Coach Hugh Freeze sat down with the media in his customary Monday morning press conference to discuss what he saw after watching the Vanderbilt and what we he expects from the Arkansas game.
Opening Statement…
Good morning to all. It’s obviously a big week as fall is ending and we move into the winter season where football is still going on, but there’s a lot of other sports getting kicked off. I’d love to wish good luck to Coach J (Johnnie Harris) and women’s basketball and Bruce (Pearl) and men’s basketball, and I know volleyball has a huge match coming up, so Coach (Brent) Crouch and his squad, we’re pulling for them also. So, a lot of good things are going on this week. I’m glad I’m not with Bruce in South Dakota. That wouldn’t be a fun trip for me, but I’m sure he’s enjoying it because he’s just made that way. Good luck to all of those teams this week.
Watching the film yesterday, there were a lot of good things, and some that were not so good, and then some that, had we made certain plays, the game would’ve been firmly in control. I don’t know that we can have those not go our way this week in Arkansas. I’m really impressed with them. I think they’ve lost five games by one score or less to really good football teams. Obviously, they’re coming off a big win on the road in Gainesville. I think they’ve got a lot of motivation, and it’s a very scary team. I think they’re doing a good job. They’re really good on defense, stopping the run, and KJ (Jefferson), I’ve had great respect for him for many years now. I knew him out of high school, and he’s a great leader. They’ve kind of gone back to playing like they did last year offensively. They seem much more confident. So, we’ve got our hands full with that, but we’re excited about our win at Vanderbilt. Again, we thank our fans. I thought they were incredible. They showed up, and I really felt like we were at a neutral-site game at worst. We really just never had a problem communicating anything, and I think our fans were just incredible.
We’re looking to become bowl eligible. I think that’s big in year one. Jarquez (Hunter) has some good games, Payton (Thorne) has completed around 70 percent of his passes in the last two weeks and had five touchdowns with one interception, that was a bad choice, but it’s been solid. And that’s with several drops. Really, I think we had seven drops is what I tallied after watching the film. We had three scores of 50-plus yards, and that’s the second time that’s happened in twenty years. We’re starting to see some signs of some good things, but we have to clean up the ones that are not so good and make all the ones that come our way that we do have good calls and we actually execute it correctly. We had two touchdowns called back. Jarquez scored on two runs that were both called back. Both were good calls. They were penalties, but neither one had to happen. Not one time have we ever discussed cutting from the tight end position. Not one time, nor do we practice that. Rivaldo’s (Fairweather) hold on the last one that Jarquez ran in just didn’t have to happen. We have to lock in and be a little more focused and clean some of those up or those will hurt us in these upcoming games.
On being involved in the play calling…
It’s a collaboration. I’m very involved, but Monty (Coach Montgomery) is calling his share, too. It’s a partnership, and it kind of depends on how it’s going, but I’m very involved with what’s on the call sheet, for sure, and what shouldn’t be on there.
On seeing the success on offense…
We played with confidence and swagger last week. Pretty good the first half and got off to a fast start. We were optimistic about some of the explosive plays. I felt good about our chances. We had some explosive plays, but it should have been more. The more we are successful at doing that, the more confidence, and more swagger our kids with play with.
On tackling Arkansas QB KJ Jefferson…
It is just amazing some of the tackles he gets out of and then extends plays. That is certainly an area we got to look at. If you watch him enough you know you’re not going to get him on the ground every single time. You just hope those are not explosive runs or explosive passes that happen after you miss him. He is very strong and very difficult to get on the ground.
On the volume of the throws in game plan prior to Vanderbilt…
We were both frustrated and we talked openly. He (Payton Thorne) never said that he needed a certain volume of throws. There are good football teams that are finishing games if you look at the stats, 12 for 19 or 16 for 19. It’s never about volume for him nor I. It is about executing what the plan is and executing it well. Throwing accurate balls to the right spot. I haven’t been one to say we need to throw x amount of balls and neither has Payton.
On the status of Avery Jones…
Yeah, I don’t know yet. I haven’t talked to Robbie (Stewart) and the medical staff yet about it. We probably won’t know until Wednesday or Thursday what Avery’s status is. Connor (Lew) still will play some. I don’t think him being out the last three weeks and particularly when it’s a lower leg injury that he will be ready to go out there and play 60-70 snaps. So if he is available, it still would be a shared responsibility.
On defeating Arkansas last year with Liberty…
We had come off of a big win against BYU, and I believe it was after an open week that we traveled to Arkansas. The first thing I was concerned about is, my experience in Arkansas in November has not been pleasant. The two times we went there when I was at Ole Miss, the weather was atrocious. I was just thankful that when we went with Liberty, it was actually a nice day, and it appears this Saturday is going to be fairly nice.
You know I tell our teams the truth, and I remember telling them that, ‘Listen, you’re the underdog and you shouldn’t win this game, but that’s what makes it fun. You know, to go and give it a shot and while you play the game, you don’t have to be better 10 times, you just have to be better that one day.’ I can’t remember exactly what our theme was that week or anything, but our kids played really hard that day and stopped their run pretty much so that’s something we need to do this week also.
On watching the film after Vandy and evaluating the protection on offense…
Disappointed, truthfully, in our protection. And again, when I say disappointed, I’m not just saying o-line, running backs, quarterbacks. It was all of us. Payton (Thorne), I mean, the first, third down I see exactly what’s happening, and I just felt surely he sees it because we did a freeze and the end was dropping and the back row was coming, the safeties were rolling, and I mean, I know you see that. And we did not set the protection right on that. And I think he missed two protections. Damari (Alston) missed an easy look.
