Film Room: Two trends and two plays that loomed large for Auburn's offense vs. SC

To fully understand what went wrong for the Tigers on Saturday, let's take a closer look at the first and third downs — plus two other damaging plays.

RB Tank Bigsby (Todd Van Emst/Auburn Athletics)

There are several statistical aspects of Auburn’s 21-17 loss to South Carolina that, honestly, don’t make much sense.

Auburn’s rushing attack — dormant for most of the season — roared back to life at South Carolina, averaging 6.2 sack-adjusted yards per attempt. And Auburn still lost.

The Tigers’ offensive line wasn’t at its best when it came to pass protection, but it allowed just one sack and two tackles for loss while creating holes for the running game. And Auburn still lost.

Backup quarterback T.J. Finley, thrust into the starting job 11 games into the season after an injury to Bo Nix, didn’t turn the ball over once. No one on the Tigers’ offense did, for that matter. And Auburn still lost.

Auburn had a receiver hit the century mark in veteran Shedrick Jackson, who caught seven of his nine targets for 111 yards. And Auburn still lost.

The Tigers out-gained the Gamecocks, 379 to 306. They won the yards per play battle, 5.8 to 5.6. They ave…