'We're kind of letting these guys down': Auburn's offense once again can't keep up with the defense's performance

The big question heading into Auburn's game against Vanderbilt was whether or not the Tigers could contain Diego Pavia, the quarterback who cheered them on in New Mexico State last season.

Auburn answered that question emphatically, holding Pavia to 143 yards through the air on 9 of 22 passes and 26 rushing yards on 12 attempts. Vanderbilt even achieved a total of 227 yards, the Commodores' lowest mark in a game this season.

The defense did all of that and still lost by double digits.

Auburn's 17-7 loss to Vanderbilt was its sixth of the season, fifth in conference play and first ever against the Commodores at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Much like many of Auburn's losses this season, the theme was similar.

“Whether it's finishing drives with points from our field goal unit or not converting third downs, we struggled with all of that today,” Hugh Freeze said after the game.

For Auburn, finishing both drives and games has been a problem all season. Against Vanderbilt, the Tigers were 2 of 13 on third down and didn't convert their first third down until the third quarter.

Auburn edged Vanderbilt 327-227, but only scored on one of its 12 drives in the game. The defense also gave the offense plenty of opportunities.

One concern for Auburn coming into the game was time of possession and Vanderbilt not giving Auburn's offense many chances to score. Aside from a nearly nine-minute drive in the fourth quarter, Auburn consistently got the Commodores off the field quickly, completing just three fewer plays than Vanderbilt.

“It feels like we let these guys down,” offensive tackle Dillon Wade said after the game.

“If I was on defense, I would be frustrated too,” Payton Thorne said. “I feel bad, being on offense and obviously being the quarterback of the offense, that we’re not helping them more.”

Thorne threw for 239 yards and a touchdown on 20 of 29 passes. His numbers weren't bad, but his performance wasn't perfect. It didn't help that he was sacked three times.

The more disappointing sight was that Auburn didn't run a running game, which helped the Tigers in their win over Kentucky. After rushing for 328 yards the week before, Auburn finished the game against Vanderbilt with 88 rushing yards, an average of three yards per carry.

Meanwhile, the defense held Vanderbilt to 84 rushing yards on 2.2 yards per carry. Freeze said after the game that the defense “played well enough to keep us in the game,” but in every game except one, the offense couldn't do the little bit that was asked of it to close out the game.

At the beginning of the season there were turnovers. Now Auburn just can't score.

“That has also been a story for us too often this year,” said Freeze. “I thought our defense showed all it was capable of and played well enough to win and probably had the best performance of anyone all year against this team and out-rebounded them again for what felt like the fifth time this year , and we have nothing to show for it because we just can’t finish.”

Peter Rauterkus reports on Auburn Sports AL.com. You can follow him on X below @peter_rauterkus or send him an email at [email protected]M