Auburn Tigers Defense Slipping in Second Half of Season

The Auburn Tigers took a major step back in the recent loss to Vanderbilt just as the offense had a bounceback performance

The Auburn defense flopped as the offense got going | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

AUBURN, Ala.- The Auburn Tigers' defense has been playing at an elite level almost all season. Before going against the Vanderbilt Commodores, Auburn was one of only three FBS teams not to allow more than 24 points in any game this season. But that streak was broken on Saturday afternoon after the Tigers' defense allowed 45 points to the Commodores, 35 of them in the second half. 

Initially, the Auburn defense was doing what it has been doing all season: getting off the field fast. In the first half, the Auburn defense held the Vanderbilt offense to only 10 points. Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia was relatively contained in the first half. The first Vanderbilt touchdown came late in the second quarter, just before halftime. It only took the Commodore offense three plays to go all the way down the field to find the endzone just before halftime. 

After the three-play drive, Vanderbilt only punted the ball once and had one turnover on downs in the fourth quarter. One question lies with the Auburn defense: What happened in the second half to allow 35 second-half points after not allowing a team to score 24 for an entire game all season? 

The first answer could fall right on Auburn interim head coach and defensive coordinator DJ Durkin. Durkin was having to split time between the offense and the defense, rather than only focusing on the defense like he has been doing all season. The split attention did not allow Durkin enough time to make his adjustments defensively as he would have in a “normal” situation. 

“They came out in the second half, and they were going tempo, they did a good job of not allowing us to sub in situations that caught us, and we made too many mistakes,” DJ Durkin said postgame about the Tigers' second-half defense. 

“There were plays where we cut a guy loose, busted coverage, I don’t think we have done that since the first game of the season, but we did it tonight. You can’t win a game like this on the road when you do those things.”

For Auburn, an unfamiliar problem has now arisen. The offense has finally found life after struggling since the start of SEC play, and the defense was the one to struggle today against Vanderbilt. The Auburn offense only mustered three points against the Kentucky Wildcats last week, but exploded onto the scene with 38 points this week. The Auburn defense only surrendered 10 points to the Wildcats, but gave up 45 points on Saturday. 

Auburn has a bye week to figure out what went wrong with the defense, and it gives Durkin time to try and find a balance between his interim head coach duties and defensive coordinator duties.