The last half of the Mizzou game reminded me so much of the most frustrating aspects of the Tubberville years. Auburn would establish a lead, and then play “not to lose.” Sometimes, they would squeak out a win against an overmatched team. Far too many times, that overmatched team would come back and tie it up or take the lead!

For sure, there were plenty of player mistakes on Saturday, but those are always going to happen. There are plenty of underclassmen on this team, and they’re going to make mistakes. Going to the “Run-Run-(Incomplete)Pass” offense just because it was a 2-score game is plain old shitty play-calling. I know there was a general call to focus more on the run game going into Saturday, but that doesn’t mean the pass game should be forsaken! Thorne dropped a perfect dime for a TD earlier in the game. Yes, that was blown coverage along with a well-run route, but Auburn is not bereft of passers and receivers! Looking at Auburn’s possessions in the 4th quarter reflect play calling that was blindly sticking to a predetermined plan while the game slipped away from the team. Auburn’s play calling in the 4th quarter was so predictable, it was painful. Seeing Freeze watch Mizzou win the game looked like a man who realized how much he had screwed that win.

Back in the Tubberville years, a much younger me realized an important thing: if you’re not playing to win (or playing to “protect” a win), you’re playing to lose. If you were able to score twice in a quarter, you must assume your opponent can do the same. The only time you take your foot off the gas is when the game’s end is a foregone conclusion. That’s rarely the case at the start of the 4th quarter, and it’s never the case in the third quarter. A big reason over matched teams can beat their opponents is because they play like they have nothing to lose. They don’t play recklessly, but they take risks early and often. Put simply, they never stop playing to win.