2024 GAME 10 REVIEW: Operation "Keep Cam"

Auburn 48  Louisiana Monroe 14.  It is obvious that earlier this week the Auburn football coaching staff met and talked about what I talked about in my post last week, i.e. the sharks circling Auburn's current roster.  They figured out that obviously star receiver Cam Coleman would be at the top of many teams' wish lists.  This is the point where head coach Hugh Freeze finally showed some actual smarts when he must have told whoever was putting the game plan together and quarterback Payton Thorne to "GET CAM THE BALL".  He then cut off any response that was not "yes sir" with "GET CAM THE BALL".  Luckily for Freeze and Auburn Louisiana Monroe is terrible and the Auburn offense was pretty much able to do whatever it wanted.  Quarterback Payton Thorne threw for a career high five touchdowns, Auburn had two wide receivers over 100 yards (!!!) in Coleman and Keandre Lambert-Smith plus Jarquez Hunter got to 100 yards as well.  All in all as good a day as Auburn has had this season.

Coach Freeze can continue to brag about Auburn's offensive stats as this game will help inflate them as the Alabama A&M and New Mexico games did.  I mean you take those games away and Auburn's offensive stats especially the passing stats go down A LOT but hey that is what these games are for and at least Auburn took care of business in all the easy ones this season.  It is hard though to be real happy when you know that all those plays where Thorne got to stand back there forever and hit his receiver would never happen against anyone any good.  It is also hard to be real happy when everyone knows that with just a little good coaching Auburn would have a winning record and would already be in a bowl game regardless of these last two games.  Instead Auburn is 4-6 and looking at 4-8. 

I still think Auburn does have a small chance against Texas A&M at home.  Now the Aggies are tied at the top of the conference with their hated rival but even as bad as Hugh has coached, he and Auburn are just due to luck up at some point.  It will not be in Tuscaloosa so next week is it.  I have no doubt it will likely be a close game but Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko has already proven to be a pretty good coach... which means Auburn will likely lose another close game on a turnover or a stupid coaching decision.  It has happened in every other close game this season.  I guess the hope is that Auburn showed enough yesterday and can show enough in the last two games to help the staff not lose too many players or recruits.  That is where Auburn is at.  There will not be a bowl game.  There is only keeping the roster intact and adding to it as the season ends for this team and staff.

I am having a hard time coming up with anything else to write...  A few weeks ago I thought that Auburn could beat Vandy and then have a great chance against Texas A&M... but then Auburn lost to Vandy. After that I have a hard time seeing this team knock off Texas A&M.  Again I think Auburn has a small chance next week but a very small one.  This has been a very close and competitive series since the Aggies joined the SEC and it is currently knotted at 6-6 during that time.  There have definitely been some big wins for both sides.  Johnny Manziel and company ran Auburn out of its own stadium in 2012 while the great 2013 Auburn team knocked him off the next season.  Auburn went to College Station and beat current NFL star Kyler Murray in 2015 but A&M and another huge NFL star in Myles Garrett returned the favor in Auburn the next season.  Auburn then won three in a row followed by two in a row by the Aggies.  The teams have split the last two seasons.  

The Aggies are the clear favorites and are playing for high stakes while this Auburn team has one last chance to show some magic in Jordan Hare this season.  One last chance.

2024 GAME 9 REVIEW: Historically Bad

Vanderbilt 17  Auburn 7.  I should have known better.  Last week I actually thought optimistically that Auburn could win this game and have a chance against Texas A&M.  I was wrong, dead wrong.  It hit me after Vandy scored to make it 7-0.  They have the better quarterback and the better coach, Auburn is not going to win this game.  The defense did the job but the offense led by supposed offensive head coach Hugh Freeze and HIS GUYS that he had to have failed miserably... again.  This time nobody can talk about the roster and Auburn's recruiting being a reason Auburn lost this game.  Vanderbilt went 2-10 last season and lost to Auburn.  They had the worst roster.  Auburn still has a better roster.  This game came down to coaching and quarterback play and it was like the rest of the season... no contest.

Hugh Freeze and his brain trust once again went away from the run game when it counted and put the game once again in quarterback Payton Thorne's inept hands.  Yes Vandy stacked the line of scrimmage but I have not seen Auburn yet this season go into a two tight end power set for an entire series.  A formation with two tight ends, two wide receivers, and one running back.  

