After Auburn’s lackadaisical win over Cal in the hills of Berkeley, Calif. on Sept. 9, folks learned Eugene Asante’s name. Auburn fans saw his heart and his athletic ability. That same game, they also saw the ineptitude of the Tigers’ offense.

The entire showing – both Asante’s breakout game and the Auburn offense’s struggles – paved the way for some fans jokingly asking if Asante could play on offense, too.

In a roundabout way, that happened Saturday afternoon in College Station as Auburn (3-1, 0-1 SEC) fell to Texas A&M (3-1, 1-0 SEC) 27-10.

Auburn freshman Kayin Lee dislodged the football out of the hands of Texas A&M’s Rueben Owens, only for it to fall right in the hands of Auburn linebacker Eugene Asante.

“I was on the backside of the play just trying to run in and be in on situations, trying to make a play for my team,” Asante said. “Coach kind of talks about… God rewards people that hustle to the football and it was just one of those situations.”

Asante went on to return the popped-up fumble for a 67-yard touchdown — Auburn’s only of the game — to bring the Tigers within 10 points of the Aggies with just more than 12 minutes to play, but not before he sprinted past Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher, who inadvertently found himself in the middle of the play.

“I’m lucky I didn’t get ran over,” Fisher said after the game.

The video of Fisher’s poor tackling form went viral on social media as “12th man” puns poured in.

It was funny. People joked about it.

But joking matters aside, Asante’s play in the fourth quarter was just another example of the Auburn defense doing everything it could to keep Auburn’s head above water on Saturday afternoon.

It was the same thing we’d seen in Berkeley, Calif. as the Tigers’ defense shouldered the load in an ugly 14-10 win against the Cal Golden Bears, who — for the record — lost to No. 8 Washington 59-32 late Saturday night.

While the Auburn offense cycled through three quarterbacks who totaled less than 60 combined passing yards against Texas A&M, the Tigers’ defense couldn’t catch a break.

Despite Hugh Freeze saying all week leading into Saturday’s matchup against the Aggies that the Tigers’ offense would have to stay clear of many third-and-long situations, whether it was Payton Thorne, Robby Ashford or Holden Geriner under center, it didn’t matter – the third-and-long situations came.

That was especially the case in the third quarter, when the Auburn offense saw three third-down opportunities.

The Tigers committed a pre-snap penalty in two of those opportunities, backing them up well behind the sticks. The average distance to go on third down was more than 17 yards during the third quarter.

“Penalties certainly did not help us,” Freeze said. “They came at difficult times.”

The Auburn offense neglected to convert a single third down and only tallied 10 total offensive snaps in the third quarter.

And what that meant for the Auburn defense was that it better not get comfortable on the sideline, because it wasn’t going to be off the field long. And that’s when the bend in the Tigers’ defense turned to break.

The Auburn defense, which had allowed just 121 yards of offense in the first half, had reached its breaking point.

“They fought and fought,” Freeze said of the Auburn defense. “Obviously they gave up a few explosive plays in the third quarter, but we didn’t help them. I don’t know the timing — it’s not broken down by quarter — it couldn’t have been good. I think that took the gas out of our defense.”

With Auburn’s offense unable to sustain a drive of more than three plays in the third quarter, the Tigers had possession of the football for a total time of 5:03.

And that meant the Tigers’ defense had to be the field for more than two thirds of the third quarter.

While his defense was running on fumes doing everything it could to give the Tigers a fighting chance, Auburn starting quarterback Payton Thorne stood on the sideline dejected and with his arms crossed after being benched. He was pouting.

Then you’ve got guys like Asante, whose heart and desire to win football games for Auburn is evident each time he steps on the field.

“There’s no question of the effort he’s going to give,” Freeze said. “It hurts him when we don’t succeed, and you see that in his face.”

One’s gotta wonder if after his touchdown — which brought Auburn within 10 points with more than 12 minutes to play — Asante had a sliver of belief in his offense to complement his touchdown with one of their own.

Auburn was able to do that at Cal as Thorne connected with Rivaldo Fairweather for the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter after the Tigers’ defense came away with a big stop.

But on Saturday against SEC competition – which is what the Tigers will see for the next six games – the offense couldn’t answer the call.

So expect the sarcasm-charged “Can Eugene Asante play on offense too?” questions to continue.

And hopefully, as Asante says, God keeps rewarding people that hustle to the football in the form of turnovers. Because until something major changes on offense, Auburn is gonna need it.