The scoreboard may not have shown it, but Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze saw plenty of positives in his team's 27-21 loss to Oklahoma last Saturday.
Freeze took to the podium on Monday to address the team’s loss to Oklahoma and his outlook moving forward.
“Saturday hurt. It hurt our kids, our staff, and I'm sure it hurt our incredible fans," Freeze said. “They've been just marvelous. They're just, they've been and our students and band cheerleaders just, they've been incredible, and I'm sure they were hurt, just like our kids felt gutted, and staff and everybody a part of it.”
Despite the disappointment, Freeze was quick to point out the areas where his team improved from their previous losses. Offensively, the Tigers racked up 482 yards of total offense, with true freshman Cam Coleman and KeAndre Lambert-Smith combining for 159 yards receiving. Defensively, Auburn held the Sooners to 291 yards and a 2-for-10 performance on third downs, a significant improvement from previous weeks.
“There are many positives to build from that game,” Freeze said. “If you look at 90% of the plays, there's a lot of really, really good things that I hope can carry over as we get ready for a top-ranked team in Georgia.”
However, after five home games to start the season, the Tigers sit at 2-3, with losses to Cal, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Freeze admitted his frustration, but he refused to let that overshadow the progress he's seen from his team.
“That's the complicated thing of taking ownership of that and then and still pointing out the positives,” Freeze said. “Offensively, we're the number three in the conference for fewest penalties. We're number five in the conference for passing. We're number one in the conference for explosive pass plays per completion… I mean, there's a lot of positives that are not matching up with the results.”
As Auburn gears up to face another top-10 opponent in Georgia, Freeze is counting on his young players to make a significant impact on the road. The Tigers head to their first road matchup with a roster full of freshman and sophomores.
“We're playing about 50% of our guys are young guys, and they haven't experienced what we're getting ready to experience,” Freeze said. “So that's going to be a challenge for us, but one that we're looking forward to.”
“We're not going to blink as a staff, and I don't expect our kids to either,” Freeze said. “There's no way that I can sit here and say that those three games weren't winnable, and so that's the toughest thing for me to say to them, because I know what the sacrifices are that all of our boosters and families and supporters and administration, and everybody pours into supporting this program.”
Auburn will travel to Athens, Ga. on Saturday, Oct. 5 to take on the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs in the Tigers’ first road matchup of the season. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CST and will be televised on ABC.
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Grace Heim is a senior from Enterprise, Alabama, majoring in Political Science. She started with The Plainsman in January of 2023.
You can follow her on X (Twitter) at @graceeheim
