Auburn and Kentucky sit near the bottom of the 16-team Southeastern Conference standings.
Prospects of a late-season turnaround don’t look great.
But one of the teams will end their losing streak this Saturday night when the Tigers visit the Wildcats in Lexington, Ky.
The Tigers (2-5, 0-4 SEC) are tied for last place and have dropped four games in a row. Auburn is coming off a 21-17 loss at Missouri. The Tigers squandered an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter.
“It seems like every winnable game has not gone our way,” Auburn coach Hugh Freeze said on Tuesday. “Not a single one. Obviously, I hate the result for the players, our incredible fans, the administration and you guys who cover us. I hate it. It makes you sick, physically ill, when you don’t get across the finish line.”
Kentucky (3-4, 1-4) was routed 48-20 by host Florida last weekend, its second straight loss with looming matchups in the next 30 days against No. 7 Tennessee and fifth-ranked Texas.
The critics are out in full force and their target is Mark Stoops despite the 12th-year coach having led the program to eight straight bowl games. That streak would be in jeopardy if the Wildcats lose to Auburn for the 10th straight time.
“The outside noise, I can’t bother myself, zero, with that,” Stoops said. “I think you know that I’ve been around here a long time. You can face a bad day and tough times with a good attitude and that’s what I’ll do. We’ll go to work and I think you know that. I’m not going to sit up here and flinch.”
The bright spot against the Gators was a 99-yard kickoff return by Barion Brown. It is his fifth career kickoff return score to set a new SEC record.
Brown, who is averaging 27.9 yards per kickoff return, also had a 45-yard touchdown reception in the contest.
Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff has thrown for 1,116 yards, six touchdowns and four interceptions.
The Wildcats rank 12th nationally in total defense at 283.6 yards per game.
Auburn has scored 17 of fewer points on four occasions with quarterback Payton Thorne passing for 1,414 yards, 11 touchdowns and six interceptions.
Jarquez Hunter has rushed for 585 yards and three touchdowns for the struggling Tigers.
“We have a young team, and they’re learning and they’re growing,” Freeze said, “but I do think we still play not to lose instead of ‘man, let’s play to win.’ Truthfully, we probably are coaching that way some, too.”
Stoops can relate but he isn’t willing to fold.
“We’ll be fine. Again, it’s a tough business, it’s a tough league,” Stoops said.
