The Auburn Tigers took their first loss of the season against the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday, falling 24-17 in Norman. OU came back in the fourth quarter to win, but it wasn't a choke job from AU, or JABA, that caused it. John Mateer simply had an early Heisman moment in a game that was as back-and-forth as it gets -- and one that had two questionable calls in the first half that undid momentum for the Tigers at two different points. More on that later, though.
As for the overall effort, things couldn't have gone better for Brent Venables' Sooners. And truthfully, it couldn't have gone better for Hugh Freeze's Tigers, given the results. Not only did Jackson Arnold complete 21/32 passes with a touchdown toss to the team's foundational receiver, Cam Coleman (three catches, 88 yards), but DJ Durkin's defense was extraordinary, limiting Mateer and Oklahoma's rushing attack (32 rushing yards) and keeping the Heisman candidate out of big play situations, by and large.
CBS Sports' Chip Patterson shared a postgame analysis that fairly reflected how much of a challenge Freeze's improved Auburn squad provided for Venables, who is now officially off the hot seat with the win.
"The Sooners sacked Jackson Arnold 10 times, which is a school record, and that dominance up front set the tone from the start of the game for a low-scoring grinder between two of the SEC's more talented teams. Neither Arnold nor John Mateer were able to take over the game, though the Sooners' quarterback did have a stretch of 11 straight completions in the second half as he led the scoring drives Oklahoma needed to pull ahead in the fourth quarter," Patterson wrote.
"Auburn had a chance in the fourth quarter, even taking a 17-16 lead, but after giving up a quick 75-yard touchdown drive to Mateer and then failing to move the ball down the field (eventually taking the game-ending safety), the Tigers were left pointing to the many missed opportunities in a seven-point game. Arnold finished with 220 yards on 21-of-32 passing, and thought he had some important scrambles finished with -11 rushing yards because of the sacks.
"Mateer's final stat line was solid (24-for-36 for 271 yards and two total touchdowns) but it was the highlight moment of his final touchdown run, outstretching his arms to cross the goal line, that will live on as a memory from this win. Though Oklahoma was the favorite in the game, logging a conference win against a ranked Auburn squad is still a big program moment for the recent SEC additions and this is a big career moment for Brent Venables as head coach."
OU's defensive line was a major problem, and one Jake Thornton will probably obsess over all week. The Texas A&M Aggies' defensive front shouldn't be nearly as difficult to protect against, but Arnold needs more of a fighting chance than the aforementioned program-record 10 sacks the Tigers' OL gave up.
Now, back to those questionable calls. The first took a touchdown off the board for Durkin's defense after Oklahoma WR Isaiah Sategna III caught the ball across the middle, the ball was stripped, and Auburn cornerback Kayin Lee returned it 65 yards for the touchdown. It was instead called incomplete.
The second was a fakeout non-substitution by Sategna that resulted in a wide-open touchdown pass from Mateer. No call was assessed on the play.
Those were egregious calls. But they help Freeze's case after this game. He now has injustices to point to for why things didn't go his way. And he'll have a point when he does.
This was a hard-fought game. Any Freeze hot seat talk is hog wash.
Let's see how this Tigers team looks in College Station next week, and when the Georgia Bulldogs come to town two weeks after that.
Against the Sooners on the road, Auburn looked like a team that can beat any team in the country. Freeze should have the leeway to show that this was the loss needed to jumpstart a tenure-defining run.