Auburn football was dealt another brutal loss on Saturday night in Jordan-Hare Stadium at the hands of No. 16 Missouri in double overtime, 23-17.
Auburn is now 3-4 on the season with all four losses coming in conference play. It is the third straight season Auburn has started SEC play 0-4. Additionally, Auburn has fallen to under .500 at home under head coach Hugh Freeze's tutelage.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the game:
After promising start, offense sputters
Auburn opened up the game with a 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to score its third opening-drive touchdown of the season. The home Tigers ran the ball four times on first down - not including a scramble from quarterback Jackson Arnold near the goal line - and established a physical presence in the early goings against the nation's No. 2 run defense.
It ran for 5.9 yards per attempt as 47 of the Tigers' 60 total yards - 15 were tacked on for a Missouri pass interference - on the first drive.
The three ensuing drives saw Auburn muster a whopping one yard on eight plays. Auburn's offense completely abandoned the run and saw Arnold end a streak of 325 pass attempts without an interception, gave up a sack and had two dropped passes.
Auburn's offense tallied 122 first-half yards - it gained 146 on its first and last drives combined, but the three drives between (factoring in penalty yards) gained just one.
Cam Coleman, Jeremiah Cobb and second-half adjustments ignite a spark
After a halftime to make adjustments, Auburn's second-half offense looked much different.
Auburn's star-studded receiver dropped a pair of passes in the midst of its first-half offensive struggles, perhaps leaving some points on the board. But Coleman answered those in a big way on Auburn's last drive in the first half and carried it into the final half of play. After tallying a 46-yard gain with under two minutes to go in the second quarter, Coleman notched another 37-yard pickup, which led to an Auburn field goal and him surpassing the century mark. He finished his night with 108 yards on six catches.
Much like other times this season, Auburn strayed from the run. But in the second half, the home Tigers rushed for 104 yards with Cobb leading the way. For the first time since the South Alabama game, Cobb surpassed the 100-yard mark on the ground and picked up a trio of plays that gained at least 10 yards, with gains of 41 and 23 yards highlighting his performance.
Auburn tied its most points scored in SEC play this season with 17, which was enough to send it to overtime.
But overtime efforts come up short
Auburn had its chances, again, to win the game in regulation. But it did enough, defensively, to send it to overtime.
In the first overtime period, Auburn had the chance to strike first, but only mustered five yards on four plays and missed a field goal. The home Tigers' defense did enough on the ensuing drive to force a missed 38-yarder from Missouri.
In the second period, Auburn's defense gave up a touchdown on seven plays, and its offense sputtered once more to end things with two yards on its chance to win the game.
The home Tigers finished with -5 yards on eight plays.
Fiesty Auburn run defense
Auburn showed why it owns one of the nation's best run defenses on Saturday night.
Missouri entered the night with the No. 6 rushing offense in the nation, led by Ahmad Hardy, who was the nation's second-leading rusher.
But Auburn held the visiting Tigers to 91 yards on the ground, which is their lowest mark of the season. Hardy finished his night with 58 yards rushing, which was his second-lowest outing of the season.
In seven games this season, Auburn has held its opponents below the 100-yard mark on the ground on five occasions.
Kicking woes
Auburn's kicking woes continue to rear their ugly head this season.
Finally gaining the strength to kick from distance, Alex McPherson had a night to forget. The junior kicker converted on 1-of-4 field goals, with a devastating miss in the first overtime period.
After Auburn's offense drove downfield to end the first half, McPherson missed a 40-yarder. Again in the second half, in pretty much the same situation, he missed a 38-yarder.
Auburn left six points on the board, which would have ended the game in regulation.
Auburn will be back in action against Arkansas next week in Fayetteville. Kickoff is set for 11:45 a.m. on SECN.
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