Defense has strong showing, but offense struggles to score points
PHOTOS BY ROBERT NOLES FOR THE OBSERVER | Misery continued in Auburn with this week’s loss to Vandy.
BY BRANDON HUGHES FOR THE OBSERVER
Auburn (3-6, 1-5) came into Saturday’s home matchup against the Vanderbilt Commodores (6-3, 3-2) riding a wave of momentum from Kentucky, eyeing a second-half turnaround, and hopes of a bowl bid still alive. But, while the defensive side of the ball played lights out, the offensive side played like they were out cold.
How bad was it? Vanderbilt, who entered the game 0-9 all-time in Jordan-Hare, won 17-7 despite gaining only 227 yards in total offense. Per Nathan King at 247 Sports, you have to go back to 2015 against Georgia to find the last time Auburn lost a game while giving up less than 250 yards on defense. The seven points Auburn managed was the lowest total given up by a Commodore defense against an SEC squad since 2015 and the fewest points scored by a Tiger offense since 2021. Vandy did not complete a single pass in the second or third quarters of the game (they completed only nine passes total for the game) and gained only 46 total yards in the middle two quarters, but that still wasn’t enough for the Tiger defense to drag the offense across the finish line with a victory. Vandy QB Diego Pavia is now 3-0 versus Hugh Freeze-led teams (1-0 vs. Liberty and 2-0 vs. Auburn), and he has more wins (2) in Jordan-Hare against SEC teams in the last two seasons than Tiger QB Payton Thorne (1).
After the game, the message from Auburn players and coaches was “Finish.” Head coach Hugh Freeze said, “Extremely disappointed. Again, this has been too often a story this year for us, for our players and our fans and, you know, just very disappointed…We outgained them again for like the fifth time this year. It feels like and don’t have anything to show for it because we’re just not able to finish. Whether it’s finishing drives with points from our field goal unit or whether it’s us not converting third downs, we struggled at all of that today.”
Offensive lineman Dillon Wade said that tight end Luke Deal and defensive lineman Keldrick Faulk had a similar message in the postgame locker room: “(They) said just we need to learn how to finish. We have great players, a team and a great support staff around us. We are utilizing them, but in the big moments, we are not getting the job done when we need to get it done.”
Auburn won the toss and elected to go on offense first. The game would open with five consecutive punts before Vanderbilt scored the game’s first points, taking only six plays to move 81 yards. Pavia found running back AJ Newberry in the endzone for a 28-yard touchdown pass to give the visitors the early 7-0 lead.
On the following possession, Auburn faced a 4th down and three from the Vandy 31-yard line. Instead of attempting a 48-yard field goal with a struggling Towns McGough, Freeze opted to go for it, but Auburn failed to convert on an incomplete pass.
The Tiger defense then forced a three-and-out before taking the ensuing possession and putting together an 11-play, 80-yard drive, culminating in an impressive 30-yard catch and run by tight end Rivaldo Fairweather. Fairweather caught the ball off his shoe tops and rumbled to the corner of the endzone, absorbing hits from defenders as he dove for the pylon for his second touchdown of the season to tie the game 7-7.
That is where the score would remain until 1:07 left to play in the third quarter when the Commodores utilized a 39-yard punt return to begin their drive deep in Auburn territory at the Tigers’ 21-yard line. The Tiger defense held firm, forcing a three-and-out, but Vandy kicked a 31-yard field goal to put themselves up 10-7.
The following Auburn drive saw the offense convert its first third down of the game two plays into the 4th quarter, but the drive was effectively killed when, on the next play, Auburn tried a reverse pass with wideout Malcolm Simmons, who was taken down for a 10-yard loss. The offense could not overcome the negative play and punted.
Vanderbilt used 8:53 of the clock to move 78 yards in 14 plays to extend the lead to 17-7 on a 4-yard pass play. Two plays prior to the touchdown, Auburn had forced a Vandy field goal attempt that would have kept the deficit at six, but the Tigers were flagged for “Leverage,” which gave the Commodores a fresh set of downs at the Auburn 4-yard line.
Auburn made one last push, reaching the Vanderbilt 37-yard line, facing a 4th down and four, and needing ten points to tie the game. Instead of attempting the manageable 4th down, however, Freeze chose the riskier 52-yard field goal attempt. The kick never threatened, sealing Auburn’s fate and dashing any hope of a late comeback. It’s worth noting that, earlier in the game, he opted to go for a 4th down and three rather than trying a shorter field goal. Add in the fact that McGough had already missed from 44 yards in the third quarter, and the decision to try such a low-percentage kick was a head-scratcher.
By the Numbers:
- Auburn will finish with at least five SEC losses for a fourth consecutive season for the first time since 1930.
- Auburn has lost at least five games in five consecutive seasons for the first time since it began playing football in 1892.
- The Auburn offense ranks 18th nationally in yards per play (6.73) but 88th nationally in points scored per game (25.3).
Auburn is off this week. The next game will be Nov. 16 at Jordan-Hare Stadium against the University of Louisiana-Monroe, with kickoff set for 11:45 a.m. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.
