Auburn Can't Afford to Ignore This Special Teams Concern Against Florida

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Auburn's special teams have already produced some pretty impressive moments through two games.

But Alex Golesh is still waiting for one part of that unit to become a difference-maker.

And with Florida coming to Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday, that might be more important than ever.

The Auburn Tigers have gotten some impressive production from kicker Alex McPherson, including field goals from 47 and 55 yards against Southern Miss. But the Tigers haven't gotten nearly as much out of their return game.

Golesh made that clear when he was asked about special teams following Wednesday's practice.

"I think it's been relatively inconsistent in the sense of our return game," Golesh said. "It hasn't been a factor for us yet, and it certainly needs to be."

That's an interesting thing to hear considering Auburn is 2-0 and coming off a 43-8 victory over Southern Miss, but we've already seen how quickly special teams mistakes can change field position.

Against Baylor, Christian Neptune fielded a punt near his own goal line. Then against Southern Miss, Auburn had a promising punt return wiped out by a block-in-the-back penalty.

Those are the types of mistakes that might not cost you against Southern Miss, but against Florida, they absolutely could.

And the Gators have a pretty dangerous weapon of their own in the return game.

Florida's Vernell Brown III returned two punts for touchdowns against Campbell, something Golesh specifically mentioned when discussing Auburn's coverage units.

"What better wakeup call do you need than two brought back and back-to-back punt returns last week?" Golesh said.

That's going to be a pretty significant test for Auburn.

The Tigers can't afford to give Florida favorable field position because of a mistake in the return game. And they certainly can't allow Brown to create an explosive play that completely changes the game.

This game could easily be decided on special teams, and Auburn should seriously consider not kicking to Brown at all. 

On the flip side, Auburn has some pretty talented players on special teams, and Golesh clearly believes the Tigers are capable of getting more out of them.

He specifically mentioned the importance of creating additional first downs through punt returns.

In a close SEC game, those extra yards can make a pretty big difference.

Auburn has already shown it can win a close game against Baylor and dominate an opponent like Southern Miss. They have certainly been more 'battle-tested' than the Gators.

Now the Tigers have an opportunity to show they can win the field-position battle against Florida.

And based on Golesh's comments, he's still waiting for his special teams to take that next step.

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