Diego Pavia does it again. The man just loves playing against Hugh Freeze. He’s a gamer. All the clichés apply here. As quarterback last season of the New Mexico State Lobos, Pavia came into Jordan Hare Stadium and upset Auburn 31- 10 in a shocker.
Pavia then transferred to Vanderbilt in the summer and he rolled into Jordan Hare Stadium this season and once again he led his team to a win over the Tigers.
Auburn falls to 3-5 on the season after a heartbreaking 17-7 loss on Saturday afternoon. A season that is turning out to be a nightmare on all accounts as they also fall to 1-5 in the SEC.
Auburn lost again, so we start with the bad…
1. Third down conversions:
Let the clichés roll. You look at the box score stats, look at the first down conversions, and you can usually tell who the winner of the game was. Auburn finished 2/13 on third down. Horrific performance.
Auburn was at home. Their third down conversion output just isn’t good enough. Whether it be throwing the ball, running the ball on the ground, play calling, or a mix of all three, the execution on must have it downs just needs to get better if they want to win football games.
Inexcusable lack of execution for an experienced second year head coach as well as an experienced second year Auburn quarterback. The lack of preparedness is frustrating.
Add the poor execution on 3rd downs to the list of reasons Auburn fell to Vanderbilt on Saturday.
2. Running game:
After a breakout performance last Saturday night against Kentucky, which saw Auburn run for a total of 326 yards, they took a major step back this week, rushing for a paltry 88 yards on the ground. A sub 100 yard rushing performance after amassing over 300 yards on the ground just a week ago is astounding.
Whether it was Jarquez Hunter, Jeremiah Cobb, or Damari Alston toting the rock, Auburn never established a dominant running game in this one.
Hunter finished with 12 carries, Alston toted the rock 5 times, and Cobb rounded out the running back room with 4 touches in this one. Coming into this one as the SEC’s leading rusher, Hunter managed a mere 2 carries in the second half of this one. Mysterious.
After what felt like a turning point on the ground last week, Auburn returned to their normal selves and weren’t able to lean on a rugged running game which could have helped lead them to an SEC victory for the second week in a row.
The Auburn offensive line got pushed around, was anything but dominant, and were never able to gain a physical edge against Vanderbilt on Saturday.
Disappointing.
3. Special Teams:
There were many candidates for the bad in this one, but I think I would be remiss if I didn’t quickly touch on Auburn’s performance on another important phase of the game: their special teams.
These are student athletes who aren’t even 20 years old yet, so I don’t like to single out anyone specifically.
Let’s make no mistake, this loss doesn’t fall on one person, player, or coach in particular. You win and lose as a team.
2 missed field goals, a long Vanderbilt punt return, and a backbreaking personal foul penalty on a Vanderbilt field goal attempt were all key missteps in this one and really played a large part in the loss.
The personal foul penalty on the late Vanderbilt field goal attempt really stings. The score was 10-7 with Vanderbilt in the lead late in the fourth quarter. Vanderbilt had the ball deep in Auburn territory, and Auburn really needed to keep them out of the end zone to ensure Vanderbilt wouldn’t stretch the lead to a two possession game. It looked like the Auburn defence was able to get off the field as they were able to force a field goal attempt.
Wrong. Auburn was flagged on the attempt. Automatic first down for Vanderbilt near the 5 yard line of Auburn. A couple of plays later Vanderbilt would find pay dirt, increasing their lead to 17-7 and essentially ending the game.
Maddening.
Now the good…
1. The defence:
For the most part, the defence played fantastic in this one.
Vanderbilt ended up a amassing a total of 227 yards. 143 yards of the air, and 84 yards on the ground. Those aren’t great offensive stats by any means.
I know I gave Pavia props in the intro earlier, but in reality he only finished 9 of 22 for 143 yards. He did find the end zone twice, which obviously is a key stat, but this wasn’t like last year, he didn’t carve up the Auburn defence by any means.
Keldric Faulk, Demarcus Riddick, and again Keyron Crawford all had fantastic games. And it also needs to be mentioned that these are all some of Auburn‘s youngest players, two of them being true freshmen.
Hats off to the defense, who played well enough for Auburn to win this football game. Stop after stop. They played their hearts out on Saturday. Frustrating way to lose for them after being on the field for a total of 61 plays. Auburn ended up holding Vanderbilt to 4 of 16 on third down. That should be winning football.
2. Pass rush:
I know I already shouted out Keldric Faulk, but he was truly a menace on Saturday. Him, along with the rest of the Auburn press rush really made life difficult for Diego Pavia in this one.
Pavia was running for his life all game long, never allowing him to set his feet and deliver accurate downfield throws on time. Good to see the Auburn defence continuing to improve week after week.
Auburn wasn’t actually credited with any sacks in this one, but anyone who watched the game will note that the pressure that they applied to Pavia really affected the game and assisted in their defensive performance.
Good to see the both the defensive line and blitzes get after it in the pass rush game.
3. Young players:
The young players, specifically on defence for Auburn, save for a couple of Malcolm Simmons flashes, were fantastic in this one.
Faulk, Amaris Williams, Crawford, Riddick.
All young players, and all instrumental in a great defensive performance for Auburn on Saturday.
Faulk was credited with four total tackles in this one, Riddick was credited with five total tackles and mixed in a tackle for loss, and Crawford was sticky in coverage all game long, forcing many incompletions.
It’s encouraging to see this freshman class, specifically on defence really stand out and lead the Tigers so early on in their careers. They are all showing that they belong in the SEC and during an increasingly disappointing season, have helped to give fans hope for the future.
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I thought things might have changed after their performance versus Kentucky last week. Auburn fell down 10-0 in that one but clawed their way back for a 24-10 victory. I thought they could build on that and get their second SEC win in a row in this one against Vanderbilt.
Clearly, I was mistaken, as Diego Pavia comes to town again and leads his team to a victory on the Plains.
Last year it was New Mexico State, this year it’s Vanderbilt. Credit goes out to him. He’s a gamer and he’s someone that most fans would love to have as quarterback of their team.
Tip your cap to the whole Vanderbilt program. They’ve gotten some wins this year over several SEC foes. Once a laughingstock of the conference, the Commodores have changed that narrative this season. Impressive.
On the Auburn side of things, they have some soul-searching to do. The young players look promising, but the coaching staff needs to continue developing them to ensure the Tigers are competitive in a rough and tumble SEC.
Another by week for Auburn coming up next week. No game. Time to lick their wounds, and make the necessary adjustments that they see fit in order to move forward and compete for the rest of this season.
See you in a couple of weeks as Auburn hosts LA Monroe.
As always… War Eagle!!
