3 Instant Reactions From Auburn's Loss to Florida

The Auburn Tigers suffered their first loss of the Alex Golesh era on Saturday night, losing to the Florida Gators 44-32 at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Auburn lose its first SEC contest of the season, coming against a Florida team that is in a similar situation with a new head coach and a revitalized roster. The Tigers simply couldn’t keep up offensively with the Gators and ran out of time to generate a comeback.

Here are three takeaways I instantly took from the loss on the Plains.

Better Offensive Line Protection

Part of the Tigers struggling offensively came from the constant pressure to Auburn quarterback Byrum Brown.

The Gators got to the signal caller seven times in the win, and Auburn couldn’t continue drives throughout the contest when put at a deficit. Brown also had to scramble himself, but he ended up finishing with 65 rushing yards through the issues at the line of scrimmage.

Auburn will need to tighten up front if it wants to see more results in SEC play, which it has a gauntlet of a schedule. The Tigers only amassed 102 rushing yards, and while part of it was the track meet that Florida made it offensively, it’s what has made Golesh’s offenses in the past so strong.

Jon Sumrall and his group simply exposed it on Saturday.

Defense Staying on the Field

On offense, Florida dominated the time of possession, having nearly double Auburn’s amount on the field with over 39 minutes of offense.

DJ Durkin’s group also allowed eight third down conversions in the loss, converting at a 50% rate. Simply, the defense couldn’t get off the field to make way for Auburn’s offense. Florida had four drives of 11 plays or more, with all of the drives ending in some type of score.

Especially during the Tigers’ tough SEC stretch that features the likes of Tennessee, Georgia, LSU and Ole Miss, they can’t have opponents converting at a clip like the one on Saturday night. Only time will tell to see if it adjusts.

Run Defense Must Improve

A key to Auburn winning the game in Week 3 would be limiting the production of standout running back Jadan Baugh. The junior did more of the opposite at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Baugh ran for 168 yards off of 26 carries, averaging 6.2 yards per carry. As a whole, Florida ran for 243 yards, and the Tigers didn’t have any solution for the ground game. Baugh had a two-yard, 33-yard and 53-yard touchdown run to get into the end zone three times on Saturday.

Baugh is arguably the best running back in the country, and it won’t be the type of player Auburn sees with each week. However, to compete with the elite, the Tigers will need to eliminate the ground game impact as much as possible, and Durkin will look to improve that as the season goes on.

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