The Auburn Tigers suffered another gut-wrenching loss on Saturday, falling 45-38 to No. 16 Vanderbilt in overtime at Firstbank Stadium in the program's first game of the post-Hugh Freeze era.
Auburn has lost four of the last six meetings against the Commodores. The loss puts interim head coach DJ Durkin at 0-1 while leading the Tigers. Auburn is 4-10-2 all-time under interim head coaches.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the game:
Auburn offense comes out firing on all cylinders
Who would have thought that a week’s work under new leadership was just what Auburn’s offense needed?
After forcing a Vanderbilt punt to open up the game, Auburn’s offense marched down the field for a 13-play, 89-yard scoring drive to set the tone for what was to come.
The Tigers went on to score another touchdown on their second drive to give them a 14-3 lead, and they knocked home two more field goals on the ensuing drives.
Averaging 7.7 yards per play, Auburn totaled 292 yards in the first half, which is more than it totaled in four of its last six conference games. It scored more touchdowns on its first two drives than it did in its last 21 offensive drives, dating back to the first drive of the Arkansas game.
Vandy responds, punches Auburn in the mouth
Auburn took a 20-10 lead into the break, but it wasn’t after a 3-play, 75-yard scoring drive from the Commodores that negated the Tigers’ lead to 10.
And Vanderbilt kept that momentum rolling for the final 30 minutes, and Auburn had no answer.
Coming out of the break, Vanderbilt scored on five of its last seven drives. Those five scoring drives totaled 391 yards on 28 plays.
It was the first time this season that the Tigers’ defense gave up more than 24 points and allowed their opponent to surpass its per-game scoring average – Vanderbilt came in averaging 37.6 points per game.
Auburn scored on three drives in the second half, enough to send it to overtime, but it wasn't enough on a night where Auburn's defense couldn't get the stop it needed.
Vandy controls overtime
Vanderbilt needed extra time to take down a hungry Auburn squad, but once it got to overtime, Vanderbilt controlled the game.
The Commodores needed just three plays to punch it for a touchdown from 25 yards out. Auburn followed with just two plays netting positive yardage, and a ‘last-hope’ heave soared over the head of Cam Coleman, who had a day full of circus catches, in the endzone as the Tigers fell short in the final stanza.
Efficient day for Daniels in a battle of QBs
Diego Pavia was simply too much for Auburn’s defense on Saturday, much like he has been for every opponent he has faced.
Pavia torched the Tigers’ secondary all night long for 377 yards on 25 completions – just one week after setting a career-high of 365 passing yards against Texas. He added 112 yards on the ground to surpass another career-high he set last week with 489 total yards.
But Daniels answered the bell and didn’t shy away from any competition.
On the Tigers’ first two drives, Daniels threw for 129 yards, which was more than he had totaled in the entire game last week against Kentucky. He finished his night with 353 yards on 31 completions, adding 89 yards on the ground with four total touchdowns.
Too many explosives given up by Auburn’s defense
Obviously, it’s a tall task to keep the 13th-ranked offense nationally in total yards in check.
But Auburn felt it was well-equipped to handle whatever the Commodores threw at it.
However, it had no answer for the explosive passing attack that Pavia and the Commodores’ offense threw at it.
Of Vanderbilt's 377 yards through the air, 246 of them came on plays of 15-plus yards. There were nine total plays surpassing the 15-yard mark; seven of them were gains of 20-plus yards.
Vanderbilt’s tight end, Eli Stowers, gave Auburn fans PTSD from Week 1 against Michael Trigg and Baylor. He was targeted 15 times and totaled 122 yards receiving, in addition to Tre Richardson, who also went for 124 yards on three catches. He tallied three of the aforementioned explosive plays for Vanderbilt.
Auburn is off next week with its last bye before hosting Mercer on November 22. Kick off is set for 1 p.m. on SECN+.
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