This formation seems to fit Auburn's talent, i.e. getting tight ends Rivaldo Fairweather and Luke Deal in the game at the same time along with Cam Coleman and Keandre Lambert-Smith plus Jarquez Hunter.  You can also go out of shotgun with Hunter next to quarterback or stack receivers or tight ends to one side, whatever.  You have a running formation with more blocking and you have three dangerous receivers, four if you count Hunter.  You have Deal the extra blocker to help protect.

You pound Vanderbilt the whole day using more run-based formations like this after they had a hard game at Texas there is NO WAY they do not break!  The do not have the depth or the strength to stand up to that.  Instead Freeze chooses to run the majority of the time out of pass formations and shocker they get stuffed.  He simply will not commit to the running game even after last week.  Obviously we can say the strategy in the losses is the rule and last week was an exception.  Again Auburn is still bigger and stronger than Vanderbilt but Hugh Freeze is a purely finesse offensive football coach and he is never going to change.  You give him better players he will win a few more games but he will never in a million years come close to a championship.  

There is little else than can be said now other than this has now become an historically bad season. Auburn has now lost to Vanderbilt at home for the first time ever.  Auburn will finish the season with one conference win and NONE at home.  Auburn will finish the season as the WORST TEAM IN THE SEC.  The worst team in the new SIXTEEN TEAM SEC.  Auburn will have it's fourth losing season in a row, the first time that has happened since the last 1940s.  This is all started with the absolute brain-dead morons who gave Gus his fifty million dollar contract in 2017 and continued with the WORST EVER leadership that hired Bryan Harsin.  All of that along with horrifically bad coaching the whole time has DESTROYED this once proud program.  The inept presidents, the unqualified athletic directors, and the grifter coaches all have taken their money and left Auburn with nothing.

This was never going to be a great or even a very good team.  All Freeze had to do was recruit and then do a little, just a little good coaching to get a few wins and not let the train go off the track.  He has utterly FAILED.  This team is not very good but it is much better than a 4-8 and 1-7 team.  Freeze has gone on and on about his recruiting but Auburn will most likely be worse off when the smoke clears by spring practice in 2025.  How much of the recruiting class ESPECIALLY THE OFFENSIVE LINEMEN will be at Auburn?  How many of the good players on the current roster will leave?  Everything I write here is just simple logic and the players know these facts better than the fans do.  On top of that I guarantee hundreds of sharks are already circling Auburn's recruits and roster.  Blood is in the water.

I have been an Auburn fan my entire life.  My parents graduated from Auburn.  I graduated from Auburn.  My brother graduated from Auburn.  My oldest son graduated from Auburn.  I went to my first Auburn game in 1978.  I have been to so many more since then.  There have been so many great moments.  There have also been some gut wrenching losses and bad seasons but nothing like the last four years.  There just does not seem to be ANY HOPE of having a really good football team anytime soon.  Heck there is not much hope of even having an average football team anytime soon.  Hugh Freeze has showed us what he can do over twenty plus games now.  This is it.  HE... IS... NOT... GOING... TO... CHANGE.  There has not been ONE big win in two whole seasons.  He should have at least ONE!

I was completely wrong about him.  My post about him becoming head coach was complete garbage.  The one I wrote about Bryan Harsin was garbage.  I am sorry, the next time Auburn hires a new football coach I am going to just assume he is another complete fraud.  So many of these football coaches just seem to be con men who luck their way into these ridiculous contacts that pay them tens of millions of dollars even if they completely fail.  It has just been disappointment after disappointment for over a DECADE now.  In all that time you can count the big wins on ONE HAND.  Other than that it has just been a few scoops of minor wins and huge helpings of every kind of loss imaginable.  Even the "good" seasons have turned out bad.  Auburn has only won three minor bowl games since 2010 against Virginia, Memphis, and Purdue.  The Tigers have only had about the same number of winning conference records as well over that time.  

Auburn football is in big trouble.  It is facing it's worse crisis... ever.  It doesn't seem like Auburn can fire Freeze but continuing on down this road seems like a waste of time.  In fact I know it is a waste of time.  However the problem is why in the world would I think the leadership at Auburn is capable of hiring a good football coach?  We all know they cannot do it.  They will just hire another con man who will end up with another twenty mil and leave the program in worse shape than when they came.  Again at this moment I just do not see any hope.  I guess that is what four straight losing seasons and finally losing to Vanderbilt at home will do to you... 

