People talk about Auburn's 3rd down defense with Durkin, but it's really symptomatic of Auburn's overall lack of killer instinct the past few years. Offense, for the most part, has been abysmal in general, but the defenses have failed to get those big stops they need at key times too. It isn't just third down. Think about the amount of times the defense has given up a TD at the end of the first half or game.
Baylor scored two touchdowns. One was their last drive of the first half, and one was their last drive of the game. USM scores 1 TD. It was the last drive of the first half. Florida scored almost at will, but it included a drive for a go-ahead field goal at the end of the first half.
Then you can think back to the last couple of years. Alabama scores a go ahead TD on 4th down last year. All the losses run together but it seems like Vanderbilt and Missouri last year had game tying or winning drives late. Missouri 2024 room And once our offense picked up steam after freeze was canned, defense more or less fell apart.
I think it's too early to tell for sure whether Durkin was part of the problem or just coexisted with the problem. I'm not saying we should all be out on Durkin. I still think there's reason to be hopeful - the go ahead TD and then goal line stop vs. Baylor, the fact our offense came alive in the second half vs. Florida, etc. Alex Golesh has to basically rebuild both a roster and a culture, and with or without DJ that won't happen overnight.
But the lapses in critical moments has been there on defense as well as offense, and it's fine to point that out.