Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze sat down with the media Monday to move on from Arkansas and look ahead to Oklahoma.
Opening remarks…
“Good morning to you. You know, this profession that we’re in is always a test for you, for sure. And the most disappointing thing is when you have to sit before the great fans that you work for, the administration you work for, and you know you’ve lost two football games that were winnable games. That stinks. It’s no fun, and it’s hard to take. It’s one thing to get beat, and that happens sometimes. Certainly not lessening Arkansas, congratulations to coach (Sam) Pittman, he did a great job in rebuilding his team through the portal and got some great additions there, and they’re playing really solid football. But certainly it was a game we felt like was winnable. And when you don’t come through and get that, it stinks. I understand it and get it and hate it.
“Having said that, there’s no better staff that I’d rather be with in the fire or players and looking forward to going back to work and getting prepared for a very, very difficult opponent in Oklahoma, who has one of the best defenses I’ve seen in a while. They really are so, so multiple and can hit and run and strike, and they’re really, really, really talented. It appears offensively they got a little spark last week at the end of the game by bringing in the freshman quarterback that was pretty dynamic.”
“When I look back at the Arkansas game, we went through, obviously, every single play. Man, our defense, I thought their effort was incredible. I thought they played hard and physical. Got two interceptions, a fourth-down stop. I thought they played the ball downfield better in one-on-one situations than we’ve been. Champ (Anthony) was obviously playing really, really well, and his surgery went well, and he’s in good spirits. I thought we contained their explosives outside the quarterback scrambles, obviously. I thought we played really hard, and you take his rushes away, and they had very, very little in the rushing game at all. And that’s what we needed. The things we didn’t do well, we didn’t contain him very well. And then the third down and longs. We gave them two on penalties, third-and-10 or more. And him scrambling around and us getting out of position. One that really, really hurt when my roof player left the middle of the field and gave them a touchdown off of it. But the effort was good. I think there is improvement, believe it or not. But certainly we’ve got to improve getting off the field in third-and-long, particularly when offensively, removing the ball consistently, but unfortunately, turning it over half the possessions that we have it. Getting off the field and those third downs gives us a few more chances to not turn it over, because we did effectively move the football.
“Obviously, losing seven points on the run, on the fumble in the end zone is a big, big swing. and then in field goal range, two other turnovers. We can’t turn the football over, and obviously we’ve got to coach the quarterbacks better and running backs better in ball security and decision-making to be able to be an effective offense. So we’ll look at every aspect of that with Kent (Austin), Jesse (Stone) and myself working with the quarterbacks this week. I thought the play calling from (Derrick) Nix and the offensive staff, all of us that were involved in that, I thought he did nice job with it and had a good plan. I thought DJ (Durkin) and his staff had a good plan, even on third down, even though we have one or two guys that that don’t play the right technique, or that don’t play the right contain. And truthfully, not to complain too much, but we had a few penalties that weren’t called on those third downs that I think really were critical and hurt us. But we’ve got to coach them better, for sure. I love the energy our kids played with, and I know they’ll come back and fight this week in a tough, tough battle we have coming.”
On Auburn’s offensive identity…
“Exactly what we’re doing. I think we’re good at it, other than 10 turnovers in two games. I think there’s open receivers, we’re running the ball effectively, I’m not sure why we would want to change any of that other than maybe we should call a few less shot plays, maybe. Our landmarks, they’re not really shot plays, maybe just stick to the RPO game. We’ve got to evaluate all of that. Go watch the game, and you see we’re moving the football. I believe in what we’re doing. I don’t think there’s any changes that need to be made other than 10 turnovers is tough in two football games.”
On his confidence of being able to clean up the turnovers…
“I’m always confident. But I haven’t met with the quarterbacks yet and hear them talk me through the decision that was made and see if we did an adequate job of preparing them for that particular play. Or if it’s just something they saw or a poor decision. We’ve got to figure out all of that. If we haven’t coached them well enough on that given play for the coverage that was given on it, that’s something we’ve got to look at ourselves about. If they can explain it totally in detail, we’ve got to expect better from them also. It’s a combination of things that we’ll have to find out when we go through it here in just a little bit.”
