Auburn ended its season on a losing note Saturday afternoon, falling to the Maryland Terrapins 31-13 to finish its season at 6-7. The loss was the fourth straight loss in a bowl game for Auburn, the most in program history, and ensured the third straight losing season for the Tigers for the first time since 1975-77.
The loss was the conclusion of the first year of the Hugh Freeze era at Auburn.
"We're incredibly blessed to be at Auburn, incredibly blessed by our administration and fans," Freeze said. "And it hurts like heck to let them down and not compete on given days. But my takeaway is that I'm still as confident as ever that this can be an elite football program again."
The bowl loss continued a recent trend of postseason futility for the Tigers that began in the 2013 season. The Tigers have lost seven of their past nine bowl games, with wins over Memphis in 2015 and Purdue in 2018 being the only exceptions.
As has been the case in many of its losses this season, Auburn struggled at the game’s start, falling behind 21-0 after the first quarter. It was a deficit that the Tigers could not overcome despite outscoring Maryland 13-10 in the final 45 minutes.
The 18-point loss equaled the fourth-largest bowl loss in program history, tying an 18-point loss to Oklahoma in the 1972 Sugar Bowl. A pair of 29-point defeats to Houston in the 1969 Bluebonnet Bowl and Penn State in the 1996 Outback Bowl serve as the largest bowl losses for Auburn.
The defense struggled to start the game, giving up 226 yards in the opening quarter alone, including 158 through the air. The Maryland offense accomplished this without season-long starter Taulia Tagovailoa, who opted out of the game to prepare for the NFL Draft.
Billy Edwards Jr., Maryland’s primary quarterback in the game, passed for 98 yards in the opening frame and ran for 35 more yards. Edwards Jr. finished the game at 6-of-20 passing with a total of 126 passing yards and 50 rushing yards. The biggest problem for the Tigers' defense was big completions. Maryland completed just 10 passes as a team but averaged 20.8 yards per completion.
After the first quarter, the Auburn defense’s numbers improved, with Ron Roberts’ unit allowing just 84 yards and three points over the final three quarters. Maryland finished the game with 310 yards.
"I would say is just we started with a few miscommunications," said linebacker Austin Keys. "A few missed tackles, some that we critically need. You know, we've got to make good tackles and stuff like that."
Though the defense improved, the offense’s struggles continued throughout the first three quarters. Auburn failed to get a first down in three drives of the game, including the first two. The Tigers did not score until over 27 minutes had elapsed in the game – and they did not score again until the 6:48 mark of the fourth quarter. Auburn turned the ball over four times, twice by interception and twice by fumbles on special teams, once on a kick return and once on a punt return.
Of the two interceptions the Tigers threw, Thorne’s was returned for a touchdown while Geriner’s was picked off inside Maryland’s 10-yard-line, ending Auburn’s first scoring threat of the second half.
The Tigers totaled 300 yards in the game, though 152 came in the fourth quarter, with 132 coming after when Hank Brown came into the game as quarterback.
Brown was the most successful of the three Auburn quarterbacks who played, completing seven of nine passes for 132 yards.
Starter Payton Thorne and Holden Geriner combined for just 92 yards passing – 84 by Thorne and eight by Geriner. Thorne was 13-of-27, while Geriner was just 1-of-6 passing. The performances leave Auburn's quarterback race wide open in the coming offseason, according to Freeze.
"It's wide open...," Freeze said. "I'm constantly evaluating players, staff, everything and if we see that my evaluation has been wrong and you have to change gears and reevaluate to make us better, then that's the steps you should take. The quarterback position will be an interesting one, certainly in spring practice."
There were two constant target for the Auburn quarterbacks: Caleb Burton and Rivaldo Fairweather. Each had five receptions, with Burton getting 78 yards and Fairweather getting 45. In the game, Fairweather set the single-season reception record for a tight end in program history.
"All the stats, they don't mean a lot to me," Fairweather said. "But I just wish we would've came out with a win here. But again, I just want to thank God for allowing me to play this game and be a part of our history."
It was Auburn's first loss in the Music City Bowl, dropping the Tigers' record to 2-1 in the event. The Tigers previously defeated Wisconsin in 2003 and Purdue in 2018 before falling to the Terrapins Saturday afternoon.
It was the final game of Auburn's season-ending, three-game losing streak. In 2023, Auburn had two separate three-game win streaks but also endured losing streaks of four and three games. The attendance of the game was 50,088 with most of the fans clad in orange and blue.
"I feel so, so awful for our incredible fans that traveled here," Freeze said. "It was incredible to see their support for us and to not perform any better in games like this...I don't need someone to tell me I didn't get it done."
Now, Freeze and the Tigers turn their attention to the 2024 season. With the 2023 season finished, Auburn is scheduled to return to the field on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024, when the Tigers face the Alabama A&M Bulldogs.
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Matthew is a senior from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2021.
Twitter: @mattwallaceAU
