Practice Observations: Auburn football is sticking to its guns
The Tigers still believe they're close to getting a turnaround victory, and they're doubling down on what they've done so far.
AUBURN — If you’re looking for major changes from Auburn football after its third straight 0-3 SEC start under Hugh Freeze, you weren’t going to see them Tuesday.
Not in terms of personnel, at least. Auburn took the practice field Tuesday morning with the same cast of characters on offense and defense, save for the recent departure of fourth-year senior running back and team captain Damari Alston.
That includes quarterback Jackson Arnold, who Freeze has said will start Saturday against Missouri. For the second consecutive season, Arnold finds himself in last place among qualified SEC starting quarterbacks in passing yards per attempt, and he hasn’t had a game with a positive EPA on dropbacks since conference play started.
You’re not going to see any major changes to the offensive line, despite the fact Auburn has only scored 37 points across the last three games and has been held under 300 total yards in each of them. The personnel in the skill positions is also unchanged — again, outside of the Alston departure.
“Same mentality as always, man,” Arnold said. “Just go in and try to get a win. Our expectation is to go in and get a win, and that doesn’t change week to week. We’re going to keep fighting, keep being dogs, and keep grinding week in and week out.”
You’re also not going to see much difference from the defense, although DJ Durkin’s unit has played quality football during this losing streak. Yes, the Tigers have their flaws on that side of the ball, such as penalties and being unable to get off the field on a few exceptionally long drives. Auburn’s defense might be guilty of just trying to do too much than anything else.
The defensive leaders have been working to keep the faith and keep the team together. After the Georgia loss Saturday, defensive end Keldric Faulk and defensive back Champ Anthony sent a message to the entire roster in the locker room.
“If you don’t want to here — if you don’t believe in the vision of us going undefeated for the rest of the season, don’t be here,” defensive back Kensley Louidor-Faustin recalled. “We believe in the vision of going undefeated and playing Auburn football.”
This is an Auburn football team that — for now — is looking at its current state as a streak of three close losses to top-10 football teams and not a reason to hit the panic button. Freeze continues to say that he feels the Tigers are still close to breaking through, and his players echoed him Tuesday after practice.
“I hate saying that because, obviously, I don’t want to be close,” Arnold said. “I want us to win these games. But, realistically, we are close. We’re a fumble on the 1-yard line away from being 17-0 against Georgia, or 17-3, against Georgia. It’s little things like that that are just kind of killing us and shooting us in the foot.
“I really do think we are close. It’s just getting over the hump now.”
Auburn will put this stick-to-your-guns approach to the test Saturday against Missouri, an SEC opponent that’s done better than expected this season but is coming off of a close loss to Alabama. Auburn opened as the betting favorite Sunday, yet the line has already moved in favor of Missouri.
It will be another night game at Jordan-Hare Stadium, and it will be another opportunity for the Tigers to turn around their season.
Can they get different results by mostly sticking to the same process? Well, they’re going to at least try.
“We just need to win,” left guard Dillon Wade said. “That’s it.”
Here’s more of what we saw and heard at the football performance center Tuesday as Auburn gears up for the visit from Missouri — starting with our practice notebook.
