AUBURN, Ala. – Saturday's storms sent the Tigers indoors and rained out a semi-open planned scrimmage at Jordan-Hare Stadium, but didn't stop Auburn from competing a week before A-Day.
While not tackling, the Tigers scrimmaged for 90 minutes in the Indoor Practice Facility in lieu of a stadium practice, to which Auburn University students, faculty and staff had been invited.
"There were some big plays on both sides," Auburn coach Bryan Harsin said. "I thought the defense overall today really played consistently well and had the better day overall as far as the plays made."
Two of those plays ended in the end zone, Harsin said, with the defense converting turnovers into touchdowns.
"It was good to see our guys on the defensive side make plays on the ball and get to the ball," he said.'This position fits him': J.J. Pegues transitions to defensive line after playing tight end as a freshman in 2020
The Tigers' defense included a new member, with sophomore J.J. Pegues transitioning from tight end to defensive line.
"He's athletic and he can do a lot of things," Harsin said. "I think this position fits him. He's a really great culture guy to be in that room. He's a leader on this team. He's going to be really, really good.
"I appreciate a guy like that who is willing to [switch positions] and having a coach like [defensive line coach] Nick Eason has helped him a lot. He's a quick study. He'll pick it up, there's no doubt about it. This guy will study, he does the work."
Auburn's offense, Harsin said, improved its performance in the middle of the scrimmage after a slow start.
"I thought the offense moved the ball well in the red zone," he said. "You give them a shorter field but they executed well, made some plays."
After the practice, Harsin stressed to his team the importance of not repeating the same miscues.
"We've got to move on," he said. "There's got to be new mistakes being made. We've got to move forward so we can make progress.
"I think these guys over the last 10 days have connected and have come together much better than they did in the early part of spring. That's good to see."
Auburn will hold its A-Day game next Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium at 1 p.m. CT, giving the Tigers one more week to improve.
"We can't lower our standards," Harsin said. "We've got to raise our expectations and we've got to raise the level of our execution to get there. We've got four practices left to do that."
'The better day': Auburn's defense had the upper hand Saturday, coach Bryan Harsin said
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