Then our O-line had three or four that were, and I’m not talking about just getting beat. I’m talking about we’re not handling; they were really twisting a lot away from the back, and you have to get vertical to be able to pass that off and stay on the same level. Several times we were on different levels, and you’re gonna get pressured and hurried when you do that. So, we were average at best.
On Payton Thorne playing every snap at QB…
Well, it was what we were going to do offensively. I believe Payton’s skillsets are the most prepared for what we are doing. It is not a negative toward anyone else. When you talk about playing with tempo, setting our protection, throwing with accuracy and understanding coverages, I think he is the farthest along in that. I think Holden (Geriner) had one heck of a week last week, and he can really spin it. I think he has got a bright future.
On Jaylin Simpson’s approach this season…
His energy, compassion, and work ethic. He comes to work every day prepared and he does it with energy and a smile on his face. It is not a ‘I have to’, it is an ‘I get to’ mentality. I am pleased with his progress for sure.
On preparing for Arkansas with a new offensive coordinator…
This is not saying that we will have the greatest plan to stop them, but I think it is pretty clear that they were frustrated with what they were doing. I think it is a pretty stark difference. The guy who is calling it now, background is with the former offensive coordinator, so I think it’s a pretty good bet that you can throw a lot of film out, unless you are just looking at personnel and probably need to pull a few games from last year, in my opinion, to go with what they did at Florida.
On Austin Keys and the linebackers…
I thought our linebacker group played their best game, truthfully. We had one turn loose and override our guys, got a little dirty play fake and we didn’t cut the tight end on one. Outside of that, I thought they played really, really solid. And I think Austin being back, it really gives us four guys that we can rotate and they’re not having to play (too much). I was looking at the play count last night and Austin played the most, but it was 40 plays maybe and everybody else is 20s and 30s.
I just think any time you can do that on defense especially, particularly the front seven, you’re going to be fresher and better to take on what you have to take on in that box when you’re not having to play 50-60 snaps. And so, number one, he’s one of our better players. Number two, it takes the load off, the load that is shared now. You know among really Cam (Riley) and Larry (Nixon) and Eugene (Asante) and him.
On Payton’s reaction to his pick six…
I love him. He said, ‘Coach, I swear I just did not see him.’ So, what do you say to that? ‘Play the next play.’ He had no excuse. It wasn’t, ‘I read the read coverage wrong.’ He said, ‘Coach, I just didn’t see the guy. And I said, What do we always say? Don’t throw blind. You got it. Don’t throw blind.’ I mean, it happens to the best of them. He hasn’t shown that’s his MO, to just fling the ball to the flat with coverage standing there. He owned every bit of it. I said, ‘Bro, my media guys told me to throw it when we were backed up. Bro, if I am going to do that you kind of got to protect me, man.’ I said to myself ‘That’s why you run the ball and punt.’
On game planning with Ron Roberts…
I don’t go in the defensive room much, I never have. I go in there on Sundays. We watch the team periods of practice, and I go in there for recruiting, and then I go in there for them to tell me what we are doing on third down and in the tight red zone. I have my hands full with recruiting and trying to help offense and manage our team. I certainly don’t need to (go in there) much. I can help him.
I think where he would say I am valued to him – I think he does a masterful job of calling the game – but I do think I help him considerably on third downs and maybe in the red zone. Definitely on third downs. I think I have a gift of saying give me a whole player right here. I have a feel for what the other team is doing on the third down. I don’t get involved other than those scenarios.
On his philosophy on hiring…
You hire people to do a job and you get out of the way and let them do it until they prove they can or can’t. That has always been my philosophy. I try not to get too in the way, but if I can help him, I will ask him. If you want me to tell you what I see right here, say so. He’ll say, ‘Yeah, I’d love to hear it.’ I will tell him, ‘Here is what I would do the next two third downs and medium, here’s what I’d do the next two third downs and long.’
You play to your strengths. You hire people and you hope you are right. I do not think I have ever totally been right on every single hire that I have ever made. You evaluate that every single year. I think to this point I am pretty pleased. We have good men in the building. I want folks that will drive our culture for sure. I think I have to play to my strengths, too, and that is something I am still figuring out.
On getting to a bowl game in year one…
I’m not one to set goals at the beginning of the year. I think that the goal ought to be the journey and the process of how you prepare every single day for the opportunities that are coming. You’ve all seen we play in a league where a lot of things can happen. You can have injuries that affect you, and you can lose the ball by it bouncing another way one year.
I want a group with young men around us that every day we prepare to win this week. I have been pretty open about the fact that going to a bowl game in year one is desired, needed and wanted. I want the extra practices. I want the seniors to be honored. I want our program and fans to still have the same energy moving into year two. All of that is a part of us getting to a bowl. We’ve been able to do that at each stop that we’ve taken over. I want to do it here, and I think our kids want to do it here. You have to earn it, and this is not an easy game on the road this week, for sure. We are going to have to earn it, but it’s something that we have put out there and we desire.
On Jalen McLeod’s production of late…
He plays hard. He is having to play too many snaps. We still do not have the depth at pass rusher that we need. On our D-line on Saturday, we had more people involved in negative plays. Jayson Jones was involved in one, Justin Rogers and Lawrence (Johnson). We’re used to Jalen making a few, but it was good to see all those guys. Jalen is definitely the biggest threat that we have. That is good for us. If you are not afraid of both sides, the slide side is going to get sent to the best dude, and I think that happens a lot to him.
Transcript via Auburn Athletics.
