The second half of the season is about to get underway for Auburn, as the team tries to steady the ship following an uneven and often frustrating first half of the schedule.

Auburn (3-3, 1-2 SEC) is coming off its third loss in the last four games and second in a row, a 42-10 thrashing on the road against rival Georgia. The Tigers are set to hit the road for the second straight game, traveling to Oxford, Miss., on Saturday to take on No. 9 Ole Miss (6-0, 2-0) at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. on ESPN.

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To kick off the week, Auburn coach Bryan Harsin met with the media at 1:30 p.m. for his weekly Monday press conference to look ahead to this weekend’s matchup with the Rebels. Below is a quick recap of Harsin’s comments.

BRYAN HARSIN

— Jumps right into Ole Miss: “6-0, team is hot, so they’re playing really well.”

— Says Auburn has to be prepared for Ole Miss to go up-tempo; they snap the ball with about 20 seconds left on the play clock.

— RB Quinshon Judkins “is the real deal.”

— Notes that Ole Miss has a couple of Auburn transfers from last season: defensive tackle J.J. Pegues and defensive back LaDarius Tennison.

— On importance of sustaining drives: “It’s always important…. You want to keep the ball in your offense’s hands.”

— Stresses the need to eliminate penalties, which really stymied Auburn’s drives last weekend against Georgia.

— Has been pleased with Robby Ashford’s ability to extend plays with his legs, but reiterates that the QB needs to do better protecting the ball. He has fumbled the ball way too much.

— Turnovers happen in games, but they need to not happen, Harsin says, referring to Robby Ashford’s fumble against Georgia. Says next time Ashford will likely tuck the ball and secure it better when he scrambles.

— On the team’s offensive identity at the midpoint of the season: “I think the identity right now, we want to be balanced; we want to throw the ball, we want to run the ball…. and really try to be balanced as much as we can…. Now, have we been very good at that to this point? Are we where we want to be right now? We’re not.”

— On dealing with Robby Ashford’s emotions through ups and downs: “The emotion of the game, that’s part of it, but at the same time, you still got to think.”

— On the factors limiting Tank Bigsby’s production: “Penetration slows the backs down, right?… You don’t want to give up penetration. I think that’s what’s happened to us at times.”

— On issues along the offensive line, where injuries have mounted this season: “It’s not because of talent.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.