Auburn's Bye Week Should Force an Uncomfortable Play-Calling Conversation

The Auburn Tigers have plenty to address during their bye week following a devastating 24-14 loss in Knoxville to the Tennessee Volunteers, but there is a short list of things that need to sit at the top of Alex Golesh's list. 

One of them certainly needs to be the decision maker when it comes to play calling. 

Auburn opened Saturday's game with four consecutive three-and-outs and didn't record its first first down until its fifth possession. It's a problem we've discussed throughout the season, but after five games, the slow starts and offensive inconsistencies can't continue to simply be explained away as execution or lack of discipline issues.

Something has to change before Auburn plays the Georgia Bulldogs.

And if that means Golesh becomes more involved in the play-calling or even takes over those duties himself, I think that conversation needs to happen during the bye week. It may very well feel like an overreaction five games into the Golesh regime, but if any structural changes are going to happen, the bye week is the best time. 

The fourth-and-inches decision against Tennessee will obviously receive most of the attention.

Trailing 17-14 in the fourth quarter, Auburn decided to go for it from its own 24-yard line and pitched the ball outside to Jeremiah Cobb. Cobb, who had been banged up earlier in the game and finished with only three carries, was stopped for no gain.

Five plays later, Tennessee scored the touchdown that essentially ended the game.

Golesh explained afterward why Auburn liked the call.

"We thought we could go hat for hat and then put Cobb in space," Golesh said. "It sucked being on the left hash and being tucked up against the sideline. That was the thought process there."

This is a frustrating call to begin with, and the overthinking portion is something that also needs to be discussed when handling the play-calling responsibilities. On a fourth-down call that only requires 1 yard, when you have a 220-pound quarterback you continue to talk about as much as you believe in, you have to give him the ball and let him find success. 

Byrum Brown finished with 107 rushing yards, while Omar Mabson added 62 yards on 10 carries. Auburn finished with 186 rushing yards as a team, yet for large portions of the game, the offense still struggled to consistently put Brown and the rest of its playmakers in favorable situations.

That's where this bye week becomes important.

Golesh was hired in large part because of his offensive background. If Auburn's current offensive operation isn't working consistently enough, he has two weeks to figure out why.

The Auburn Tigers have now lost two SEC games that felt like potential contests you could have won entering the season. You now prepare to enter the gauntlet portion of your October schedule following the bye week, where those adjustments will be tested very quickly.