Hugh Freeze and the Auburn Tigers faced what appeared to be, on paper at least, a manageable nonconference game at home in Jordan-Hare Stadium against new ACC squad Cal on Saturday afternoon.

It proved to be anything but manageable, as the Tigers struggled all day on offense in what ultimately became a 21-14 loss.

After scoring 73 points against Alabama A&M last weekend, more was expected of Freeze’s offense and QB Payton Thorne.

That didn’t materialize on Saturday in the embarrassing home loss, though. And that led fans on social media to express their discontent with the second-year head coach of the Tigers:

Clearly, Freeze needs to turn things around in a hurry if he’s going to keep fan sentiment on his side. Auburn fans are happy with the recruiting Freeze has done, but he’ll need to quickly find an answer at quarterback, whether it’s Payton Thorne or not.

Auburn faces New Mexico for its homecoming game next weekend. After getting crushed at home by New Mexico State (and current Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia) last season, the Tigers can’t afford to look past any team from the “Land of Enchantment.”

That game is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time and will be shown on either ESPN2 or ESPNU.