Auburn’s 16-10 road loss to Texas A&M ended in familiar fashion for the Tigers — with a sack.

Jackson Arnold lined up in the shotgun, received the snap and quickly found himself swarmed by several Aggies defenders. It was Texas A&M’s fifth sack of the day and the 14th that Auburn’s offensive line surrendered over the team’s last two games, both one-possession road losses in SEC play.

Any momentum Auburn generated from a 3-0 start, including a road win over Baylor in Week 1, is gone. The Tigers are in a deep hole in the SEC standings, hot seat buzz is going to pick up around Hugh Freeze, and perhaps worst of all, there doesn’t seem to be an obvious solution for Auburn’s offense after back-to-back lifeless performances against Oklahoma and Texas A&M.

Harsh? Perhaps. But it’s hard to say Auburn’s offense is passing the vibe check after mustering 155 total yards in a winnable game against a top 10 opponent.

Ultimately, those struggles come down to Auburn betting on the wrong thing this offseason.

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Auburn came into this season hoping to be among the SEC’s best passing attacks given the presence of Cam Coleman, Eric Singleton and several other high-profile receivers. Instead, Jackson Arnold just averaged 3.1 yards per attempt in a SEC road game.

The problems for Auburn are obvious and symbiotic: The offensive line is struggling to hold up while Arnold struggles to get the ball out on time.

Arnold came into the week averaging 2.97 seconds per drop back this season, per PFF. That’s the 16th-slowest rate in the FBS this season. Worse still, when he gets pressured, he doesn’t often manage to save the play. He’s been sacked on 40% of pressures this season, which is the second-highest rate in the FBS.

That inefficiency is a big reason why Arnold’s run so often this season. He’s almost got a running back-like usage at 14 carries per game.  

You can get away with those deficiencies at quarterback with a good run game and offensive line play. But the Tigers have had anything but against good defensive fronts as evidenced by the backfield party the Sooners and Aggies have had the last two weeks.

That’s a huge problem for Auburn given how much it invested in its offensive line. Not only did four starters return from last season’s starting unit, but the Tigers added a pair of high-priced four-star tackles (Xavier Chaplin, Mason Murphy) from the portal. Both tackles have struggled in SEC play, and it’s cost the Tigers.

Auburn should have one of the most potent passing attacks in college football.

Instead, because of a bad bet at quarterback and a couple of apparent whiffs along the offensive line, the Tigers are a floundering offense that’s wasting what’s been very good efforts by an Auburn defense that’s allowing just 16 points per game so far. 

Perhaps Arnold improves and the o-line takes a step. It’s possible! But it’s approaching too little, too late territory for a Hugh Freeze-and-friends called offense that looks like it doesn’t have any answers. Maybe having three co-play-callers isn’t the right option? 

The schedule isn’t going to get any easier for Auburn the rest of the way, and the pressure is mounting for a head coach who’s now 14-16 overall in his third season on The Plains. 

Freeze bet his future around Arnold and what looked to be a stellar offensive portal haul. But that unit is succumbing to the pressure (in the literal sense) time and time again.