AUBURN — Every facet of Auburn’s special teams play has been subpar this season, but one area the Tigers are not used to struggling in is kicking, especially on field goal attempts.
After battling an illness in the summer, last year’s starting kicker Alex McPherson has not seen the field but in one game, Auburn’s win over Kentucky. But the 2023 Lou Groza Award semifinalist is yet again sidelined, and it is not known when he will return to full strength.
“He was still struggling as of last Friday, and he could not practice. So, I'm not quite sure exactly where that stands as of this week, right now,” said Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze of his star kicker.
With that, Towns McGough has handled the kicking duties this season, and after a promising A-Day performance in which he made seven field goals on that many attempts, the freshman has underperformed through nine games, making just five of 12 field goals.
With the continuous kicking game woes and leaving points on the board, it affects Freeze’s decisions on fourth downs.
“I think it has to, you know, the momentum lost that we've had in – I mean I can't go back in my mind to every game, but I vividly know the Vandy and Missouri game, not getting points when we've had good drives that should result in points are definitely momentum killers, and they really hurt," he outlined.
Auburn’s offense has been able to string together drives and reach the opponent's territory quite easily on some occasions, as the unit averages 5.9 yards per play – 44th in the nation. But be it a silly mistake from a vetted quarterback, a penalty or a missed field goal attempt from McGough, the Tigers have struggled to string together any points on the plus side of the field.
Auburn is a wretched 68.18% in red zone efficiency this year, factoring in both touchdowns and field goals, which is 131st in the nation.
“Those are the hidden things in a game that – when we don't get the points after a really good drive, after starting the second half with a stop and then going down and having a chance to take the lead – who knows what happens from that point? And so, it definitely has got to start factoring in," he explained. "You know this, ‘is this four-down territory. And how early in the game is it four down territory?’”
While McGough has handled kickoff duties just fine, Freeze mentioned that with teams getting the ball at the Auburn 25 or 30-yard line, after missed field goals or turnover on downs – because of the reluctancy to attempt a field goal – has made it harder on him as a play caller, and the offense as whole to gain any momentum starting off inside their own red zone.
“All you're trying to do when you get it back here is, ‘Can we just get it out where we don't give them the ball on the plus 50?’ And that's not an easy task. When you're backed up there, you worry about holding calls. If you're going to throw it. You worry about what kind of run can we protect both edges to be sure we get it out. And it's just not an easy deal,” Freeze said.
“Some of it's been, you know, us with a penalty on special teams. Others have been, again, we miss a field goal, and they get two first downs and they're able to hit their sky punts – and they've executed them very, very well against us, it seems. Hopefully, though, we've had enough of those experiences that maybe they're through for the year, but it's no fun being a play caller at the one-yard line,” he added.
The Tigers are back in action on Saturday with Louisiana Monroe making the trek to Jordan-Hare Stadium, for Auburn's final non-conference game of the season. Kickoff is set for 11:45 a.m. CT and will be aired on SECN.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email logan.fowler@1819News.com.
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