To open up their 2025 SEC schedule, Auburn travelled to Norman to play Oklahoma on Saturday afternoon. Both teams entered the game with 3-0 records, while Oklahoma was ranked #11 in the country, and Auburn ranked #24.
After being benched by the Sooners last season and then watching the team grab quarterback John Mateer out of the transfer portal at the quarterback position, prized recruit Jackson Arnold transferred from Oklahoma to fellow SEC foe Auburn, would return to Norman as the starting quarterback of Auburn on Saturday.
At the end of the day, Oklahoma gets the last laugh, as they outlasted Auburn in this one thanks to a well executed late game touchdown drive by their offense. The Tigers ended up losing a hard fought, defensive game on Saturday by a score of 24-14, in a game much closer than the score would indicate.
Auburn lost the football game, so we start with the bad…
1. Penalties:
Special teams penalties. Offensive penalties. defensive penalties (although few). Auburn was penalized in all the phases of this one, racking up a total of 13 on the day.
Offensive penalties would loom the most harmful in this one, as multiple offensive line penalties (be them false starts or holding calls) completely set the offense back and out of rhythm in this one. With Auburn being on the road in a hostile environment, staying on time and ahead of schedule on offense is paramount, however the plethora of pre-snap penalties caused them to be playing from behind the sticks all afternoon, completely taking away their rushing attack and resulting in multiple third and long passing situations, a nightmare scenario against a talented Oklahoma front 7.
Staying disciplined is paramount to success in the road in the SEC, and unfortunately Auburn failed in that department on Saturday afternoon. The sheer number of infractions really hurt the Tigers, something they’ll have to get cleaned up fast as their schedule doesn’t get any easier moving forward.
2. Offensive Line:
Labeled as one of Auburn’s strengths and more underrated position groups, the offensive line did not play well in this one. Point blank.
I know stats can be misleading, and even though 10 total sacks allowed and 67 rushing yards are horrific stats, the numbers don’t tell the full story.
Some context is needed, as some of the sacks can be attributed to “coverage” sacks where Arnold may have held the ball too long, or the receivers didn’t get open in time.
That being said, 10 sacks is 10 sacks at the end of the day, not good.
In the running game, the big men struggled to pave the way for the Tiger’s backs, unable to create holes and pave the way for a dominant ground that call help to take some stress off of a struggling QB on the road.
The amount of false start penalties (2 in a row on one drive), the amount of sacks allowed, and the lack of a potent ground game all mix into the point that it was not a banner afternoon for the line by any means.
3. Running game:
We’ll loop in the whole rushing offense in this category, as save for the Jeremiah Cobb 40-yard scamper in the second half, the Tiger’s rushing attack was putrid in this one.
The coaching staff seemingly ventured away from running back touches on Saturday, as both backs only garnered a measly 13 touches between them.
Although the running back touches were scarce in this one, Freeze kept insisting on calling designed QB runs with Arnold, which seldom gained any yards at all. Arnold’s 21 carries for -11 yards is somewhat misleading with the sack yardage lost, but the Auburn rushing attack was completely stymied by the Sooners.
After a few promising games to start the year for Auburn that featured a dominant ground game, it was frustrating to see their rushing attack really sputter in this one.
An efficient ground game can really help control a game on the road, keeping an offense on schedule and safeguarding a quarterback and offensive line from having to diagnose exotic blitz packages in the passing game. Auburn was unable to utilize their rushing attack in this one and it really hurt their offensive productivity.
And now for the good…
1. Defense:
The Auburn defense was great for the most part in this one. The effort was certainly on display, and they were able to hold highly touted Heisman hopeful quarterback John Mateer to a pedestrian 275 passing yards.
The defense ended the day with 1 takeaway (it should have been two, but we won’t touch on that) and were very stingy when they needed to be, especially on third down as Oklahoma only converted on 3 of their 12 third down attempts.
Even though they were only credited with one quarterback sack on the day, it felt as though the pass rush was creating havoc and not allowing Mateer to get comfortable or into a rhythm passing the ball. The defensive line kept the Sooners off schedule all afternoon, clogging up holes in the running game and unleashing a steady pass rush.
Oklahoma finished the game with a mere 32 yards rushing. Really solid performance by the defense, even if the scoreboard may not say it.
2. Cam Coleman:
Cam Coleman looked great in this one. Now a sophomore, the highly touted former 5 star recruit finished with a somewhat pedestrian 3 catches for 88 yards and a touchdown. Not eye-popping numbers by any means, but watching this game you really felt his impact.
All his catches were phenomenal adjustments to less than accurately thrown balls, and the touchdown he caught was a fantastic jump ball red zone snag where he certainly won his 1 on 1 matchup with the defensive back.
Some debate could be had about him slowing or stuttering his momentum on a couple of deep routes that him and Jackson Arnold weren’t on the same page on however, and he was very limited in the short/intermediate game, but he certainly made his targets count. He ended up getting targeted a total of 7 times on Saturday and only came away with the 3 grabs, just not enough for the talented sophomore. Fans wanted more. Even with his measly reception number, you could feel his impact and see his talent on display. Showing the boy control fans were hoping he could potentially bring to the Plains when he chose the Tigers.
Good to see from the sophomore.
3. Alex McPherson:
Not to beat a dead horse here, but anyone who saw the GameDay segment on McPherson got a glimpse into the long and painful road he’s had to endure to even remain alive, let along play football. Steadily losing weight over the last couple years, McPherson has been able to fight the odds and return to the football field as Auburn’s starting kicker.
Auburn seems to be using him to kick their extra point and shorter field goal attempts as they await the strength in his leg to increase. McPherson hit all on his extra points on Saturday, and hopes to increase his workload in the weeks to come. Really great story, and selfishly for Auburn, even though his struggles are obviously much larger than football, having him back on the field can add a jolt to an Auburn special teams unit that is certainly in need of some continuity.
This one stings. Auburn went on the road, entering a hostile environment and holding a fourth quarter lead late in the game, but not unlike last season, they struggled to close again.
Credit the Sooners. They made the plays they had to make to win the game, getting just enough from their transfer quarterback to pull away with the victory.
Even though the officiating felt very inconsistent at best on Saturday afternoon, we won’t blame the zebras for this loss. Oklahoma executed better at the end of the day.
Still a hard-fought loss, with lots of positives to take away from, including some nice performances by some young players.
The road doesn’t get any easier however, as next up the Tigers travel to College Station to take on Texas A&M after Auburn bested them in overtime on the Plains last season and ruined their College Football Playoff hopes. The Aggies boast a squad that seemingly touts a highly explosive offense and rugged running game.
Bring on the Aggies. As always…. War Eagle!!
