Auburn football: Time to reset goals, ditch what’s not working

The Auburn football team failed its first true road test of the season Saturday night in Starkville, falling to Mississippi State, 23-9.

And before we dive any deeper into that fourth consecutive mess of a performance — and the most troubling of all of them — let’s get this out of the way: Auburn was dinged on two game-changing plays. Mississippi State’s touchdown on the final play of the first half and JaTarvious Whitlow’s fumble as he crossed the goal line. If either play initially is ruled in Auburn’s favor, those plays stand and it’s a 14-point swing in Auburn’s favor.

That did not happen. That sucks, but it is what it is.

It doesn’t change the fact that this Auburn football team did this Saturday:

• Was outrushed 349 to 90.
• Was 3 for 14 on third-down conversions, including 0 for 6 in the first half.
• Was on the short end of time of possession — are you ready for this? — 41:53 to 18:07.
• MSU QB Nick Fitzgerald ran for 195 yards.
• MSU RB Kylin Hill ran for 126 yards.

In falling behind 13-3 at the half, Auburn totaled 79 offensive yards on 23 plays. The Bulldogs had 192 on 38 plays. Make no mistake, Fitzgerald played a superb game. He was near flawless in his decision-making. How many times did you see two or three Auburn defenders run with Hill or Aeris Williams when Fitzgerald instead kept it for a chunk of yardage right through the teeth of the defense?

But the Auburn offense did the defense absolutely zero favors. Here’s the time the Tigers spent on each of their drives Saturday night:

First half

Drive 1: 1:07
Drive 2: 0:57
Drive 3: 1:13
Drive 4: 4:47
Drive 5: 1:36

Second half

Drive 6: 1:10
Drive 7:  2:19
Drive 8: 2:22
Drive 9: 1:05
Drive 10: 1:25

That’s barely enough time to get to the sideline, take off your helmet, get a sip of water and catch your breath before you’re right back out there on a field that is tilting downhill for the Bulldogs after every play.

Meanwhile, the Bulldogs had two drives that both lasted 1:28 — their first 3-and-out possession to start the game and a 3-and-out early in the third quarter. The rest of their drives were: 2:45, 4:53, 2:31, 4:14, 4:23, 8:05, 3:12, 3:46 and 4:31.

The Auburn defense had 101 total tackles and four players had at least 10. Mississippi State made 55 stops.

In other words, something has to change. We’ve been saying it since the loss to LSU. At some point, what Auburn is doing just isn’t going to work. Let’s face it, the goals of the season — an SEC championship and trip to the Playoff — are gone.

Auburn won’t beat Georgia. It won’t be Alabama. Texas A&M and Ole Miss are good on offense and will score points. If Auburn can’t muster up any touchdowns, those will be struggles. Do the math. What once was believed to be a potential 10- or 11-win season now is a fight for a bowl berth.

So again, why not try something different?

Two comments on Twitter last night stuck out to me:

And another tweet pointed out that Nick Saban was OK benching a QB (Jalen Hurts) that went 26-2 and Dabo Sweeney benched Kelly Bryant. Both of those quarterbacks would be welcomed at most any FBS program in the country and handed the keys to the offense.

Jarrett Stidham is struggling. His offensive line is struggling. It’s a mess.

The passes Stidham used to drop into receiver’s hands like fluffy cushions are sailing five yards out of reach. Let’s not even bring up the overthrow of Darius Slayton on the flea-flicker (OK, there, I did it anyway). You’ll never be gifted a touchdown in the SEC like that. So of course, Auburn did not take it.

So seriously, why not give Malik Willis a shot? Is Joey Gatewood ready to get a shot? What about Cord Sandbeg? All three are better runners and it’s clear that Auburn needs a quarterback who can pick up yards with his feet and extend plays by scrambling.

When Stidham had to leave the game Saturday because his helmet came off (it’s an NCAA rule that a player must leave for at least on play), Willis entered the game. On first-and-10, Shaun Shivers gained 8. On second-and-2, Willis kept and was tripped up about a yards short of the first down.

On third-and-1, Stidham was sent back into the game, then split out wide with Kam Martin at wildcat. The snap wasn’t great, Martin bobbled it and the Tigers lost 7 yards. Auburn had reached the State 25 before the loss. Anders Carlson then missed a 49-yard field goal attempt with the score tied, 3-3.

It just feels like the same question keeps popping up:

Why?