Uniform classes Auburn vs. Vanderbilt

In the build-up to the game, Diego Pavia starred.

He improved his record against Auburn to 2-0, but it wasn't really his fault.

Auburn's defense held Vanderbilt to 227 yards rushing and outgained the Commodores by 100 yards, but as has been the case all season, Auburn failed to capitalize on its scoring opportunities en route to a 17-7 home loss on Saturday.

The Tigers have next week off before facing Louisiana Monroe the following week.

Let's move on to some unit notes.

ATTACK: D

Auburn won the yards battle, but not the scoring battle. Does this sound familiar?

The obvious plan seemed to be to give Jarquez Hunter the ball, and it seemed especially obvious after he made a 15-yard run on the first play.

His next nine runs in the first half went for just 22 yards. After that, he only touched the ball twice more.

Vanderbilt stacked the box and dared Payton Thorne to beat them, and aside from a touchdown drive, the strategy worked.

Hunter was turned into a decoy and was only a third back at times. After a career day the week before, he ran for just 50 yards.

Whenever the Tigers had a drive that looked promising, they ended it with penalties or a trick play that lost them 10 yards.

On the day, the Tigers were 2 of 13 on third down

All in all, it was an incredibly dull and boring performance from the Auburn offense.

DEFENSE: A-

Look, Auburn's defense held on for as long as possible, life or death.

Aside from a touchdown drive where Pavia worked his magic, the Tiger defense had a stranglehold on the Commodore offense.

Vanderbilt's first touchdown was a 28-yard pass, and after that the Commodores didn't complete a pass until midway through the fourth quarter.

Even when Vanderbilt took the lead with its field goal, it was on a short field where the Tiger defense didn't allow a first down.

On Vanderbilt's Dagger touchdown drive, it was obvious that the defense was gassed, but even that drive should have ended in three points if not for a special teams error.

Pavia completed just nine of his 22 attempts and threw for 143 yards.

Vanderbilt managed just 84 yards as a team and averaged 2.2 yards per attempt.

Vanderbilt's EPA per game was -0.22, which would rank in the 13th percentile nationally.

These are all numbers that should result in an Auburn win, but that's not the case.

Auburn's defense did its part.

SPECIAL TEAMS: F

Special teams won't win games often, but they will certainly lose them – that's what happened on Saturday.

Oscar Chapman had a good day, but was no match for Vanderbilt punter Jesse Mirco, who averaged 53.9 yards per punt and pinned Auburn deep several times, one of which set up the field goal that gave Vanderbilt the lead that won it would never give away again.

On the game-winning drive, Vanderbilt made a field goal to make it 13-7, but Keldric Faulk attempted to jump the line and block the field goal, leading to a Commodore first down and eventual Dagger touchdown.

Additionally, Towns McGough missed two field goals to continue what was a difficult freshman season for him.

In the second half, Malcolm Simmons replaced Keionte Scott as Auburn's punt returner and had some good returns, but that was about the extent of Auburn's success on special teams.

Just one disastrous special teams game in a disastrous special teams season.

COACHING: D-

DJ Durkin is excluded here, his group was great most of the day and he had a great plan for Pavia.

Hugh Freeze, Derrick Nix and Tanner Burns have some explaining to do.

After a career day against Kentucky, Hunter only carried the ball 12 times and was used as a decoy at times.

And then there is the play. On third-and-seven, Auburn threw the ball just past the sticks to the right and kicked a field goal one play later.

They also attempted a trick play on first-and-10 after moving the ball relatively well on that drive. The game ended in a 10-yard loss and resulted in an Auburn punt.

Just two examples from a matchday that can only be described as strange and questionable.

IN TOTAL: D-

It was simple: beat Vanderbilt and set up a possible night game at Jordan-Hare against a potentially top-10 Texas A&M team.

That can still happen, but now the positive momentum that the Kentucky game created is completely gone.

The defense played a great game and only allowed 14 points.

Auburn's offense once again won the yardage duel, but as has been the case all season, it failed to convert when it mattered most.

I don't care how good Vanderbilt looked at times this season, Auburn was at home, matched up well with the Commodores and is the more talented team.

It's an inexcusable loss, clearly.