Hugh Freeze on Auburn's 21-14 loss to California

You know, I hope we would have, uh, gone on. I knew this was going to be a heck of a test team, no matter what people were saying, they're, they're, uh, a heck of an experienced football team and they play extremely hard and they're well coached and their quarterback played outstanding in the first half. And, uh, and the positive I guess we can take from this is that our defense, I think, really, really improved as the game went on in the second half and gave us opportunities. Um, you know, their special teams played really well in the third quarter and kept us in check and, uh, but you can't lose the ball five times and expect to really beat anybody. And, uh, we never found any kind of synchronization on offense and that's, that's, uh, very disappointing and frustrating, uh, for me and it's on me and I have to figure that out for us, I'll write it down, coach, with ***, ***, a little over 6.5 minutes to go and down by two points, it looked like you, you guys got very deep into the game. Clock and showed no rush. Was there a *** communication problem in that or did you guys feel like you had tons of time left? I'd have to go back and look, I can't remember that thought. We, uh, you know, started pretty quickly, uh, with about these, these possessions, and now as it went towards the red zone, we, you know, made a couple of checks to get the right play because they're playing on different fronts and that probably took too much time after what seemed like a really good week, a performance from Peyton, who struggled tonight with the four interceptions. What's the game plan for him going forward, the quarterback situation and, and with the SEC game, well, I have to look at the film first before I really say, I mean, we struggled tonight protecting him, a hell of a lot. We had guys running completely free and, uh, really struggled to protect him and it hurt when he got hurt and he tried to run and he couldn't. And, uh, so we struggled to protect him a little bit. Um, so I'd rather watch the film and then talk about it on Monday, about, about exactly his game. And at quarterback, you just have the offense in general, that's, that's the most disappointing thing was that it was a *** combination of, uh, protections. But what about, uh, the kind of decision making that some of these things are made by the receiver quarterbacks as well. Um, you know, like the last one, you know, he expected, uh, Dre ***, *** to run bang post and he was going to lay it on him. And so, you know, that's something that we need to get right. Um, that, that really should have been the route and, uh, and pinning with that. But, uh, the one, the possession before that where we had a *** chance with two minutes to go and, you know, I couldn't tell. And that's why I really want to watch the film. I couldn't tell if the ball stayed in or if Cam was hurt and had to come out, but the clock was running and, uh, I wish we could have gone to the other side, but I don't think Peyton had no idea he was hurt and he kind of missed the ball. And, and, and again, I'd like to look at the film before I comment too much on that. Coach, you said earlier in the week that you expected Cal to crowd the box and really go after the run and force Peyton to throw the ball. Um, what did you see of what they did there on defense? And, you know, what was the game plan to attack, to attack? What were they trying to do? They mixed it up *** great and they really applied pressure by crowding the box and playing coverage. Um, they mixed it up *** really well and kind of kept us guessing and you have to give them credit for that. Um So, they mixed the *** up really well and it was *** mix. It wasn't just one thing, you know, I thought we ran the ball pretty effectively early in the second half, but we just could never get into any kind of rhythm, or he tried to switch it up between pass plays and a *** sack and we got into third and long. And so it was just a *** disappointing day for, uh, for us, certainly in our, in our building here, and it doesn't meet the expectation of how we should play offensive football. Yeah, you talked about the defense, he had a *** bunch of freshmen. Malik was out there, and then you just talk about the game, the game that Kelt had. Yeah, Keld is one of the best leaders we have and he plays with his whole heart and he's one of the guys that you can count on when the going gets tough to hang in there and look for the right way. And he's ***, he's *** a really good leader and *** a really good young guy and obviously *** a very good player and all the younger guys that our future depends on are certainly watching him. And, uh, he's *** a good guy to keep an eye on. Thank you. Yes, thank you.

“Just a disappointing day for us”: Hugh Freeze on Auburn’s 21-14 loss to California

Updated: 6:38 p.m. CDT September 7, 2024

The Golden Bears avenged their 2023 loss at Auburn on Saturday, defeating the Tigers 21-14. After Auburn QB Payton Thorne threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Keandre Lambert-Smith, the team remained scoreless until the fourth inning, when Thorne was able to charge into the end zone just before the six-minute mark. It wasn't enough to turn the tide, however, as Thorne threw two interceptions in the game's final minutes. He threw four in total. Last season, Auburn beat California by just 4 points. This time, the Golden Bears gave that back and then some. “It wasn't just one thing, you know, I thought we ran the ball pretty effectively early in the second half,” Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze said. “But we just could never get into a rhythm. Or you'd try to combine the running and passing game, and we'd get a sack and end up on third and long.” “This is definitely a disappointing day for us in our building here,” he continued. “And this is not the expectation of how we should play offensive football. Hear Freeze's full thoughts on the game in the video player above. Stay up to date with the latest sports stories with the WVTM 13 app, which you can download here.

AUBURN, Alabama —

The Golden Bears avenged their 2023 loss in Auburn on Saturday, defeating the Tigers 21-14.

After Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Keandre Lambert-Smith, the team remained scoreless until the fourth inning, when Thorne was able to advance into the end zone just before the six-minute mark.

However, it wasn't enough to turn the tide, as Thorne intercepted two balls in the final minutes of the game. He threw four in total.

Last season, Auburn beat California by just 4 points. This time, the Golden Bears gave that back and more.

“It wasn't just one thing. I thought we ran the ball pretty effectively early in the second half,” Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze said. “But we just could never get into a rhythm. Or we tried to switch between the run and pass game and then we got a sack and got into third and long.”

“It's definitely a disappointing day for us in our building here,” he continued. “And it's not the way we should be playing attacking football.

Hear Freeze's detailed thoughts on the game in the video player above.

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