Auburn football report card: Tigers' offense drags down grade in loss to Vanderbilt
AUBURN − Auburn football's offense is once again dragging the team's report card down.
The Tigers only managed one touchodwn on Saturday in Jordan Hare Stadium in a 17-7 loss to Vanderbilt. Auburn tallied 327 yards and had just one turnover but was unable to sustain any drives on offense. On the other side, the Tigers' defense turned in one of their better games of the season, slowing the Commodores' option offense to just 227 yards and two touchdowns.
Here's how we graded the Tigers' fifth SEC loss of the season.
Offense: D
Auburn's offense could not finish a drive on Saturday outside of the first-half touchdown. It had 214 yards of offense in the first but could only come up with one scoring drive.
Defense: A-
The Commodores' offense has given fits to other SEC programs, but the Tigers' defense held strong. The Commodores found success later in the second half, but it was still a strong showing.
Special teams: C
Towns McGough field goal woes continued with a missed 44-yarder, but outside of that the special teams units were strong. A big return by Vanderbilt set up the third-quarter field goal that ended up being the game-winner.
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Coaching: C
The defensive coaches get an A+ for how they shut down the Commodores' offense, but this is for the whole staff. As long as Auburn's offense can't generate scores, this grade is going to get dragged down.
Overall: C-
The defense was great, but the offense and special team blunders didn't give it any help, and now every game is must-win from here on out
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football grades vs Vanderbilt: How Tigers failed another SEC test