Saturday was another tough afternoon for the Auburn football team.
The Tigers had a chance to turn things around and start the Southeastern Conference with a win, but the opposite happened, suffering a disappointing 24-14 loss in which turnovers once again dominated the game.
Here’s how we rated Auburn’s performance:
attack
Grade: D-
With five turnovers and only 14 points scored, this was another poor offensive performance.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Hank Brown struggled in his first SEC appearance, throwing three interceptions in the first half before being benched. Payton Thorne was better once he entered the game in the second half but couldn’t do enough to change the outcome.
Auburn had a nearly 100-yard lead over Arkansas and had some good performances at times, but you can’t expect to win or get a passing grade when you lose the ball five times.
With four interceptions and a fumble and two different quarterbacks, there doesn’t seem to be a clear solution to Auburn’s turnover problem. If the Tigers can only suffer two or three turnovers instead of five, their chances of winning are good.
Normally you wouldn’t get such a bad grade for a total of 431 yards, but when you lose the ball five times, it’s hard to get a much higher grade.
defense
Grade: B-
It was Auburn’s defense that kept the game in play, but they made a series of crucial mistakes that changed the game.
Arkansas was 9-for-19 on third downs and converted several third-and-long opportunities due to penalties and Auburn’s inability to contain the rushing Taylen Green.
Green was Arkansas’ best runner with 80 yards, many of which came on run attempts from pass plays. When Auburn wasn’t getting hurt by Green running, it was giving up big pass plays when he escaped the pocket.
The most significant of these was a 58-yard touchdown pass on third-and-19, in which Green escaped the pocket and threw a long ball behind the safety, who had already gone down.
It wasn’t all bad, though. Arkansas averaged just four yards per play, and talented running back Ja’Quinden Jackson managed just 75 yards on 22 carries.
As a defense, you have to finish offenses. That’s what allowed Arkansas to pull away and keep the mark from getting any higher.
Special teams
Grade: B
This would probably be an A if it weren’t for a questionable fake punt that caused Oscar Chapman to miss the first down.
Overall, there was nothing really special on the special teams team. Auburn didn’t attempt any field goals this week and there were no botched punts.
Keionte Scott made a questionable decision that probably should have been called a fair catch, but there was no turnover.
Coaching
Grade: D
The same problems continue to plague Auburn.
While the players must take some of the blame for the poor execution, the ongoing issues in those same areas are the result of poor coaching. We’ve now seen two different quarterbacks struggle with interceptions, and many of the same quarterback containment issues from the New Mexico game resurfaced against Arkansas.
Neither Hugh Freeze nor anyone else on his team can go out there and throw passes, but it’s fair to wonder if they put the quarterbacks in a position to be successful.
On defense, it’s a similar story. The players and staff knew they were dealing with another mobile quarterback, but not much seemed to have changed.
In total
Grade: D
Auburn could have easily won this game, but continues to stand in its own way.
From turnovers on offense to penalties to botched coverage on defense, mistakes have broken the neck of this team through four games. There are still positives, but it seems like every time Auburn plays well, there is a bad penalty on defense or a turnover on offense.
Many of these things seem fixable, but for one reason or another, nothing seems to be fixed yet.
Peter Rauterkus reports on sports in Auburn for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or send him an email to [email protected]M
