Auburn's place-kicking duties were set in stone following last season. In his first year handling the job full-time, Alex McPherson was perfect, finishing 13-of-13 on field goal attempts while nailing all 40 point after attempts. So, the Tigers' kicking game was in good hands.

That all disappeared this summer when McPherson got ill due to a digestive issue. The sophomore lost a lot of weight, and when fall camp arrived, he couldn't participate in drills.

Enter Towns McGough, the true freshman from Auburn HS, who the Tigers got the commit from at the last minute over Ole Miss. One of the strongest legs of any kicker coming out of high school, McGough was considered a worthy replacement while McPherson continued to recover. And he started fine, hitting field goal attempts in two of the season's first three games.

But lately, McGough has been struggling. In the loss to Oklahoma, he missed two field goal attempts and has hit on just three of his last seven attempts.

"I don't think anything health-wise is troubling him," Hugh Freeze said on Saturday after the loss to Missouri. "He's in a kicker's slump, I guess you would say."

In the loss, McGough missed a 30-yard chip shot that would have given Auburn a two-touchdown lead in the third quarter.

If given the opportunity again, Freeze would have given McPherson his first action of the season.

"Should we have another opportunity within the 35-yard range, we were going to give Alex that shot," the head coach said. "He told me he felt like he could do that. We're close to thinking on that. We'll see how the week goes."

Not that Freeze and special teams coordinator Tanner Burns are giving up on McGough. But when the margin of error is so thin for a team trying to scratch out wins, Auburn's head coach knows how vital it is to have someone who can be counted on in those moments.

"We're excited about Towns and his future and his talent, but we need to make those," Freeze said. "Those are critical moments that keep our momentum up and us feeling good and us feeling like, 'Man, we're finding ways to win the game.' He (McPherson) did feel like he could've participated if we had that situation again Saturday."