AUBURN | Auburn led 17-14 and had a first down on Missouri’s 37-yard line with 5:56 left in the game.

Every instinct Hugh Freeze had was to dial up an explosive play and secure a big road win with a quick strike. Instead, he called a running play, which backfired.

“I wanted to, when we got that ball, to take a shot,” said Freeze. “And man, five years ago I'd have done that and not worried. But then you're second-and-10, and we didn't give it to 27 like we should have.”

Auburn went with Jarquez Hunter, who was dropped for a 2-yard loss. On second down, quarterback Payton Thorne kept the ball and was dropped for a 1-yard loss.

The drive ended on a dropped pass by Sam Jackson.

“That's our chance to put the game away and we have a negative run on first down. We just didn't execute it,” said Freeze. “You're giving it to your best guy on a zone play.

“And you've gotta give them credit, their defensive front is good. But we didn't execute it very well, either.”

While Auburn’s players have struggled executing in critical moments, Freeze and his staff are feeling the same pressure.

“I feel the pressure of those calls, of not being free to do what I've done for years and, ‘Oh man, we could screw this up or we could not execute this correctly.’

“So those are all feelings that are real and legitimate and probably have an affect on us not finishing games really well.”

Auburn’s execution struggles have been especially evident when the pressure is amped up in the fourth quarter. AU has been out-scored 52-17 in the fourth quarter of its four SEC losses.

Against Missouri, Auburn had just 22 yards of offense and averaged 1.5 yards per play. Thorne was just 1 of 6 for 18 yards.

AU’s defense played well the entire game until giving up a 17-play, 95-yard game-winning drive late in the fourth. The 95 yards constituted 27 percent of Mizzou’s output the entire game.

“I hate it. It makes you sick, physically ill, when you don't get across the finish line,” said Freeze. “It makes you act crazy and say crazy things to those you love sometimes. It's frustrating, and the great thing about it is, man, it teaches you so much about who you are in the valley. And it teaches you perspective of really keeping your eyes on the right things in the challenging moments, which for me is the chance I have to impact this building by what they see and how I handle the challenging times.

“I haven't had a ton of practice at that throughout the years. And so I'm having to learn about myself and seek great counsel and obviously stay grounded in my faith and what I know to be true and pure and good, and hopefully keep this building continuing to work like they are and playing as hard as they do.”

Auburn plays at Kentucky next Saturday at 6:45 p.m. CT on SEC Network.