BY BRANDON HUGHES
FOR THE OBSERVER
OPINION — Saturday night in Nashville, Auburn (4-6, 1-6) went toe-to-toe with No. 15 Vanderbilt (8-2, 4-2) before falling 45–38 in overtime at FirstBank Stadium. The loss was gut-wrenching for the Tigers, but for a program that has spent the fall drowning in its own offensive futility, this one felt different. This was a loss at full speed rather than a slow, gasping, inevitable collapse.
For the first time in weeks, Auburn’s offense finally looked like the one everyone had imagined it would. Hugh Freeze had spent weeks insisting the Tigers were “close.” Turns out, he was right — just not in the way he thought. The fix was sitting in the room the whole time, in co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach Derrick Nix.
Under Nix’s direction, Auburn played faster, freer,and with confidence. The play calling had rhythm. The quarterback looked decisive. The ball went to the right players, and they made the kind of plays Auburn fans have been waiting to see all season.
The results were 563 yards of offense — the most in an SEC game since 2019 (Miss. State) and the most against a ranked team since 2016 (Arkansas); more yards in the first half (292) than the entire game last week against Kentucky (241); 82 offensive plays, which was the most since 2020 (South Carolina); the most first-half first downs (18) since 2021 (Ole Miss); the most first downs in a quarter (12 in the second quarter) since 2013 (Georgia); two receivers with 10+ catches for the first time in Auburn history (Eric Singleton 11, Cam Coleman 10).
Interim head coach DJ Durkin found little solace in the face of the overtime loss on the road to a ranked opponent. After the game, he said, “No moral victories. We came here to win…To the last play, they battled.”
Ashton Daniels got the start at QB for Auburn and had a performance for the ages, finishing with 442 total yards (353 passing and 89 rushing). It was the third-best offensive performance in terms of total yards in program history.
After the game, Daniels said the goal all week was getting the ball to the team’s best players. He called the offensive game plan “phenomenal.”
“We laid out a plan earlier in the week of what we needed to get done, and credit goes to our players, our coaching staff for getting that done,” Durkin said about the game plan. “[Daniel] was really absorbing information and making good decisions throughout the entire game. I can’t say enough. That kid has some substance to him.”
From the opening bell, it was clear this was a different offense. Beginning at their own 11-yard line, the Tigers faced an early test after a holding penalty put them at third and 19 from their own 34-yard line. In past weeks, a penalty of any kind would kill the Auburn drive, but this time, Daniels found receiver Marcus Simmons for a 39-yard catch and run in what portended things to come for the Tiger offense. Auburn would go on to convert more third downs on that opening drive than it converted in the Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Arkansas games combined.
Auburn would take a 7-0 lead on its opening possession with a 14-yard TD catch by Singleton. Unlike games past, however, that would not be the last time the Tiger offense would find the endzone. After going 20 consecutive possessions without crossing the goalline, the Tigers would notch four TDs in 12 possessions.
Auburn went to halftime with a 20-10 lead, but the second half would prove to be the difference in the game. The defensive side of the ball, which has been one of the best in college football, finally blinked, giving up five TDs in the second half and overtime. The 544 yards gained by Vanderbilt are the most by a Tiger opponent since 2022. Asked about the defensive lapse, Durkin said Vanderbilt went against their tape, spreading the field more than usual and using tempo on offense.
With every reason to fold — down 38–30 with 7:57 to play — Auburn did the opposite. The Tigers marched 75 yards and capped the drive with a 23-yard highlight catch by Coleman, who somehow made the impossible look routine. Then, on the two-point try, Coleman did it again — another acrobatic grab, this one to tie the game at 38–38.
The defense would marshal one final stop, holding Vanderbilt on fourth down and one at the Auburn 25, giving the offense the ball back with 1:06 to play. Daniels pushed the offense to the Vandy 43 before a final heave fell incomplete as time expired, sending the game to OT.
“We didn’t come here to make this thing close,” Durkin told his team in the locker room after the game. “Auburn is about championships.”
Defensive end Keldrick Faulk was asked what Durkin brought to the team as the interim head coach.
“He brought life to the table,” he said. “We play for Coach Durk.”
Durkin brought more than that. He brought belief.
By the Numbers:
- Auburn had a 300-yard passer (Daniels), 100-yard rusher (Jeremiah Cobb) and two 100-yard receivers (Coleman, Singleton) in the game. The last time Auburn had a 300-yard passer, 100-yard rusher and 100-yard receiver in the same game was the 2004 SEC Championship game vs. Tennessee.
- Vanderbilt is now 1-170 all-time when allowing 38-plus points in a game.
- Auburn’s six SEC losses have come by a combined 43 points (7.1 ppg).
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