2024 GAME 8 REVIEW: FINALLY

Auburn 24  Kentucky 10.  Finally.  The Auburn football Tigers have won their first conference game of the year and broke an eight game losing streak to Power Four teams.  I guess some time on the pot helped head coach Hugh Freeze figure some things out.  Evidently he missed the regular team flight because of a stomach bug and had to fly over on Saturday.  Freeze finally finally finally figured out to just keep giving the ball to running back Jarquez Hunter in the second half and shocker it worked.  I am glad after EIGHT GAMES he could finally figure that one out.  Again I want Auburn to be a balanced team that can throw the ball but if your offensive line is not that good at pass blocking and your quarterback is just not that good then uh...  well I think everyone gets it now.  

Hunter of course responded with an all-time Auburn performance rushing for 278 yards and two touchdowns on the road in the conference.  It sure would have been nice for the Auburn coaching "brain trust" to have figured this out a long time ago but I guess better late than never.  It is really hard though to let it go when you see edge rushers simply blow by every left tackle Auburn puts in there every time they try to pass.  It has been going on all season.  It is hard to let go when you see Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne open the game with another terrible interception.  Jarquez Hunter is Auburn's best offensive player and the offensive line is best at run blocking...  JUST RUN THE DAMN BALL.  It might not work this well every game but it is Auburn's best chance at winning.

I guess in light of Auburn finally pulling one out I will not spend time on the mind-numbingly stupid series to end the first half that cost Auburn a field goal they sorely needed at that point in the game.  The Auburn coaching staff needs to stop overthinking it and stop overcoaching SO MUCH.  Auburn coaches remember KISS (Keep It Simple STUPID)!  There were a few more dumb calls on offense in the first half but the call to just it give it to Hunter in the second half took care of that.  The defense played pretty good but Kentucky is really bad.  I sure hope this win will help Auburn keep it's recruiting class together and keep any good ones from transferring out.  Auburn at least has talent at the skill positions where teams like Kentucky and Oklahoma seemingly have NONE.  

There will not be time to celebrate this win after today.  Auburn will finally return home to open November with a big game against the Vanderbilt Commodores.  I am not sure I have ever written those words before.  The Commodores acquitted themselves quite well this weekend on the road at Texas but the good thing for Auburn is that game had to take a toll.  This game sets up well for Auburn as even though Vandy is a better team I do not think I would ever call them deep.  Also hopefully the Auburn coaches will remember what those New Mexico State coaches on Vandy's staff plus quarterback Diego Pavia did to them last year.  I would hope there will be quite a few Auburn coaches and players looking for some payback.  I know I am!  

Auburn can beat Vanderbilt at home.  It would sure help if the coaches keep giving the ball to Jarquez Hunter.  They have to beat Vandy at the time of possession game.  That is how New Mexico State beat Auburn so bad and how Vandy beat Bama earlier this year.  Auburn cannot let them do it again.  They should lean hard on the Commodores with the run game because again they have to be tired after that Texas game.  I will really be back to being upset if Hugh Freeze and this staff do not capitalize on this win.  As I said last week, this season is unrecoverable in some ways but every win will help.  Also somehow there is still a small chance at a bowl game.  The Tigers get another week off after Vandy and then get Louisiana Monroe and a huge game against Texas A&M at home.

Obviously this team cannot look past anyone but if Texas A&M beats South Carolina this next weekend they will come into Jordan Hare undefeated and #1 in the SEC and most likely looking ahead to maybe their biggest game ever against Texas.  I definitely think Texas A&M is a much better team than Auburn but they are not an offensive juggernaut and Auburn will be in their favored complete underdog role.  All of the pressure would be on the Aggies...  What if?...  I am not sure why I am bothering to write this after one win over a bad team especially considering all the terrible losses this season but...  I still remember all the times this program thrived in this situation.  I still BELIEVE something sometime has to go right for this team, this program, and this fan base.

Hugh Freeze and company could erase so much and gain so much if Auburn could some how some way win these next two games and give themselves a chance, just a chance, to win a BIG ONE.  Of course if Auburn does not beat Vanderbilt then the Tigers will just hope to beat Louisiana Monroe and will most likely lose both after that.  This one last chance to redeem this season starts with beating Vanderbilt this next Saturday...

