No Excuses for Auburn Tigers Failing to Close Out Games

The Auburn Tigers have struggled to close out some winnable games, and the team is holding itself accountable

The inability to close out games has cost Auburn in the win column / Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK

With the exception of its 31-13 loss on the road to Georgia, the Auburn Tigers has been competitive down to the wire in each game it has lost.

Turnovers led to losses for Auburn against Cal, Arkansas and Oklahoma, but the Missouri game was a different story.

The Tigers, who held a 17-6 lead entering the fourth quarter, failed to close out the game and allowed Missouri to put 18 unanswered points on the board to come back and win. It’s the second time this season, they let a late lead slip.

Auburn led 21-10 with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Sooners scored two touchdowns and a field goal to complete the comeback.

Auburn is playing a lot of freshmen, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. However, head coach Hugh Freeze does not see that as an excuse to not close out games.

“I know we're playing a lot of young kids,” Freeze said. “I think we're first in the nation in freshmen on defense and third, maybe on offense. But at some point, we've got to grow up and learn how to win and obviously I've got to learn how to coach them in a way that gives them the confidence to play to win and not ‘Hey, try to hold on.’ And it feels kind of like maybe that's what we've been trying to do.”

Freeze and the Tigers have dealt with growing pains that can be found in any young team. But it seems inevitable that Auburn will have four straight losing seasons, a feat that hasn’t happened since 1950.

Auburn will likely have to pull off three upsets to reach six wins, as Louisiana-Monroe could be the only game the Tigers are favored in for the rest of the season.

Finding a way to close out these close games is the thing preventing Auburn from making the wrong kind of history this season.