A much improved Auburn offensive performance still comes up short in overtime against the Commodores. The Tigers offense achieved their conference high 38-points while collecting an amazing 563 yards of total offense on the day.
"I'm really proud of coach Nix's offense and how they prepared and what they did," interim head coach DJ Durkin said about the offensive showing. "We laid out a plan during the week of what needed to be done and I think credit goes to our players and our coaching staff for getting that done. They did a really good job."
Auburn senior quarterback Ashton Daniels had a phenomenal outing going 31-for-44 with 353 yards through the air resulting in two passing touchdowns and a 70% completion percentage. Daniels also created problems for the Vanderbilt defense with his legs as he finished the game with 89 total rushing yards and two more touchdowns to add to his total giving him four on the game.
"Yeah, pretty special wasn't it?," said coach Durkin about Daniels outing, "Got converted throwing the, made quick decisions, got the ball out of his hand, and converted running the ball, just really managed our offense really well."
The Tigers impressively cut through a Vanderbilt defense that has been one of the strong points of their team and one of the better defenses in the country. Their 38 total points in regulation is the most anyone has put on the Commodores this entire season all while only having one turnover as help coming from the defensive side.
Sophomore Cam Coleman who was expected to have a standout season had yet to have a standout game in conference play this year due to the offensive struggles prior to this game in Nashville. Coleman finally got his standout game along with the rest of the offense totaling 10 catches and 143 yards along with an unreal touchdown catch followed shortly by another unreal catch to convert the two-point conversion and tie the game eventually sending it to overtime.
Auburn also beat Vanderbilt at their own game not only out gaining them through the air but also on the ground with 210 yards to their 167 yards rushing. The Tigers rushing attack was led by junior Jeremiah Cobb who carried the ball 16 times for 115 yards including some big time first downs in the first half.
The Tigers seemingly reversed every trend they had going in a negative direction on offense in the Hugh Freeze era in one game. They had zero turnovers allowing them to be positive in the turnover margin and also went five-for-five on trips to the red zone after having struggled there for years.
One of the only aspects of the game that the Tigers did not win ended up being the one that matters most which is the scoreboard due to their inability to stop the Diego Pavia led Vanderbilt offense, struggling just as much as the Commodores' defense struggled against them. The Tigers ultimately fell short in overtime but showed many differences to give Auburn fans optimism about the future. The Tigers will take their short comings and successes into the bye week before coming back to Jordan-Hare stadium to host Mercer on November 22th.
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Reid is a sophomore majoring in accounting. He joined the Plainsman in the fall of 2024.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @ReidFarris2
