Hugh Freeze takes blame for ‘unacceptable’ offensive performance vs. Texas A&M
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The Tigers’ offensive performance in Saturday’s 16-10 loss to No. 9 Texas A&M was unacceptable, coach Hugh Freeze said.
Auburn gained just 177 yards of total offense in the game. The only touchdown came after a 73-yard interception return set the offense up at the 2-yard line. After getting within a single score in the fourth quarter, Auburn had 3 possessions with a chance to drive for the lead. It ran 10 plays and those 10 plays combined to lose 1 yard.
After the game, Freeze took the blame for the day.
“Very disappointing and difficult,” said Freeze. “Our kids are playing too hard. Offensively, that was unacceptable. Our defense played their tails off, well enough to win the game.
“We have 2 weeks to prepare for Georgia and we’ll take that time to re-evaluate everything related to our offense and how we prepare — personnel and everything. This isn’t on Jackson (Arnold) or any other player. It’s on our staff, and that starts with me, to fix it. It was just unacceptable today.”
The first and fourth quarters were disastrous for the Tigers. Auburn gained just 27 yards in the first 15 minutes of the game. Seven runs gained 1 rushing yard. And none of those carries came from Auburn running backs. Then, in the fourth quarter, Auburn ran 11 plays and gained 1 yard. The Aggies sacked quarterback Jackson Arnold 3 times in the fourth quarter, including on a fourth-and-1 play that was Auburn’s final offensive snap of the day.
Auburn has gone backwards since a 42-3 win over Ball State. The offense gained 495 yards at 7.4 a play that day.
In the win over South Alabama the following week, Auburn scored 31 points, gained 337 yards, and averaged 5.3 a play.
In the loss to Oklahoma last Saturday, Auburn scored 17 points, gained 287 yards, and averaged 4.2 yards per play.
In the loss to the Aggies on Saturday, Auburn averaged just 3.1 yards per play. That tied for the worst offensive showing under Freeze. Ironically, the Tigers gained 3.1 yards per play and managed only 10 points in a 2023 loss to A&M in College Station.
With his Auburn record falling to 14-16 across 3 seasons and the Tiger fanbase growing restless after consecutive duds, Freeze is running out of time to figure out the 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.
