AUBURN | Hugh Freeze was determined to get Jarquez Hunter more touches starting with Saturday’s game at No. 19 Missouri.

That was about the only thing Auburn accomplished on offense in the 21-17 loss.

Hunter had 19 carries and two receptions, nearly 50 percent more touches than his average, but totaled just 85 all-purpose yards, about 15 yards less than his average, and didn’t get into the end zone.

He certainly didn’t get a lot of help from his teammates, especially the offensive line, which gave up eight tackles-for-loss including three sacks.

UM came into the game averaging 5.5 tackles-for-loss and 2.0 sacks per game, which both ranked near the bottom of the SEC.

“We could have blocked it better, for sure,” said AU coach Hugh Freeze. “But that was a really good mature old experienced defensive line and you would be tough to hold up all the time against them if we couldn't stay balanced and they got after us when they had to,

“I thought we had a good plan for running the football and staying balanced. Probably should have taken a few more shots on early downs.”

AU totaled just 110 rushing yards against a defense that allowed 236 on the ground in a blowout loss at Texas A&M two weeks earlier.

Hunter finished with 57 yards on 19 carries, which gives him 2,757 career yards and moves him past Ronnie Brown into 10th on AU’s all-time list.

The senior came into the game averaging 88.0 yards on 13.0 carries.

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