Auburn’s offense looked sluggish in another SEC contest, this time stumbling out of the gate to No. 17 Tennessee in a 24-14 loss.
The Tigers went without a first down in the first quarter for the second time in three conference games. Penalties plagued Auburn, which committed eight offensive penalties, including three false starts in the first quarter.
“Offensively in the first half, we didn't play well enough to go play winning football,” said head coach Alex Golesh.
Auburn totaled just 25 yards of total offense in the first quarter over three drives. On each drive, Auburn moved early at least once, and every false start penalty created an eventual third and long situation. Auburn failed to convert each time.
“Offensively, we had a bunch of false starts,” Golesh said. “We didn't handle the crowd noise well enough in the first half. I felt like we had a good plan; we obviously didn't execute it, therefore it was a bad plan. And that's my fault. With the false starts, hard to get in rhythm. We picked up some first downs but couldn't get in a real rhythm to be able to efficiently move it.”
Veteran offensive lineman Cole Best felt like the reason for the pre-snap blunders split evenly between crowd noise and communication errors.
“There were times where the crowd noise, like any away environment in this league, makes it tough,” Best said. “Thought about the other 50 percent was just communication and being on the same page as an O-line. And again, that points right back to me. I’ve gotta be better for us. I gotta be better for this team.”
Four different offensive linemen were flagged for false starts — only true freshman Wilson Zierer played a clean game.
“I would say all seven we were on a silent cadence,” Golesh said. “And it was pick your poison on who it was. We were on a silent cadence and we just didn't execute it well.”
Auburn started its drives in the first quarter at its own 9-yard line, 11-yard line, 34-yard line and 1-yard line. Backed up deep in its own territory, with the Tennessee student section and band right behind them.
“As much as we practiced it, we didn't handle it well,” Golesh said. “I own that, that's on me completely. As much as we practiced it, for us not to be able to go execute it, that's coaching.”
Auburn falls to 3-2 and 1-2 in the SEC entering its bye week. The Tigers’ next game will be against Georgia on Oct. 17.
