Tate Johnson getting into a routine after first Auburn start
AUBURN– With his first start under his belt, center Tate Johnson is starting to get into a routine.
The 285-pound junior spoke to the media on Monday about how sitting on the sidelines for two years isn’t “the most fun thing,” but he kept working and improving in any way that he could. That dedication paid off on Saturday against Mercer, when Johnson started for the first time.
“You love to get that experience in,” Johnson said. “I feel like going into game two, it’ll be more of a routine thing. Definitely the first game, it’s a new experience and stuff. Now it’s more of a routine. As we get deeper into the season, it’ll just become even more of a routine thing. It’s definitely good to get that first game under your belt.”
With Nick Brahms, or “Coach Brahms,” according to Johnson, being the starting center for the past four years, Johnson had not seen action at center before Saturday. Once Brahms decided to hang up his cleats for good, Johnson was called to takeover the job. Brahms is still on the sidelines and at practices, though, helping out in any way that he can.
“Nick has something that I don’t have right now and not a lot of people have – four years of starting experience,” Johnson said. “Nick has done a great job just giving me and all of the other centers every bit of knowledge he has. He’s been a great mentor and friend and he’s been awesome.”
Johnson reflected on the performance of the offensive line on Saturday and was impressed with the overall execution. He referred to this game as a “test run” and said that he thought everything went smoothly.
“I felt like we played well,” Johnson said. “As always, there’s a lot of things that you can improve on and that you want to improve on. But-I feel like- for the most part- we did a good job. I feel like we were coming off the ball fast, and feel like we played really hard.”
In his press conference on Monday, Bryan Harsin acknowledged the efforts that Johnson put into leading the O-line on Saturday.
“I thought Tate did a really good job,” Harsin said. “He handled himself well, even on the sideline, breaking the huddle, getting on the field, taking ownership, making sure we’re on time. He did a good job with all that.”
As for the two-quarterback system that seems to be brewing on the Plains, Johnson said the offensive line has the same job for each quarterback. Johnson’s job requirements at center don’t change regardless of who the signal caller is, and Johnson plans to support any decision or changes to the game plan that the coaches make going forward.
“The two quarterbacks thing doesn’t really affect my job too much,” Johnson said. “My job is to just get the ball to the quarterback and then that’s when my job starts. It doesn’t really make a huge difference to me or really the rest of the offense line, so it’s not the craziest thing in the world to me.”
“I think these coaches are great coaches and they’re going to do anything that they think will help us win,” Johnson continued. “Whatever they think. That’s their job and they’re great coaches.”
