Offense stumbles in 10-3 loss to Kentucky – Auburn Tigers

AUBURN, Ala. –  Kentucky sacked Auburn’s quarterbacks seven occasions and scored the sport’s solely landing on the opening drive of the third quarter to earn its first SEC victory, beating the Tigers 10-3 Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

“They did a great job of shortening the game and converting third downs at critical moments,” Auburn coach Hugh Freeze stated. “I thought they played harder than we did, and that’s frustrating to say. We did not have many possessions, and it seemed like every time we did have something going, we’d have a negative play with a sack.”

Trailing 10-3 early within the fourth quarter, Jackson Arnold relieved Ashton Daniels for a drive that started on the Tigers’ 8-yard line. 

Jeremiah Cobb opened the possession with a 19-yard run, then Auburn picked up one other first down on Arnold’s 12-yard move to Omar Mabson II, however the Tigers have been unable to cross midfield after a second-down sack led to a punt.

Kensley Louidor-Faustin’s third-down sack pressured a Kentucky punt that gave Auburn one other likelihood for a game-tying drive with 5:18 to play from its 17 yard-line, however Kentucky sacked Arnold on third down, resulting in a three-and-out.

“When you get into that type of game and you have to drop back and throw, you’ve got to either turn it loose or protect better,” Freeze stated. “I believe it was a mixture however largely we simply struggled to guard.”

AnQuon Fegans gave Auburn one other glimmer of hope, returning his first profession interception 16 yards and crossing midfield earlier than fumbling again to the Wildcats with 2:56 left within the sport.

“They did a good job chasing him and stripping it,” Freeze stated. “He’ll learn from that and be better the next time.”

After Auburn pressured a punt, the Tigers reinserted Daniels with 2:12 to play and the ball at Auburn’s 9-yard line.

The Tigers transformed on fourth-and-6 on a move to Cam Coleman, then superior to Kentucky’s 35-yard line on a 19-yard completion to Preston Howard earlier than Kentucky intercepted Daniels’ desperation heave ultimately zone on the sport’s ultimate play.

Daniels accomplished 13 of 28 passes for 108 yards and rushed for 48 yards on 15 carries.

Tied 3-3 on the half, Kentucky (2-6, 1-5) opened the third quarter with a 10-play, 75-yard landing drive, taking a 10-3 lead on Cutter Boley’s 13-yard move to Kendrick Law.

After a scoreless first quarter, Kentucky used three explosive runs to achieve 40 yards, establishing Jacob Kauwe’s 48-yard discipline purpose for a 3-0 lead on the 11:40 mark of the second quarter.

Auburn crossed midfield late within the quarter on Daniels’ 26-yard run however a fourth-down sack ended the drive and gave the Wildcats the ball on the Tigers’ 49-yard line with 1:42 to play within the half.

Freshman Elijah Melendez picked an ideal time to document his first profession interception, selecting off Boley and returning it 27 yards to the Wildcats’ 35-yard line with a minute left within the half.

Two Cobb runs gained 20 yards, establishing Alex McPherson’s game-tying 27-yard discipline purpose with two seconds remaining earlier than halftime. Cobb led Auburn with 72 speeding yards on 20 carries.

Auburn’s main tackler in all six convention video games, Xavier Atkins led the Tigers with eight tackles. Amaris Williams added a sack and two tackles for loss. The Tigers held Kentucky to 240 yards of complete offense, together with 79 speeding yards on 32 makes an attempt, a median of two.5 yards per carry.

“It certainly hasn’t been the year any of us expected. Tonight, again, our kids laid it on the line for us — especially defensively, with their effort,” Freeze stated. “But offensively, there are zero excuses for how poorly we’re playing at times. We really struggled to protect tonight. They did a really nice job, and you have to give them some credit. But we’ve struggled offensively, and that is unacceptable the way we played.”

Auburn (4-5, 1-5) performs its ultimate away sport subsequent Saturday at No. 9 Vanderbilt at 3 p.m. CT on SEC Network and the Auburn Sports Network.

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer