The Auburn Tigers' struggles continue to mount after falling to No. 16 Missouri Tigers 23-17 in double overtime on Saturday, dropping to 0-4 in SEC play. After the loss, Freeze called the defeat “sickening” given how close Auburn came to pulling off the upset. Now head coach Hugh Freeze faces an even bigger challenge after losing a key piece of his offense.
Bryan Matthews of On3 reported the unfortunate update on social media. “Auburn starting center Connor Lew suffered a torn ACL against Missouri and will miss the remainder of the season, a source confirms,” Matthews reported.
Lew went down with the knee injury during the second half of the Missouri game and did not return. The junior had been Auburn's anchor up front since taking over as a true freshman in 2023, starting every game last season and entering 2025 as a returning leader on the offensive line.
True freshman Kail Ellis replaced Lew mid-game and is expected to start the rest of the season. Ellis handled most of the snaps well, but a high snap during overtime showed the challenge ahead. The freshman will have limited time to get comfortable with SEC play continuing each week.
The loss of Lew compounds Auburn's offensive struggles in SEC play. Auburn has dropped four straight conference games. The offense has averaged just 20.7 points per game in those SEC losses compared to 37 points per game during their 3-0 non-conference start. Freeze has repeatedly emphasized that Auburn must find a way to change their habit of losing close games.
Losing Lew's reliability makes the situation even tougher. His leadership and ability to handle protection calls at the line will be especially difficult to replace as Auburn tries to turn close losses into wins.
Auburn faces Arkansas on Saturday still searching for its first SEC win. The reshuffled offensive line will need to gel quickly as Auburn looks to snap their four-game losing streak.