2024 GAME 7 REVIEW: The Wheel Keeps On Turning...

Missouri 21  Auburn 17.  I have never seen anything quite like this Auburn football team.  I was wrong a few weeks ago, this team has not quit (at least not yet) like say the 1998, 2008, and 2012 teams they will inevitably be compared to.  You can honestly say they should have won every game except Georgia and be absolutely right and not a crazed biased fan.  You can honestly say they had to work HARD to lose to Oklahoma and Missouri (!!!).  I mean in both games they were up by double-digit points in the fourth quarter.  I mean it defies all logic that they are able to blow these last two games.  The turning point in the last game was very similar to the Oklahoma game in that it came when Auburn had a chance to put the game away and ended up giving the momentum back to the other team.

This time Auburn was up 17-6 and went on a seven minute plus drive and ended up 1st and goal at the Mizzou 10.  A touchdown pass was dropped and then quarterback Payton Thorne takes a 12 yard sack...  That was a huge turning point in the game.  Auburn threw incomplete on third down and Auburn kicker Town McGough missed another critical kick.  It was only a thirty-yard kick and he should have made it but the sack on 2nd down never should have happened.  Auburn threw on first down and missed it, they should have ran the ball on 2nd down.  It is not a huge missed call by the coaches but they continue to show they just do not have good feel for the game.  That is one of the biggest reasons Auburn continues to lose.  The coaches definitely tried harder to do a better job but there were still quite a few not-too-smart calls.

On top of that, I cannot defend quarterback Peyton Thorne anymore.  I have put most of the blame on the coaches and that is correct but you need your quarterback to step up and also make smart plays to help win the game.  He has just not done that.  He has taken some sacks that he could have thrown the ball away to avoid in my opinion and he just cannot make the play when needed under pressure.  Yesterday Auburn punted twice in the fourth quarter before Missouri made their winning touchdown drive.  On third down for one of those drives Mizzou sent the house and Auburn called a pretty good play that had now little-used tight end Rivaldo Fairweather WIDE OPEN.  I know Thorne was under a heavy rush but all he had to do was give Fairweather a chance and he sailed it far over him.  Thorne just never makes the big-time play to help win the game.

I will say that in spite of all that the Auburn coaches did not allow Thorne to throw the back breaking pick this time and made Missouri march the length of the field.  You have to give Missouri credit for a clutch drive because they looked worse than Auburn to me most of the day.  The over-the-shoulder pass Missouri quarterback Brady Cook threw to receiver Luther Burden on 4th down was impressive.  They made the plays and Auburn did not.  Auburn's season now lies in tatters and a cloud of hopelessness has descended over most Tiger fans.  I know that is how I feel.  I guess in one way things get a lot simpler at this point, you forget all the preseason goals and expectations and you just try to win a game.  You have Kentucky on the road and other than a win over Ole Miss they are as down as Auburn.  They are not a juggernaut and Auburn will probably be the underdog.  

There is nothing that can save this season from being a colossal disappointment BUT Auburn can get a win next week and at the very least enjoy a happy locker room for a few moments.  I have seen these type seasons in different sports and at younger levels and a win just makes everything better.  Again it does not fix the season or stop the landslide of criticism but again for a few moments those players that have worked so hard can sit down, smile, and have some relief.  That is where we are at.  The Auburn football players and coaches need to just focus on getting a win at Kentucky.  I think that may involve using a different quarterback although I do not believe Auburn's future has anything to do with Hank Brown either.  Whatever, the job is simple, beat Kentucky and hey it is a lot easier in football than it is in basketball!

2024 GAME 6 REVIEW: CLOSE?

Georgia 31  Auburn 13.  This was the first Power 4 game this season for Auburn that pretty much went as expected.  Georgia is just better than Auburn and head coach Kirby Smart showed Hugh Freeze the way to put away teams you are better than.  Smart has pretty much employed this approach since Georgia's current win streak in the series started in 2018.  He plays a conservative run heavy or high percentage short passing game plan and plays good defense.  He knows he has Auburn outmanned on the line of scrimmage and sooner or later he will win if they do not make a lot of mistakes.  Last season they made those mistakes but still managed to pull it out.  This season the game pretty much went according to plan and Georgia pulled away in the end.

