AUBURN, Ala. – Back home for the first time since September, Auburn outgained Vanderbilt but struggled on third down in a 17-7 loss to the Commodores Saturday at sold-out Jordan-Hare Stadium.
“The defense played outstanding and gave us a chance to win the game,” Auburn coach Hugh Freeze said. “Offensively and special teams-wise, we’re not playing at a high enough level to win these games. We’ve got to finish drives and get points. We didn’t convert near enough third downs to stay on the field. I think that’s what it comes down to.”
Leading 10-7 after three quarters, Vanderbilt took a two-score lead by driving 78 yards on 14 plays, consuming nearly 9 minutes and taking advantage of a personal foul penalty on a made field goal that gave the Commodores first-and-goal at Auburn’s 4-yard line.
Vanderbilt scored one play later on Diego Pavia’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Eli Stowers with 4:18 to play.
Trailing by 10, Auburn drove to Vanderbilt’s 34-yard line but missed a 52-yard field goal attempt with 2:17 to play.
Auburn held Vanderbilt to 227 yards while producing 327, holding Pavia to a 41-percent completion percentage (9-for-22) and limiting the Commodores to 84 rushing yards on 38 attempts, an average of 2.2 yards per carry.
Payton Thorne completed 20 of 29 passes for 239 yards and a touchdown. KeAndre Lambert-Smith led Auburn with 78 receiving yards on four catches, but the Tigers were 2 of 13 on third down and averaged only 3 yards per rush on 29 attempts.
Tied 7-7 at the half, Auburn drove 46 to Vanderbilt’s 26-yard line but missed 44-yard field goal attempt.
Vanderbilt capitalized on a short field after forcing Auburn to punt from its 1-yard line and returning Oscar Chapman’s 59-yard punt 39 yards to the Tigers’ 21. Brock Taylor’s 31-yard field goal gave the Commodores a10-7 lead with 1:05 remaining in the third quarter.
Vanderbilt took a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter on Pavia’s 28-yard touchdown pass to AJ Newberry to cap an 81-yard drive.
Auburn answered in the second quarter, twice converting on fourth down on an 11-play, 80-yard drive.
Jarquez Hunter took a direct snap and picked up 2 yards on fourth-and-1 from Auburn’s 39-yard line. On fourth-and-2 from Auburn’s 49, Thorne teamed up with Malcolm Simmons for a 21-yard gain to Vanderbilt’s 30-yard line.
From there Thorne found Rivaldo Fairweather, who caught the pass at Vandy’s 21, faked one Vandy defender and dragged another to the goal line, diving for the pylon for a touchdown that tied the score at 7-7 after Towns McGough’s extra point.
“I want to give God all the glory for having the ability at my size to run, make people miss and make tough catches,” said Fairweather, who made a game-high five receptions for 66 yards. “I thank the coaches for trusting me and putting me in position to make plays.”
Auburn enjoyed a 17:25-12:35 time of possession advantage in the first half and outgained the Commodores 214-132, but going 0-for-7 on third down limited the Tigers’ opportunities.
For the second straight week, Dorian Mausi led Auburn in tackles with eight. Jerrin Thompson, Demarcus Riddick and Amaris Williams each made tackles for loss.
Ater an open date, Auburn (3-6, 1-5) remains at Jordan-Hare Stadium to host Louisiana Monroe Sept. 16 at 11:45 a.m. CT.
“In life, how you finish matters,” Freeze said. “Let’s finish strong.”
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer