Auburn Offensive Stock Soars in Loss to Vanderbilt

The Auburn Tigers travelled to Nashville on Saturday to take on the No. 16 Vanderbilt Commodores in the first game after the firing of head coach Hugh Freeze. With DJ Durkin as interim head coach, the Tigers put up an inspired performance, but ultimately came up short 48-53 in overtime. Though, despite the loss, there were many positives to take away.

Here is this week’s Auburn Tigers stock report.

Stock Up

Ashton Daniels

After his first start of the season against Kentucky did not go well, many were ready to write off Daniels completely. However, he stepped up in a big way in his second Auburn start, throwing for 353 yards, completing 70% of his passes, and throwing for two touchdowns. He also added 89 yards on the ground and two rushing touchdowns to his already impressive line.

Daniels looked calm and composed for the most part, though there were still some plays where he took unnecessary sacks. However, the improvement was astounding and displayed more growth than Jackson Arnold has at any point this season. Daniels should easily get the start for Auburn’s final two games after his performance against the Commodores.

Derrick Nix

Nix took over sole playcalling duties after the departure of Freeze, and instantly looked comfortable in the role. Auburn set season highs in total yards (563) and passing yards (353), and tied its highest point total against an FBS opponent this season (38).

Auburn’s 353 passing yards weren’t just a season-high, but the highest total the Tigers have seen from a quarterback since Bo Nix threw for 377 yards in 2021 against Mississippi State. The Tigers also didn’t turn the ball over once, something that was a rarity in the Freeze era.

The offense seemed comfortable, calm, and consistently on time, which is a sentence that was rarely said over the past three seasons. Nix took advantage of his chance to lead the offense on his own and will undoubtedly have some fans wanting him to retain the role if this output continues.

Auburn Receivers

The beneficiaries of the Tigers’ new offensive firepower were the Auburn receivers, specifically sophomore Cam Coleman and junior Eric Singleton Jr. Coleman hauled in 10 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown, as well as a two-point conversion attempt. Singleton had 11 catches of his own for 102 yards and a touchdown.

The two wideouts might be two of the best four players on Auburn’s entire team, and both entered Saturday with less than 500 yards after nine games. So, to see the Tigers be able to get both players the ball was a welcome change, and they each showed off their ability against what has been a vulnerable Vanderbilt secondary this season.

Stock Down

Hugh Freeze’s Offensive Mind

For a coach who is famed for his ability to coach an offense, it seemed to all the world that Freeze had been holding the Auburn offense back tremendously following the group’s 38-point explosion on Saturday. The Tigers’ highest offensive output in terms of yardage before Saturday was 380 at Arkansas in October, and Auburn put up 563 yards against a Vanderbilt defense that entered the game No. 40 nationally in total defense.

The performance was both extremely enlightening for those watching and a harsh indictment on Freeze’s ability to run an effective offense in the modern game of football. Under Freeze, the offense seemed incapable of getting the ball to its playmakers. In the first game without him, Auburn’s top two receiving threats each had double-digit catches and over 100 yards.

A quarterback room that seemed to be an utter no-win situation produced Auburn’s best statistical game by a quarterback in four years against a top-20 team in the country on the road, and did so without committing a single turnover.

Head Coach DJ Durkin

Even though Auburn looked much more competent on offense than it had at any point this season, Durkin’s elite defense folded for the first time this season against the Commodores, allowing 544 yards and 45 points in the loss. The sharp drop-off won’t do much to help Durkin’s chances of securing the head coaching job at Auburn at the end of the season.

Despite many fans thinking that Durkin should have a good chance for the position if he could spark Auburn to a three-game win streak to end the year, it was quickly clear that the defense suffered from Durkin’s change of roles. Though I’m sure the Auburn faithful would be happy to retain him as a defensive coordinator if the results were similar to the first nine games of 2025.

The Pass Defense

Entering the game on Saturday, the path to beating Vanderbilt was clear. It was the same it has been for the last two seasons: stop the run and make Diego Pavia beat you through the air. And, though Auburn did allow 167 rushing yards, Vandy was forced to do most of its damage via the passing game. Unfortunately for the Tigers, the Auburn pass defense couldn’t hold up.

Pavia completed 25 of 33 passes for 377 yards and 3 touchdowns, and multiple Commodores had over 120 receiving yards. Receiver Tre Richardson hauled in three passes for 124 yards and a touchdown, including a long score on a busted coverage by the Auburn secondary.

Eli Stowers also killed Auburn, catching 12 passes for 122 yards. Stowers was a menace on third down, especially, where it seemed as if the Tigers could never cover him tightly or quickly enough to prevent the tight end from moving the chains.

Overall, in a season where it has been so reliable, the defense let Vanderbilt do just enough to escape with an overtime win at home, showing cracks that hadn’t been visible for much of the 2025 season to this point.