5 Things You Need to Know About the Auburn Tigers

We are on the verge of a lost season in Lexington. Despite a plethora of talent on both sides of the ball, the Kentucky Wildcats cannot find their footing in 2024. We saw the writing on the wall after an embarrassing performance, at home, against South Carolina in week two. However, a near upset of Georgia followed by a win at Ole Miss gave new life to lofty preseason expectations. Now, after losing to Vanderbilt at home and getting demolished in The Swamp things have officially gone from bad to worse. The Kentucky Wildcats are in serious jeopardy of not making a bowl game for the first time since 2015. Without a win on Saturday night against the Auburn Tigers it’ll be nearly impossible.

For as rough as the season has been for Kentucky, it has been even worse for Auburn. Their only wins are at home against Alabama A&M and New Mexico. They lost at home to California and are now 0-4 in the Southeastern Conference. However, those games have largely been competitive. The Tigers lost 24-14 to Arkansas, 27-21 to Oklahoma, 31-13 at Georgia, and 21-17 at Missouri. One of these two teams will have to get up off of the mat under the lights at Kroger Field on Saturday night.

As always, we have all of your pregame needs right here on Kentucky Sports Radio dot com for the 7:45 p.m. (Eastern Time) kickoff on SEC Network between the Kentucky Wildcats (3-4, 1-4) and the Auburn Tigers (2-5, 0-4). If you haven’t already, you have to dive into Adam Luckett’s Scouting Report. That is your in-depth, football-nerd preview. For those in search of a more surface level look at what to expect on Saturday evening, you are in the right place. Let’s dive on in to five things you need to know about the Auburn Tigers.

Feast or Famine Offense

Head coach Hugh Freeze is calling the offensive plays for the Auburn Tigers once again this season. The results have produced a bunch of explosive plays, but also a bunch of turnovers and unfinished drives. Despite ranking 13th nationally averaging 6.92 yards per play, the Tigers are scoring just over 16 points per game in their four Southeastern Conference contests. How do you get such poor end results with so much play-by-play success? Turnovers and third down/redzone issues have been a consistent achilles heel.

Auburn has turned the ball over 16 times through seven games. That really is 16 times in six games because the Tigers stayed out of the turnover column in their near upset at Missouri last Saturday. Kentucky will absolutely need to win the turnover battle at home to get back in the win column. Along with struggling to take care of the football, Auburn has also had a hard time converting on third down and in the red zone.

They are just under 40% on third down which is 72nd nationally and are finding pay dirt on just 55% of red zone chances which is 99th in the country. Part of the issue has been negative plays as well. While the offense has been explosive, they also have a tendency to go backwards. A havoc rate of 12.8%, 106th in the country, and a pressure rate of 28.8% prove that out.

If Kentucky can create havoc and win the turnover battle it’ll go a long way to finding success at Kroger Field.

Veteran Quarterback Returns for Auburn

It wasn’t a pretty performance for Payton Thorne in week two for the Auburn Tigers. The fifth year senior completed just half of his passes while throwing four interceptions in a home loss to California. Thorne was bench for Auburn’s homecoming win over New Mexico, but returned to action in week four as SEC play began. In four conference games, the former Michigan State transfer is 67-110 (60.9%) for 927 yards. He has six touchdowns and two inceptions in those games as well. However, despite settling into the QB1 role, it hasn’t translated yet to winning football games.

It has been Thorne’s downfield ability that has opened up big plays for the Tigers. He is averaging 8.9 yards per attempt and is finding success on throws 20+ yards downfield. Kentucky’s bend, don’t break defense hasn’t exactly held up in recent weeks. However, Saturday night could be an opportunity to flex the philosophies muscles once again.

Plenty of Weapons at Wide Receiver

It is a mixture of transfer portal finds and true freshmen that are making noise out wide for the Auburn Tigers this season. We’ve mentioned their success through the air and big play ability so some talent in the wide receiver room is obviously part of that equation as well.

KeAndre Lambert-Smith is Thorne’s favorite target through the air. After amassing 1,721 yards and 11 touchdowns in four seasons at Penn State, the 6’1″ 181 pound wideout has made his way to Auburn. For the Tigers he leads the way in targets (41), receptions (26), yards (526), and touchdowns (six). He was limited to just two catches and 16 yards at Missouri so expect to see him factor back into the equation more heavily against the ‘Cats. True freshman Malcolm Simmons has been the next most productive option catching 22 balls for 289 yards and a pair of scores. Fellow freshman Cam Coleman has 259 yards on just 10 catches with two touchdowns. Those two are truly dynamic options.

Robert Lewis, a Georgia State transfer, and Rivaldo Fairweather are two other targets to keep an eye on. Lewis is a speedster in the slot while Fairweather is a 6’4″ 252 pound redzone favorite.

Clear RB1 Putting Together Potential All-SEC Season

We’ve discussed the Auburn Tigers’ big play ability through the air. However, they counterbalance it well with being explosive on the ground as well. Senior running back Jarquez Hunter has had a great career for Auburn and is capping it off with a potential All-SEC season. He rushed for 593 yards as a true freshman, 668 yards as a sophomore, and then 909 last season. With 585 rushing yards this year he is closing in on 3,000 career yards and now sits at 20 career touchdowns. Ripping off six yards per carry with an explosive run rate of nearly 20% has helped to keep defenses honest between the run and the pass as well.

Kentucky’s defense will not only have to contend with Auburn’s explosive passing game, but they will be going against a running back that has forced 36 missed tackles this season. The Tigers have struggled to close out drives due to third down issues, redzone issues, and turnovers, but limiting the explosives will be a major key for the ‘Cats. How many 20+ yard plays Auburn is able to break off will likely be a telling stat towards what the scoreboard says at Kroger Field on Saturday night.

Solid Defense That Excels Against the Run

This is an Auburn Tigers defense that is very average across the board. They don’t have a glaring weakness, but they also don’t have a major strength aside from stuffing the run pretty well. Opponents are generating less than four yards per carry which ranks 13th best nationally. With Demie Sumo-Karngbaye and Chip Trayanum both out for Kentucky all eyes will be on Jamarion Wilcox. The talented redshirt freshman is likely to get the baulk of the carries Saturday. He will need to find success for Kentucky to win the football game.

Keldric Faulk is the star of Auburn’s defensive front. The 6’6″ 288 pound sophomore was an immediate impact player last season. Now, he leads the Tigers in pressures with 27 and sacks with five. Even at his size, Faulk has proven to be a versatile threat on the defensive line. Jalen McLeod also has five sacks with 17 pressures this season. He will be another rusher for the Kentucky offensive line to worry about in this matchup.