ATHENS | Auburn’s offense didn’t wait until the second half to struggle; it instead struggled throughout the whole game.

The Tigers only scored 10 points on Saturday, and even that makes it seem better than it actually was.

It was a dreadful first half for Auburn as it turned the ball over once, botched a fake punt, was shut out and only managed to put up 137 yards.

The second-half struggles continued as the offense managed only 40 yards in the third quarter and didn't score a touchdown until the game was well in hand.

Why has Auburn struggled in second halves? AU head coach Bryan Harsin struggled to find an answer

"I wish I had the answer for that I really do, If we did, we would fix those things," Harsin said. "I think part of the struggles are we're playing good teams. I think part of the struggles are some self-inflicted things."

Auburn's first drive of the second half started in the red zone due to a turnover by Georgia.

The Tigers proceeded to not pick up a first down and settled for a field goal.

"We’ve got to capitalize on that, it has to be touchdowns," said tight end, John Samuel Shenker. “It was good to come away with points, but when we have that kind of opportunity we’ve got to be able to score touchdowns. In this conference that’s a must.”

Auburn's only touchdown came on a 64-yard catch and run by Jarquez Hunter. By that point, the Tigers were down by 32 points and Georgia was running its backups.

Auburn’s defense had an excellent start to the game, as it allowed only 14 points and 143 yards in the first half but there’s only so much a defense can do without offensive support.

Auburn’s offense having ineffective drives eventually wore on the defense and it collapsed in the second half.

"That's the part that's frustrating," Shenker said. "That's why I want to score points is just for that defense. To give them some breathing room and know that what they're doing on defense is allowing us to score points on offense. That's something we've got to work on."

A big issue was penalties. The Tigers committed 10 penalties for 60 yards with a lot of them being pre-snap that pushed Auburn behind the chains.

"It's freaking frustrating," Harsin said. "Against really good teams, you start getting behind the chains, it's the advantage to the defense."

Auburn only crossed midfield twice in the first three quarters and totaled only 258 yards in the whole game with a lot of that coming in garbage time. For Harsin, there is a consistency problem.

“The key to having a successful game is being consistent throughout the game,” Harsin said. And whether at the end of it, the score is in your favor or not, you want to have some type of consistency. And I think that's the biggest challenge for us right now.”