Freeze era begins with decisive win over UMass

The 131st season of Auburn football began Saturday afternoon, and with it, Hugh Freeze made his head coaching debut for the Tigers as the 31st head football coach in Auburn history.

In front of an announced 88,043 fans, a Jordan-Hare Stadium record, a new-look Auburn team cruised to a 59-14 win over UMass, handing Freeze his first win at the helm.

“I woke up this morning with just the most grateful heart and had so many texts, so many messages from Mississippi, Ole Miss, Arkansas State and Liberty,” Freeze said. “... it was just a great morning to celebrate with my wife, kids and everybody with our opportunity that we have here at Auburn.”

Auburn opened the 2023 season with an 11-play, 62-yard drive capped off by a 2-yard touchdown run from Damari Alston, who started at running back as Jarquez Hunter was not dressed out.

The opening drive which resulted in a score was the first of five consecutive scoring drives to start the game. Alex McPherson connected on a 37-yard field goal on the second drive of the game, but quarterback Robby Ashford, who was not the starter, ran for a touchdown on the next three drives for the Tigers.

Freeze electing to play Ashford backs up a promise the new head coach made on Aug. 17 when Freeze announced that Michigan State transfer Payton Thorne would start for Auburn against UMass at quarterback.

Freeze said, “If he (Ashford) handles all this the right way, he will always have a package because he adds an element to us that’s just different,” and Ashford got that chance to play as the sophomore ran for 51 yards and three touchdowns, recording his 10th rushing touchdown of his Auburn career and becoming the first Auburn player to run for three or more touchdowns since Hunter did in Auburn’s season opener against Mercer in 2022.

“Every press conference I’ve been in, I’ve said Robby Ashford is vital to us winning football games, and I don't know how else to say it.” Freeze said. “He is vital to us winning football games, and I don’t know exactly what that looks like from week to week, but I know that he’s vital to us winning football games and we need him.”

Auburn’s defense surrendered a touchdown on UMass’ opening possession. The Minutemen took just eight plays to go 89 yards, with 76 on the ground, and tied the game. But Auburn’s defense, which is filled with new faces, settled in and shut down UMass’ offense — forcing back-to-back three-and-outs as Auburn stretched its lead.

With a 24-7 lead in hand, Auburn’s defense did not cool off. Defensive coordinator Ron Roberts dialed a blitz for junior safety Donovan Kaufman, and the New Orleans native crashed around the UMass left tackle and sacked UMass quarterback Taisun Phommachanh, causing the ball to break loose. After the ball took a couple deflections rolling on the ground, Kaufman’s teammate Jaylin Simpson scooped the ball and returned it 13 yards. Kaufman finished the game with five tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack and one forced fumble.

Auburn took a 31-7 lead into halftime, and continued to add on points in the second half, and quickly. On the second play of the third quarter, Simpson got his hands on the ball again, this time by way of an interception and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown.

Thorne recorded his first touchdown in an Auburn uniform early in the third quarter after finding wide receiver Jay Fair in the end zone. Thorne finished his Auburn debut 10-for-17 with 141 yards passing and one touchdown to zero interceptions. The touchdown catch marked the first of Fair’s Auburn career, as the sophomore was Auburn’s leading receiver with five catches for 56 yards and a touchdown.

Fair said his big day came from the amount of time he and Thorne have spent working together in the offseason.

“I feel like we put in a lot of had work together in the offseason, so just getting those matchups that we were seeing on film and just executing those plays, I feel like it really showed tonight,” Fair said.

With Hunter unavailable, Auburn didn’t lean on one player to make up for his loss, but instead used a committee as seven players recorded a rushing attempt. Sean Jackson led the team in yards rushing (64) and had a touchdown. True freshman Jeremiah Cobb scored his first collegiate touchdown and had 57 yards rushing while Ashford had 51, Alston had 43, Brian Battie recorded 31, Justin Jones recorded 26 and Thorne ran for 15 for a combined 292 yards rushing and six touchdowns.

Auburn continues the 2023 season next week as the Tigers travel to face the California Golden Bears. The game kicks off at 9:30 p.m. CST and will be televised on ESPN.