Auburn 27 Mississippi State 13. Auburn and head coach Hugh Freeze finally won their first conference game of the season. This was done by finally putting a competent passing game on the field which shockingly opened up the running game and Jarquez Hunter. It is funny how that happens when you have a balanced offense. The only surprising change I saw that enabled this was basically the one most Auburn fans have been asking for including me... simplicity. I am sorry as complex as everyone who makes their living off of football tries to make it, it is not rocket science. What I saw Saturday was simplicity mixed with some actual blocking which is pretty important too.
Auburn's first or one of their early drives featured a straight drop back and passes to a receiver who ran what we used to call a "buttonhook", one who ran a slant, and one who ran an out. Again it is not rocket science, all you need is a little blocking and a decently ran intermediate simple pass route. I believe Thorne also used straight play-action on one or two of those as well. There were no stupid RPOs but basic pass plays. These got quarterback Payton Thorne into a groove with some confidence and then what do you know he hits Ja'varrus Johnson on a straight go route and running back Jeremiah Cobb on a simple lob both for touchdowns. SHOCKER, you start with the basics, build momentum and confidence, and then your quarterback starts hitting some harder throws.
Again you also get the running game going and after a few big runs along with those passes your offense really starts humming! Again, SHOCKER. Tons of us have been saying these things every week. I understand and will give you that A&M, Georgia, and LSU on that night had much better defenses than State but Ole Miss did NOT. This could have all started last week. Auburn did NOT do these things to start against Ole Miss and as we have seen many times once you get off to a bad start on offense, nothing seems to work. I will continue to say there are basics to football and no matter how people try to make it seem so hard and complex to inflate their value, it is not. Always go back to the basics when you are struggling.
Auburn did that and had their best offensive day by far this season. The Tigers slowed way down in the second half due to taking their foot off the gas and bad field position. I was actually not as upset about that as many were. I think the coaches could have done much better but they were scared of blowing this game and I cannot blame them especially after what happened on this field against State just two years ago. It sure helped that State senior quarterback Will Rogers was out with an injury in this one. This game probably would have been a lot closer and seriously tense if he would have played. State backup quarterback Mike Wright did a decent job but he is just not the accomplished passer that Rogers is.
The defense did give up a few big plays to State but got the job done along with the special teams and Auburn got a big win. This was the first step toward getting that winning record. As I stated last week, if Auburn can win these four games before Bama and get that winning record the season is a success. They can put the four ugly losses in a row behind them and really have something to build on. Auburn has not had a winning season since 2020. The next step is the Tigers getting their first conference road win of the season. They get the worst team in the conference to do it against. It is there for the taking. Even this Auburn team would have to play extraordinarily bad to give Vanderbilt a shot at winning.
Now it could happen, Auburn is not good enough to take anyone for granted but if the Tigers can just play a solid game they should get the win and head to Arkansas with some actual confidence and momentum. One step at a time, one game at a time though.
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