The road Tigers jumped out to a 14-point lead to start the second half, but down the stretch, Auburn, once again, couldn’t make the plays needed on both sides of the ball to pull off its first SEC win of the season in a 21-17 loss to No. 19 Missouri in Columbia, Mo., on Saturday.
In the last 20 years, Auburn was previously 105-1 when leading by 14 or more points in the second half.
"It's been a difficult year where it seems nothing is going quite your way when you need it to," Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze said following his seventh straight loss against a Power Five team. "We seem to not make the right call as coaches or the right play from time to time in critical moments still, and that's kind of been the story of the whole year."
Auburn has now had two multi-possession leads late in the third quarter this season and lost both games. It also marks the second straight season of four straight SEC losses to start league play, a first in program history.
The road Tigers held major field position advantages late in the fourth quarter, possessing the ball at the Missouri 40 and Auburn 49, but gained a total of just 22 yards and one first down in the entire final quarter of play.
“There are a couple of key plays here and there where it’s like, ‘Man, it could’ve really been close.' So, it’s a small area of either getting it done or you don’t. Right now, we're not getting it done enough,” Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne said.
Starting at the Auburn five-yard line, Missouri completed a 17-play, 95-yard go-ahead touchdown drive, converting three third downs and a fourth down against the Auburn defense.
Missouri quarterback Brady Cook left the game following the Tigers' opening drive after taking multiple hits. The Auburn defense prevented the home Tigers from scoring again until Missouri kicked a field goal with 7:44 remaining in the third quarter.
“They took him [Brady Cook] to the hospital to get an MRI on his ankle and see. He told the team that in the hospital he realized, 'I only got two and a half games left at Faurot Field, and there's no way I'm spending it here in this hospital,'" Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz said of his fifth-year senior quarterback.
Cook completed six passes of 10 or more yards after his return late in the third quarter, including a long of 78 yards to set up Missouri’s first touchdown of the game.
“Those explosive plays are devastating to us,” Freeze said. “It was really hard for them to sustain long drives. But, man, when you give them explosive plays like that, they're going to score points. And that was definitely a turning point in the momentum.”
Tied at three entering the second half, Auburn built the double-digit lead right out of the gate with a 47-yard touchdown reception by Cam Coleman on Auburn’s opening drive of the third quarter.
Following Auburn’s next drive, a three-and-out, a muffed Oscar Chapman punt gave the road Tigers another touchdown, taking the lead to 17-3.
However, Auburn managed just four rushing yards in the final quarter, totaling 110 on the ground against Missouri, and couldn’t find ways to milk the clock and get first downs when they needed them most.
“We didn't block real well in the perimeter,” Freeze said. “Thought we had a good plan for running the football and staying balanced, and probably should’ve taken a few more shots on early downs.”
Ultimately for Auburn, in a season where Freeze wanted to show progress in his rebuilding efforts, the Tigers fell to 1-8 in their last nine games against FBS teams and the disastrous start to the 2024 campaign continues for a team that just can’t find a way to win.
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Patrick is a junior from Auburn, Alabama, double majoring in journalism and marketing. He started with The Plainsman in the fall of 2022.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @patrickabingham
