Penn State will be challenged at Auburn by the Tigers' run game and home field environment, James Franklin says
Penn State will face its first run-oriented opponent of the season on Saturday when it takes on Auburn. The Tigers have rushed the ball 79 times over two games compared to just 44 pass attempts. That’s a far different makeup than the Lions’ first two foes, who primarily threw the ball and rarely ran.
Are the Lions ready for it? It’s somewhat hard to say, simply because of how little Manny Diaz’s defense has had to worry about stopping the ground game so far. But, all of that will change this weekend.
“When you just talk about disruption, plays like tackles for loss and sacks and things like that, and then going into the year, we knew that linebacker we had questions there in terms of just returning experience. But again, we’ve been able to get those guys a ton of reps. You know, they’re getting better every single day. Again, I still am a huge believer that it starts up front with our defensive line and setting the tone, especially when you still have some inexperienced behind them.
“It helps and take some of the pressure off of those guys, but this is going to be a challenge. There’s no doubt about it. You know, you make a mistake against this crew, and it has a chance to cost you.”
Penn State will need to contain Auburn’s three backs
Auburn doesn’t have one primary rusher. It uses a trio of players to make its ground game go. Tank Bigsby leads the way. He has 29 carries this year for 198 yards and three touchdowns. Jarquez Hunter has 16 for 75 yards and four scores. And, Damari Alston has six for 47. Backup quarterback Robby Ashford will be used as a runner, too.
Penn State will have to focus on each of them and accept that they will sometimes get theirs. But, after two games of not being in the spotlight, this matchup offers a chance for the front seven, and especially the defensive line, to set the tone early and often by spending time in Auburn’s backfield and behind the line of scrimmage.
“They got some guys that you watch on tape and obviously, guys that can make big, big plays,” Franklin said. “So we’re going to have to be sound. We have to make sure that fundamentally, we’re prepared and executing the way we’re going to need to execute.
“We’re going to be challenged. We’re going to be challenged by their run game, we’re going to be challenged by their athleticism, [and] we’re going to be challenged by the environment.”
Penn State-Auburn starts at 3:30 p.m. inside of Jordan-Hare Stadium. CBS will broadcast the contest.
