Auburn football ranks among the top 10 within the SEC in terms of total offensive output and ranks No. 6 in the conference in passing yards per game, beating out teams such as Alabama, Tennessee, and Texas A&M.
So it is no surprise that Auburn fans scratch their heads when thinking of the Tigers’ 2-4 record and 0-3 mark in SEC play at the halfway mark of the regular season. However, a former Tiger may have found the root of Auburn’s scoring woes.
As good as Auburn’s offense is, they rank in the lower tier of the SEC in points per game. The Tigers score 30 points per contest, which ranks No. 12 in the SEC. During a recent interview on The Paul Finebaum Show, ESPN analyst [autotag]Cole Cubelic[/autotag] says that the lack of success in key moments has been the thorn in Auburn’s side this season.
“This football team feels confused, they lack confidence, and there have been big mistakes in game-defining moments. And that has to stop. It has to go away,” Cubelic said.
Several moments come to mind when hearing Cubelic’s quote. One of those was during last week’s loss to No. 4 Georgia when quarterback [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag] checked into a quarterback keeper late in the game, resulting in a turnover on downs. Head coach [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] said that Thorne “didn’t go with what we had called” during his postgame press conference.
“You are at a stoppage in play at the end of the quarter with three timeouts remaining and a two-minute timeout remaining, down 11 points, and you allow whatever happened, this confusion, this befuddlement of what was going to be called. What was called wasn’t called,” Cubelic said of the play. “Hugh Freeze called it a critical drive in his post-game press conference. You have to figure those things out, and that confusion’s got to go away. If this team’s going to find a way to start winning games, they’re finding ways to lose games. That’s not a great place to be.”
Auburn football will have extra time to work on their mistakes in crucial moments during the bye week this week. Next up for Auburn is a trip to Columbia to battle No. 18 Missouri at Faurot Field on Saturday, Oct. 19.
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