A week after ending their four-game losing streak, the Auburn Tigers (3-6, 1-5 SEC) return to the losing list.

The Tigers suffered a 17-7 loss at home to the Vanderbilt Commodores (6-3, 3-2 SEC) at Jordan-Hare Stadium after spending a month on the road.

Auburn’s defense put together another performance that could have carried the team to a win, but the offense was unable to repeat that performance.

The Tigers held Vanderbilt, which averages 351.5 yards of total offense and 32 points per game, to 227 and 17, respectively. Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne had a 20/29 passing percentage for 239 yards and a touchdown, but was on late downs particularly terrible since the Tigers were just 2 for 13 on third down.

“Thank you for showing up for us,” Thorne said of Auburn’s defense. “For us on offense, we have to finish drives. If we cross the 50-yard line, we have to capitalize on it. But going into a bye week, we have to be smart with our time, smart with what we do and just focus on the last few games we have here.”

Jarquez Hunter rushed for 278 yards in a win at Kentucky last week, but this year he has returned to the underused role he has become so familiar with. Hunter managed 50 yards on just 12 carries while the Tigers managed 88 yards on the day.

“I thought they played hard and obviously did a good job on defense,” Thorne said. “We got injured sometimes and left plays on the board.”

Auburn had four drives in which they approached or went beyond the 50-yard line that did not result in any points being put on the board. This is an area Thorne wants to focus on during Auburn’s bye week.

“It’s all about execution,” Thorne said. “It’s a simple game when you talk about it like that. A lot of moving parts for sure, but when everyone does their job everything falls into place and you usually end up in the end zone. We can’t do that.”

Auburn won’t play next Saturday, but will take the field again at Jordan-Hare Stadium in two weeks to face Louisiana-Monroe. Kickoff is scheduled for 11:45 a.m. CT and SEC Network will televise the event.