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Auburn football’s offensive line struggled against Kentucky in the Tigers’ 10-3 loss at home Saturday night. Auburn coach Hugh Freeze called it what it was after watching his unit give up seven total sacks, seven quarterback hurries and 12 tackles for loss. “Well, again, without watching the film, we took a pretty good kicking tonight,” Freeze said postgame. “We max protected every third down in the second half and still got sacked.” Field position was not in the Tigers’ favor at all, as Auburn had one drive start at its own 25-yard line. Eight of the Tigers drives started behind their own 20-yard line and Auburn finished the game with just one trip to the red zone. Auburn’s performance on offense was even more surprising given Kentucky’s defensive ranking. The Wildcats entered Saturday’s matchup 14th in the SEC in total yards allowed per game and 15th in passing yards allowed per game. However, Freeze attributes the offensive failures to the performance of the Tigers’ offensive line. “We’d get something going, and then obviously have a sack and get a negative play that killed the drive,” Freeze added. “In a game like this, where the possessions are very few it felt like, you’re going to have to protect. We certainly didn’t do that tonight.” Auburn senior offensive guard Jeremiah Wright explained what happened with that position group and how Kentucky was able to get the best of them Saturday night. “I wouldn’t say not clicking -- because we know what we’re doing, we know how to strain, we know our protection. It’s a team -- we’re all a team. It’s all going to fall back on the O-line,” Wright said postgame. “Everybody sees when the O-line gives us sacks, but they don’t see all the run game, us moving people off the ball, gaining extra yards,” Wright added. “Straining in protection here and there. I’m an O-linemen, so I know how it feels to have the outside noise and have people saying hey, you gave up this many sacks, this and that. Just go back to work.” Auburn’s offensive performance was not received well by fans in attendance, as boos began to ring all around Jordan-Hare Stadium. Quarterback Ashton Danie was Auburn’s starting quarterback and acknowledged the difficulty of losing at home. “Yeah, it is difficult. This community, this fanbase deserves a lot more. The support that they continue to come out and give us every single week, regardless of our record, we should be out there winning games for them, and we’re not right now. That’s extremely disappointing for us. I know it’s extremely disappointing for them. It hurts,” Daniels said. Auburn falls to 1-5 in SEC play and 4-5 overall. The Tigers will travel to Vanderbilt for their next game.
