Auburn’s bye week comes at the right time, because the Tigers have a short window to clean up a few glaring offensive problems before the schedule gets a lot tougher.
At 3-2, Auburn has already picked up wins over Baylor, Southern Miss and Vanderbilt, but losses to Florida and Tennessee have exposed some familiar trouble spots. Even in the victories, the offense has had stretches where it looks disjointed, and those issues are now front and center as Alex Golesh and his staff get their only real breather of the season.
The biggest headache starts up front. Auburn’s offensive line has been a work in progress all year, which isn’t a total shock after the Tigers had to replace every starter except sophomore Kail Ellis over the offseason. The result has been a unit that feels stitched together from pieces pulled in from all over the country, and the group still hasn’t found a combination that really works.
Golesh has rotated multiple linemen, but the answers have not come easily. The ripple effect has been obvious: the run game has stalled, and Byrum Brown has taken too many hits, becoming the most sacked quarterback in the SEC.
That front-five problem has had a direct impact on Auburn’s backfield. Golesh told fans in his first press conference that the Tigers would lean on the run heavily during his time in Auburn, but the numbers have not matched that vision in October. Brown is the team’s leading rusher, while Jeremiah Cobb, the expected RB1, sits nearly 100 yards behind him.
Omar Mabson has added another wrinkle to the competition. He was hardly a preseason headline, but he has forced his way into the conversation for the starting job with 6.7 yards per carry, compared with Cobb’s 5.4. Still, neither back is likely to make the kind of impact Auburn needs unless the offensive line starts functioning as a real unit.
That matters because the Tigers have looked stuck when the run game isn’t there. The offense has too often felt one-dimensional, and at its worst, it has been flat-out ineffective. If Auburn can create even a modest rushing threat, the whole operation should loosen up and open the door for more explosive plays.
The other issue is the slow starts. Auburn’s offense has been almost invisible in the first quarter for most of its games, and in both losses the Tigers failed to record a first down in the opening quarter. For an SEC offense, that’s a major problem, and it leaves little room for error once the games start getting bigger.
The Tennessee game showed just how damaging those early mistakes can be. Auburn committed three false starts, one on each of its first-quarter drives, and those self-inflicted setbacks helped drain possessions, shorten time of possession and put extra strain on a defense that had already been asked to carry too much.
If Auburn can simply get moving earlier - enough to string together a few first downs in the first quarter - the overall picture should improve quickly. That’s easier said than done with Georgia, LSU and Ole Miss coming up, but the Tigers need this bye week to produce real answers, not just a reset.
In Other News...
Ex-Auburn QB Holden Geriner's Pitt Buzz Faded Fast Under Pressure
Holden Geriners sudden rise at Pitt looked like one of those September detours that can change a season. After Mason Heintschel went down with a season-ending injury in Week 5, the former Auburn quarterback stepped in, helped the Panthers beat Virginia Tech and pushed Pitt into the AP Top 25 Poll, a jolt of momentum for a team trying to steady itself at the position.
The follow-up, though, was a reminder of why the job never looked fully settled. Pitt dropped its Week 6 game at North Carolina and slid out of the rankings, with Geriner throwing two interceptions and taking two sacks as the Panthers again ran into the sort of issues that have followed him before, especially with mobility and holding onto a starting role. For Pitt, the early buzz has cooled quickly, and the bigger question is whether Geriner is a bridge or something more lasting. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessee Still Has The Same QB Problem Auburn Just Exposed
Tennessees depth chart heading into the Arkansas game offered a clear look at how unsettled things still are under center. Faizon Brandon and George MacIntyre were listed as co-starters, a reflection of the uncertainty that has followed the Volunteers even after their recent win over Auburn, where the Tigers helped expose how shaky the quarterback picture can look when the pressure rises.
Josh Heupel has already acknowledged Brandons shoulder issue, and both quarterbacks remain available, which keeps the decision in motion rather than settled. For Auburn fans watching from a distance, the update is a reminder that the loss still carries some aftereffects for Tennessee, and that the Volunteers are carrying real questions into a crucial SEC stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Auburns Defensive Portal Class Is Already Raising One Big Concern
Five games into the season, Auburns defensive transfer class is starting to get a position-by-position audit, and the early picture is a mixed one. The defensive line has held up reasonably well, earning the strongest mark of the bunch at a B thanks in part to Cody Siglers contributions, while the edge rusher group has landed at a C+ as the Tigers keep looking for more consistent disruption off the edge.
The concern is showing up a level deeper in the defense, where the cornerback group has been graded C- because the transfer additions have not produced much so far. Linebacker and safety have also brought only limited impact from the portal, which leaves Auburn with one obvious question as the season settles in: whether the defensive additions can become more than just depth pieces before the schedule starts pressing harder. [Read more 🡒]