Three big storylines: Auburn’s QB conundrum, Hugh Freeze’s playcalling indecision and a defense trying to survive one more week

AUBURN — Yes, Auburn is fresh off a double-digit conference loss and yes, back-to-back national champion and No. 1 Georgia is coming to town, but head coach Hugh Freeze isn’t fazed with potential early-season struggles as the Tigers’ program attempts to rebuild.

“The good thing is, I don’t worry about that anymore,” Freeze said when asked about the patience level of a college football fanbase. “I used to, but I’m older now and am totally comfortable in the way we’re building this program and mentoring young people and teaching them the lessons that football teaches for life.

“The wins will come, I firmly believe that. Whatever people’s patience level is, I can’t control that. I can’t worry about it. I don’t worry about it. I worry about the people in this building, I worry about our fans, too, but I can’t control their patience level.”

He added that it’s “ridiculous” that there are even conversations being had in the proximity of his players that reflect a disgruntled attitude towards the direction of the program after Freeze’s first SEC game at Auburn. But, that’s the nature of the job and as always it seems, that’s the nature of the job at Auburn.

The Tigers are 17-plus-point underdogs ahead of Saturday’s game in a rivalry that has been completely one sided over the last 20 years. Since 2003, Auburn has wins in 2004, 2005, 2010, 2013 and 2017. That’s it, while most of Auburn’s losses in the series over that time frame have been blowouts.

Georgia enters the game having won 21 straight football games. It’s taken Auburn the last three-plus seasons to win 20 games total, having won six in 2020, six in 2021 and five in 2022. And like Texas A&M, the Bulldogs feature a roster with nearly 80 percent blue-chip (four and five-star prospects) talent compared to Auburn’s roster of just over 50 percent blue-chip players.

“Thank God we’re at Jordan-Hare,” Freeze remarked on Monday. Truth. Four of those five wins mentioned above happened at Auburn.

It’s a tall task and everyone knows it. With that being said, here’s Three big storylines ahead of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry.

COLLEGE STATION, TX – SEPTEMBER 23 – Auburn Wide Receiver Shane Hooks (3) during the game between the Auburn Tigers and the Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field in College Station, TX on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023.

Photo by Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers

The QB situation (here we are again)

It’s a broken record by now, as this topic simply won’t go away, but Auburn’s quarterback situation remains a giant question mark entering the fifth game of the season. Payton Thorne is coming off a horrendous performance, going 6-12 passing for 44 yards against Texas A&M. That comes two weeks after throwing for 94 yards on 9-14 passing, with two touchdowns and an interception at Cal. In limited action, Robby Ashford is 7-17 with a touchdown on the season, and Holden Geriner entered the Texas A&M game late, throwing for eight yards on 2-7 passing. It’s a brutal situation at the moment.

Here’s what Freeze made clear on Monday: It’s not just one quarterback’s fault, there’s blame to go around. He “loved” the game plan, but obviously didn’t love the execution. Thorne is likely to remain QB1 this week, with Ashford having a role to play. There were receivers open against Texas A&M, but the pass blocking broke down at times. Thorne practiced well last week, but it didn’t translate into the game. Thorne’s eyes need to stay downfield, and Geriner looked poised, but inaccurate in his limited action. In other words, Freeze and Philip Montgomery still don’t have any clear answers to fix Auburn’s offense, as they will undoubtedly learn more against Georgia, for better and/or worse.

But, here’s another important comment from Freeze: “There’s times where I feel like we’ve let both Payton and Robby and Holden, I feel like we’ve let them down because of all the other components that go into the passing game. That’s where I’m determined to try and help get this fixed before we start to give some final grades. I know coaches and quarterbacks get the blame. Coaches, we deserve it. Quarterbacks, they don’t always deserve it. We’re still a work in progress with the roster we have.”

Freeze said he was unhappy, again, with the lack of RPO pass plays run on Saturday. “For us to be all over the map one week throwing effectively RPOs and the next week we don’t, why? Why is that? We have to figure that out.” He said the same thing following the loss at Cal. Does that change on Saturday? One would think so.

How Freeze and Montgomery plan to elevate Thorne’s confidence and keep his eyes downfield is a mystery at the moment, but it needs to get figured out. Somewhere along the way, a quarterback who has thrown for over 6,000 career yards and played multiple seasons in the Big Ten against the likes of Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan, has lost his confidence. If he doesn’t get it back, Freeze and Montgomery will have serious decisions to make during the off week.

