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Southern Miss coach Blake Anderson said the Auburn environment exposed communication and composure problems: seven false starts and three personal fouls. He contrasted that with a calmer opener and said the same unforced errors would also be costly against UConn; the change of opponent does not by itself fix the issue.
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Anderson traced Southern Miss's first interception at Auburn to a completely missed protection that released a three-technique directly at the quarterback despite an open receiver. That is a protection-assignment problem in his review, not simply evidence of a bad quarterback read.
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Southern Miss's early Auburn plan emphasized getting the ball into space quickly rather than attacking the opponent's strong front directly. Anderson said the same concept produced useful quick completions on other snaps; this describes the Auburn plan, not a confirmed UConn play-calling change.
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Anderson identified a Southern Miss coverage bust for a touchdown and repeated failures to keep Auburn's quarterback contained despite practicing that priority. Assignment execution and rush-lane discipline remain concrete defensive corrections before UConn, with no new coverage scheme announced.
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Anderson saw isolated Southern Miss positives at Auburn, including a sustained scoring drive, difficult catches, hard rushing yards and a successful two-point conversion. But the team did not follow that with the needed stops around halftime or consistent follow-up possessions, so he did not present those flashes as a settled offensive recovery.