The more things change, the more they stay the same. Auburn brought interim head coach DJ Durkin and a surprisingly-electric offense to Nashville on Saturday afternoon, but still found a way to lose in heartbreaking fashion, falling to the Vanderbilt Commodores 45-38 (OT).
Ashton Daniels recorded 442 total yards — 353 passing, 89 rushing — and 4 total touchdowns for Auburn. DJ Durkin’s offense lit up the scoreboard, and the Tigers’ roster had some life throughout the contest. This led some Auburn fans to declare Durkin should be the full-time replacement for the recently-fired Hugh Freeze.
Here’s some of the reaction on social media:
There’s definitely a vocal contingent that is in Durkin’s corner after the Tigers’ Week 11 performance, but there are still more voices against him having the interim tag removed.
Those fans focused on the defensive side of the ball. Entering action, Auburn hadn’t allowed more than 24 points in a game all season. In giving up 45 to the Commodores on Saturday, the Tigers had their worst showing of the year by a wide margin.
Durkin went 10-15 across 2 seasons as Maryland’s head coach roughly a decade ago (2016-17). He has not been a full-time head coach since then. A win on Saturday against a ranked Vanderbilt team with legitimate College Football Playoff aspirations could have done wonders for his chances to be Auburn’s replacement for Freeze.
But at the end of the day, winning matters. And he didn’t get the job done in that regard.
