On Saturday, Auburn fell 17-7 to Vanderbilt as the offense could not get going, ultimately falling to 3-6 on the season and 1-5 in conference play.
After Auburn’s first SEC win in the bluegrass state, the Tigers looked to maintain momentum against Vanderbilt. Auburn had a great opportunity to do so, coming back to Jordan-Hare after more than a month on the road against a Vanderbilt team coming off a tough loss to Texas.
Vanderbilt has a quarterback that has haunted Hugh Freeze his whole athletic career: Diego Pavia. Vanderbilt's QB1 made his return to Jordan-Hare looking for another late-season heartbreak for Auburn fans. Diego Pavia pulled off the win for the Commodores, throwing his second touchdown after a crucial kick leverage penalty that extended the drive for Vanderbilt.
After three-and-outs on the first three drives of the game, Vanderbilt’s offense finally got going after Pavia made a great pass to Sedrick Alexander for a 21-yard gain. After a couple good plays and an unfortunate false start, Vandy eventually had to punt, but Jesse Mirco placed it perfectly on the Tiger’s one yard line.
After a tough Cam Coleman catch and run got Auburn out of the shadow of their own goalposts, Jarquez ran another four yards to get a much needed first down. After a big 29-yard catch and run by Keandre Lambert-Smith, the Tigers could not convert, as a short run by Jarquez and a short catch by Fairweather failed to pick up a first down. This brought Auburn’s MVP this year, Oscar Chapman, out for his third punt on the third drive.
Vanderbilt’s offense finally made Auburn’s lackluster start pay as Pavia led a scoring drive late in the first quarter. The Commodores covered 81 yards in six plays and just over three minutes. Pavia began the drive hitting a wide open Junior Sherrill for a 31-yard pass off broken coverage. Then, a crossing route by Stowers two plays later picked up another 16 yards and put Vanderbilt on Auburn’s half with a lot of momentum. On a third down & six, Diego Pavia placed the ball perfectly on the right side of the end zone to AJ Newberry to put Vanderbilt up 7-0.
After a quick Vandy 3-and-out, Auburn’s offense would get going on what would be their only scoring drive of the day. After a good start of the drive with two good first down plays with the running backs, it quickly became fourth and one after a direct snap to Hunter got zero. Auburn would pick up the fourth down, keeping the drive alive. After a batted down pass and a Hunter run that fell just short of the first down marker, Thorne and company were faced with another fourth down play. However, Malcolm Simmons picked up the huge fourth down off a flat route. The next down, Rivaldo Fairweather made a highlight play, catching a low ball that was also behind him, running through multiple defenders and hitting the pylon with 6:45 left in the second quarter.
Auburn’s first half woes were highlighted by third downs, as the Tigers went 0-7 on third down conversions. However, Auburn flipped the script on Vanderbilt with a lead of 17:25-12:35 in time of possession.
After a quick three-and-out, the Auburn crowd started getting back into it early in the third quarter. Hunter got eight yards on the first play to open up Auburn’s second half offensively before Keandre Lambert-Smith got onto Vandy’s side of the field. Thorne went back to KLS before Auburn’s offense stalled out and Towns McGough missed his first field goal of the day.
On Vandy’s second possession of the half, it looked like it was going to be another three-and-out off a pressure induced incompletion. A holding call gives Vandy a free first down at the 36. After a near pick and another chance to get off the field, Auburn committed another costly penalty by having too many men on the field. On a fourth down trying to regain momentum, Diego Pavia pitched it to his running back on an option to the far side of the field to pick up a first down. The next drive, however, was no avail, and the Commodores punted once again.
After a quick three-and-out, Oscar Chapman kicked a great punt, but Auburn's defensive coverage gave up 40 yards on the return, giving Vandy the ball in the red zone. After the ball came out late on a Moni Jones run, Auburn and the fans had all the momentum. However, the review called him down, and that momentum was stripped away. After a great coverage play by Sylvester Smith, Brock Taylor kicked a 31-yard field goal to put Vanderbilt up 10-7 with a minute left in the third.
Auburn’s following drive barely got going before it ended and the fans started booing an offensive performance that’s becoming too often seen this year.
In the fourth quarter, Diego Pavia started his notorious march of death down the field with 12 minutes left. After three straight Sedrick Alexander runs, Pavia tried to hit his tight end Stowers across the field to no avail, but a pass interference call gave them the first down. Pavia hit a wide open receiver for 22 yards before breaking a sack and getting decent yards on the next play. The Auburn defense would hold a couple plays later as they held Vanderbilt to another field goal.
Then something almost unheard of happened.
A leverage call on a PAT-like field goal from Brock Taylor gives Vandy the first down within five yards. A touchdown on second-and-goal on a short flat route to Stowers made it 17-7 and put the game out of reach for the Tigers.
Auburn tried to get points on the next drive, but another missed field goal by McGough failed to get Auburn on the scoreboard. A quick three-and-out by Vandy allowed Auburn to get the ball before the end of the game, but a Fairweather fumble ended the game for the Tigers.
Heading into a bye week, the Tigers need to win all of their last three games to be bowl eligible. In the postgame press conference, Freeze said that he felt it was necessary to stack practices on top of each other, and to take it a day at a time.
The Tigers play Louisiana-Monroe in two weeks at 11:45 CT on SEC network.