On being able to build on what has worked offensively…
“It’s sickening, truthfully, to know that you’re averaging almost seven yards per rush and creating explosive plays and not scoring the points that should come with what those stats say. I’ve never been with any team that turned the football over and won football games. It just seemed like, the other day, we could not get a break at any moment, whether it was an instant replay or us turning it over going into the end zone. It’s one of these testing times that you’re going through, but yes that is encouraging. I’ll stand before them today and tell them the truth about here’s why you’re not winning football games. It’s pretty simple. Let’s watch these third-down breakdowns and let’s watch these drives that are ending with no points because of X, Y or Z, whether it’s a bad call by our staff or whether it’s a turnover or whatever it is. We all have to own that and try to figure out a way to fix it.”
On evaluating the quarterback situation this week…
“It’s going to be a battle this week to try to figure out who can master the plan against all of these fronts we’re going to face against Oklahoma. You watch the first drive and you believe Hank (Brown) is making all of the right decisions until we get to the 25-yard-line or whatever it is. We get a check down wide open and he makes that decision and then made two other poor ones, but he looked really, really sharp at times. Payton (Thorne) in the second half looked really sharp. He had a pick, but I think the ball was catchable. I know quarterbacks get the blame all of the time, but I thought it was a well-thrown ball and the right decision. We do need to clean up a few other things that he could’ve done. To start the third quarter, the first play he makes a read that was not the right read and put us behind the chains. We’re dang good, truthfully, when we’re in second-and-6 and not so good when we’re in second- or third-and-10. The margin of error for us right now is so small, and I’m not trying to beat him up on the game, but that’s how critical it feels. It feels kind of like life and death with our margin of error right now if we’re going to turn the ball over in those play.”
“If you make the correct read there and hand the ball off I think it’s a five- or six-yard gain and now you’re in second-and-4. Instead we were second-and-11. Those are the things that we have to meet about and get cleaned up as coaches and make sure we’re not continuously making those decisions. Defenses are going to win some plays. They’re pretty good. They’re well-coached and they have some athletes over there in this league, but we can’t do that for them with a poor decision. That comes down to us coaching them properly and making sure they understand the game plan and the execution, but I did think Payton played very solid. I don’t have my drive chart, but we had five drives in the second half, one was kind of the last deal, but of the four he led us to two touchdowns in those. I thought he had a solid second half.”
On the decision to make a QB change at halftime…
“What really went into that decision is that I had experienced that two weeks earlier and wasn’t going to continue down that road. It has nothing to do with my confidence in Hank (Brown), but at that moment our team needed something else to try to give us a shot. We were in a close game and I know that the plan is effective and working, so let’s try to some somebody who takes care of (the ball) a little better on this given night. That was the reasoning.”
On turnovers and penalties at Auburn and his other coaching stops…
“I don’t think the penalties were terrible for us at Liberty or Ole Miss. I would have to look. We had some critical ones, and our offense has had very few penalties this year. Defensively, we have had some interferences, and a very foolish one gave them the first down on a late hit out of bounds. That cannot happen. We have to get things like that fixed for sure. Our interceptions are a reason, too, for sure. Without looking at the totality of why they happen. I mean, I know why. The eight we’ve had this year, it is hard for me to explain them truthfully.”
On rebuilding the secondary after Champ Anthony’s injury…
“We are thin. (Antonio) Kite and JC (Hart) are going to have to play a lot of snaps. We have to get Jay Crawford ready as a freshman. That’s really what we are down to. Those four guys are going to get a lot of reps because we would kind of like to keep Keionte (Scott) at nickel. That’s where we are right now.”
On Alex McPherson’s status…
“Alex, I’ll leave that up to the doctors. He is kicking some in practice right now, but I’m not sure exactly what they are thinking. He was pretty accurate from shorter distances last week. I don’t think he has been out there kicking 50- or 60-yarders like he was capable of doing last year, but he is definitely getting closer, I think. Towns (McGough) has been solid for us. He has only missed one field goal and it was the 60-something-yarder in the rain, which was a tough ask. His kickoffs have been really nice.
On Oklahoma’s quarterbacks…
“Oklahoma quarterbacks, two different deals. Like we have faced the last two weeks, runs around and makes plays with his feet as much as he does his arms, so it will be a challenge if that’s who they go with. The other kid is a little more pocket-style, RPO guy, runs a little bit too.”
