Five takeaways from Auburn’s win over Missouri
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Of all the football games to ever happen, that was certainly one of them.
Auburn beat Missouri by a score of 17-14 — more aptly, Missouri beat Missouri twice by both missing a field goal on the goal line as time expired and then subsequently dropping a football right before it crossed the plane. As such, rumors that Bryan Harsin would be fired if he lost to Missouri can be put on hold for now, but the win was an ugly one that won’t leave Auburn fans too happy.
Here are five takeaways from a rare win that most involved would like to forget:
Auburn will have some serious trouble down this next stretch
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Auburn is set to play a stretch of football against LSU, Georgia, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Mississippi State and Texas A&M in its next six games. It will not be a fun time.
The Tigers realistically should have lost to Mizzou twice here, and the escape with a win against the now-worst team in the conference shouldn’t be inspiring anybody. Auburn is about to have a very bad time along this stretch and will likely be outplayed significantly by each of its upcoming opponents, which leads to the next point…
Bryan Harsin needs to be fired posthaste
(AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Rumors had it that Bryan Harsin would be fired should the team have lost to Mizzou. His Auburn Tigers were dead to rights at two different points at the game’s end and managed to escape, but that shouldn’t save Harsin’s job.
Here’s the deal: Auburn is unlikely to win any of its next six games, and those losses would look a little better to recruits and national perception if an interim coach lost them. Everyone wants Harsin gone, and removing him now wouldn’t look bad on the athletic association and the Tigers could get to rebuilding with a jump on any teams that may be looking to do the same.
Oscar Chapman did his job
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This game hurt to watch, but Auburn’s [autotag]Oscar Chapman[/autotag] was simply excellent.
Props where props are due. Chapman averaged 45.9 yards per punt and downed the football inside the 20-yard-line three different times. Chapman was great, but Auburn also brought him out to punt eight times — might want to avoid letting him show his skills too often in the foreseeable future.
Auburn's defense showed up
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I mentioned in my defensive keys that the defense needed to get turnovers and force Mizzou quarterback Brady Cook out of his comfort zone, and they certainly did just that.
The Tigers finally got their turnover when [autotag]Derick Hall[/autotag] picked off a tipped ball early in the game. He also had three tackles for loss, which terrorized Missouri’s offense in combination with Auburn’s four total sacks. It was exactly the day that unit needed to get right back on track, and it certainly shined in comparison to Auburn’s other side of the ball.
Auburn's offense, meanwhile...
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The Tigers offense threw 21 passes and ran 45 times. The team averaged 6.4 yards per attempt through the air and 1.8 yards per attempt on the ground.
Is that good?
The answer, unfortunately, is no, and it’s only a continuation of Auburn’s offensive woes across this year. Quarterback [autotag]Robby Ashford[/autotag] and running back [autotag]Tank Bigsby[/autotag] picked up a touchdown on the ground, but the production overall was miserable — what’s more, Ashford’s work in the passing game was unsustainable. Tigers fans may have to wait a long time before they’re wowed by this Auburn unit going forward.
