Auburn ends tumultuous season in defeat

[aubiefifty 18,231]

Auburn ends tumultuous season in defeat

By Giana Han

7-8 minutes

The 2021 Citrus Bowl could be looked at as an end to a tumultuous 2020 season or as the beginning of the coach Bryan Harsin era.

But Auburn’s 35-19 loss to Northwestern wasn’t the strong start or the strong finish it wanted.

Auburn’s defense immediately gave up two touchdowns while its offense punted time and time again. The defensive line had trouble affecting the quarterback while the offensive line had trouble protecting the quarterback.

It wasn’t until the second quarter that the defense stepped up and the offense put points on the board. While the Tigers held the Wildcats to 44 yards and no points, they picked up 96 yards and six points of their own.

The Tigers finally found the end zone in the third quarter, but it wasn’t enough to make up for the slow start or the rough finish. After almost two full quarters of lockdown defense, the Tigers gave up a big touchdown play in the final two minutes of the third quarter and continued to give through the fourth.

Harsin said in his introductory press conference on Christmas Eve that all the players, starters and bench players, veterans and freshmen, would have to compete for their spots. Although he did not coach the Citrus Bowl, he said he told the players to go out and play their hardest.

Either their hardest wasn’t enough or they didn’t take his words to heart. The audition was a poor one, and they fell to the Wildcats by much more than expected, considering they were 3.5-point underdogs.

Here are takeaways from the Tigers final loss of the 2020 season:

A season of field goals

When Carlson made his second field goal of the game, he and his brother Daniel broke a record. They became the highest-scoring pair of brothers to kick at the same school with 748 points. Carlson also moved up to fifth in career scoring and third in made field goals in Auburn history.

All those records are positives for Carlson and speak to the great job he’s done kicking for the Tigers. However, they also point to a major issue with Auburn’s offense. All season long, the Tigers have marched into their opponents’ side of the field — and then stalled. They try once, twice, three times to score before calling out Carlson.

The pattern continued against the Wildcats. At first, the offense struggled to pick up any yardage at all. But in the second quarter, they were threatening to score twice, once from the Northwestern 27 and once from the 10. The first drive ended with a pass attempt for a loss of six yards, and the second was hurt by two false start penalties. Auburn came away with just six points for its efforts. It took until the third quarter for Auburn to find the end zone, and it only scored two touchdowns despite multiple chances.

Yes, Carlson is trustworthy and helps Auburn get on the board. But he’s also a sign of Auburn’s inability to finish drives in the end zone.

Tank Bigsby makes things right

When offensive coordinator Chad Morris announced the freshmen running back’s status for the game was uncertain, he added that Tank Bigsby has the ability to make things right. His absence in the Citrus Bowl proved that just as much as his presence in games throughout the season.

Auburn’s offensive line struggled throughout the game. In the past, Bigsby has still found ways to gain positive yardage, eluding tackles and powering through opponents.

D.J. Williams, Shaun Shivers and Nix had a few solid runs, but the Tigers clearly struggled without one of their most dangerous offensive weapons. The Tigers finished with 61 total rushing yards and averaged 2.3 yards per carry. It had no explosive plays on the ground.

And, as usual, when the run game struggled, the passing game struggled. Since it had to carry the offense, it had lots of catches and lots of yardage, but it wasn’t enough to make up for the lack of a run game. Auburn also wasn’t able to connect when it mattered. Until Nix finally connected with Elijah Canion in the third quarter, every attempt in the end zone was either off target or well-covered.

Defense’s adjustments don’t last

Kevin Steele’s defense has shown it has the ability to make big in-game adjustments, and the one it made against Northwestern was dramatic. When it first hit the field, it quickly gave up 170 yards to the Wildcats. While the offense’s struggles could be attributed in part to Northwestern’s elite defense, the defense had no such excuse. The Wildcats came into the game as the No. 99 offense in total yards.

But after giving up 14 points, the Tigers came out and shut out the Wildcats in the second quarter. They also held them to 44 total yards and zero percent on third down conversions. While Auburn’s offense struggled to get into the end zone and scored just six points in the second, the defense’s performance allowed Auburn to draw within one in the third quarter.

The Tigers kept up that lockdown defense until the final two minutes of the third quarter when Northwestern’s quarterback found an open lane and rushed 30 yards to the end zone.

After that, things started to deteriorate. After Auburn failed convert on third-and-2 and then fourth-and-inches, Northwestern running back Cam Porter broke free for a 19-yard gain. The Northwestern run game, which had struggled all game, suddenly accumulated 49 yards on six plays. It also got back in the end zone.

The defense ended up giving up 457 yards and five touchdowns.

Key play:

Auburn had almost erased its slow start, changing a 14-0 deficit to a 14-13 deficit, when a lane opened up in front of Ramsey. The Wildcats were facing third-and-10 from the Auburn 30. They had punted on three previous drives and turned it over on downs on another two. But then Ramsey realized that while none of his receivers were open, he was. He took off for the first down but no Tigers were close so he kept going. Just before the end zone, the Tigers closed in, but Ramsey leapt and got one foot in before heading out of bounds. The Wildcats ended their scoring drought with the 30-yard touchdown rush, and the Tigers were never able to recover from there.

Key player: Northwestern quarterback Peyton Ramsey

Ramsey attacked the Tigers in many more ways than his 30-yard touchdown rush. He completed all five of his first pass attempts to give Northwestern a hot start. He kept plays alive once Auburn’s defensive line started breaking through his offensive line. He had two touchdown passes and very few throws that were off their mark. He finished 24-35 for 291 yards and three touchdowns and also rushed for 50 yards on 10 carries.

[wareagleguy 1,397]

“Tumultuous” sums it up 

[AUx 3,165]

Aside from that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?

[EagleEye67 1,948]

Nailed the "season of field goals" for sure.

[japantiger 4,117]

Torched by a 0 star QB and a team that has only once ranked higher than #50 in recruiting rankings.  A failure of coaching on both sides of the ball of biblical proportions.  

[aucanucktiger 1,889]

6 hours ago, japantiger said:

Torched by a 0 star QB and a team that has only once ranked higher than #50 in recruiting rankings.  A failure of coaching on both sides of the ball of biblical proportions.  

Yes it was bad. Btw that #15 team that just shalacked us with a zero star QB will finish near or in top 10. But true, epically dreadful plan & prep by the coaches and putrid effort by many players - some shockingly so.