Auburn 43, Southern Miss 8

Week over week

The direct comparison is September 12 versus September 5. “Better” and “Worse” describe raw movement, not an opponent-adjusted grade. “Context” marks workload or field-position-sensitive changes. pp = percentage points. Latest game, previous game

The rushing improvement drove almost all the yardage gain. Auburn added 221 total yards from Week 1; 213 of that came on the ground, with passing up eight. Omar Mabson II led with 108 yards on 15 carries, Brown added 88 on 13, and Jeremiah Cobb had 85 on 12. Sacks allowed fell from five to one. Those are meaningful improvements in this matchup, but a home game against Southern Miss is not an equivalent test to Baylor at a neutral site. These comparisons are not opponent-adjusted. Box score

The defense's workload fell 41 plays, or 41.4%. Auburn allowed 221 yards rather than 436. Some of that reduction comes from facing fewer plays; yards allowed per play also improved, from 4.40 to 3.81. Andre Jordan Jr. intercepted two passes and returned the first 29 yards for a TD. Four sacks and a safety helped Auburn shut out Southern Miss in the second half. Team scoring includes six points from that interception return and two from the safety, so the entire 26-point scoring increase should not be attributed to offense. Scoring and defensive statistics

Third downs and penalties remain concerns despite the score. Auburn converted 7/15 third downs versus 10/18 last week, while opponents improved from 7/22 to 5/13. Auburn converted four fourth downs, versus none against Baylor. The official play-by-play also nullifies Brown's 52-yard TD run for holding. That is a concrete cost behind the rise from six penalties to ten. Play-by-play

Red-zone finishing slipped on the full-game numbers. Auburn scored TDs on 3/5 trips versus 2/3 against Baylor; one empty trip ended with a fumble and another on downs. Southern Miss scored on its sole trip, compared with Baylor's 3/4 scoring and 2/4 TD conversion. These rates have tiny denominators: one trip changes them substantially. Brown threw two TDs with no interceptions and caught Neptune's TD pass; the team still lost a fumble. Box score

McPherson was excellent; punt distance was less convincing. He made both field goals, from 47 and 55 yards, and all five PATs. His 55-yarder was a career long. Kaak averaged 34.5 yards over two punts, down from 42.5, although one finished inside the 20 and neither was returned. All seven Gibbs kickoffs were touchbacks, making him 11/11 this season. Punt averages need field-position context, especially on two attempts. Kicking statistics, Auburn recap

Season counting totals and per-game averages follow. The last column compares the new two-game average with last Sunday's one-game average.

Season efficiency is calculated from summed numerators and denominators, not the average of game percentages. For example, third downs are 17/33 (51.5%) on offense and 12/35 (34.3%) allowed.

Additional season totals: 3 rushing TDs and 3 passing TDs; 46/68 passing for 526 yards, 3 INT; opponent passing 49/87 for 504 yards, 3 TD and 3 INT; Auburn fourth downs 4/6, opponents 4/8; red-zone scores/TDs 5/8 and 5/8, opponents 4/5 and 3/5. Auburn field goals are 3/4, PATs 7/7, punts 6 for 239 yards with 3 inside the 20; kickoffs 11/11 touchbacks; punt returns 3 for 0 yards; kickoff returns 3 for 67 yards. Possession totals 60:17, an average of 30:08.5, up 2:40.5 per game.