Odd Stat Shines Light on Auburn Football’s Offensive Struggles

The Auburn Tigers have been quite inconsistent on offense this season, and the last two games may be the perfect microcosm of that fact. In both the Tigers’ matchups with Vanderbilt and Florida, the Tigers had very low time of possession, to the point where both of the Tigers’ opponents nearly doubled Auburn’s time of possession.

In the Florida game, the Tigers only possessed the ball for 20:44, while the Gators held the ball for 39:16; in the Vanderbilt game, the Tigers held the ball for 22:32, while the Commodores ran their offense for 37:28.

However, despite the fact that the Tigers held the ball for longer (though not long) in the Vanderbilt game, they only managed to put up 21 points, whereas they were able to put up 39 points in a shorter offensive game against Florida.

So, why does the Tigers’ offense barely possess the ball, at least by normal standards?

It starts on offense, as Alex Golesh has been clear that his Tiger offense would run incredibly quickly, and we saw a few tastes of that quality against both Florida and Vanderbilt. Particularly early against Vanderbilt, the Tigers led a six-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that was a perfect encapsulation of what Golesh is looking for in his offense.

However, the Tigers have also struggled to pick up early first downs on their offensive drives, as against Florida, the Tigers went three-and-out on three different drives, whereas against Vanderbilt, they went three-and-out twice. Both matchups also had a third-down interception early in the game.

Defensively, the Tigers practice what Auburn S Sylvester Smith-Reed called a ‘bend, don’t break’ style of play, wherein stopping the opposing teams from picking up first downs is much less important than making sure they do not have chunk plays or score.

This style of defense has served the Tigers well when executed properly, but a hazard of this philosophy is that it can take up quite a lot of time and wear out the defense, as we saw against Florida.

The Tigers have certainly made quite a lot of their limited time with the football on offense– 39 points against Florida on just over 20 minutes of possession should tell you all you need to know about that– but, against quality opponents, a worn-out defense can lead to bad moments late in the game.

We’ll learn a lot more about this Tiger group this weekend when they square off against Tennessee, the No. 17 team in the country, in a matchup that is set to be played in Knoxville at 2:30 p.m. CT and broadcast on ESPN.

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