Auburn fans hammer Hugh Freeze for first-half offense vs. Texas A&M
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On Thursday, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze admitted he should have been “a little more committed” to the run game in last week’s loss to Oklahoma. Against the Sooners, Auburn gave up 10 sacks and gained 67 total rushing yards. Jackson Arnold had 21 of the 36 rushing attempts.
“You’ve got to be able to be balanced somehow so they can’t just tee off on you,” Freeze told reporters ahead of Saturday’s game against Texas A&M. “I think it’s very critical we find a way to get those dirty runs that keep us ahead of the chains. We had way too many third-and-longs. You’re not going to have success in that world at all.”
Little did Auburn fans know, Freeze was simply previewing the first half of the Texas A&M game.
Auburn trailed 13-3 at the break on Saturday. Texas A&M outgained Auburn 246-83 in the first half. Auburn running backs had 4 carries for 18 yards.
Tailback Damari Alston didn’t officially touch the football until nearly 3 minutes into the second quarter. Jeremiah Cobb didn’t officially touch the ball until less than 7 minutes were remaining in the half.
Arnold ran it 8 times for 9 yards.
Auburn, which went 0-for-8 on third down in the first half and was flagged 8 times, averaged 14.5 yards to the sticks on its third-down tries.
Freeze did none of the things he identified as important for success against the Aggies. And Auburn fans were furious with that reality as the Tigers went to the locker room.
Below is a sampling of the reaction to Auburn’s first-half performance on offense:
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