On making personnel changes to limit turnovers, penalties, etc.…
“That’s something you take week-by-week. Obviously, we love our players and believe in them and, you know, you want to believe you can help them get out of those situations and get out of those decisions. Certainly we should be able to get out of having a late hit penalty. I don’t think we’ve had a ton of those, but I remember two in the last two weeks and that is two too many. So we’ve got to get out of those for sure. You’re going to get some penalties on interference but I do think we’re getting better playing the ball and being as handsy. I thought Kayin (Lee) really improved this week, so did JC Hart. But, you know, we’re going to keep believing in our young men for sure. I know we have Holden (Geriner) sitting there, too, who is a quality player and we have to figure out if he fits into the equation also. Truthfully right now I think this week, you’re looking at Hank (Brown) and Payton (Thorne) battling it out to see who gets the nod.”
On KeAndre Lambert-Smith’s performance and expecting more from other receivers…
“I don’t know that we can expect much more out of him, really. He’s playing dang near every snap and is playing at a high level. Making plays when they come to him. We do need more out of some other guys. Robert (Lewis) had a difficult drop on a third-and-10 that was a really good throw and that’s not like him. Those are big plays in those games that, convert one of those drives we get to keep going. Cam (Coleman) hopefully gets healthier this week and gets back to playing like he did in fall camp and young Malcolm (Simmons) and Perry (Thompson) keep coming on for sure, and Camden Brown keeps playing his role along with Sam (Jackson V). We like that room, I mean that room has got some depth and solid play and it’d be nice to see, you know, in two of the games that we’ve had all of the turnovers it’d sure be nice to see what that room would’ve really looked like in totality if you continue those drives where you get to see how they end other than us turning it over. I would’ve loved to have seen that, I think you would’ve seen more guys with more production other than KeAndre.”
On attacking things differently as a coaching staff this week…
“I told our staff this morning that I love being in the fire with them. If you’re not willing to be in the fire in this profession and this league, you probably need to go do something different. I love the way they come to work, I love the energy they bring and we’re not changing anything. Obviously addressing the turnovers and the third downs that cost us this game, we’ll address those but we’re not changing who we are, what our culture is and what we believe in. So, not really changing anything.”
On coaching against Brent Venables…
“I don’t know who exactly is running the defense, truthfully. Whether it’s him or the young man he hired from Jacksonville State, who I actually played against when I was at Liberty, and I thought did an outstanding job. Obviously Brent has a hand in it I’m sure, and he’s known as a great defensive coach. I got to meet Coach Venables when we both had young kids and were on vacation. I see him sitting in the pool, and we had young kids then, the kind where you’re not playing golf on vacation, you’re babysitting your kids in the pool and stuff. So we got to spend a good part of the week together, and I really liked him as a human being. He’s about the right things, and runs the right kind of program, his players play really hard for him, and he does a great job defensively. It’s a lot to prepare for, for sure.”
On how turnovers affect the whole game plan…
“That’s the story of the first half. I don’t know what the time of possession was, but it wasn’t much for us. We probably had as many yards as they had, but the defense was on the field way too much. When you have short fields and have turnovers like that, obviously they cut down your plays and opportunities to score points, and they usually provide the other team with great scoring opportunities. And that has been the story of the two losses.”
On the offensive line…
“Yeah, I thought that they played well other than the two pressures. I thought they played really, really well and really had some nice running lanes. I’m not sure what we averaged the run, but it was pretty solid. (Bradyn) Joiner, Tate (Johnson) and Ronan (Chambers) are still factors to be ready to play for sure. Heck, every possession we didn’t get that many it didn’t feel like. You felt like you had to go. It wasn’t like we had 100 plays so we went who thought were the best combination pretty much all day I think.”
On getting running backs more involved this week…
“The scary thing is I watched the explosive reel first thing yesterday and there has been one explosive all year on them (Oklahoma) that was more than 10 yards and it was a reverse. That was not a comfortable feeling to see. You kind of take the Tennessee game out of it a little bit because they played Tennessee totally different than they played the three safety odd wide look. I haven’t seen them in that in any other game so I think that they may play us that way. I don’t know. I doubt it. If you take that game out, there is only one explosive run. So we do believe in our running backs. We do believe in our running game. We were meeting just then, finalizing our base out runs and we gotta figure out a way to win first down with some runs. Probably need to operate a little more. We did a little study yesterday on ourselves self-scouting wise and when we stay in our run game and RPO world on second down, we have converted the third down on a high, high percentage of the time. When we’ve gone to a drop back pass, the percentages drop off quite considerably so it means we’re either running the ball effectively or making good decisions in the RPO world.”
Transcript via Auburn Athletics.