I have read on the Auburn web sites how "close the game" was and how Auburn "stayed right with them"???  I just completely disagree.  My evidence is this is how just about every Auburn Georgia game has gone since 2018.  Again Smart and Georgia have started slow and conservative in every one.  Now in a few after they have gotten the lead they have loosened up and put some points on the board but they always start slow and either grind Auburn down or wait till Auburn implodes.  Again I did not plan to do much criticism of the coaches in this review.  This game is about the last four years of recruiting.  Georgia is miles ahead of Auburn ESPECIALLY ON THE LINE OF SCRIMMAGE.  

The only thing I will say about the coaching this week is if the absolutely moronic Auburn coaches had used this game plan in their last three tough games they would have three more wins.  I mean I just shake my head, now they do it!  Auburn was just completely outmanned yesterday and that was the biggest thing that was evident.  Georgia has completely taken control of what used to be the greatest rivalry statistically in college football.  It is the second oldest around and just a few years ago the two teams were tied in wins and points!!!  Since then it has just been complete Georgia domination.  Auburn has not won in Athens in TWENTY YEARS now.  Auburn has only won three times period in those twenty years and all three of those wins took really good Auburn teams.  

I read on the Auburn sites how close we are but I just do not see it.  I am glad Auburn's recruiting is looking really good now but I still do not see the numbers of quality linemen that it is going to take to close the gap with teams like Georgia.  You can get in a great quarterback and more high rated wide receivers but the game is still won on the line of scrimmage as every game between Auburn and Georgia proves.  Also you need the coaching to make the most of these good players that are being brought in and I have not seen a lick of it at Auburn over the last two years.  Hugh Freeze's offense still appears to be almost completely a finesse offense.  He is always always trying to trick the other team and does not seem to recognize the times you just have to line up and run right at them.  You need a mix of both to be successful.

One play from yesterday proves every word I have written so far.  Auburn had the ball 4th and 1 close to midfield to start the 4th quarter down 21-10.  All of the Auburn homers I see writing about this play are acting like the game was closer.  It was not, Georgia was in complete control outside one Jarquez Hunter run.  Auburn did not score one touchdown in the red zone.  Anyway back to 4th and 1, Auburn lined up in the shotgun and it was not a "heavy" lineup while Georgia had absolutely stacked the line of scrimmage.  There is NO WAY Auburn is getting the first down running the ball the way both teams lined up.  It does not matter what running play is called.  Now of course Auburn ran an extra stupid no-chance-in-hell-it-would-work read option and of course Hugh Freeze yelled at quarterback Payton Thorne after the play and blamed him again in the presser for not running the called play???  

All that did was show the continued incompetence of the Auburn coaching staff in just trying to call a play THAT THEY HAD THE WHOLE QUARTER BREAK TO GET RIGHT.  It also showed by the formation that Freeze was once again just trying to trick Georgia and finally it showed the stark difference between the opposing lines.  Auburn left tackle Percy Lewis was completely exposed by Georgia all day.  Of course the few times this Auburn line has looked good is running the ball straight at the other team and again for the umpteenth time if Freeze and company had spent a lot more time running straight at Cal, Arkansas, and Oklahoma they would have three more wins.  That was the one thing that was again highlighted to me in the game against Georgia.

Auburn now has a bye week to try and salvage something from this season.  They have tougher games than most Auburn fans think with Missouri, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt coming up.  People still talk like Auburn is clearly better than those teams when only Mississippi State is actually worse than Auburn in the SEC.  Also those three teams now all have big wins over good SEC teams while Auburn does not.  I am sure there will be much written about how many changes Auburn is making and other such nonsense but I am just going to assume they will just keep running the same thing till they do not.  You can bet Auburn's upcoming opponents will be ready for the standard Hugh Freeze offense so my hope for a turnaround after the bye is low.  As always I hope I am wrong.

