Five takeaways from Tigers San Jose State win at home

Auburn may have gotten the win on Saturday, but it might not be as happy as it thought it would be.

It was a close one in Auburn, Alabama, with the Tigers scraping by the San Jose State Spartans after being down at the half 10-7. Auburn ended up winning 24-16, but the game raised more questions than answers and put even more doubt on Bryan Harsin and his squad before they head to Penn State to take on the Nittany Lions next weekend.

Here are five takeaways from the Tigers’ second tune-up game before its first real test against a Power 5 opponent:

Bryan Harsin has no answer at QB

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Across two games against the Mercer Bears and San Jose State, quarterback T.J. Finley has completed 22 of 34 passes, netted 298 total yards, two total touchdowns and three interceptions — all before the Tigers have played against their first Power 5 opponent.

That simply isn’t going to do it if Bryan Harsin wants to save his job, and after backup quarterback Robby Ashford threw an interception of his own against the Spartans and completed just one pass for one yard, Harsin may have to start thinking about seeing what Texas A&M transfer Zach Calzada or four-star freshman Holden Geriner has to bring to the table.

The run game is still the focus

(Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images)

All of Auburn’s touchdowns in this game came on the ground, with Finley, Tank Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter contributing to the cause. It seems as if this is the identity that the Tigers have carved out for themselves over the past two games, but time will tell if the ground attack will be enough to slow down teams of a better caliber as the season continues.

Ashford is still a threat in the run game, too, so the three-headed attack Auburn has been running could catch some teams off guard later in the year if implemented right. The Tigers rushed for 210 yards on…