Auburn is used to having kickers that are as close to automatic as a human being can be, so what's happening with the Tigers this year is an anomaly. Hugh Freeze and his staff expected Alex McPherson to be that kind of kicker this season after a perfect 2023, but an ongoing illness has kept the sophomore out of all but one game.

As of this past Friday, McPherson is still unable to practice, so Towns McGough is still in charge when the Tigers need a field goal. The only problem is that the true freshman has struggled lately, missing six of his last nine attempts.

In the losses to Missouri and Vanderbilt, those misses were costly. So, with McPherson still out and McGough not being reliable, has it changed the way Freeze thinks about how he calls plays when in field-goal range?

"I think it has to," the head coach said. "The momentum loss that we've had — I can't go back, in my mind, to every game, but I know the Vandy and Missouri game, not getting points when we've had good drives that should result in points are definitely momentum-killers."

Up 17-6 against Missouri in Columbia in October, Auburn was in a great spot to make the score a two-touchdown lead as McGough lined up for a 30-yard attempt. He missed it to the left, and Mizzou stormed back to win the game.

It was more of the same against Vanderbilt as the Tigers stormed down the field on the second half's opening drive only to see McGough miss a 44-yard attempt.

"They really hurt," Freeze said. "Who knows what happens instead?"

Now, Freeze and his offensive staff have to consider possibly forgoing the field goal attempts and go for it on fourth down. The question is: when?

"So it definitely has got to start factoring in," he said. "Is this four-down territory, and how early in the game is it four-down territory?"