Auburn recently has been able to avoid the horrific, program-low loss to a lightly-regarded lower division team, although it’s been close more than once.

We remember Appalachian State in 1999, Louisiana Tech in 2001, Jacksonville State in 2015.

While the Tigers have dropped games to what we now call the Group Of Five, over the last 30 years that’s only happened when the teams in question were at their zenith. There hasn’t been anything like LSU losing to UAB, or Alabama to Louisiana Monroe, or Florida State to Jacksonville.

At least not yet.

The closest comparison came during the gut-shot seasons of 1990 and 1991 when Auburn dropped consecutive Homecoming games to Southern Miss. The worst of those two losses was the last one. In a year when the Golden Eagles only won four games, one of those was edging out Auburn 10-9 in arguably the nadir of Pat Dye’s tenure.

Bryan Harsin came very, very close to dredging out an even lower mark on the 30th Homecoming since that loss. His first Auburn team got pushed around for three quarters by a one-win Georgia State team than was shellacked by a mediocre North Carolina just two weeks ago.

There was nothing fancy about how a 27-point underdog doubled up Auburn at halftime. It wasn’t a matter of trickery or fancy play calling; the Panthers just showed up and executed a good game plan while Auburn wandered around wondering which way was up.

Auburn did almost nothing well on either side of the line for the first 30 minutes. The offense was ineffective both on the ground and through the air. Besides having bad pass pressure and coverage, the defense was apparently unaware that a fullback is allowed to carry the football.

Add in the innumerable penalties and dumb mistakes and you had a genuine disaster in the making — at the hands of what had been universally (raising my own hand here) dismissed as a “cupcake” since the minute it was added to Auburn’s schedule.

I don’t mean to take anything away from the Panthers here. They were far better-prepared than their hosts to play that game. They played well from start to finish.

But let me try and put this in perspective:

The late Jim Fyffe used to dismiss know-it-all national sports figures by saying, “I have ties that are older than that guy.” Well folks, I have ties, suits, t-shirts and tennis shoes that are all older than Georgia State’s football program. A lot older.

I’m reasonably sure Georgia State is better than either Akron or Alabama State. I’m not at all sure they’re any better than Penn State — in fact, I feel pretty confident that they aren’t close.

Which is all to say, there was no reason, no excuse, no rational explanation for Auburn to come within an eyeblink of getting humiliated at its own homecoming.

It almost happened anyway.

The fact that it didn’t says something. I’m not sure what just yet.

• It’s encouraging that the defense was able to step in and pitch a second-half shutout, including four straight three-and-outs when they weren’t getting any help from the offense. Thank you, Caylin Newton, for the punt block that created a score.

• It’s worrying that things didn’t get going defensively until Zakoby McClain returned from a first-half suspension that even the SEC officiating office admits was unwarranted.

• It’s encouraging that Auburn could grind out a 98-yard drive to get the win.

• It’s worrying that it came only after the Tigers’ leading rusher fumbled, and a three-year starting quarterback was benched for a transfer who had his spring practice at the Tigers’ next opponent.

It took nerve for Harsin to bench Bo Nix, even though Nix was having his worst game as a Tiger that didn’t include an interception. By the time he was pulled for T.J. Finley, Nix had been ineffective for the duration and showed no signs of getting better.

Finley’s save was hardly a thing of beauty. It included multiple misses on the way to a heart-stopping fourth-down score, but there’s no denying the spark he brought to an offense that had done little but misfire right up until that last couple of minutes.

I’m not at all sure what will happen if Finley gets the start in Baton Rouge, in the middle of the night, with a ravening crowd that is guaranteed to take his new jersey very personally. Some players thrive on that kind of adversity, but they’re few and far between. But I’m also not at all sure whether Nix would be any better.

There are two things I do know for sure:

First, we don’t have to worry about Auburn not showing up for a “cupcake” game again this year because there aren’t any. From here on out it’s all SEC rivals.

Second, if Auburn fails to show for an entire half in those games, there will be no path to satisfaction.