Auburn came into Oxford as a major underdog after the previous weekend had the Tigers getting beaten down at Jordan-Hare Stadium by LSU. The offense was poised to have a big day versus an Ole Miss defense that was statistically one of the worst in the SEC.
It's the Rebels' defense that played spoiler and had a big day themselves, though, during the 45-15 blowout at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
After watching this game, here are my three observations from today's extremely disappointing loss.
No. 1: Auburn had no push against the run defensively...again
Auburn's run defense in this game was as bad as it has been all year. It allowed Ole Miss's Shekai Mills-Knight to run rampant on them the entire first half, only having a real fight inside the red zone and at the goal line.
That had to change, as the bend-don't-break defense that you see in the pros will give up a lot of yards to opposing teams.
Then, in the second half, the defense looked even worse and allowed Trinidad Chambliss to scamper for a touchdown himself. After going up 38-15 in the fourth quarter, the defense just looked to give up, almost like just trying not to get hurt and get off the field.
I am not sure if I blame the entire loss on defensive coordinator DJ Durkin, but he didn't help himself today with a bad showing overall.
Then the same pass defense that was torched by LSU last week was torched again today against Ole Miss and their high-flying passing attack. Not to mention the injuries to the secondary, DB AnQuon Fagans had an interception before leaving the game with an injury. Plus, within the first two minutes of the game, Andre Jordan Jr. got hurt. Jordan was a key contributor on the other side of RayShawn Pleasant. But after halftime, the secondary just got worse and let catches by everyone who could catch the ball.
Even though the Rebels were having success catching the ball, what ultimately killed this Auburn defense was being stuck on the field the whole game again.
Again. This is a troubling trend at this point.
No. 2: Auburn's offense still struggled with Joel Gordon calling plays
I talked in length about how Joel Gordon needed to be the one to be on a short leash today with his playcalling. The Tigers were able to move the ball through the air where I thought they would after Jeremiah Koger was downgraded to out Friday night. Being able to hold onto the ball for a good amount of time was extremely helpful to the defense in the first half. That allowed the game to feel close as they went to halftime down 17-15.
However, after halftime, Gordon's offense went right back to the way it was for the last four weeks: unable to maintain the time of possession and move the ball down the field.
After halftime, Auburn's offense was so predictable that on every designated Byrum Brown run, the Ole Miss defense knew the play call. What is worse is that Gordon can't hide behind playing three top-5 SEC defenses as an excuse now. He has to take accountability for a terribly called second half that left an already gassed Auburn defense on an island with arguably the best QB in the nation. That has to be brought to light after Auburn fans had their pitchforks ready for Durkin after last week's thrashing to LSU.
No. 3: The confidence was gone going into the fourth quarter
Today, this team quit after watching their former teammate Deuce Knight, who transferred to Ole Miss during the offseason, gash them for a touchdown run. After Knight's run, you could see the Auburn defense just walking off the field with their heads hung low.
Golesh took the blame for the loss when answering the media after the game. You could tell that even his confidence was gone after an already down week that became even worse. I said earlier in the week that Alex Golesh would be forced to face reality and have to make a change. Gordon has just been terrible this season, and it is killing his promise of change.
That does make an interesting question now as Auburn looks ahead to the rest of the season.
Will Auburn fans lose confidence in Alex Golesh as the season concludes?
The Ole Miss game was a must-win situation to keep this promise of change going. I said that fans might lose confidence in this team as it closes out the season.
They were promised to be the most violent on Saturdays, and now they're just one of the hardest to watch.
Something has to change, or else this could get worse against Arkansas. If they do, then things in the Plains could go nuclear at the end of the year.
Others blame AD John Cohen for a lot of the team's problems, and if hiring Golesh was only a band-aid fix, then expect a potential housecleaning if this season starts rolling downhill and they miss a bowl game.
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