Golesh weighs Byrum Brown’s runs before Tennessee

01 · The NewsBrown’s Run Balance

Auburn coach Alex Golesh said Monday the Tigers are weighing designed runs for quarterback Byrum Brown before Saturday, Oct. 3, at No. 17 Tennessee, balancing his value as a runner with the need to keep him healthy.

“I think there’s a fine balance there,” Golesh said. “And the balance is really, really simple. We’ve got to run the football. We also can’t be one-dimensional in the sense of how we run it. And we also have to make sure that he’s upright through the season. And so there’s certainly a fine line there.”

Brown ran 10 times for 57 yards in Auburn’s 21-15 win over Vanderbilt on Sept. 26. He carried 21 times for 27 yards in the Sept. 5 win over Baylor, 13 times for 88 yards against Southern Miss and 18 times for 65 yards in the loss to Florida.

Auburn averages 178.5 rushing yards per game, but 343 of its 714 yards came in the 43-8 win over Southern Miss. That makes Brown’s workload a more important question against an SEC defense than the team average suggests. Jeremiah Cobb averages 57.0 rushing yards per game, and Omar Mabson II averages 37.8.

Tennessee has already faced quarterbacks who ran seven to 14 times in a game: Arch Manning had 11 carries, while Furman’s Jake Garcia and Kennesaw State’s Rickie Collins had 14 each. Georgia Tech’s Alberto Mendoza ran seven times; Collins led that group with 36 yards. Brown’s 15.5 attempts per game lead SEC quarterbacks, giving the Vols a familiar matchup with a more productive runner.

Auburn has not said whether Brown is dealing with an injury, how many designed runs he will receive or whether the running backs’ roles will change. The game kicks off at 3:30 p.m. ET at Tennessee.

“What’s made Byrum really, really special as a runner over the years is that he creates on his own at times, which is sometimes better than any design run game you can have,” Golesh said. “And so we’ve tried to be really calculated. We’ve tried to be really smart with when and how. I think you have to be.”

“Could you run (Brown) every snap? You probably could,” Golesh said. “But we’ve also got really good backs and we’ve also got to keep him healthy as we go here.”

02 · The StakesThe Stakes

Brown leads SEC quarterbacks with 15.5 rushing attempts per game and averages 59.3 rushing yards, which leads Auburn. Auburn is 3-1, and its chance to beat Tennessee and carry that start into a difficult October depends on using Brown’s legs without putting its quarterback at unnecessary risk.

03 · The Watch ListWhat We're Watching