It is officially do or die time for the Auburn Tigers.

Auburn looked significantly better against Vanderbilt on Saturday in its first game under the leadership of interim head coach DJ Durkin, particularly on the offensive side of the ball.

However, another winnable game slipped away from the Tigers, signifying that there is still plenty of work to be done before they attempt to close out the season on the highest note possible.

If Auburn wants to have an opportunity to play in a bowl game and have a shot at bringing its streak of losing seasons to an end, it needs to find a way to finish close games off on top.

Admittedly, the question of how steps in the right direction can be taken during the bye week is a difficult one to answer. However, the coaching staff must try anything and everything it can possibly think of to get the team moving in the right direction.

The obvious answer is drilling late-game scenarios as many times as the Tigers possibly can. This could be beneficial for both physical and mental muscle memory. Having many reps of the types of plays and clock-management techniques Auburn would be likely to run in a critical moment could be an effective way of working toward an answer to this question.

Another thing the Tigers could drill is finding ways to put the ball into the end zone instead of settling for field goals, especially with that unit being an inconsistent one for the team this season.

While that is another obvious answer, it could be an effective strategy.

Another obvious answer is avoiding self-inflicted wounds such as untimely penalties, dropped passes and missed blocks. These are all things capable of taking the wind out of a teams' sails on the offensive side of the ball, and therefore must be kept to a bare minimum.

These are all obvious answers, but the Tigers need to find a way if they want to have the opportunity to compete in a bowl game this season.