Auburn 'still evaluating' starting offensive line

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Auburn is reassessing its starting five along the offensive line following its 22-21 loss to LSU on Saturday.

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Auburn has started the same five-man unit along the line in each of its three games this year, but after an uneven performance against LSU, offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey hinted that some changes could be on the horizon.

"We're still evaluating all that," Lindsey said. "We'll see how the week plays out. We've definitely got some things on our mind, hopefully, maybe that can generate some momentum. At the same time, we've got to play better as a unit. But we'll always look at a way to improve. See how it plays out this week."

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Through three games, Auburn has maintained a starting offensive line featuring left tackle Prince Tega Wanogho Jr., left guard Marquel Harrell, center Kaleb Kim, right guard Mike Horton and right tackle Jack Driscoll.

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That group has had its share of struggles early in the season, despite minimizing negative plays (11 allowed, which is tied for 17th-fewest nationally). Specifically, Auburn has had a tough time finding consistency in the run game, rushing for fewer than 150 yards in two of the team's three games this season.

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Against LSU, Auburn finished with just 130 rush yards, which was the 11th-lowest total of the Gus Malzahn era. Wanogho said the line let its "guard down" and didn't play with the same level of energy late in the game, which resulted in the offense fading down the stretch after building a two-score lead in the second half.

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Everyone just relaxed," Wanogho said. "When you're playing a good football team, you can't do that. That's on us. At the end of the day, that's on us."

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Redshirt freshman Nick Brahms has been pushing Kim since returning from a broken leg he sustained in the spring, and Lindsey said the coaching staff told Brahms to be prepared should his number be called in a pinch.

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At guard, Lindsey said there are a "couple possibilities" that gives the team some "flexibility" along the line, including redshirt freshman Austin Troxell, who spent the offseason competing for the starting right tackle job. The Tigers could also move Kim over to guard should he be supplanted by Brahms at center.

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While Lindsey didn't say changes to the line were imminent, the second-year offensive coordinator did not rule anything out heading into Saturday's game against Arkansas (6:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network).

"I think you always have to look for ways to improve your team," Lindsey said. "If a guy at any position, whether it's quarterback or offensive line, is not getting it done, you have to do something to ignite your team and to ignite your offense. Listen, at the end of the day we got off to a slow start because we didn't execute well. We dropped some balls early, we didn't block right early, we missed a throw early obviously with the interception.

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