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There is a “Freeze warning” on the Plains.

Remember when there was hope for Auburn in August. The Tigers seemingly fixed their wide receiver problem, gave quarterback Payton Thorne a decent offensive line to work with and coach Hugh Freeze had a schedule that looked very forgiving on paper.

Games aren’t played on paper.

The Tigers fell to 2-3 on Saturday after losing to Oklahoma 27-21 on a pick-six from Thorne to Kip Lewis with 4:06 to play. It was par for the course for an Auburn team that has an eye-popping 14 turnovers through five games. Considering the Tigers came into the weekend ranked sixth nationally in offensive yards per play (8.03), frustration with Freeze is at an all-time high.

There’s no doubt that he feels it at this point. From calling players out by name following last week’s loss to Arkansas, to saying that they’d beat Arkansas nine-out-of-nine times to Saturday’s meltdown in the fourth quarter, it’s clear that Freeze is unraveling.

Hugh Freeze Makes Ludicrous Claim About Beating Arkansas And Cal After Losing To Both

AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze watches a replay on the video board during the second quarter against the New Mexico Lobos at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Sept. 14, 2024. Photo: John Reed-Imagn Images

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Freeze was hired to kickstart Auburn’s offense and the team into SEC contention. Instead, he has turned this offense into a … wait for it … paper tiger.

Freeze better watch himself. Auburn fired Bryan Harsin in 2022 – two-thirds of the way through his second season. With more meltdowns like the one we saw Saturday, he could suffer the same fate.

The timeline coaches have to turn programs around has accelerated in this age of the transfer portal and the ability to offer NIL deals. Freeze married himself to Thorne early last offseason and, aside from a few key players like wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith from Penn State, he chose to stand pat.

That was clearly the wrong plan.

I always say that almost every coach in the SEC is one 4-8 season away from getting canned. Auburn was supposed to be 5-0 at this point. Instead, it’s 2-3 with road games at Georgia, Missouri, Kentucky and Alabama left on the docket, plus a home game against a ranked Texas A&M team.

Freeze better be careful, because 4-8 seems like a legitimate possibility at this point. That, coupled with the excuses that started early, might make things very interesting on the Plains this November and December.