AFTER BAYLOR WIN: "Auburn barely managed 100 yards passing with massively hyped returning wide receivers Cam Coleman and Malcolm Simmons only getting one catch each. Monster wide receiver signee Eric Singleton got three but had twenty yards... I mean yes I am very glad Auburn did what it had to do to win the game but the passing game is still a flashing red light.
Quarterback Jackson Arnold did not look comfortable in the pocket. I think he should have been better. Most of us have watched enough football that even if a quarterback is having a bad game you can see if he is brave in the pocket, if he throws a nice ball, etc... I did not see any of that with Arnold. I also think that his success running in this game will encourage the bad habit of running every time he feels pressure. I see better SEC teams shutting down most of his running. Also why have we carried on and on and on and paid so much money for all of these wide receivers to not have a passing game good enough against BAYLOR to get them the ball?
The answer appears to be the same as it has been the last decade at Auburn. Our head coach is an ex-high school coach who is a good salesman and sermonizer but simply does not have the ability to teach or implement modern football passing concepts."
AFTER BALL STATE WIN (a 42-3 blowout): "However while the stat line looked good for the offense I think everyone who watched the game noticed some issues. The offense was just not sharp on several drives in the first half. There is still just something wrong with this offense. I think some of the issues are Jackson Arnold. He looks like a baseball thrower to me that does not have a lot of touch but I think it is more coaching. I have the same questions I had last week, how can Auburn being in the second year with this coaching staff and this offense not look sharper? Auburn has massively upgraded at all positions and their talent is showing through but there is still something wrong with this offense.
AFTER SOUTH ALABAMA WIN: "Next up I will just repeat again what I have in the last two posts... Auburn's passing game is just not clicking on all cylinders... You have to have the coaching and Auburn appears to be drastically lacking there. Auburn's very expensive high rated wide receivers not only dropped several yesterday but either they or Jackson Arnold are doing something wrong since he won't pull the trigger many times...
The offense just looks like an old high school offense passing-wise and Jackson Arnold is just not getting the coaching to pass successfully. Auburn is a better team than the last four years but with these issues in the passing game I just am not sure how successful this team will be in a tougher-than-ever SEC.
I hope I am just being "negative", I hope Hugh Freeze and this Auburn team prove me wrong however I think most of us have watched good teams and they look like good teams in most all their games. I think most of us have seen well-coached passing offenses and this just does not appear to be one. Most of all this coaching staff has just not shown the mettle to win big games. Let me repeat that, this coaching staff has just not shown the mettle to win big games. That does not bode well for next week nor the season. Please prove me wrong (NOTE: HE HAS NOT).
AFTER OKLAHOMA LOSS: "I will also point out AGAIN as I have the LAST THREE WEEKS that Auburn quarterback Jackson Arnold continues to hold the ball too long much of the time. That is coaching. I think everyone watching is seeing this. This all leads to what I have felt all week and that is a COMPLETE LACK OF CONFIDENCE IN THIS COACHING STAFF.
After this disaster against a very overrated Oklahoma team I just do not think this coaching staff is capable of leading Auburn to an upset over a really good team, EVER. Texas A&M is now up next... I think the Aggies are better than Oklahoma this season and it is on the road so that pretty much guarantees it is out of a Hugh Freeze-coached team's reach. Like this week and pretty much any week under Freeze I have absolutely zero confidence that Auburn can show up and just play good solid well-coached football. "
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Freeze won at Ole Miss a decade ago when the rules were different and you could run your subs in and hike the ball as fast as you can. Simple high school plays worked many times in that scenario. As soon as the rules were changed Hugh Freeze has been a complete loser in the SEC at both Ole Miss and Auburn. He had some good seasons at Liberty but it is not even worth discussing, it is not the SEC. I do wonder how he even won those games because at Auburn he does not display any understanding of just basic football strategy. This was on full display yesterday as he did not abandon the running game, HE NEVER USED IT AT ALL. He has done that to one extent or another since he got to Auburn when it is patently obvious Auburn does not have near the tools to only pass the ball.
Auburn Nation, the simple fact is that Hugh Freeze is not a good coach. I believe that has been proven as fact. It does not matter anymore if you are a good recruiter if you cannot coach. Your impact players will all leave. Obviously the inverse is true as well, you cannot be a good coach that cannot recruit either. Auburn football is bad now because Auburn has hired two bad football coaches in a row. It is as simple as that. Auburn's last major win was beating Bama in 2019. Gus struggled through 2020 and was headed down, he had to be replaced. Auburn's mistake was not in firing Gus as many are saying but in who they replaced him with. Auburn's inept administrations have been as bad as the football coaches they have hired. That has led us to FOUR STRAIGHT LOSING SEASONS with a possible fifth looming now.
However I actually think Auburn will still have a winning season. Auburn does have better talent, you just cannot see it with this coaching. I think Auburn will win enough games so our weak administration will bring back Hugh Freeze, and we will have to suffer through another season of this. Auburn will lose to Georgia and Bama while they will win against Mercer. That puts the team at 4-4. The season comes down to Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt. Mizzou and Vandy are ranked but they are not powerhouses. Auburn even with this coaching will look a lot better against these teams because I do not think they have the defensive coaching or the pass rush to shut down Auburn down like the last two weeks, even considering how poorly coached Auburn is.
This is the new normal at Auburn people and frankly we have been here for awhile. Gus was the same as this except he would beat the four weaker SEC teams I list above and he would finish 8-4 in these seasons and then lose his bowl game. Gus was not much more competitive against good teams. Gus Malzahn never won on the road from 2013 through 2020 against LSU, Georgia, or Bama. The common denominator is weak offensive lines and passing games. The reason Gus was a step better than Freeze is he would run the ball. Auburn is simply not going to beat good teams on the road or really good teams anywhere anymore. That is a simple fact that has been true for awhile.
This is Auburn football now and with the entire college football system changing there will be no more automatic rebounds for Auburn. Auburn counted on always rebounding with a good team for over 50 years and too many Auburn fans think that is still going to happen. Sadly I hate to tell you, it is not. The only way out is to have solid smart people in the administration and board that hire a competent football coach that actually performs rather than conning his way into the job just to get the multi-million dollar buyout and then is actually glad when he gets fired. I tell you ex-Auburn football coaches have been laughing on the way to the bank for way too long. This is like pro football now, you do not luck into being good.
Looking ahead... Auburn is going to get beat by Georgia. As I also said in an earlier post before either of the last two losses, Auburn will also probably "look better" losing to Georgia. I mean it won't matter because it is still a loss but some people will be swayed again. Auburn will then hit those four conference games I list above and again I do not think they have the defensive coaching or pass rush to shut down even a badly coached Auburn offense so I think Auburn will win some of those games. The Auburn fan base needs to look forward to those games it seems. I mean you either stop watching the games or you just look forward to those type games now. That is what you do when you are a bottom half SEC program. Auburn football is now a bottom half SEC program.
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