The Auburn Tigers are now at the halfway point between their season opener against Baylor, which they won 17-16, and their upcoming matchup with the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles, and the effort from the team and coaching staff has been nonstop as the Tigers prepare for their next matchup.

The Tigers’ coaches learned quite a bit from the Baylor game, though one major point of contention was the inconsistency on the offensive line, particularly in the interior, where the Tigers are still working out who will be their starters. 

Three players rotated at each of the guard positions in the Baylor matchup as the Tigers experimented with different blocking schemes and looks, and though the coaching staff certainly learned a lot, that heavy of a rotation led to struggles with cohesion, resulting in a diminished rushing attack throughout the game. 

However, on Wednesday, Alex Golesh told the press that he believes in the group and that they are responding well to his coaching, as well as the coaching of the offensive line coaches.

“We gotta get better there,” Golesh said. “They’re working their tails off, that whole o-line group. They know it starts and ends with that group… they certainly take a lot of pride in what they do. They’ve responded. They’ll continue to respond.”

According to the Tigers’ official depth chart, which was released as part of Auburn’s game notes on Monday, the offensive line is set to consist of senior Jo Simmons at left tackle, a rotation of senior Jacob Strand, sophomore Deryc Plazz and senior Jack Leyrer at left guard, senior Cole Best at center, a rotation of senior Cole Skinner, sophomore Kail Ellis and sophomore Jacobe’ Ward at right guard and junior Stanton Ramil at right tackle. 

All of this rotational work begs the question: who has already stood out this season? For starters, Jack Leyrer made a big-time block on Byrum Brown’s touchdown rush alongside running back Jeremiah Cobb, which is certainly a good look for the Stanford transfer, while Kail Ellis, a returner from last year’s squad, has become quite the crowd favorite for his consistent production throughout the matchup.

The Tigers still have quite a bit of work to do in the trenches if they are looking to compete against top-rated teams like Georgia and Alabama, but they certainly have all the right pieces. Now, it is just down to whether or not those pieces can rise to the occasion when the moment comes.

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