The Auburn Tigers faced their first real test of the Alex Golesh era on Saturday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium against the Florida Gators — and they didn’t just come up short, they weren’t nearly as close as the 44-39 final score suggests.

While scoring 39 at home is generally enough to win a ball game, two scores, as well as almost half of the Tigers’ total yardage on the evening, came on the final two drives of the game when the result was already largely decided at that point.

Offensively, Byrum Brown took seven sacks and looked indecisive when he dropped back to pass — holding onto the ball too long and struggling with accuracy when he did let it go. The running backs who were expected to be the lifeblood of this side of the ball mustered a total of just 40 yards on 12 carries, with star Jeremiah Cobb held to just 32 yards on 9 touches.

Brown did some nice things with his legs, but the passing game does not look capable of making anyone game-plan for it right now, let alone being able to get a victory.

The defense may have been even worse during the loss, getting bullied around by a balanced Gators attack which racked up nearly 500 yards with 243 on the ground and another 252 through the air. Converting numerous times on third and long and all three fourth down attempts sucked the life out of the Jordan-Hare crowd, which did its best to create a hostile environment, but the team did not hold up its end of the bargain.

It should be noted it’s still extremely early in the Golesh era and with Vanderbilt coming to town this week, it’s an excellent chance to reverse the struggles and remind the rest of the SEC that this is still one of the hardest places to play in the country.

With that being said, things have to change and change quickly, because if Saturday was an accurate representation of what this team is going to be in 2026, it will be another lost football season on The Plains.