Final Auburn stock report following 28-14 Iron Bowl loss to Alabama

The Auburn Tigers’ season ended with a 28-14 loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Iron Bowl. It was good. It was bad. There were familiar things and there were some surprise appearances.

We take final stock from the game in Tuscaloosa as Auburn heads into National Signing Day on Wednesday in hopes of landing another top-10 class.

Put points on the scoreboard – AB

This is an area that has plagued the 5-7 Tigers all season. They will move the ball between the 20s but will struggle to score points deep in opponent territory.

In the first half, Auburn ran 21 offensive plays on the Alabama side. 15 of them inside the Alabama 25, nine in the red zone and three plays inside the three. None of these plays ended in a touchdown.

Auburn’s first chance to score ended with a missed 39-yard field goal attempt by Ian Vachon, who hit left. The result carried over to Auburn’s next attempt deep in Alabama territory when Hugh Freeze elected to go for it on a fourth down.

On the first play of the second quarter, trailing 7-0 with fourth-and-4 at the Tide’s 19, Payton Thorne threw an incompletion on what looked like a throwaway from the senior, who was playing in his final college game.

There were plenty of opportunities in the first half. After a 31-yard throw over the middle to Malcolm Simmons and a personal foul on Alabama defensive back Malachi Moore at the end of the game, Auburn was threatening again in the second quarter.

False starts by the Tigers’ offensive line were a problem throughout the game, even though the crowd wasn’t that loud by SEC standards. Playing behind the chains was once again a problem in Alabama’s red zone, but an even bigger problem was Thorne’s inability to complete drives.

He missed an open KeAndre Lambert-Smith in the Alabama end zone on a well-set screen and go that started the same way as an orbit screen to Simmons on the previous possession. The call opened for Lambert-Smith, but the ball was thrown poorly.

Then Thorne was faced with a blitz on 3rd-and-15 with Jarquez Hunter wide open over the middle and under the Bama safeties. However, Thorne chose to throw the ball to Hunter, which gave Moore time to blow up Hunter while catching it.

The ball fell incomplete and a 37-yard field goal by Vachon cut Alabama’s lead to 7-3.

Auburn’s defense allowed 457 yards and four offensive touchdowns, but also had four turnovers. Late in the half, Jalen McLeod trailed 3-14, got around left tackle Kadyn Proctor, Jalen Milroe ran to the strip and Philip Blidi recovered.

Auburn’s offense started with a small field for what felt like the first time in all season. Starting at the Alabama 34-yard line, Auburn quickly got back into the Alabama red zone.

After a tight end screen against Rivaldo Fairweather following a fake rollout in the opposite direction, Auburn had a 1st down at the Alabama 2-yard line. However, Auburn missed its best chance of the game and came away with just three points.

Hunter was stopped by a throw from the two behind the line, but a Thorne counterattack brought the ball just inches from the goal line, allowing a third down play. The Auburn offense hurried, snapped quickly, and that resulted in the Tide defenders not being blocked and the Bama defense being stopped.

Such a fast pace wasn’t entirely necessary since there were 29 seconds left in the first half and Auburn still had a timeout. Freeze acknowledged his tempo call error to the media after the game, and Thorne did the same with his missed touchdown to Lambert-Smith.

At halftime, it felt like Auburn was in bad shape, trailing just 14-6. The offense didn’t have as many chances in the second half. And on defense, turnovers were the reason Alabama didn’t end its drives with touchdowns.

The Crimson Tide dominated the early stages of the third quarter and took a 28-6 lead. Auburn struck back with a touchdown from Thorne to Cam Coleman and a two-point conversion run from Hunter.

After the deficit was reduced to 14, McLeod rose again, this time over the other edge. He tracked down Milroe, picked the ball out, and Keldric Faulk retrieved it. After a couple of first downs, the Tigers were just 30 yards away from cutting the game to seven points early in the fourth quarter.

However, a trick game went wrong. With the quad receivers still remaining, Thorne threw a lateral to Hunter. From then on, the play had two passing options: a throw back to Thorne on the screen (which was covered) or a deep throw across the field to Lambert-Smith (which was also covered).

Hunter probably should have just made up for lost yardage, but he threw to the field for Lambert-Smith. It was right to release safety Bray Hubbard for the pick.

From there, the Tide maintained its lead at 28-14.

Defense forces turnovers – UP

Auburn had forced just 13 turnovers in 11 games of the season, but the defense picked off Milroe once and forced four more fumbles, recovering three of them.

Early on, Milroe beat Ryan Williams up the middle for a big gain, but Kaleb Harris was able to knock the ball loose on the tackle while Eugene Asante recovered.

