Coach Hugh Freeze sat down with his customary Monday press conference and spoke to the media about the LSU game and the upcoming Ole Miss game.
Opening Statement…
“Obviously, we’d like to put Saturday night behind us as fast as possible. It was really a dominating performance by LSU in all facets. They were more physical. They played harder, which is embarrassing and hurtful to say. It’s one thing for a team to have more talent, but I didn’t think we showed up with the right energy and drive and competitive spirit, and that lies in my lap. That’s disappointing. I could go through all the truths of the game, but it was really a dominating performance. I think they’re a very good football team. I think they’ve improved defensively in the last two weeks. Offensively, they’re one of the better ones that I’ve seen and faced. Their quarterback is playing at an extremely high level, so give them a lot of credit. We’ve got a lot to learn from that game. There’s certainly no time to hang our heads or feel sorry for ourselves, because we’ve got another team that’s very much like them coming in. I think this is the third straight week that we’ll be facing the top three offenses in the conference – Georgia, LSU, and Ole Miss. It’s going to be a tremendous challenge. I’m thankful that we’re at home in Jordan-Hare. We need it to be at its all-time best, and I know it will be. We’ll get ready and excited to play in this challenge, but it’s a really good football team coming in.”
On his feeling late in the LSU game…
“Heck yeah, it will make you sad when you’re not competing like you hoped you would. I don’t know if anger is the right response that our kids need right now. They need some hard truths that I’ll give them today as soon as I meet with them. I miss meeting on Sundays. I really wish we did that, but I can’t wait to see them today and give them the truths of the game – the truths from what I saw and the truths I’ve already given the coaches and myself. It’s disappointing for sure, not to compete any better than we did. I wasn’t heartbroken. I understand this game. I understand where we are in our program. I understand that it’s going to take some time to build it. I certainly wasn’t happy. Whether you call it sad, angry, or whatever, I was definitely not happy. You know, you certainly look at yourself first. I do. I just want to get it fixed and get us to be competitive like Auburn should be. I know that in this conference, things start going against you, particularly on the road. There are some teams that can put it on you pretty good, and that’s what happened.”
On having faced Ole Miss several years ago while head coach at Liberty…
“I think it actually helps a lot. Jill and I talked about that because it removes the, ‘Hey, it is your first time playing Ole Miss since your departure from there.’ So, I think it is very helpful. That was an emotional day originally, but I was truthfully overwhelmed. I have a lot of friends there and a lot of people who, I think, appreciate the good things that we did and certainly wish things were different in the end, just like I do. We are seven or eight years removed from my seasons there, and I have got a lot of friends there, but the trip back there absolutely helps. This is not something that is new.”
On his team being able to get up for big games…
“In building a program, you certainly hope you do not have to revisit that all the time just because you are going to lose some games in this conference, and it is only going to get harder. I think we are approaching the ‘NFC/AFC’ version somehow, some way. You don’t want to have to, every time you lose a game, ask what we going to do to finish the year. We are playing to win a game in Jordan-Hare Saturday night and hear the truth of how we can improve to win it. We should play for each other, we should serve each other, and we should love each other enough to play and that is a greater challenge in today’s times than ever before, truthfully. I think we are all dealing with it. I talked to two coaches this morning in this conference that are friends of mine, and I think we all are dealing with some of the same things. Coaching is becoming a harder challenge at this level, and it is one that we have to embrace and continue to lead well. Hopefully, we have enough players that lead well enough that we see another opportunity to represent each other and our university and another step toward hopefully getting better as program, but how we prepare this week will show on Saturday. It always does, and that will be the message.”
On Caleb Burton III…
“It’s great that you can honor players sometimes because they really did things the right way. They practice the right way, they’re doing the things we say are the standard in this program, and Caleb has done that. It was exciting to see him get his first reps and I expect him to get more.”
On any offensive changes…
“Offensively, we have struggled to be consistent. We had four possessions in that game to cut it to a one score game. Not saying we would have won the game or saying what would have happened, but it certainly would have given us confidence and momentum. We had three before the half and one right out of the half and we found a way in three of the four to kill the drive. I say we found a way – the players and coaches. One of the four, I give LSU total credit. But the margin of error again on where we are, we can’t do that. Let’s just imagine we get 10 points in the four drives, that’s 20-17. We got three points from the four drives to make it 20-10 and then it snowballed after that. We will continue to try every personnel to make sure we are playing the best kids. I think the plan was good, an awful start and I don’t think that helped. With the first procession going like it did, we looked like zombies on the sidelines after that. It just snowballed. No real earthshaking personnel changes to try and get the best plan our kids understand, and they can execute with who we have. It’s one thing to walk out there and say, ‘Hey, I know we can throw a post route.’ Well, great. Who is going to run that route? Is he able to correctly? Is he able to beat that corner matchup there? Who is going to throw it? Are we good enough to do that and win the game? If we are, we need to figure out who those people are. We are having a lot of discussions that go into certain plays that truthfully, I haven’t had a lot of.”
