Auburn coach Bryan Harsin recalls matchup as player against Wisconsin

With his Auburn Tigers getting ready for a matchup against Penn State, coach Bryan Harsin remembers the time he played another Big Ten opponent, Wisconsin, at Boise State. It was 1997, and Harsin was the quarterback for the Broncos.

He led his team into Madison for a road game against the Badgers. The Broncos ultimately lost, 28-24. Boise State finished 4-7 that year and did not make a bowl game.

“We should’ve won the game,” Harsin said. “The first play we hit the tailback, he fumbled it and Jeff Davis was a safety and picked it up and scored. We had a fake punt that we executed. It came down to like a 4th-and-9 and we missed a tackle on a blitz that would’ve ended the game. They got the first down and then scored.

“It was a big game for the guys on our team. I thought we played well.”

The Tigers will also be on the road for this top-25 matchup Saturday. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET in State College, Pennsylvania. If Harsin’s experience against Wisconsin taught him anything, it’s that Big Ten stadiums can be quite loud and unforgiving.

“I can’t remember everything that happened, but it was a great environment,” he said. “I remember the student section had a lot of really nice words for the guys from Boise State. I didn’t know you could say those things in the stadium all at the same time. We learned from that. It was an opportunity for us to go out there and win a big game. We just had to finish.”

Auburn rolled over its first two opponents this season, outscoring them by a combined 122-10. But the competition is about to get much tougher against the No. 10 Nittany Lions.

Penn State is led by quarterback Sean Clifford and star receiver Jahan Dotson. The defense has also been impressive so far, giving up an average of just 11.5 points per contest. That includes a 16-10 win against Wisconsin in the opening week.

Bo Nix is the quarterback for Auburn and has impressed for 383 yards and five touchdowns through the first couple of games. Should things go South, the Tigers also have LSU transfer TJ Finley.

The Tigers also have two running backs with at least 200 yards rushing in Tank Bigsby and true freshman Jarquez Hunter. The real test, however, will be whether the defense can stay strong against the tougher competition.

Hopefully for the sake of Bryan Harsin, this game ends up differently than the time he played Wisconsin more than 20 years ago. It would be a marquee victory with a chance to change the Tigers’ season.