Make it four straight losses for an Auburn team that keeps finding new ways to disappoint in the Hugh Freeze era.

The Tigers saw a 17-10 lead slip away in the fourth quarter, and sacks killed Auburn’s offense in both overtimes, as No. 16 Missouri walked away victorious late Saturday night in Jordan-Hare Stadium, 23-17.

Here are Auburn Undercover’s instant impressions from yet another creatively disheartening loss for Hugh Freeze’s team this season.

SECOND OT ENDS FITTINGLY

Missouri had the ball first in the second overtime period, and Beau Pribula stood in the face of heavy pressure on third-and-12 to deliver a strike to Kevin Coleman Jr. to move the chains. Pribula kept it himself for a touchdown three plays later. Pribula threw incomplete on the required 2-point conversion, though, keeping the door open for Auburn to win.

But on third-and-6, Jeremiah Cobb was tackled for a 2-yard loss, as Freeze was obviously trying to get a bit of yardage to make for a shorter fourth down. On fourth-and-8, Missouri brought pressure and fittingly sacked Arnold to end the game. 

Arnold was sacked five times.

AUBURN FACEPLANTS IN FIRST OT, BUT MISSOURI MISSES ITS CHANCE

Missouri won the toss in overtime and puts its defense on the field first. As he has shown a propensity to do, Jackson Arnold held onto the ball a long time on second down, and he was sacked. He simply had to throw out of bounds on third-and-17, and Alex McPherson missed the desperation field goal from 50 yards out. 

The game-winning attempt from Missouri’s Robert Meyer was only from 38 yards out, and he barely missed, as the Auburn crowd went crazy. A Missouri player thought the kick was good and starting doing backflips on the field.

AUBURN CAN’T TAKE ADVANTAGE IN REGULATION BUT FORCES OT

Auburn had an opportunity to orchestrate winning plays in a critical moment, which is a skill Hugh Freeze says has eluded this team. And the Tigers had a shot at points to potentially take the lead late in the game, but couldn’t make it happen.

Auburn got into Missouri territory with under five minutes to play. On what looked to be a broken play on third-and-10, Arnold awkwardly moved through the pocket before finding Perry Thompson open for 34 yards. 

Auburn’s sideline begged for pass interference on a deep shot to Cam Coleman on the next play, as there was some contact with the Missouri cornerback. On third down, Arnold hit an open Preston Howard on the money, beyond the chains, but Howard dropped it.

So Missouri got the ball back with 3:04 remaining. Auburn continued to muddy the pocket, but Beau Pribula made a few nice throws to move the drive out from its starting point at the 8-yard line close to midfield, then flipped one to running back Jamal Roberts to advance to Auburn’s 40-yard line — close to field-goal range. 

Keyron Crawford came up with a huge sack with 26 seconds left in the game, immediately followed by an incompletion by Pribula that was ruled a backwards pass, and the Tigers false-started, so all told it pushed Missouri back to a third-and-28.

Pribula launched one down to the sideline, and Jay Crawford came away with the interception. 

Auburn had the ball back with 18 seconds at its own 17-yard line and kneeled out to overtime. 

AUBURN MISSES OUT ON POINTS

Even after Arnold connected with Coleman (108 yards) for a 46-yard completion before halftime, the quarterback proceeded to take back-to-back sacks to make for a longer field goal, which Alex McPherson missed from 40 yards out right before the half.

Then after a 40-yard run by Jeremiah Cobb (113 yards) on Auburn’s first drive of the third quarter, another negative play followed (a 6-yard loss by Arnold), and McPherson’s 38-yard attempt missed off the right upright. Auburn could have tied the game 10-10 with either attempt.

Auburn also had a huge opportunity in the first half when Coleman dropped what would have potentially been a long touchdown pass from Arnold, as Coleman had a step on his defender. Arnold immediately followed up the next play with an interception — his first of the season — to Toriano Pride Jr. 

DEFENSE HOLDS UP UNTIL LATE

The visiting Tigers were by no means tremendous on offense in the first half, but four different third-conversions of 7-plus yards in the first half alone helped them stay on the field. A Kayin Lee interception in the red zone was big for Auburn to keep Missouri from adding to its lead before halftime, but the road team still took 6:17 off the clock with that possession. 

That flipped in the second half, and Auburn’s defense ramped up. Mizzou was just 2-of-8 on third down after halftime.

Auburn kept coming away with stops and trimmed into Missouri’s control of the clock. Missouri did not cross midfield in the second half until its 18th play of the half. And on that drive, Auburn clamped down and forced a punt immediately after.

After Auburn’s three-and-out midway through the fourth quarter, Missouri had another shot at going down and tying the game. And after Auburn had played so well defensively the entire half, Missouri got down the field quickly.

The Tigers moved 30 yards in just one play, as Auburn was called for two different 15-yard penalties: a pass interference on Jay Crawford, and an unnecessary roughness on Keyron Crawford.

Two plays later, Donovan Olugbode slipped Crawford’s tackle on a quick throw, and ran 27 yards for a first-and-goal. Ahmad Hardy, who entered the game as the nation’s No. 2 rusher, did not have a stellar night, with only 58 yards on 24 carries. But he stretched out for a touchdown with 5:07 left to tie things up at 17-17.

Auburn Undercover will update this story.