Just how much better was Auburn's offense against Vanderbilt?
Less than a week after firing Hugh Freeze, Auburn put up offensive numbers in SEC play that it hadn't hit in years... and even decades.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Call it addition by subtraction.
In the final two games of the Hugh Freeze era at Auburn, the Tigers’ offense scored one offensive touchdown. That came on the very first drive on the very first game.
With offensive coordinator Derrick Nix calling all the plays under interim head coach DJ Durkin, it took just two drives for Auburn to double up its touchdown output.
Before, during and after Auburn’s 45-38 shootout loss in overtime at Vanderbilt on Saturday, Durkin and the the players said the difference for the Tigers’ offense in the aftermath of Freeze’s firing would be simple: Get the ball to the playmakers more.
It sounded so elementary to the point that there might not have been much pre-game confidence that it would work from the outside looking in. Auburn’s practice Tuesday looked virtually identical to the one before scoring just three points against Kentucky.
The only major personnel change came along the offensive line. Auburn moved Mason Murphy from right tackle to center, replacing Kail Ellis — the youngest player in FBS football and a replacement for the injured Connor Lew.
The Tigers added Izavion “Too Tall” Miller to the starting lineup, but the former two-year starter had already seen action in every one of their previous games.
Other than that, Auburn remained the same. Ashton Daniels remained the starting quarterback after a brief benching in the loss to Kentucky, where former starter Jackson Arnold returned and didn’t do much. Every other position group kept things rolling, and every offensive assistant coach was retained after Freeze’s firing.
The result was not only the single-best game of the season for Auburn’s offense against quality competition. While it was tough for the outburst to come on the same day when Auburn’s defense had its roughest performance under Durkin, it matters.
In several ways, the Tigers produced like they hadn’t done in SEC play in several years and several head coaches.
And, in one specific stat, Auburn had its best offensive performance in more than a decade. In another, it was more than two decades.