Auburn report card: Defense doing ‘A’ work, but offense not so much
By Rob Maxwell
Offense: C
Auburn passed for 245 yards, ran for 96 and totaled 341 yards of offense against Southern Miss, which came into the game allowing 271.7 yards per game. OK, so on one hand you might think: not bad. On the other you’ll think: How does Auburn not run it up against Southern Miss?
Both hands have points.
Jarrett Stidham had his moments. He threw a 46-yard TD pass to Seth Williams and a 53-yard strike to Darius Slayton. He also had a short toss to Chandler Cox for a TD. He throws a very, very good deep ball. But when he doesn’t have time to throw — and let’s face it, that’s often — he’s a different quarterback. And when Auburn can’t run the ball, opponents are creating pressure.
Stidham lost 26 yards on sacks and other scrambles.
The offense was hit by injuries, too, with tackles Jack Driscoll and Prince Tega Wanogho leaving the game along with running back JaTarvious Whitlow. We’ll know more about them this week. That created opportunities for Kam Martin, Calvin Ashley, Bailey Sharp and Austin Troxell on Saturday. Could one or more of those changes be what sparks the offense?
Auburn struggled again on third downs, converting just 5-of-16 attempts.
Another week, the same story.