AUBURN | Auburn can't get out of its own way. It's as simple as that after another unexplainable loss when the Tigers had every right to win the game. And it came from every direction, including the sidelines.

Oklahoma, despite its record, is not a good team right now. They were down several wide receivers and playing a freshman quarterback in his first road start in a packed Jordan-Hare Stadium. For the majority of the game, it looked as if the Tigers were going to get the best of the Sooners.

But the same mistakes popped up their rear heads in various ways.

The first came early in the first quarter. Auburn got the ball down to the 1-yard line and had a fourth-down attempt to punch it in. After trying Sam Jackson in the Wildcat formation on first down and seeing it get no gain, Hugh Freeze decided it best to use it again on fourth instead of trusting one of his workhorse running backs, especially Jarquez Hunter, to gain a yard.

The play never had a chance—a scoring opportunity down the drain.

With a chance to take a 10-point lead into halftime, clock management for the Tigers became extremely Les Miles-like. After a Hunter run to the Sooners' 19-yard line, Auburn wasted precious seconds before calling a timeout with 19 seconds left. That was their last timeout of the half, meaning after KeAndre Lambert-Smith caught a five-yard pass and was tackled in bounds, the Tigers had to rush Towns McGough and the place-kicking team onto the field.

McGough missed it, but was given a second chance after the Sooners were called for 12 men on the field. A 27-yard attempt sailed wide, and the Tigers had left 10 points on the board going into the locker room.

That wouldn't haunt them, right? Ha. This is Auburn, and this is a team that can't afford to leave any points on the board.

Despite that, it still looked good for Freeze's team. A one-yard touchdown pass to Luke Deal made it 21-10 on the second play of the fourth quarter, and the Sooners hadn't shown that they could move the ball on offense other than the game's first drive.

On Oklahoma's ensuing drive, Jalen McLeod blew up a 4th-and-10 play, sacking Michael Hawkins and giving Auburn the ball at its 45-yard line. Hunter started Auburn's drive with a 22-yard run to get down to OU's 33. This is when, for some reason, Freeze or Payton Thorne decided to throw it two straight times, both incompletions. A third-down run picked up nothing, forcing a 51-yard field goal attempt by McGough. You already know where this is going—more points left on the board and just 1:38 taken off the clock.

The Sooners capitalized and scored to make it 21-16. Facing third down on the Tigers' next drive, Thorne found Hunter for a first down. Hunter then went for 16 yards on the next play, and the momentum seemed to be back in Auburn's hands. Not so fast, said the momentum universe.

After looking solid all game, Thorne was intercepted, and Oklahoma returned it for a touchdown. It was suddenly the Sooners' lead, and Thorne had to rebound.

He didn't, and Auburn found another way to lose a winnable game. It's become a troubling trend the past two seasons, whether it was giving up 4th-and-31 to Alabama or turning the ball over five times against Cal and Arkansas in befuddling losses. Those are on the players, but the clock mismanagement and confusing calls fall on Freeze and his staff.

It's not going to get any easier for the Tigers. Georgia awaits in Athens before a bye week. Then, back-to-back trips to Missouri and Kentucky await. Everything needs to come together, or this season will be over in no time.

It's gut-check time for Freeze, his staff and every single player. The Tigers have let a highly achievable 5-0 start turn into a 2-3 disaster.

In his postgame press conference, Freeze said he needs to put Thorne in better situations and communicate with him when the ball needs to be run. Well, this is their 18th game together, so if it isn't happening now, it probably isn't going to happen.

The coaching let the players down today, plain and simple, and Freeze admitted as much afterward. That shouldn't be happening in Year 2 of this tenure.

Oklahoma was down and out. The Tigers refused to close the deal and paid dearly.