Five stock fallers from Auburn's blowout loss to LSU

The Tigers were blown out by LSU on Saturday night.

Lance Dawe | Oct 15, 2023

Five stock fallers from Auburn's blowout loss to LSU /

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Auburn Tigers

The Tigers were blown out by LSU on Saturday night.

There weren't a lot of positives to take away from the game. Coming out of a bye week it feels like almost nothing has changed. Outside of a couple of personnel changes at receiver, the Tigers looked flat. With two weeks to prepare against a team that gave up over 37 points per game.

Here are five stock fallers for Auburn after the loss.

Larry Nixon III

Nixon continues to struggle according to PFF. He has the fourth-lowest defensive grade on the team despite having played the fourth-most total snaps of any defensive player. He has the most missed tackles of any player (seven), had three of them this past week and has the worst coverage grade on the team by wide margin (39.2, next closest 51.2) has has given up more catches than anyone on defense.

He's not been performing well.

Zion Puckett

Puckett gave up a team-leading 86 passing yards against LSU. On the season he's given up the most yards (247, the next closest is Kayin lee at 241) and the most touchdown passes (three). Without Jaylin Simpson on the field, Auburn's safeties are a liability and they aren't getting any better.

Avery Jones

Jones is struggling with consistency at center. He had a couple of high snaps that cost Auburn dearly in short-yardage situations two weeks ago against Georgia and he started the LSU game off with a wild snap on the first drive. He had the second-worst PFF grade among offensive players and needs to improve.

Jarquez Hunter

Hunter looks like the third-best running back on this team right now.

If Damari Alston was healthy, we'd be having legitimate conversations about whether or not the Tigers should start to give more touches to other players in the room. It feels like things are beginning to move that way.

Here's how Auburn's running backs looked on Saturday night:

Jeremiah Cobb - 10 att. 69 yards (6.9 YPC)

Brian Battie - 6 att. 20 yds (3.3 YPC)

Jarquez Hunter - 7 att. 16 yards (2.3 YPC)

For the season, Hunter has the lowest yards per carry on the team (3.8) and the most carries (57). Brian Battie (172 yds, 4.8 YPC), Damari Alston (131 yds, 5.0 YPC), and Jeremiah Cobb (150 yds, 6.5 YPC) have all been more effective runners for the Tigers this season.

The offensive coaching staff

For the second game in a row, the offensive staff is a stock faller.

Auburn completed 15-of-27 passes for 154 yards and one touchdown against LSU. Before facing Auburn, LSU was giving up 285.3 passing yards per game. They're one of the worst secondaries in the country. Overall, they're one of the worst defenses in the nation.

This team was coming off of a bye week. Understand that adjusting expectations heading into this season was important. Auburn wasn't going to do anything special this year.

How is that the offensive product put onto the field after an extra week of preparation against a horrible defense? How is it that bad?

Auburn is now averaging less passing yards per game than their 2012 team. You know, the one that went 3-9? That should be a cause for concern.

There should not be an expectation for the Tigers to win games against big time opponents.

But to lose by 30 after the opponent was favored by 11, two weeks after nearly beating the No. 1 team in the country?

This cannot be blamed solely on lack of talent. This is a coaching issue.