Takeaways from Auburn's 2OT loss to Missouri

The Auburn Tigers experienced a lot of the same issues in their most recent loss in SEC play

The Auburn Tigers suffer another tough loss and continue losing in conference play | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Saturday, the Auburn Tigers fell to 3-4 after losing to the Missouri Tigers, 23-17. This double-overtime loss marked what many believe to be the end of Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze’s tenure, and perhaps the beginning of yet another Auburn football rebuild.

The Tigers have yet to win an SEC game this year. Amidst the harrowing fact that Auburn football will likely look completely different next week, there’s nothing left in this game but to look at the takeaways.

No Alston, No Problem

Headed into the Missouri game, there was much speculation that the locker room had completely lost all synergy due to the loss of their captain, Damari Alston, and would struggle to play as a unit. 

Auburn had plenty of issues in the Missouri matchup, but synergy wasn’t one of them. Both sides of the ball came out hot for the Tigers, with the offense scoring a quick touchdown and the defense forcing a six-play punt. 

The defense also was able to, by and large, contain Missouri superstar Ahmad Hardy, who rushed 24 times for just 58 yards, which, compared to Jeremiah Cobb’s 111 on 19 carries, reflects well on the team’s abilities.

Playcalling is Still a Mess

There’s just no other way to put it. The Tigers’ first drive was punctuated by an impressive balance of rush and pass plays, seemingly putting to bed the narrative that the Tigers were against the rush game. But then, the Tigers’ second drive contained no rush plays and ended in an interception, and the offense went three-and-out on its following two drives.

The Tigers only went three-and-out once more in regulation, but struggled immensely to generate any substantial drives. Despite the offensive struggles, Auburn stayed alive in the second half thanks to (stop me if you’ve heard this before) the Tigers’ ever-dominant defense. 

After the regulation, though, Auburn’s playcalling completely fell apart. The Tigers went three-and-out in overtime, missing their third field goal of the game, before somehow crumbling worse in double overtime. 

The Tigers faced third and six in double overtime, desperately needing a touchdown to continue the game. The playcall? A run up the B-gap, which netted two yards. Jackson Arnold was quickly sacked on the following play, ending the game.

It’s still unclear who’s exactly to blame for the playcalling collapse, as the Tigers have yet to appoint a true playcaller, leading to a lack of cohesion on offense. If the Tigers want to turn this season around, assuming it’s not too late, they’ll absolutely need to get out of their own way with their shoddy playcalling.

So Close Yet So Far

Though Auburn looked far from dominant in regulation, they managed to do enough to keep the game tied through regulation. They’ve been hearing all season that they need to keep the energy and cohesion up through four quarters, and they did, but then they needed to play a fifth.

The Tigers didn’t particularly look like the team that showed up in the second halves of the Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Georgia games until the clock hit zero and the game still wasn’t over. The offense, in particular, has received significant criticism for its lack of “clutch” play, and the Missouri game was no exception.

Similar to how the Tigers had late-game opportunities to beat Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Georgia, they were once again gifted an opportunity to beat Missouri when the defense stopped the opposing Tigers’ two-point conversion.

Hope abounded for the Tigers and the Auburn faithful, but the offense that’s not been clutch all year continued to struggle when it controlled its own destiny. The team still seems completely unable to stand up in clutch moments, something that will need to be addressed by either Freeze or Auburn’s next head coach.

The show must go on for Auburn, with or without Freeze, and they’ll take on the Arkansas Razorbacks this Saturday at 11:45 a.m. CDT. The game will be played in Arkansas and will be the Tigers’ first game against an unranked opponent since Sept. 13.