Moments later, Faulk ripped the ball out of Milroe’s hands as he ran up the field, but the Tide were able to retain possession.

In the second quarter, Alabama had driven from its own 19 to Auburn’s 35 when safety Caleb Wooden intercepted a tipped ball over the middle.

Then there were the two aforementioned forced fumbles by McLeod, which not only changed possession, but also gave the Tigers’ offense a chance to score points through good starting position.

However, Auburn was only able to score six points from the four turnovers.

Third Down Defense – Down

Aside from Alabama’s kneeldown at the end of the first half, the Tide’s offense had four drives that ended in touchdowns, four drives that ended in turnovers and just three drives that ended in a punt. The Tigers defensively had a hard time getting off the field, allowing Alabama to convert 12 of 18 third-down conversions.

The Auburn defense forced a punt in the first three quarters of the game, and without the four turnovers, Alabama could have scored much more than 28 points.

Alabama’s offense was an incredible 10 of 10 on 3rd downs between 5 and 8 yards from goal. It was 4-8 on 3rd and short (1-4 yards left), 1-4 on 3rd and long (9+).

Auburn’s Run Offense – Down

Initially it looked like Hunter was going to have a field day on site, but that wasn’t the case.

After a first quarter in which Hunter completed 5 carries for 48 yards, including runs of 19 and 21, the Auburn senior tailback was shut down in his final collegiate game.

Starting with Alabama’s goal-line stop of Auburn just before halftime, Hunter averaged negative yards per attempt the rest of the way.

Hunter finished the season with 1,206 yards on the ground and his career with 3,376 yards. His record against the Crimson Tide was good enough to place him fourth on Auburn’s all-time rushing list.

Of note, Lambert-Smith finished his only season at Auburn with 981 yards rushing after a 116-yard performance in the Iron Bowl.

Auburn at Alabama postgame notes

November 30, 2024; Bryant-Denny Stadium; Tuscaloosa, Ala.

>> Captains: Eugene Asante, Luke Deal, Jerrin Thompson, Jeremiah Wright

>> Coin toss: Alabama wins the coin toss and postpones; Auburn is preserved

TEAM NOTES

>> First-time starter for Auburn: none

>> Auburn has scored in a school-record 154 consecutive games

INDIVIDUAL NOTES/VIOLATIONS

>> Jarquez Hunter is fourth among Auburn career rushers with 3,371 yards, passing Ben Tate (3,321 from 2006-09) and Joe Cribbs (3,368 from 1976-79); Next is James Brooks (3,523 from 1977-80)

>> Hunter ranks 19th among Auburn single-season rushers all-time with 1,201 yards this season

>> Hunter ranks sixth in career all-purpose yardage at Auburn with 4,446 yards; Next are Joe Cribbs (4,561 from 1976-79), Onterio McCalebb (4,566 from 2009-12) and Bo Jackson (4,892 from 1982-85).

>> Cam Coleman is third in Auburn freshman receiving yards with 598, passing Seth Williams (534 in 2018); Next is Freddy Weygand (796 in 1984)

>> Coleman has eight touchdown catches this season, the second-most all-time by an Auburn freshman behind Ronney Daniels (9 in 1999)q

>> Malcolm Simmons ranks fifth in Auburn freshman receiving with 451 yards so far, just behind Cam Coleman

>> Payton Thorne has 21 touchdown passes this season and 36 at Auburn

>> Luke Deal set an Auburn record with 65 career appearances

>> Rivaldo Fairweather is tied for the Auburn lead in career tight end receptions with 68 with John Samuel Shenker (68 from 2018-22).

>> Fairweather is fourth among Auburn tight ends in his career with 763 yards, passing Robert Johnson (741 from 2000-02); Next up are Fred Baxter (767 from 1990-92), John Samuel Shenker (779 from 2018-22).

INDIVIDUAL NOTES/DEFENSE

>> Kaleb Harris records his first career forced fumble; Eugene Asante records his second fumble recovery at Auburn

>> Keldric Faulk records his first and second career forced fumbles

>> Caleb Wooden records his first interception of the season and the second of his career

>> Jalen McLeod records his second and third forced fumbles at Auburn

>> Philip Blidi records his first Auburn fumble recovery

>> Jalen McLeod has 13.5 sacks and 23.0 TFL in his Auburn career

INDIVIDUAL NOTES/SPECIAL TEAMS

>> Oscar Chapman is now Auburn’s career all-time leader in punts with 246, passing Lewis Colbert (244 punts from 1982-85).