THE OFFICIATING
The bias against Auburn by SEC officials is an absolute fact. Review the games. This is not a homer fan just complaining about a few calls. This is now gotten to a point that to win a game Auburn does not have to just beat the other team but they will have to overcome multiple egregiously bad calls. I mean it has gotten so bad that I actually did not get as upset as many people last night because I just expect it now. Let us start with the actual worst call of the night even though it was not as crucial... Kirby Smart came running down the sidelines in the second half clearly calling a timeout to avoid a delay of game penalty... and then somehow successfully argued he was just clapping and was awarded an actual "redo" of the play and did not lose a time out (?????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????????????). In fifty years of watching football I have never seen anything like that.
I will save the "The Fumble" for last so the next call was the targeting call on Kaylin Lee helping Georgia's drive at the end of the first half. Here is the problem with that call... first lets say yes it was close and it is a judgement call but it could be called targeting so call it there. HOWEVER when a Georgia player leads with his helmet later you absolutely have to call that. They did not. In that case you should not have called it either time. On the one against Auburn you could clearly see that Lee was trying to hit Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton with his shoulder but Stockton lowered his head. On the same theme they called a key pass interference penalty on Rayshawn Pleasant where yes he grabbed him a bit but they did not call it on Georgia for doing the same thing. Again you have to be consistent.
Finally, we have the fumble. All I can say is that if the same thing happened to Bama, Georgia, Texas, Ohio State, etc... that call would have been overturned and it would have been called a touchdown. That is not an opinion but an absolute fact and no matter what your allegiance is you know it is true. What is the point of instant replay if that is not a touchdown? I mean a touchdown after a clear catch and fumble was taken away from Auburn at Oklahoma (the same type play was called a catch for Oklahoma later in game), Oklahoma was allowed to score a touchdown on a clear illegal play that the SEC admitted was so after the game. Auburn now in this game had another touchdown taken away with this "fumble" even though something was clear on instant replay. Those calls all gave or took away touchdowns.
It sure seems like there is a clear directive to SEC refs that all critical close calls go to the other team no matter what (Auburn still gets some calls just none of the critical ones). I mean if commissioner Greg Sankey did not want Hugh Freeze back in the SEC this bad I wish he would have just officially banned him rather than punishing the players and fans like this. I know that is going deep "conspiracy theory" but when things have gotten this bad I am not sure what else to think. Again if you think Auburn fans are crazy just imagine the calls I am talking about going against the teams I listed... You know it would NEVER happen. HOWEVER just like I did after the Oklahoma game I am still going to put more blame on...
THE COACHING
I said after Oklahoma executed the clearly illegal "hideout" play for a touchdown that yes as the SEC admitted afterward was as bad a call as you could make BUT if Auburn would not have screwed up the snap on a punt and given the ball to Oklahoma in scoring range I don't think they can run that play. A botched punt is bad coaching. In the same vein, if Auburn quarterback Jackson Arnold does not fumble the ball Auburn gets the touchdown or another chance and the refs are not allowed to make a judgement. The bigger thing for me is you cannot fumble that ball there. You have to take care of the things you can control and Auburn so much of the time under head coach Hugh Freeze have not and this is just another example. You simply cannot fumble the ball there.
Auburn coaches and fans, including me, can complain about the officiating but like the Oklahoma game there were plenty of chances to win this game even considering the bad calls. Everyone talks about the fumble but almost as big as the fumble play was Auburn's second drive of the game. First though let me say kudos to the Auburn fans and students at this game, the place was deafening to start. It came through just watching it on TV. The team also came out with a lot of energy as well plus even more spurred on by the incredible crowd. Auburn jumped all over Georgia scoring a touchdown on an impressive seven minute 75 yard drive. The defense then stopped Georgia and Auburn got the ball back still on a high. The offense then took off on a five minute drive to 2nd and 2 at the Georgia six yard line.
THIS IS WHERE YOU WIN THE GAME. This is well before the fumble. Auburn had all the momentum and... Damari Alston is stuffed for a four yard loss. Auburn then gets one more chance to capitalize on this unbelievable start and momentum. This is where you pull that special play you have up your sleeve that you have worked on the last two weeks for just this occasion!!! That is what good coaches do but Hugh Freeze instead just ran Alston again and settled for the field goal. There have been many such situations the last three seasons and this coaching staff has failed in all of them against good teams other than one game against Texas A&M. However since Auburn is now 1-11 against ranked teams under Freeze I think we can safely call that game the exception to the rule.
