Auburn's Joel Gordon Acknowledges Offensive Mistake in LSU Loss

The Auburn Tigers struggled to find any offensive rhythm during their 38-17 loss to LSU on Saturday, and offensive coordinator Joel Gordon believes the team should have done more of what was working early in the contest.

After finding success with a short passing game against No. 1 Georgia the week before, Auburn struggled to keep drives moving against LSU.

The Tigers were forced to punt seven times and allowed seven sacks, making it difficult for quarterback Byrum Brown to get anything going offensively.

And Gordon admitted that Auburn should have gone back to its short passing game more often.

During his weekly press conference, Gordon was asked about Auburn's success throwing to tight ends and running backs early against LSU.

"Yeah, probably should have done more of it," Gordon said.

Gordon explained that Auburn had success with an early completion to Jake after LSU brought pressure, creating an opportunity for a big gain.

But as LSU continued building its lead, the Tigers were forced to become more aggressive offensively.

Gordon said LSU began dropping more defenders into coverage, making it difficult for Auburn to continue finding success with shorter passes.

"We didn't want to abandon the run, you know, by any stretch," Gordon said.

The offense eventually became one-dimensional, and Auburn couldn't find a way to consistently move the football.

The struggles went beyond the seven sacks allowed by Auburn's offensive line. Head coach Alex Golesh revealed that Auburn had seven offensive possessions that lasted four plays or fewer.

The Tigers also faced eight third-down situations requiring more than 12 yards for a first down.

"We wound up in a man almost half of our third downs were 12 or more, which is devastating," Gordon said.

Those situations made it difficult for Auburn to keep its offense on the field and put even more pressure on a defense that struggled against LSU.

"Ultimately, we got to play much better offensively," Golesh said.

Golesh emphasized that Auburn's offense is built around finding ways to get its playmakers the football.

"The system is to get your playmakers the ball in space," Golesh said.

That includes utilizing the running backs and tight ends in the passing game, something Auburn has already shown it can do effectively.

But the Tigers have to find a way to sustain that success throughout an entire game.

And with another difficult defensive front waiting in Oxford, Auburn can't afford to continue putting itself in third-and-long situations.