I guess the one positive from this week was Vanderbilt's monumental upset of Bama.  Auburn fans deserve to rub this one in as I am sure almost every Bama fan was laughing it up when New Mexico State was crushing Auburn last season.  Well they got a taste of that New Mexico brain trust at Vanderbilt yesterday as quarterback legend Diego Pavia and head coach Jerry Kill moved to Vanderbilt from New Mexico State and were major factors in the Commodores taking down the Tide.  I guess Bama fans would argue that a loss to New Mexico State is worse but is it?  Auburn was out of everything so it did not really matter where Bama's loss to Vanderbilt puts their error margin making it to even a twelve team playoff much smaller.  They lose again and they might be out and that would be a real shame.  

In conclusion, again I hope I am wrong and Hugh Freeze can get something going during this bye week and then finally win a game against an actual Power 4 team.  It would sure be a nice change of pace from this nightmarish first half of the season.

2024 GAME 5 REVIEW: DUMBFOUNDED

 Oklahoma 27  Auburn 21.  I was as the title to this post suggests literally dumbfounded.  Auburn dominated this game.  Auburn had much more talent at every offensive skill position than Oklahoma.  Auburn had almost 500 yards of offense while Oklahoma did not even have 300 yards.  Auburn, for the first time this season, dominated the time of possession.  Auburn was up 21-10 with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.  Auburn had just stopped Oklahoma on downs and had the ball at midfield.  Jarquez Hunter then ripped off a 20 yard run and Auburn was in business at the Oklahoma thirty yard line.  Auburn had all of the momentum.  Auburn just had to score and the game would be officially over.  Once again like Bama last year the game was won if Auburn does not do something STUPID to screw it up...  And of course in typical Hugh Freeze fashion Auburn does something stupid and screws it up.

Hugh Freeze, unlike any one on this planet with a lick of sense, does not call three straight running plays even though they had just run for twenty yards, the tired Okie defense was reeling, and it would run clock that would help ice the game.  He does not do the obvious obvious obvious right thing, no he allows his self destructive quarterback to throw two straight incomplete passes which stop the clock, stop Auburn's momentum, and leave Auburn in third and long.  He then decides to run and of course gets nothing leaving Auburn with a long field goal for the suddenly snakebit Auburn kicker Town McGough who then misses the field goal and gives Oklahoma life.  The Sooners then hit their first and only long pass of the day and score to put them right back in the game with the momentum.

Auburn then gets the ball back and drives inside of Oklahoma territory where the Tigers face a 3rd and 4.  Hugh then calls one of his much talked about RPO plays!  RPO!  RPO!  RPO!  He has talked incessantly about these stupid run/pass option plays like he has discovered gold or something.  His whole offense is based on these magic plays!  Well Oklahoma showed why you should have just run the ball, punted if you had too, and made a true freshman quarterback who as done nothing but hit one pass all day drive the length of the field in crunch time.  Oklahoma faked their lineman or linebacker like he was going to rush and then he dropped back in coverage.  Thorne took the bait just like he did against Cal and Arkansas and opted for the pass...  and that Oklahoma player intercepted it and took it to the house for the winning score.  

Thorne NEVER EVER should have been allowed to throw a pass.  Any coach, any person with a tiny tiny tiny bit of common sense would not have let him throw a pass but not Hugh Freeze.  It is obvious now that the man has no sense.  I am simply dumbfounded someone could be that stupid.  I am dumbfounded Auburn lost this game that they absolutely dominated.  I am dumbfounded that a coach this dumb could have ever made it this far.  How did this guy win at Ole Miss???  He... just... has... no... sense.  I mean the biggest win of his career is there for the taking against Bama and he allows his defense to rush just two players.  He would have started this season 5-0 if he had just run the ball a lot more and played conservative.  You have to know your team's limitations and do what is best for the team to win the game.  That is COACHING!!!

This is Football 101 and he does not know this???  He is paid millions of dollars and he does not know this???  This guy will never be very successful at Auburn whether he gets better players or not.  He is just not a good coach.  I do not know how he achieved the little bit of success he has had.  We do know after 18 games at Auburn that other than one fluke win over Arkansas last season he has not coached one good game against a Power 4 team even in the few wins.  On top of that he was the guy in charge who let a minor league New Mexico State team crush Auburn in Jordan Hare.  It has just been one embarrassment after another AGAINST TEAMS AUBURN IS EQUAL TO OR BETTER THAN (!!!???!!!).  Auburn actually played Georgia close and should have beat Bama last season.  Of course I am sure that will change next week at Georgia.

