lex Golesh, Joel Gordon sticking with run-first approach despite struggles

When the Auburn offense took the field Saturday, it did so with a newly reshuffled offensive line.

It involved moving right tackle Stanton Ramil to left tackle, left guard Wilson Zierer to right tackle and inserting Jacobe’ Ward at left guard.

Head Coach Alex Golesh felt this group played well, but only when the offense was in rhythm.

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“We’ve got to be in rhythm, not down to where we can’t consistently establish the run game and then in the fourth quarter when you do wear people down, we can go run the football the way we need to run it,” Golesh said. “We didn’t give them a chance to do that.”

After Ole Miss went ahead 24-15, the Tigers offense sputtered. They had back-to-back three and outs and had -2 yards of total offense in those six plays. During that span, Ole Miss extended the lead to 38-15, and the game was out of reach.

Offensive Coordinator Joel Gordon spoke about the falter on Monday.

“At the end of the day, we were not consistent enough anywhere to be able to stay on the field,” Gordon said. “Stay in the game in the second half at the end of the third quarter.”

Golesh said they enter each game with an expectation to run the ball for over 200 yards. Saturday, they fell woefully short of that by only rushing for 63 yards.

Despite struggling in the running game for consecutive weeks, Gordon’s insists the game plan will not change this Saturday against Arkansas.

“That’s going to be our mindset no matter what,” Gordon said. “I think it’s a little bit in game is what that turns into. We’re struggling here, we’re struggling to run it, we are going to have to adjust. We’ve been a little pass heavy the past month because we’ve been in some bad matchups at times.”

Gordon did say the flow of the game could change what they want to do. He said it ultimately comes down to what gives the offense the best chance to have success and win the game.

Auburn will be looking to bounce back against the Razorbacks on Saturday. The Tigers have not beaten Arkansas at home since 2020. Kickoff is set for 11:45 a.m. CST inside Jordan-Hare Stadium on Nov. 7.

Auburn Undercover is an independent Auburn sports media company covering Auburn athletics, recruiting and insider news.