Auburn football finished its five-game home stand in less than desirable fashion, which seemed to be the name of the game throughout the entire start to the 2024 season.

The Tigers saw a late pick six become the difference in Saturday’s 27-21 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners, dropping them to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the SEC heading into the month of October.

Unlike the team’s other two defeats, this one felt like things were going right for Auburn. While it only scored 21 points, plays were being made and the team was moving the ball. Despite that, it gave up the lead late and horror struck once again for a team with high hopes.

Here is what we learned about the Tigers after the loss.

Quarterback Payton Thorne was benched a short couple of weeks ago and thrown back into action last week against Arkansas after struggles shown by Hank Brown. He responded this week in one of the biggest games of Auburn’s season by playing well, which is what fans desperately needed to see.

There were many good deep throws made with smart decisions, but what fans will remember were the other decisions made, the ones that had them holding their breath and just hoping the ball would not be interceptions.

For the most part, they were relieved of that, that was until the Sooners’ Kip Lewis intercepted a ball on a slant route and ran it back to give his squad a late lead. It answered the question of if Thorne had improved in crunch time, which was no.

On the receiving end, KeAndre Lambert-Smith and Malcolm Simmons have become two of the team’s most reliable targets in the early going, and when they get the ball, it always feel like a big play is in motion.

Running back Jarquez Hunter is also still who every Tigers fan knows him as, a powerful weapon. Despite not breaking 100 yards, Hunter continues to make explosive plays that provide a spark to the offense.

The defense still has many kinks to work out. Containing the quarterback has consistently been a problem all year, and while things improved on Saturday, it gave up two of the more crucial plays of the game in the opening drive touchdown by Michael Hawkins Jr. and his two-point conversion that gave Oklahoma a 24-21 lead.

Demarcus Riddick had an explosive game and proved what he can do with six tackles, including a tackle-for-loss and sack. Look for him to continue growing down the stretch.

For the first time this season, Auburn saw its special teams struggle, as Towns McGough missed both of his field goal attempts on the day, including one right before the half that would have given his team a 17-7 lead and raised the momentum heading into the break. For a young kicker, he still has a lot to grow on, but those two turned out to be a major miss for the Tigers.

Auburn takes the road for the entire month of October, beginning with a trip to Athens to take on the Georgia Bulldogs. That game is set for 2:30 p.m. CST and will be broadcast live on ABC from Sanford Stadium.

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The West Virginia Mountaineers are on the road to take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys (3-2, 0-2) Saturday afternoon. Kickoff is set for 4:00 p.m. EST and the action is broadcasting on ESPN2.

Oklahoma State is coming off back-to-back losses to open Big 12 Conference play after losing the league opener to Utah and was trounced at Kansas State 42-20 on Saturday, knocking the Cowboys out of the top 25. It’s the first time the Cowboys have started 0-2 to begin the conference slate since 2005 when they dropped the first five Big 12 games of the season.

OFFENSE

The offensive line is most experienced line in college football, led by preseason All-American and preseason All-Big 12 selection center Joe Michalski and preseason All-Big 12 left tackle Dalton Cooper. Seven offensive linemen return who made multiple OSU starts in 2023, including six redshirt super seniors and one redshirt senior. That group alone combined for 200 career FBS starts, 284 career FBS games played and an average age of 23.6 years old entering the season.

The Oklahoma State rushing attack was considered one of the best in the country ahead of the season, featuring the reigning Big 12 Player of the Year Ollie Gordon. However, the Cowboys are off to a slow start, averaging 102 yards per game on the ground and Gordon is averaging 66.8 rushing ypg and he has only eclipsed the 100-yard mark once.

The men in the trenches have kept the quarterback clean, allowing just one sack through the first five games.

Alan Bowman is third in the Big 12 with 307.4 passing yards per game but his numbers have dipped in the first two league games, throwing for an average of 285 ypg and four of his six interceptions on the year gave come in the last two games.

De’Zhaun Stribling leads the team with 502 receiving yards on 27 receptions and three touchdowns.  

Brennan Presley has multiple catches in 35 straight games, the second longest active streak in the FBS. The senior is fourth in the league in receptions with a team-high 33 and leads the team with four touchdown receptions.

DEFENSE

The Oklahoma State defense ranks near the bottom of the NCAA in total yards allowed at 480.6 ypg, including a league worst 204.2 rushing yards per game and sit 13th in the Big 12 in defensive scoring, giving up 25.0 ppg.

Safety Trey Rucker ranks second in the country with 63 total tackles and is tied with teammate Korie Black, along with a host of others, for second in the Big 12 with two interceptions.

Preseason All-Big 12 linebacker Nick Martin has 47 tackles on the season ranks second in the league and is also second in the conference with 7.5 tackles for loss.

Linebackers Kendal Daniels and Obi Ezeigbo have combined for four sacks on the year.

The Oklahoma Sooners rallied from 11 points down in the fourth quarter for an incredible win over Auburn 27-21 on Saturday. OU scored 17 unanswered points to come away with the improbable win.

Brent Venables and Oklahoma are now 4-1 heading into the first of two bye weeks they’ll have during the regular season. With Texas on the other side of this bye, it’s a good opportunity for OU to get healthy and work on some of the many issues this team still has.

With the win, the Sooners moved up two spots to No. 19 in the latest Associated Press Top 25. The Sooners

They’re eighth out of nine SEC teams in the AP Top 25 after week five. The conference dominates the rankings with four of the top five teams and six of the top ten. ]

Texas dropped to No. 2, as Alabama’s heart-pounding win over Georgia was enough to jump the Crimson Tide over the Longhorns into the No. 1 spot in the eyes of the voters. Texas also has a bye week coming up, sitting at 5-0.

Elsewhere in the SEC, Tennessee moved up to No. 4 and Georgia fell to No. 5 after the loss to Alabama. Missouri sits at ninth, Ole Miss is No. 12, LSU is at No. 13, and Texas A&M hangs on to a ranking at No. 25.

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