Unfortunately next week doesn't matter anymore.  Next month does not matter anymore.  Next year does not matter anymore.  It is over.  OVER.  I knew after the 2021 collapse against Mississippi State and subsequent loss to lowly South Carolina that it was over for Harsin.  He had not quit recruiting yet at that point but it was the same as this, he could not even execute basic football strategy.  Neither Harsin then or Freeze now has learned or understood basic football strategy good enough to execute regardless of their game plan or system.  You just keep running the ball if you have a 21-10 lead in the most important game of your career, you have a mistake prone quarterback, you are going against a tired defense, you have the momentum, and you just had a big run (!!!) .  I like being balanced but if running the ball, i.e. being conservative, is the best way to win the game then I am going to do it!!!

Hugh Freeze did not and he lost his last chance at turning this season around.  This Auburn team will be fortunate to win another game the rest of the season even against Vandy and Louisiana Monroe.  He has lost this team.  They do not believe in him either.  He will soon start losing recruits and at the end of the season I expect a mass exodus through the transfer portal.  I do not believe Auburn will fire him no matter how bad this season ends and he will limp into 2025 with another less than stellar team.  He will then continue to make the same stupid mistakes he has made this season and at some point next season the administration will finally put him out of his misery.  Auburn will then start over AGAIN...  It is so depressing I have a hard time writing it but I believe that is what is going to happen. 

I just cannot believe even with Auburn's limited roster that it has come to this.  I am literally perplexed to the point of being stuck dumb by the fact that Auburn with it's history and resources has managed to hire two coaches in a row this bad.  It is all over but the shouting and there will be a lot of that.

2024 GAME 4 REVIEW: AVALANCHE

Arkansas 24  Auburn 14.  Wow.  Last week I wrote my review post immediately following the game and it was pretty dark and depressing.  I was very hard on the team and especially the coaches, where the ultimate blame always lies.  I then read the Auburn homer web sites and listened to head coach Hugh Freeze this past week.  After that, I thought again as I did after my posts ending last season that I was probably way too negative and that maybe I was just getting this wrong.  I know it is not enjoyable to read stuff that negative as well.  However I just try to write how I see it as honestly as I can.  Heck I want to be wrong!  I want Auburn to be good again.  Unfortunately for all of us I was seeing things accurately last week and after another avalanche of turnovers the 2024 Auburn football Tigers are in big trouble.  I mean really big trouble, I mean 2012-type trouble.

How has it come to this?  I do not need to spend any time on going over the massive decline in recruiting under the last two coaches.  We have hit that here ad nauseum.  We do not need to go over last season again either.  The question today is how did this season go off the rails so quickly?  I think everyone including head coach Hugh Freeze agrees that turnovers are the top reason Auburn lost to Cal and Arkansas.  However Hugh once again doubled down on his "scheme" after this game.  He said he thought it was "really good".  The obvious conclusion being it is all the quarterback's fault.  I think most of us would counter that a good coach would minimize putting his quarterbacks if they are not that good in those situations.  That is definitely what I think.

I just read an article this morning that really opened my eyes on this whole subject by Mr. Justin Lee of the Auburn-Opelika news.  Here is the link for as long as it remains valid:

https://oanow.com/sports/college/auburn/lee-auburn-football-needs-an-influx-of-common-sense/article_ee4a6454-7872-11ef-8116-bf04eaafa15b.html

The stat that I did not know that Mr. Lee brings to our attention is this:

"Freeze hates interceptions, says you can’t win with them, yet the offense he runs yielded an SEC-worst 13 interceptions thrown last season, it yielded a 118th-in-the-country 15 at Liberty in 2022, and it yielded a 116th-in-the-country 15 at Liberty in 2021. The common thread through all 41 of these interceptions is not a quarterback, not a school, but what Freeze is doing."

WOW.  I mean those are cold hard facts.  You might can lead the league in interceptions and still win at Liberty but you certainly can NOT in the SEC.  I guess somehow Freeze got lucky in his good seasons at Ole Miss with quarterbacks Bo Wallace and Chad Kelly?  He then had former Auburn quarterback and current NFL starting quarterback Malik Willis for his best season at Liberty.  The stats that Mr. Lee points out though for his more current teams tell the story of what happens without special quarterbacks.  With that said, it is also a fact that good coaches adapt to their personnel.  Why in the world do the "top level" football coaches that Auburn pays MILLIONS OF DOLLARS not understand this fact??????

