Auburn offensive coordinator Joel Gordon didn’t try to dodge the obvious on Monday: the Tigers’ run game has been a mess, and he’s owning it.
Through two months of the 2026 season, Auburn has not found anything close to a reliable ground attack, and Gordon said it’s “very irksome” that the run game still hasn’t taken off. He made it clear where he thinks the blame belongs.
“We've had a hard time being consistent, whoever you want to point the finger at. You can point it at me,” Gordon said on Monday, having clearly been on social media following two months of Auburn's No. 100-ranked running game nationally.
That kind of direct accountability stood out because Auburn’s issues have been easy to spot. The offensive line has been shuffled again and again, and there still hasn’t been a combination that can hold up for long.
The latest setup had Stanton Ramill on the blindside, Kenneth McManus IV moving from right to left guard, Jacobe Ward at right guard, and Wilson Zierer shifting from left guard to right tackle. Jacob Strand, Cole Skinner, and Jo Simmons have also gotten starting chances this season, while Cole Best has remained the center.
Gordon described the situation with the line in the same blunt way.
"You got to take the good with the bad, and that's a tough spot to be in. But that's where we are. And there were things that we got to build on, things that we got to fix," Gordon said.
The bigger picture is hard to miss. Auburn’s offensive line has been the main problem, Jeremiah Cobb’s production has dropped, and the transfer running backs haven’t made much of an impact. The Tigers’ rushing numbers are being dragged down by protection problems, and a lot of Auburn’s damage has come on broken plays because the line hasn’t held up.
Still, the timing of Auburn’s next game gives the Tigers a real opening to clean things up. Arkansas comes in with the worst run defense in the SEC, which makes Saturday a chance for Auburn to finally get something going on the ground. Even Razorbacks head coach Ryan Silverfield would acknowledge that fact, based on his worries about his Hogs.
If Auburn can’t make progress there, the pressure on the offense will only grow. Alex Golesh would then have to seriously consider taking over the offense.
But the schedule also gives Auburn a path to recovery. Mississippi State is next, and then Samford, both offering more chances for the Tigers to build confidence in the run game. By Week 13, Auburn could even be in position to take that progress into the Iron Bowl against Alabama, whose defensive push has already faded at times this season, including in losses to Tennessee and Georgia.
For now, though, Auburn’s ground game is still searching for answers. Gordon knows it, the fanbase knows it, and Saturday against Arkansas looks like the first real chance to change the conversation.
In Other News...
Arkansas Faces A Defining Auburn Test With Its Season Slipping Away
Arkansas heads into Jordan-Hare Stadium with the kind of urgency that tends to sharpen a November matchup. The Razorbacks and Auburn have built a strange little run in recent years, with road teams winning each meeting since 2021, even as Auburn has maintained the edge in the overall series. This time, both programs are being guided by first-year head coaches, with Ryan Silverfield leading Arkansas and Alex Golesh taking over at Auburn, adding another layer to a game that already feels bigger than the record books suggest.
For Auburn, the setup is straightforward enough: the Tigers are favored at home and looking to protect a pattern that has made this series feel unpredictable regardless of venue. For Arkansas, the stakes are more sobering, with bowl eligibility slipping further out of reach and little margin left to change the seasons direction. Silverfield has had success against Golesh before, going 3-0 in their head-to-head meetings, but this one arrives with the Razorbacks needing more than history to tilt the balance. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn Gets Its First Real Test Of A New-Look Rotation
The opening week of the 2026-27 mens college basketball season is already starting to take shape, and Auburns first night at home will offer an early look at how the Tigers new rotation comes together. Southeastern Louisiana comes to town for the opener, giving Auburn a chance to settle into game speed in front of its own crowd before the calendar turns more demanding, while the broader Wednesday slate also includes matchups involving Butler, Saint Josephs and other Division I programs.
For Auburn, the real interest is less about the opponent than about how the pieces fit in a first game setting. The schedule release also points to a busy opening stretch around the sport, with game times, broadcast windows and streaming options spread across multiple platforms, and it arrives as the college basketball landscape continues to shift with coaching changes elsewhere, including the transition at Saint Marys. For the Tigers, though, the first test is right there at home, and it should say plenty about where this group stands before the season really starts to tighten. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn Pass Defense Has A Bigger Problem Than Fans Wanted
Auburns pass defense has become a weekly talking point for all the wrong reasons, and defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin didnt try to gloss over it during his press conference. He pointed to a few bright spots, but the larger picture has been hard to ignore after the Tigers were picked apart by LSU and Ole Miss quarterbacks, with the defense giving up big passing numbers and touchdowns in both games.
The concern goes beyond coverage, too, because the front has not consistently helped create pressure. Auburns defensive line has managed only one sack in two games, and the Tigers now sit 15th in the SEC in pass defense at 252.4 yards allowed per game, with 17 sacks on the season. For a team trying to steady itself in league play, the issue is no longer just a bad stretch, but a problem that keeps showing up in different ways. [Read more 🡒]