “It was as bad as it looks, I should say, in terms of being able to run it.”

That becomes the focus for this week, playing an Ole Miss front that has been the worst rushing defense in the entire SEC, allowing about 161 yards per game. Perhaps Golesh could get it going in Oxford on Halloween, which would ease the tension of finding success throwing the ball on second and third down.

But he will continue to look for solutions as the week goes on.

“So then, you’re trying to throw it to be efficient to get to second down, and we didn’t protect well, and that’s really on everybody,” he said. “It’s the ability to get open.”

Kickoff from Vaught-Hemingway Stadium is set for 11:45 central time, with the game to be broadcast on SEC Network.

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