Auburn looked as bad as it has all season in a 28-21 loss to No. 13 Ole Miss on Saturday. The score was not indicative of how this game went.

Auburn was outgained 425-275. Ole Miss had the ball for about nine more minutes. Auburn’s offense was awful once again. It’s the same problems that keep coming up and Auburn hasn’t found an answer.

It was a fourth straight loss to Auburn, which is now 3-4 overall and 0-4 in SEC play.

Largely, it’s the record many thought Auburn would have right now, but the way it has lost has been far more the issue than just losing. It puts Auburn into a suddenly questionable spot for making a bowl game. More on that below.

Let’s get right into grades. They aren’t good.

Offense: F

It didn’t matter what quarterback was playing. This offense is bad. And this was rock bottom.

Auburn had 26 yards passing going into the fourth quarter. It would pass for 96 more in the fourth quarter, 47 on them coming on one play — a catch and run to running back Jarquez Hunter. But all those yards were effectively meaningless as they came with Auburn down two scores and the result of the game no longer in question.

Auburn is passing for barely more than 100 yards in SEC games. This offense is historically bad. Auburn’s ranking as a bottom-10 offense in terms of passing yards per game is only going to get worse.

Auburn was 4-13 on third downs.

Auburn’s offense only made one first down between the 10:40 to-go mark in the first half and the end of the third quarter. That’s abysmal. Auburn had five three-and-outs and punted six times. It threw two wildly costly interceptions and turned the ball over on down on its first possession.

So the fans booed. They deserved to boo.

Defense: A-

Auburn’s defense deserves so much better. In the Auburn report cards this season, the story over and over has been Auburn’s defense played valiantly but is not being helped by a horrendous offense.

There was a stretch from the start of the second quarter until the very last second of the third quarter where Auburn held Ole Miss without a point. That’s a monumental effort against a very good Ole Miss offense.

Auburn forced two turnovers on downs, three three-and-outs and an interception in that time frame. Ole Miss only had two drives in that time that went more than 15 yards. Defensive lineman Marcus Harris was great again and cornerback Keionte Scott looked good in his return.

But it was never going to last. It can’t forever, especially when the defense was left out on the field for nearly 35 minutes.

Ole Miss broke through finally with two straight touchdowns. The defense finally breaking was the dagger in the game for an offense that certainly wouldn’t be able to respond.

But the defense is not at fault at all for this loss. Not even close.

Special Team: B

Oscar Chapman netted just under 50 yards per punt Saturday. He punted seven times. That’s too many punts. But he was good.

Auburn didn’t use Alex McPherson for any field goals. Auburn didn’t return a kick and Koy Moore was not good as a punt returner with -4 yards total on three attempts.

There were also a few close calls that could have impacted the result of this game, highlighted by freshman Kayin Lee not fully getting a hold of an Ole Miss muffed punt. Auburn needed that ball badly in the hindsight of this game. Should’ve, would’ve, could’ve.

Coaching: F-

Offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery cannot and should not recover from this game. The continuing and repetitive failures of this offense fall purely on head coach Hugh Freeze and Montgomery. This is a coaching issue, not a talent gap issue, at this point.

Freeze, to his credit, has not shied away from blame. But it’s the same blame he’ll put on himself each week. It’s poor alignment, missed protections or the wrong routes run. These are issues that could have been corrected but they haven’t been.

The offense is anemic, the flaws fundamental and the means haven’t changed.

The booing of fans Saturday night was quite indicative of a situation that has reached a breaking point.

Montgomery’s contract includes a full buyout of its total value of just over $3 million. Auburn isn’t likely to cut ties with him now, but it’s hard to see a way Auburn can move forward into next season with him.

Public opinion is unlikely to flip back with an offense that doesn’t appear capable of improving significantly now seven games into the season.

It’s an overall failure of a hire by Freeze as things stand, who picked Montgomery to call plays and allow himself to focus on the necessary recruiting ahead for Auburn. But Montgomery’s inept offense has forced Freeze to take on more responsibility than he imagined.

It can’t continue for the long-term vision of Auburn to work. Auburn had its bye week to fix things and it looked awful against LSU. It looked even worse on its home field. This situation is bad with no route of improvement.

Overall: D-

The defense is the only reason this isn’t a failing grade. That was embarrassing for Auburn. There was so much socially at stake here with Freeze facing his former employer and against Lane Kiffin, a man who was reported to have accepted the Auburn head coaching job before Freeze was hired.

So much so, in fact, that Ole Miss roasted Auburn in a tweet for it all.

Auburn is now in a perilous position looking at its bowl eligibility.

At 3-4, Auburn has won every game it was supposed to win and lost every game it was supposed to lose. There is no shame in that. The issue is the way Auburn has lost.

It now sets Auburn up for a must-win game next week against an equally struggling Mississippi State team. Should Auburn lose, it would require Auburn to either win at Arkansas or win the Iron Bowl coupled with wins over New Mexico State and Vanderbilt just to get to 6-6.

The road to six wins is clear, but without any margin for error.

While patience was expected in year one under Freeze, failing to make a bowl game would make for a season without any steps forward.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]