This all really began with not being able to stop a team on 4th and 31 to get an historically great win. Auburn should be able to stop the Kansas City Chiefs on 4th and 31. It started with that and Auburn under Hugh Freeze has continued to find ways to lose in just about every big game since then. Of course after the fumble we got to see another staple of having Hugh Freeze as coach and that is his absolutely unacceptable moping and body language when things get tough. I know as a coach at any level you have to exude confidence ESPECIALLY WHEN THINGS GET TOUGH. The head coach is the leader and if he is out there looking like Freeze the team cannot win. It is completely unacceptable and I cannot believe that he continues to do it. The offense then only had 14 total yards in the entire second half till the last failed drive which pushed that total to only 40. I mean that is beyond bad.
Finally, once again I have to point out like I have done all season and summarized in my last post... Auburn cannot pass the ball. Auburn cannot pass the ball. Auburn cannot pass the ball. Auburn probably would have won last night if Arnold doesn't fumble the ball capitalizing on great team and crowd energy but while those first few drives were successful last night they were certainly not a blueprint for continued success. I think it was more about great energy and effort. Those plays were all Gus Malzahn staples. The passes were short swings or hitches. There was NO DOWNFIELD PASSING. Once the script ran out and things got tough Auburn like the last two games was COMPLETELY HELPLESS because they CAN... NOT... PASS... THE... BALL.
Auburn has some great wide receivers but terrible coaching and nothing at quarterback. I cannot even imagine how frustrated the Tiger wide receivers are. What does a real passing game look like? Just look at Auburn's biggest rivals this season. Bama and Georgia are certainly not the juggernauts they have been. That was plain to see as Georgia was absolutely there for the taking last night with Auburn's hot start. Bama has also obviously struggled at times as well BUT both teams have the coaching where they can call an actual passing play where the quarterback drops back in the pocket, makes a read, and then delivers a down-the-field pass. Regardless of the officiating, Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton had to drop back and hit some key down-the-field passes to win last night. Bama quarterback Ty Simpson had to do the same yesterday at Missouri.
Auburn under Hugh Freeze simply cannot do it. They cannot call an actual passing play where the quarterback drops back in the pocket, makes a read, and then delivers a down-the-field pass. They coaching is not there and Jackson Arnold cannot do it any way. All the good starts like last night and running all over Baylor to start the season are not going to change the fact that a team can NOT win big games without being able to successfully execute passing plays like that. I summed all of this up in my last post. I have wrote about it win or lose every single game of this season. It has been over 15 years of this bull**** as it started with Gus Malzahn and has continued under Hugh Freeze. I am so sick of watching this stupid high school offense that I cannot adequately describe it anymore.
I mean there is no question now, Hugh Freeze needs to go. I know that no one at Auburn wants to start over again but it is what it is. Auburn is not going to magically start being successful under Hugh Freeze. He might luck up and win a big game here or there like he almost did last night but there will be no long-term success under this guy. I believe this has been proved beyond a shadow of a doubt now. He has also screwed up bad enough that even offering big sums of money it is going to be hard to talk big-time recruits or transfers into playing in this offense. They can get good money and play in better offenses elsewhere. He had his chance and he squandered it. Auburn needs to get started as soon as possible because dragging this out and hoping Hugh Freeze turns it around will make things worse.
However as we all know the big problem then becomes screwing up the next hire. I hold our ex-Mississippi State baseball coach athletic director in just as low regard as I hold Hugh Freeze. He made two terrible head football coaching hires at State plus he hired Freeze so why should I think he will do nothing but make ANOTHER BAD HIRE?????? That will make things even worse. Also if we hire another Gus Malzahn disciple like Eli Drinkwitz or Rhett Lashlee I am officially retiring from watching Auburn football till they are gone and you will not have to suffer through reading my posts anymore. I cannot watch years more of Gus Malzahn offenses which both of these teams run. Missouri is doing a lot better than Auburn but when things got tough yesterday they also cannot pass the ball effectively.
I am sure though Missouri will look better next week playing a battered and dejected Auburn team coming off this most painful of losses led by Hugh Freeze... The only question probably left in this Auburn season is how bad is it going to get? However I guess there is still a small chance Freeze gets a few wins and buys himself more time. I think the issue is settled but I know the Auburn administration will do anything to put off this tough decision. Auburn now plays four teams that are not as good as the three they just lost to. I did say earlier this season I thought it would come down to these next four games however I had no idea these last three losses would be this bad.
