Auburn put up 563 yards of offense. Finally, the breakthrough that the Tigers needed on that side of the ball had come through, posting 38 points, the most since the season-opening victory against Baylor.
It was the most yards Auburn had put up all season. And with the defense that the Tigers had, that would lead to a victory, correct?
Nope. Not this year. Not in the last several years. This is how it goes for Auburn nowadays. One part succeeds, the other part fails. The previous stout Auburn defense gave up 45 points and 544 yards of offense, and couldn't put the hammer down on Vanderbilt or quarterback Diego Pavia.
Pavia, who has now won three straight games against Auburn, was terrific. He was as good as advertised. The signal-caller continued making plays despite a rough start that had Auburn up 17-3. In the end, it was his jump pass to Cole Spence and another defensive stand by Vanderbilt that won the game for the Commodores.
If you want to take the positive out of the game, look at how the offense performed in the first game since Hugh Freeze's firing. Cam Coleman and Eric Singleton both had more than 100 receiving yards; the former somehow came up with a touchdown catch that, once again, has to be seen to be believed.
And for most of the game, a new swagger was there, but as we saw in Cadillac Williams' first game as interim head coach, it wasn't enough as Auburn dropped in overtime.
If DJ Durkin was trying to set an example of why he should be the next full-time head coach, he didn't exactly make a great impression. But that's where Auburn stands nowadays, and where this program is. Every game needs to be almost perfect to come away with a victory against a quality program.
Currently, the Tigers need to regroup. They showed up enough signs to definitely win the next game against Mercer, and then who knows what happens in the Iron Bowl. There is still hope for a bowl game, albeit small, but hope. Maintaining confidence in the locker room will be challenging.
It was another typical Auburn loss in what has become a familiar occurrence on the Plains.