Pat Dye used to say that an SEC team could expect to lose a conference game for every true freshman it was forced to start in a given season.

Dye’s point wasn’t meant to blame any particular freshman and I don’t bring up that old quote to damn Auburn’s true freshman quarterback — even after another crushing road loss.

What he was trying to say back then was, starting a true freshman, no matter how much potential that freshman may possess, is almost always result of not having built up enough experience and/or depth before that player ever got on campus.

It’s a signal that as a program, you aren’t quite read for prime time.

Facing another top-5 team on the road, Auburn’s offense charitably could be called “still a work in progress.” Uncharitably, well, it could be called a bumbling mess.

It’s still not fair to put all of Auburn’s offensive woes on one particular true freshman. While Bo Nix certainly could have played better, he once again didn’t get a lot of help, either from the sidelines or on the field.

It’s bad enough that Gus Malzahn’s elementary passing schemes rarely yield open receivers. What’s worse is when senior offensive linemen repeatedly jump offsides.

That’s tantamount to conceding a drive. You can’t blame that on youth. Some of those guys were on an SEC roster when Nix was in ninth grade.

And while Nix wasn’t good, it’s not like he had wide-open receivers running free all afternoon.

Once again, Malzahn did not have much of a plan for playing a good team on the road. Not only did the original “script” fall short of an effective fast start, the dreaded Second Quarter Slump arrived right on schedule.

As a friend of mine put it during the game, Auburn’s play selection looked like it was being determined by spinning a Magic 8-Ball much of the time.

Without a fortuitous fumbled punt and a by-inches fourth down push at the goal line, the Tigers’ first-half scoring would have been limited to a single field goal.

And don’t get me started on the fabled halftime adjustments.

In the second half, when Auburn’s defense was putting on a performance for the ages, the offense went three-and-out of five consecutive possessions for a total net gain of three yards. Three.

Yes, two of those “drives” started in the shadow of the Auburn goalposts, but being backed up isn’t an excuse for total futility. You’re not going to beat anybody worth a damn when you can’t even average a yard — one single miserable yard — over five possessions.

It’s beyond exasperating to watch this team fail to develop an offense that can execute when it matters. Piling up the points on hapless Arkansas and Mississippi State teams doesn’t mean a thing when you continue to grind the gears against the big boys.

Just one example: What was to be gained by repeatedly running straight into a 350-pound nose tackle? Other than wasted downs, that is? That doesn’t take pressure off your quarterback; it puts him in an even worse position playing behind the chains on 2nd or 3rd down.

I’m left with the sneaking suspicion that once again, Malzahn is trying to pound the square peg of a true passer who can run when he needs to into the round hole of an offensive scheme built for a run-heavy quarterback.

Malzahn’s stubborn refusal to update his passing game is as much of a liability at this point as his quarterback’s inexperience. Nix hasn’t done himself many favors in the two losses to date, but it’s fair to recognize that he’s playing against defenses that know exactly what to expect well before the snap much of the time.

You’d think Gus would learn something from the way LSU deliberately went out and brought their offense up to date this year — with 500-yards-a-game results. But frankly I’m not holding my breath.

But here’s the real kicker: even with the nine wasted possessions for the offense (none of which lasted more than four snaps), even that meager output was still almost enough to eke out a win.

It’s nothing short of astonishing that this defense, any defense, could stay on the field for 88 plays and hold that offense to 23 points. It’s even more impressive when you consider LSU's offensive line was blatantly holding on virtually every play yet drew just one holding call from the Birmingham Boys in stripes.

Joe Burrow eventually get his yardage, but LSU had to fight for every bit of it. Outside of the Bayou Bengals’ first scoring drive, AU effectively took away the long ball and forced Burrow to dink and dunk for single-digit yardage for most of the time. LSU’s longest reception (45 yards) was negated by an Auburn goal-line stand, resulting in no points.

It was close enough to leave Auburn with a handful of could-have-beens. If D.J. Williams doesn’t slip out of bounds near the goal line, if the officials had stopped to review a close interception just before the half, if Auburn manages to fall on the last kickoff …

It would almost have been better to get run off the field than to play that well against a great offense and still lose. It’s enough to drive one to drink. Honesty compels me to admit that this game led me to imbibe.

What’s most frustrating is how tantalizingly close to a contender Auburn appears to be. The defense is championship caliber. If paired with a merely competent and consistent offense, the Tigers could very well be undefeated and likely to lead the first Playoff rankings next week.

Instead, they’re almost certain to be an also-ran with a nice bowl bid in Florida.

That’s not the worst thing in the world, sure. But even if the Tigers do manage to put it together for a strong finish in an all-Jordan-Hare November, it won’t keep 2019 from being, at best, another season of what might have been.

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