AUBURN | It’s a broken record.

Auburn’s inability to execute in critical moments reared its ugly head again in Saturday's 21-17 loss at No. 19 Missouri as it has over and over again this season.

“Obviously another disappointing day and bitter to know we're not able to get across the finish line against another top 20 team,” said AU coach Hugh Freeze. "Give Missouri credit for not folding and continue to battle. Our kids fought hard.

“We're not making enough plays. We’re not making enough right calls at times to win these close games right now obviously, and it's disappointing for the Auburn family. Disappointing for our administration, for our team, for our kids, our coaches. It's a difficult year where it seems nothing is going quite our way when you need it to.”

There were so many examples but one that really stands out is a 13-play, 63-yard drive in the third quarter in which the Tigers came away without any points.

Auburn built up a ton of momentum in the third quarter scoring touchdowns on a 47-yard pass from Payton Thorne to Cam Coleman and a muffed punt that was recovered in the end zone by Antonio Kite.

Leading 17-6, AU drove down the field and had a first down on the UM 10-yard line with 2:17 left in the third after a 15-yard pass from Thorne to Malcolm Simmons.

On the next play, Thorne lofted a pass into the corner of the end zone that went through the hands of Robert Lewis for a would-be touchdown. On second down, Thorne was sacked for a 12-yard loss before getting most of that back on a 10-yard pass to Jarquez Hunter on third down.

On 4th and 12, Towns McGough’s 30-yard field goal attempt went wide left, his second miss from 30 or less yards in the last three games.

“I thought the fade ball was a really good ball and we got to make those plays and score,” said Freeze. “We got to make those field goals or just to keep our momentum but we seem to not make the right call as coaches or the right play from time to time in critical moments still. And that's kind of been the story of the whole year.”

It was a huge momentum shift as injured quarterback Brady Cook returned from a first-quarter injury on the ensuing series and led UM to two fourth-quarter touchdowns, starting with a 78-yard pass on 3rd and 10 at the end of the third quarter.

UM cut AU’s lead to 17-14 on the first play of the fourth quarter, but after a couple of exchanges of punts, Auburn had an opportunity to put the game away starting a series at the UM 37-yard line with 5:56 remaining.

On the first play, Jarquez Hunter was dropped for a 2-yard loss and then Payton Thorne was dropped for a 1-yard loss. On 3rd and 13 at the 40, Sam Jackson dropped a pass at the 35-yard line, which had the potential to gain more yards for a first down, field goal attempt or even put AU in position to go for it on fourth down.

Instead, AU punted after taking just 1:30 off the clock, which was downed at the 5-yard line and set up UM’s game-winning 95-yard TD drive, which included a number of missteps by AU’s defense.

Missouri was able to convert a 3rd and 7, 4th and 5 and 3rd and 10 for first downs on the drive and also gained 15 yards on a pass interference penalty.

On the 3rd and 7 at the UM 22-yard line, AU brought six pass rushers, but safety Jerrin Thompson was unable to keep outside leverage and the injured Cook was able to scramble around the left side for 14 yards.

"Coach Durkin called a good call. We were hitting the right gaps. The blitzing guy has to make the play. I'm not throwing things out there, but we've just got to make that play. In this critical situation, we've got to make that play,” said outside linebacker Jalen McLeod, who had two sacks including one on UM's final drive.

AU used its final timeout to set the defense on a 4th and 5 at the AU 41-yard line. Nickel Keionte Scott, however, got matched in man coverage against All-American Luther Burden, and Cook connected with a wide open Burden for 16 yards.

"I don't care what the offense did -- when I'm on the field, we're playing for defense. They drove down 95 yards? We've got to get off the field,” said McLeod. “We've got to be better than that, simple as that. We had them second-and-18, third-and-12, however long. You've got to get off the field.”

There were plenty more examples going back to AU’s opening offensive play of the game when Thorne was sacked for a 5-yard loss. That’s from an offense that had two weeks to prepare for the matchup.

“Ideally, you'd wanna start hot at any game, whether it's off the bye week or not. And we didn't do that today,” said Thorne.

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