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The Auburn Tigers secured a commanding 43-8 win over Southern Miss on Saturday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium, but the final score didn't tell the whole story. Despite racking up more than 600 yards of total offense and limiting the Golden Eagles to single digits, head coach Alex Golesh was visibly upset with his team's lack of discipline and execution.
Golesh didn't mince words when addressing the media after the game. 'I was just so beyond disappointed in the sloppiness,' he said. 'I was beyond disappointed in the block in the back on the punt return, and then the fumble in the red zone. Just sloppy. Sloppy.'
The Tigers were flagged 10 times for 73 yards, with the offense responsible for seven of those penalties totaling 55 yards. The infractions included four holding calls, two false starts, and one illegal formation. One of the three non-offensive penalties occurred early in the second quarter when Scrap Richardson was called for a block in the back on a punt return, negating an 18-yard return by Christian Neptune and pinning Auburn deep in its own territory.
Auburn also put the ball on the ground twice, losing one fumble. The most costly came when Jeremiah Cobb lost control after a head-on collision with a Southern Miss defender near the red zone. The ball squirted forward and was recovered by the visitors at the Southern Miss 4-yard line.
'I don't care what the score is. I don't,' Golesh said. 'That's what I just told these guys. A win is a win, and winning college football games is hard, but if the standard is that and that's what it looks like, we're going to have a really, really, really long season.'
Despite the mistakes, Auburn's offense showed significant improvement from its season-opening performance against Baylor. Quarterback Byrum Brown completed 17 of 28 passes for two touchdowns and no interceptions, appearing far more comfortable than he did in Atlanta. Brown also contributed 88 rushing yards on 13 carries.
The senior quarterback broke free for a 52-yard touchdown run up the middle on Auburn's first offensive series, but the score was wiped out by a holding penalty on left tackle Jo Simmons. Overall, the Tigers' offense was clicking, piling up 343 rushing yards and 610 total yards. However, Golesh believes they could have easily surpassed 700 yards if not for the miscues and some questionable officiating.
With the Florida Gators set to visit Jordan-Hare Stadium next Saturday for the first time since 2011, Golesh knows his team has little time to correct the issues that surfaced against Southern Miss. 'We have to have a sense of urgency on cleaning this up and that's on me beyond anybody else. We can't hold the way we did. Just sloppy,' he said. 'I want to throw up. It made me sick, to be honest with you.'
Golesh expressed gratitude for the win and for the Auburn faithful who created a tough home environment, but he understands the stakes are rising. 'We'll take the win and we're grateful to our fans, but there were so many points offensively left out there,' he said. 'It makes me sick. We'll get it right. We'll get it cleaned up, but there needs to be a sense of urgency to clean it up.'
The Tigers will need to tighten things up quickly as they prepare for what could be the most important game of their season against Jon Sumrall and the Florida Gators.