How Auburn Went from Playoff Contender to Bottom of the SEC in Less Than a Month
For the Auburn Tigers, Saturday night represented a chance to flip the narrative.
With a Mississippi State team that was predicted to finish last in the SEC West coming to town, Auburn could have rebounded from last weekend's disaster at LSU with a confidence-building conference victory in front of its home fans.
Instead, the Tigers were held out of the end zone in a frustrating 17-9 loss.
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Although new starting quarterback Sean White completed 20 of his 28 pass attempts and the defense held Mississippi State star Dak Prescott to just two touchdowns, Auburn walked out of Jordan-Hare Stadium with another ugly mile marker in a three-week slide from a top-10 team to an 0-2 record in the SEC.
With a home game against San Jose State and a bye week coming before the Tigers return to conference action, the clock is ticking for Gus Malzahn and an Auburn program that has suffered in several major areas through the first four weeks.
Nonexistent efficiency on offense
Malzahn is an offensive coach who prides himself on leading explosive, fast-paced attacks that can move the ball efficiently and put points on the board consistently. Through the first four games of the 2015 season, Auburn's offense is nowhere near that usual level of Malzahn excellence.
While White proved to be a more accurate passer than former starter Jeremy Johnson, the Tigers offense did not find the end zone Saturday. According to Brandon Marcello of AL.com, it marked the first time that happened to a Malzahn offense since Arkansas State lost to Nebraska three years ago:
White and a much slower, run-first offense got the ball moving inside the red zone on the opening drive of the game. But as the Tigers looked for their first offensive touchdown in the opening half since a short Johnson run in the season opener against Louisville—one that was aided by a Cardinals interception—White threw an interception on 3rd-and-3 from the Mississippi State 5-yard line.
The rest of the night wasn't much better for Auburn's red-zone offense. The Tigers made three more trips and scored only six points on two field goals. A botched snap on 3rd-and-goal from just outside the goal line led to a missed chip shot for Daniel Carlson.
"The story of the game was we were in the red zone four times and got six points," Malzahn said, per Charles Goldberg of AuburnTigers.com.
Outside of a couple of second-half touchdowns in an LSU game that was already out of hand, Auburn's offense has struggled to move the ball efficiently and finish drives. One hasn't happened with the other yet.
Offensive line play has taken a major step back
Auburn's offense didn't return the majority of its starters this season, but the offensive line was supposed to be a relative strength for the team.
Starting tackles Shon Coleman and Avery Young were both back, and former freshman All-SEC left guard Alex Kozan was healthy again after missing the entire 2014 season. New center Austin Golson had game experience in the SEC, and right guard Braden Smith was the "No. 6" player for the offensive line last season.
But now the Tigers have gone from not allowing a single sack through the first two games of the season to giving up nine in their first two SEC games. By comparison, Auburn only allowed 15 sacks in 13 games last season.
"We are not where we want to be, but we are definitely coming together," Coleman said, per quotes released by Auburn. "We have a lot of first-year players on the offensive line. We have a new center and he has to make calls. As a whole, we are trying to adjust and get that chemistry going."
Mississippi State had four sacks and eight tackles for loss, limiting a transitioning Auburn offense in crucial situations. The offensive line was also responsible for several major penalties, including a hands-to-the-face call on Young in the second quarter.
Golson in particular came under scrutiny when his bad snap to White cost Auburn points from just outside the goal line in the second quarter. According to former Auburn offensive lineman Cole Cubelic, Golson's mistake was a common one for a center in short-yardage situations:
Malzahn slowed his offense down against Mississippi State with a freshman quarterback seeing his first career action. If the Tigers continue at this pace, they can't make these drive-killing mistakes along the offensive line again.
Those errors will only be magnified more in a slower offense.
Defense lacks a pass rush
To be fair, Auburn's defense produced its best performance since the first half of the season-opening win against Louisville.
Defensive coordinator Will Muschamp's shakeups on the depth chart paid off, as the Tigers responded well after allowing two touchdowns on Mississippi State's first three drives of the game. But while Auburn prevented Prescott from succeeding with the long scrambles and designed runs he used against the Tigers in 2013 and 2014, he still had plenty of time to throw the ball.
Prescott went 29-of-41 passing for 270 yards and two touchdowns, and the Auburn defense never sacked him. He completed 10 of his first 11 passes of the game and threw back-to-back incompletions only once.
Auburn's pass-rush struggles without Carl Lawson have been well-documented. The Tigers dropped from 31st nationally in sacks in 2013 to 94th last season. Since Lawson's hip injury in the Louisville game, Auburn has only recorded two sacks—both against FCS opponent Jacksonville State.
Prescott is one of the best quarterbacks Auburn will face all season, but more top passers are coming down the road, including Ole Miss' Chad Kelly and Georgia's Greyson Lambert. Failure to put consistent pressure on these players will turn into more early deficits and disappointing losses on the schedule.
Auburn's defense—and its touchdown-less offense—hung in there against a rebuilding Mississippi State team and had a chance to force some late drama with an onside kick.
"This team's gonna get better, and they're gonna fight," Malzahn said, per Kevin Scarbinsky of AL.com. "That's the positive. ... We're gonna get better. I promise you that."
The Tigers may have had a few more positives from the eight-point loss, including White's performance as a whole, a better day in the rushing attack and a defense that showed signs of improvement after an awful start to 2015. But because of several glaring struggles, Auburn is plummeting quickly.
A fall from preseason title contender to out of the Top 25 altogether wasn't rock bottom for Auburn. The floor is still falling on the Plains.
Recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports. Unless otherwise noted, statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com.
Justin Ferguson is a college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.
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