We’ve all heard it.

Commentators, coaches and armchair quarterbacks are eager to utter the words, “big third down here” on seemingly every third-down play.

It’s gotta make you wonder if every third-down play is actually a “big” third-down play?

It might depend on how one defines “big”.

But if “big” means important, then yeah, pretty much every third-down play is a “big” third-down play — especially when talking about the Auburn Tigers.

Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze said it himself after his Tigers lost a 27-20 heartbreaker to the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday.

“I think you look back at this game, you look at third downs,” Freeze said. “You look at our third-down offense and you look at our third-down defense, and I think that’s where the game was lost for us.”

Take a peek at the box score from Saturday and the numbers certainly support Freeze’s comment.

The Georgia offense went 8-for-13 (61.5%) on third-down plays, while the Auburn offense went 2-for-12 (16.7%) on third-down tries.

Neither of those marks will win you many football games, especially in the SEC.

Georgia’s offensive success on third down can’t be mentioned without also mentioning the Bulldogs’ all-American tight end Brock Bowers, who put on a clinic in the Saturday’s critical fourth quarter.

“Nineteen’s a handful, and we didn’t do a great job guarding him,” Freeze said of Bowers. “I’m sure it wasn’t him every time, but it was him a large majority of the time when the game was on the line.”

Bowers’ first half was quiet as he caught just one pass for three yards.

Come the final 15 minutes, however, Bowers was Carson Beck’s favorite target as the two connected on four plays for 121 yards and the go-ahead touchdown.

Of those four catches, half of them came on third downs and both were third-and-long situations, to be specific.

Beck, in his first career road start, was 8-for-10 for 115 yards when passing on third down.

“Unbelievable job by our offensive staff. I mean, unbelievable job,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. “You go 8-for-10 against air, it’s incredible. It’s hard to do that in our leagues with the defensive players they’ve got and rushers… they had a good plan and did an incredible job.”

Georgia’s average distance to go on third down was 7.4 yards. The Bulldogs also faced four third-and-long situations, meaning the line to gain was more than nine yards away. Of those, Georgia converted half.

Compare that to Auburn, and unlike the week prior at Texas A&M — though still not great — the average distance to go on third down favored the Tigers by a slim, slim margin.

The Auburn offense averaged needing 7.2 yards to convert on third down and only faced a third-and-long situation three times.

However, with the Tigers’ offense still struggling to find consistent success through the passing attack, those third down conversions — especially the longer ones — were hard to come by.

“We didn’t do very good on third down or taking shots,” Auburn offensive lineman Kam Stutts said. “Getting off the field and staying on the field was what it came down to. We came up short there.”

But even on third-and-short situations – meaning the Tigers needed four yards or less – the Auburn offense was just 1-for-5.

Auburn was also stopped on 3rd-and-1 twice.

And it’s those ones that are hard to excuse, especially considering Auburn’s ground attack was the highlight of the game as Auburn’s ball carriers ran for 219 yards, becoming the first team to eclipse the 200-yard mark against the Georgia defense since the 2018 season.

It would be one thing if the Tigers only struggled on third down against the No. 1 team in the country. But instead it’s been a bit of a trend.

Through five games, Auburn’s offense ranks 105th of 133 teams in the FBS as the Tigers have taken 63 offensive snaps on third down but have only converted 22 of them – good for a conversion rate of 34.9%. Auburn’s offense ranks second from the bottom of the SEC in third-down offense.

Meanwhile, the Auburn defense isn’t nearly as bad on third down as it ranks 39th in the country. Opposing offenses have tried for 63 third downs and have converted 23 of them – good for a conversion rate of 34.85. The Auburn defense ranks fifth in the SEC in third-down defense.

Those trends, as proven on Saturday, can decide a football game.

“Like I said, I think that’s where the game was won and lost — our third-down defense and our third-down offense,” Freeze said.

And such will continue to be the case for the Tigers until they find ways to pull themselves out of the third-down rut they’re in.