Saturday afternoon was one to forget for Auburn.

The Tigers had a chance to make a bigger statement coming off a 70-point win over Alabama A&M, but instead they did the opposite. Auburn lost 21-14 to Cal and the disappointment runs deeper than the final score.

A lot went wrong for Auburn, and while there were some small positive things to take away, it was a bad day for Hugh Freeze and his program.

Here’s how we graded Auburn’s performance.

Offense

Grade: D-

It’s hard to find many positive things to say about Auburn’s offensive performance on Saturday.

The Tigers marched down the field and scored on their first possession, but after that, it was often hard to watch. Nothing stood out more than the turnovers.

Auburn turned the ball over five times in the game. Four were Payton Thorne interceptions and one was a Jarquez Hunter fumble. After having arguably his best game in an Auburn uniform against Alabama A&M, Thorne’s performance against Cal was one of his worst.

His four interceptions were a career high, and he had two more interceptions that were called back either due to a review or a penalty.

The offense’s shortcomings weren’t all Thorne’s fault, though. He was constantly under pressure and that caused many of his problems.

Freeze said after the game that right tackle Izavion Miller was “banged up” which led to Ronan Chambers playing increased snaps at that spot. While Thorne did have some inaccurate throws and questionable decisions, it was never made easy for him in the pocket.

Despite struggling to find a rhythm in the passing game, Auburn didn’t commit to the run until the second half. It found some success when doing so, but whenever the offense started to find a rhythm, a sack, loss of yards or turnover halted all progress.

Auburn’s offense had brief moments in which it looked good, mainly on the first drive. But when an offense finishes a game with five turnovers and 14 points, it’s hard to give a good grade.

Defense

Grade: B+

Auburn was good defensively against Cal, particularly in the second half.

The Tigers struggled to get Cal off the field in the first half, though. Cal only scored 14 points, but it dominated time of possession and quarterback Fernando Mendoza was nearly perfect.

Cal didn’t do anything particularly crazy in the first half, but Mendoza did a good job of getting the ball out quick and Auburn was unable to get pressure on him and make him uncomfortable.

Even while Mendoza and the offense clicked in the first half, Cal was never really able to run the ball. Star running back Jaydn Ott was taken out of the game completely, being held to 11 yards on 10 carries.

In the second half, Auburn ramped up the pressure on Mendoza, which took the offense out of rhythm. With constant pressure on the quarterback and more negative plays created, Auburn was able to get stops and not let Cal drain more clock.

Unfortunately for the defense, the offense could never return the favor. Auburn’s defense wasn’t great, but the fact that the Tigers only lost by one score despite turning the ball over five times says a lot.

Special Teams

Grade: C+

Nothing went horribly wrong for Auburn’s special teams, but it didn’t make much of a positive impact either.

Disaster nearly struck in the second quarter when Keionte Scott muffed a punt at his own 12-yard line, but luckily for Auburn he immediately fell on the loose ball. He also slightly misjudged a punt which led to the ball rolling all the way down to the Auburn two-yard line.

Other than that, there wasn’t much of note from Auburn’s special teams. Oscar Chapman averaged 45 yards per punt and Towns McGough made both of his extra points.

McGough missed his lone field goal attempt from 61 yards out to end the first half, but few would’ve expected a different result from that distance. More impressively on that play was Chapman making the tackle on the Cal player who returned the missed kick.

Coaching

Grade: C-

Both the players and the coaching staff share the blame for this loss, but it starts with coaching.

While Freeze and offensive coordinator Derrick Nix can’t go on the field and block or throw passes, there are some valid questions to be asked of the offensive gameplan.

As mentioned earlier, it took Auburn until the second half to commit to running the ball, and when the Tigers did, they had success.

There seemed to be a continued emphasis on throwing the ball deep downfield, even when Thorne didn’t have the time in the pocket to do so. With Auburn’s plan of attack clear, Cal didn’t play much press coverage after the first drive and Auburn’s passing offense wasn’t effective after that.

Overall, the structure had flaws. And while the execution was underwhelming, it’s fair to say that Auburn’s playmakers weren’t always put in the best position.

Defensive coordinator DJ Durkin and the staff deserve credit for the adjustments made in the second half. The defense kept Auburn in a game that it could’ve easily lost by multiple scores.

Overall

Grade: D+

Saturday afternoon was a low point for Auburn football.

It’s still early in the season, but Freeze’s comments about the team not being as far along as he thought were telling. After a 73-3 win in Week 1 that gave the teams and fans confidence, this game felt like a giant leap backwards.

The pieces are still there, though. Auburn still has a talented group of receivers, an All-SEC running back and a defense that can keep it in games.

Despite all of that, Saturday showed that Auburn is a flawed football team. The coming weeks will show how many of those flaws are fixable.

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m