There is no other way to put it: this one hurts.

Auburn went into Knoxville with a real chance to knock off Tennessee, and for a while, it looked like the Tigers were going to do just that. Auburn led at halftime, battled back after Tennessee took control and even tied the game in the fourth quarter.

But when it mattered most, Auburn couldn’t finish.

Tennessee eventually pulled away for a 24-14 win, and once again, Auburn walked away from an SEC game knowing it had opportunities to win it.

That is what makes this loss so frustrating.

Auburn shot itself in the foot

This was a winnable game.

Auburn didn’t need everything to go perfectly to beat Tennessee. The Tigers just needed to stay out of their own way, and they couldn’t do it consistently.

Penalties, turnovers and missed opportunities continued to put Auburn in difficult situations. Auburn finished with 11 penalties for 94 yards, while Byrum Brown had three turnovers.

That is a tough formula to overcome on the road against an SEC opponent.

The frustrating part is that Auburn was still right there despite all of it. The Tigers had the lead at halftime, and after Tennessee went ahead, Auburn responded with a touchdown to make it 17-14.

Then came the fourth-and-short near Auburn’s own goal line.

Auburn went for it, Tennessee stopped the Tigers and the Vols turned that opportunity into the touchdown that essentially put the game away.

There will be plenty of discussion about whether Auburn should have gone for it, but I don’t think that one play is why Auburn lost this game.

Auburn had plenty of chances before that.

The slow starts are becoming a real problem

We’ve talked about Auburn’s slow offensive starts all season, and at this point, it is no longer something that can just be brushed off.

It is a problem.

Auburn continues to spend the early portions of games trying to find its rhythm, and against better SEC teams, eventually that is going to come back to bite you.

We’ve seen flashes of what this offense can be.

Brown showed what he can do with his legs, the running game had some really good moments and Auburn eventually put together a 94-yard touchdown drive that showed how dangerous this offense can be when everything is clicking.

But why does it take so long to get there?

Auburn can’t continue to wait until the second half to find its identity.

Especially against teams like Tennessee.

The offense doesn’t have to score every time it touches the ball, but it needs to start games with more consistency. Auburn has shown enough offensive ability for me to believe this group is capable of much more than what we continue to see in the first half.

Tennessee figured things out, and Auburn’s defense couldn’t stop the run

Auburn’s defense actually played a really good first half.

The Tigers kept Tennessee’s offense out of the end zone early and went into halftime with a 7-3 lead.

Then everything changed.

Tennessee made a quarterback change, bringing in George MacIntyre, and he provided a spark for the Vols. But the biggest problem for Auburn was what happened on the ground.

DeSean Bishop got going, and once he did, Auburn had no answer.

Bishop finished with 220 rushing yards and three touchdowns, and Tennessee eventually took control of the game through the run.

That’s probably the most disappointing part of the defensive performance.

Auburn had done a good job early of making Tennessee work for everything. But after halftime, the Tigers couldn’t consistently get off the field and couldn’t slow down Bishop.

The defense went from being one of the reasons Auburn was in the game to one of the reasons Auburn couldn’t finish it.

And that’s what makes this feel so familiar

This is where I have a hard time not feeling the same way I felt about the previous three or four Auburn teams.

Keep the game close.

Show enough flashes to make you believe.

Get yourself into position to win.

Then collapse late.

That has been the story far too many times over the last few seasons, and Saturday felt like another chapter of the same book.

I’m not saying this Auburn team is exactly the same as those teams. There are things I genuinely like about this group, and I still think there is a lot of talent on this roster.

But at some point, the results have to change.

You can’t continue to be the team that hangs around for three quarters and then finds a way to lose when the game is on the line.

That’s what separates good teams from average teams in the SEC.

And right now, Auburn is still trying to prove it can be a team that finishes.

This needed to be our game

That’s ultimately what I’ll remember most about this one.

This needed to be Auburn’s game.

With Georgia waiting on the other side of the bye week, opportunities like this aren’t going to come around very often. Auburn had a chance to walk out of Knoxville with a huge SEC win and a completely different feeling heading into the bye.

Instead, the Tigers are sitting at 1-2 in conference play, knowing they had a game they could have won.

That’s the frustrating part.

Auburn was good enough to win this game.

It just wasn’t good enough for four quarters.

And until that changes, we’re going to keep having the same conversation every Monday morning.