A look at the Tigers win at Kentucky that could propel Auburn to a better finish than the experts predicted this season.

5 TAKEAWAYS

  • Urgency: The Tigers showed something they have not in the first half of the season on offense — a sense of urgency. Auburn sprinted to a 7-0 lead on the initial drive of the game playing as if the offense’s hair was on fire. Heading into the game, the Tigers averaged 66 plays per game. In Lexington, Auburn ran 75.
  • Offensive variety early: Auburn was not a one-man show Thursday. Instead, it fed Kentucky a steady diet of everybody. Five players ran the ball and six players caught a pass. Auburn even used the Wildcat against the Wildcats with Kerryon Johnson and Barber at the controls.
  • Lethargy: Auburn came out of the halftime locker room looking tired. It was outscored 10-0 in the third quarter, but the bad thing was the Tigers just did not seem like they wanted to be on the field. They are lucky Kentucky did not take more of an advantage of it.
  • Peyton Barber is underrated: He is not Leonard Fournette. He is not a healthy Nick Chubb. But, the Auburn running back gets the yards his team needs. He may not have the flashy SportsCenter runs, but he produces. Barber finished with 92 hard-fought yards and two touchdowns.
  • Clutch defense: In the waning moments of the game, Auburn’s defense came up huge. As Kentucky drove to a potential game tying/winning drive, the Tigers’ defense bent, but did not break and allowed UK to simply run out of steam.

REPORT CARD

Offense: B. The Tigers were inconsistent during the game. They started off like gang busters only to turn stagnant later in the game. Fortunately for Auburn, it righted itself to win the game.

Defense: B. Auburn surrendered 359 yards passing during the game. If Kentucky could have run the ball with any consistency, the outcome may have been different.

Special teams: A. The Tigers were solid in this phase. Daniel Carlson was perfect and Auburn had 156 yards in returns. Two of Kevin Phillips’ five punts died inside the 20-yard line.

Overall: B+. Easily, this was Auburn’s most complete game of the season. It did just enough to win, but it did it more impressively than it did against the likes of San Jose State or Jacksonville State.

GAME PLAN

Auburn came out with a high-octane offense to start the game and put points on the scoreboard. What happened to that later in the game? The Tigers became vanilla in the second half. In the first half, Auburn averaged 6.1 yards per play. Nowhere near in the second.

GAME BALLS:

  • Gus Malzahn: The Auburn coach patrolled the sidelines without his visor Thursday as a way to honor Steve Spurrier. He is signing it and donating it to charity. Classy move.
  • Ricardo Louis: Louis caught seven passes for 154 yards, but his numbers could have been better. He left the game with an eye injury in the first half after torching the UK secondary. Louis did return and caught a clutch pass in the fourth quarter to help preserve the win.
  • Daniel Carlson: The Auburn kicker nailed a 52-yard field goal as time expired in the first half. It was his third 50-plus yard kick of the season and gave the Tigers a lift at the break with a 13-point lead. He was 3-0f-3 in field goals and 3-of-3 in conversions.

INJURY UPDATE:

  • Carl Lawson missed another game with a hip injury as did Joshua Holsey and Tyler Queen who are out for the year.
  • Louis sat for the second quarter after being poked in the eye by a Wildcats’ defensive back. He did return in the second half.
  • Roc Thomas left the field moments before the half after being injured on a punt return.