On Robby Ashford getting more reps…
“We consider everything and everybody. That will continue to be in our thoughts.”
On balancing tempo and run-pass option…
“I probably wouldn’t be sitting here today if it wasn’t for tempo offense and RPO world. So, it’s a very uncomfortable feeling for me to not be in that world. But yes, we are very, very thin. You get in that kind of game with that game last week, LSU, this week with Ole Miss, they want that kind of game. I mean they thrive in that kind of game. It’s not working right now the other way either so it’s a struggle. If you say, “Hey man, let’s just go fast” with them and see if we can do that then you are asking Marcus Harris to play 80 snaps a game. Depth issues are… not just Marcus but other defensive linemen, and I’m not sure that’s smart either, so we are still kind of debating on what’s the right approach.”
On early penalties and lack of execution…
“Well, there were just two plays. That’s the shocking thing and it never happened again. The whole game. That is baffling to me. And I don’t have an answer and neither did our kids. I know it was probably the loudest it was going to get at that moment because you are starting from the student section, but I mean for it to not be an issue for the rest of the game. But two out of the first three plays are kind of baffling to me and certainly disappointing. I just don’t have an answer. I thought they heard the clap, but there was no clap.”
On evaluating Payton Thorne and the offense…
“When I say these things, it is a combination. I want to be clear. It is not just the quarterback that makes the passing game go with the protections, the routes, the correct routes. And we had some inconsistencies at the quarterback’s spot. On throws we always come back from that. Those two mishaps on the first possession, you will complete the pass and we saw another one too. Luke Deal was wide open, and we missed the throw. There was great protection, the route was good. Then there are others where the route may be a little deep and the balls coming out on the timing as it should. It is a combination, but the passing game is still inconsistent.”
On injury updates…
“It does not look good for Damari (Alston). (Jaylin) Simpson was not 100 percent Saturday night, for sure. Hopefully he will get better. Hopefully we will get good news on Keionte (Scott) sometime soon. He makes a huge difference in our leadership. Austin Keys, I know he got out of his cast. I do not think he will be back this week but is getting closer.”
On any changes on the QB rotation…
“Yeah, I have not really seen the staff much today because of everything I have to do Monday mornings, but that is still being discussed. I would expect that you would see both QBs.”
On the competitiveness of the team…
“I think our team has competed hard every game, except for times the other night. Obviously, when you say team you are not saying every individual. There are still some extraordinarily great efforts by certain individuals. It seemed flat. You don’t make too much of that in one particular game. Now if we have three or four in a row that are flat, then it becomes a real issue. For whatever reason maybe it is the way we started on both offense and defense that we were shocked. It seemed flat. I have not talked to the kids yet. I will see them this afternoon.”
On similarities of Ole Miss and LSU offenses…
“They are similar. They go faster than LSU. LSU is not tempo all the time. Lane (Kiffin) and Charlie (Weis Jr.) want to go fast all the time. That is hard to prepare for, for sure. They do a few more running things than LSU and probably in the passing game too. Their quarterback is playing at a high-level. He’s turned it over maybe two times. (They have) talented receivers and great running backs. (Their) O-line is really solid. I have not watched much of their defense yet, but I will do that this afternoon. I know my guys have told me they are playing extremely hard on defense, for sure. They are stopping people for the most part. I think you have a complete team and give credit to the job Lane has done there. He has built it back to a competitive, top-25 program.”
On the RPO fades…
“It was critical in three of the drives. We had really good drives going, second and medium or short, and that put us in third down, which we are very poor on. If we hand it off, we are probably looking at a first down or a third and short. That is the system, but we have to figure out if that is who we really are. Whether the throw is a little off, or the corner just won, or whether we ran a route that allowed the corner to win. It’s a combination of all of those.”
On what Auburn will be offensively…
“Absolutely. I like those stats I see from Ole Miss, so I hope.”
Transcript via Auburn Athletics.