I also have to say that I was wrong after reading these facts, if you do not have the quarterback and you do not have good pass protectors on the line you have the run the ball.  It is football 101.  It is the reason Gus Malzahn never had a losing record at Auburn.  It wins a lot of these type games.  The problem with Malzahn is you still have to develop your passing offense a little more and you cannot fail as badly as he did recruiting offensive linemen.  Really quick on that subject, I am also reading a lot of "we should never have fired Gus" posts on Auburn web sites.  That is not true and not the problem.  Gus had been at Auburn for a decade and his performance and recruiting were declining.  His time was definitely up.  However I will agree you do not fire him unless all parties are in complete agreement on the next hire.

Back to our current team...  The other prevailing question is why did Auburn not upgrade the quarterback position this offseason?  I have asked that question as well but it doesn't matter, it was not done.  Freeze coached the Alabama A&M game right, he got everyone involved and highlighted our wide receivers.  However he should have called for a much more run-heavy game against Cal and against Arkansas helping his quarterback, offensive line, and defense.  I thought in an earlier post he could throw a lot of short passes but it does not look like these quarterbacks are good enough to even do that.  I want to see Auburn have a good passing game so bad especially after getting all these new wide receivers but I was wrong.  However I am not a man making millions of dollars for my coaching expertise.  

Looking back now, any good football coach should know this.  Any good football coach should have known Auburn would have to run the ball and shorten the games to have a chance against anybody any good.  You then look to run up those passing stats in your few cupcake games.  Auburn had to win these games.  There are too many losses that everybody knows are coming.  The wide receivers will still be important for when you do have to pass but it is obvious now that the Auburn offense was nowhere near capable of having a good passing game.  Also Auburn's proud football history is pretty much based on these tenets.  Again I want to have a great passing game but Auburn football success has mostly been about running the ball and playing good defense.  I think head coach Hugh Freeze needs a history lesson.  Also his new super expensive running backs coach who we ran Cadillac Williams off for and who is also our offensive coordinator needs to fix the fumble problem RIGHT NOW.

Speaking of history, this loss pretty much guarantees another losing season which would push Auburn's current streak of losing seasons to FOUR.  I was looking back to see when was the last time that happened?  Auburn had five losing seasons in a row from 1946 to 1950 culminating in the hire of Shug Jordan.  Auburn went almost ten years in that same time period, 1944 to 1952, without a winning season.  I sure hope Auburn does not approach that kind of drought in the coming years.  Back to the present, Auburn has one more game at home against Oklahoma before hitting the road the entire month of October against a lot of good teams.  Head coach Hugh Freeze got one thing right in his post game press conference when he said that Auburn is facing a serious character test.  

This team, this program is in a tough spot.  Their backs are against the wall.  Hope is in very short supply.  The coaches are losing the fan base with awful performances like yesterday especially with 90,000 people suffering in the extreme heat and humidity to watch that game. Auburn will also be a big underdog in most of the remaining games... The answer though seems clear as I have been discussing in this post.  I do actually hate to say it as I was berating and making fun of these people in my earlier posts this season.  However again you just have to pick the best plan according to your talent to win games.  At this point it doesn't matter if Auburn loses many of these young wide receivers to the portal.  It is time to play Auburn football which is running the ball and playing the best defense you can.

On top of that, every member of the Auburn football program needs to go up to the press box and read a poster that hangs there (if it is still there).  The poster lists Coach Shug Jordan's seven "D's of Success".  I know it hung there in the late 80s and early 90s as my group of friends and I when we were students at Auburn would break into the stadium in the offseason and just sit up there.  Coach Jordan lists the following attributes: discipline, desire to excel, determination, dedication, and dependability to start which are pretty self explanatory.  Those five attributes are for all the time.  His last two though I think were for times like this...

Desperation. How we perform under stress is often the ultimate indicator of success or failure.

Damn It Anyway. If your back is to the wall, you must reach deep down inside and do something. 

As Coach Jordan said, “You’re not going to win by accepting overwhelming odds.”

https://www.thewareaglereader.com/2013/09/shug-jordan-elaborates-on-his-7-ds-of-success-damn-it/

WAR DAMN EAGLE IN SPITE OF IT ALL