Sep 23, 2023; College Station, Texas, USA; Auburn Tigers quarterback Payton Thorne (1) is tackled by Texas A&M Aggies defensive back Bryce Anderson (1) and linebacker Taurean York (21) during the first quarter at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports

Will Freeze take over more playcalling? (here we are again, part II)

Like the quarterback position, the dynamic between Freeze and Montgomery when it comes to playcalling has been an interesting one to follow. And to Freeze’s credit, he’s been incredibly transparent in his feelings towards taking a backseat to Montgomery on playcalling. Freeze said from the beginning of his tenure that he wanted to take a more macro level approach to running the Auburn program, including giving up playcalling duties. Yet, time and time again when asked, Freeze says it’s incredibly difficult to sit back and not get heavily involved in the playcalling. Does that mean he doesn’t have faith in Montgomery? It doesn’t sound like that’s what he’s saying. It sounds more like Freeze is simply saying it’s hard to take a step back from something you’ve always done as a coach. Read Freeze’s words for yourself and you decide:

“This is something I’m struggling with. That’s all I probably need to say. This is new for me. I’m afraid when I get, if I tried to get too involved, it could cause confusion with terminology, but obviously they are going through the game plan with me. I go through the game plan with both sides, and special teams. I thought the game plan was solid last week. It’s a struggle for me. I’ve confessed that with everyone in the building. Let’s see how the year unfolds. I’m confident that I’m going to be more involved, but it’s still difficult when it’s not your terminology. It’s hard to make adjustments right on the fly on the sidelines. I think Monty and them are doing a great job of correcting the issues we all see and let’s see how these weeks progress.”

Two things to note in that comment. One, Freeze said he’s let “everyone in the building” know that stepping back from playcalling hasn’t been easy. So, if/when Montgomery hears comments like that, he shouldn’t take it personal, as Freeze has likely made his feelings known to Montgomery’s face. That’s a good thing by the way, as it would show good communication and transparency between the two. Second, Freeze’s endorsement that “Monty” is doing a “great job” of correcting the issues they’ve seen.

Again, Freeze’s issues seem more personal in nature and less about a decline of confidence in Montgomery, but I could be wrong.

Following the Cal win, Freeze said he’d be more involved in the game planning leading up to Samford, and sure enough, the playcalling during the Samford game looked different than the other three games so far this season. What might it look like if Freeze gets more heavily involved in the offense? How would that impact Montgomery? And how would that impact Freeze’s ability to focus on more macro level things around the program? To be fair, Freeze’s concerns seem valid. The last thing the players need is confusing terminology from two offensive coaches. They already seem confused enough.

This is a situation of Freeze’s own doing and it sure sounds familiar to the Gus Malzahn days of giving up playcalling to Rhett Lashlee, only to take it back, only to give it up again to Chip Lindsey, only to take it back again.

Sep 23, 2023; College Station, Texas, USA; Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze looks on during the first quarter against the Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports

Can Auburn’s defense hold up one more week?

Already with two starters sidelined for an indefinite period of time due to injury, Freeze is hoping his defense can hang on against the top-ranked Bulldogs on Saturday.

Austin Keys and Keionte Scott are already out. Donovan Kaufman, Nehemiah Pritchett, Jalen McLeod and JD Rhym have all missed games, with all returning to action before or by the Texas A&M game. Kaufman was banged up again on Saturday, fighting through an ankle injury. In his absence, Caleb Wooden moved back down to nickel from safety, after Rhym had to leave the game for an unknown reason. Zion Puckett injured his shoulder at the end of the 2021 season and has worn a brace since. On Saturday, he seemed to re-aggravate the injury, missing important snaps. Freeze said Puckett’s absence is why Texas A&M scored their two passing touchdowns in the third quarter.

“(Puckett) was doing a good job keeping us on the same page with our coverages and that really cost us two touchdowns,” said Freeze.

Freeze said all the players mentioned are “day to day,” hoping they’re ready to play against Georgia. Combine all that with a recovering McLeod, Keldric Faulk and others, and the Tigers’ defense is simply trying to hang on one more week until the bye week. Freeze loved the effort and energy the defense played with against Texas A&M, saying the defense really should have held the Aggies to 13 points on the day.

“We’ve got to keep creating depth, but I thought they played a really solid game,” Freeze said. “I’m proud of that side and the staff.”

COLLEGE STATION, TX – SEPTEMBER 23 – Auburn Defensive Back DJ James (4) during the game between the Auburn Tigers and the Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field in College Station, TX on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023.

Photo by Austin Perryman/Auburn Tigers

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