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Breaking down Auburn's recent second-half offensive woes

Justin Hokansonby:Justin Hokanson•09/25/22•

_JHokanson

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Tank Bigbsy (Photo by Matt Rudolph/Auburn Live)

AUBURN – When does a bad set of circumstances or unfortunate set of events turn into a full blown trend?

For Auburn football, it seems we’re in a full blown bank-on-it trend at this point as it pertains to the Tigers’ second-half offense, or the lack thereof.

RELEVANT: GRADING THE TIGERS WIN OVER MISSOURI

Over the last seven games against Power Five competition + Houston in the bowl game (2-6 record for Auburn in those eight games), this is what Auburn’s second-half only offensive production looks like:

  • 31 total points (3.9 points per second-half average)
  • 3, yes 3 total touchdowns (.4 touchdowns per second-half average)
  • 104 points allowed (13 points per second-half average; this is a defensive stat, but we’ll include it for perspective, as the offense’s lack of production certainly puts additional pressure on the defense)
  • 24 punts (3 punts per second-half average)
  • 6 turnovers
  • 5 scoring drives
  • 4 turnover on downs
  • 7-for-28 third-quarter third-down conversions (.9 third-quarter conversions per game)
  • 4-for-28 fourth-quarter third-down conversions (.5 fourth-quarter conversions per game)
  • 16 total third-quarter points (2 third-quarter points per game on average)
  • 35 total third-quarter first downs (4.4 third-quarter first downs on average)
  • 646 total third-quarter yards (81 third-quarter yards on average)
  • 15 total fourth-quarter points (1.9 fourth-quarter points per game on average)
  • 28 total fourth-quarter first downs (3.5 fourth-quarter first downs on average)
  • 543 total fourth-quarter yards (68 fourth-quarter yards on average)
  • Auburn has won ONE second half in the last eight games (Auburn outscored Houston 10-7, but lost the game)

For every touchdown Auburn has scored, they’ve turned it over twice. For every touchdown scored, the Tigers have punted eight times.

And in the last four Power Five games + Houston in the bowl game, the Tigers have ZERO third-down conversions in the fourth quarter. You read that right. Zero. Auburn is 0-for-16 converting third downs in the fourth quarter during that span.

The beginning of this trend started in a 31-20 home win over No. 10 Ole Miss last season. The lack of second-half production was overlooked because on the flip side, the Auburn defense only surrendered three points of their own. It was a wash and the Tigers won.

After Auburn went six straight quarters without scoring a touchdown from the second half of the Ole Miss game through the Texas A&M game last season, the real start of this drought, Bryan Harsin said this:

“We need to have better plays, better play calls, opportunities to score and create those. That has to be corrected. It’s pretty obvious we have to score touchdowns to win games. We have to be good enough to correct that at the end of the day. That’s the challenge.”

Eleven months later, even with an offensive coordinator change in the offseason, every one of those challenges remains unconquered.

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