Forde-yard Dash: Leave No Doubt, The Hugh Freeze Era At Auburn Was A Disaster

Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news successful assemblage football, wherever connected Saturday Mississippi State and Kentucky won SEC games connected nan aforesaid time for nan first clip since Nov. 5, 2022.

The truth that Hugh Freeze (1) lasted until nan day of Nov. 2 astatine Auburn (2) is 1 of nan biggest upsets successful a play of surprises. A schoolhouse that has a historical intolerance of losing seasons fto 7 different power-conference programs hit it into nan occupation marketplace earlier finally pulling nan plug Sunday.

In an autumn wherever nan coaching carousel has spun retired of power for weeks, nan Tigers are yet onboard. It’s astir time, because nan Freeze Era was an unambiguous failure.

At 1–5 successful nan Southeastern Conference, Auburn is firmly entrenched successful nan league’s five-team Pit of Despair astatine nan bottommost of nan standings, alongside Arkansas (0–5), South Carolina (1–6), Kentucky (1–5) and Mississippi State (1–4). The Tigers’ chance to flight nan pit evaporated successful a pitiful, 10–3 location nonaccomplishment Saturday nighttime to nan Wildcats, who hadn’t won an SEC crippled since September 2024.

That dropped Freeze’s grounds to 15–19 astatine Auburn, nan worst people for anyone who coached astatine slightest 25 games location since Earl Brown went 3-22-4 from 1948–50. (Bryan Harsin was trap-doored successful 2022 aft conscionable 23 games pinch a 9-14 record.) Freeze is 6–16 successful nan SEC, a winning percent of .273, which is beneath Harsin’s .308 mark.

At nan clip he was hired, this looked for illustration an due match: Desperate programme lands victor pinch baggage. But Freeze has stopped winning, and astir amazingly his discourtesy has stopped scoring. Auburn is really bad connected nan broadside of nan shot wherever he’s done his life’s work.

In SEC play, nan Tigers are past successful nan convention successful points per crippled (15), yards per crippled (286.5) and yards per play (4.25). They besides person scored nan fewest touchdowns (eight) and person nan lowest walk ratio standing (116.02).

The three-point workout successful futility Saturday, against a Kentucky squad that gave up 56 successful its past game, was Auburn’s lowest scoring full successful 4 years. It was nan latest illustration of really thoroughly Freeze has fumbled his backmost situation.

After 2 years pinch Michigan State transportation Payton Thorne (the first 1 bad, nan 2nd 1 better), Freeze went and sewage Oklahoma transportation Jackson Arnold (3) out of nan portal. This was a risky move aft Arnold’s disappointing 2024 play pinch nan Sooners, aft which he was replaced by John Mateer of Washington State.

A five-star recruit, Arnold proved to beryllium a scattershot passer pinch a batch of athleticism but a penchant for taking sacks. Maybe Freeze thought he could hole those things this season, but nan Arnold acquisition has played retired nan aforesaid measurement astatine Auburn. He’s past successful nan SEC successful walk ratio for nan 2nd consecutive season, and nan squad he’s playing for is past successful nan convention successful sacks for nan 2nd consecutive season.

Freeze yet opted for backup Ashton Daniels (4), a Stanford transfer, successful nan 2nd half astatine Arkansas connected Oct. 25. He was serviceable against nan porous Razorbacks and sewage nan commencement against Kentucky, but nan discourtesy wholly malfunctioned. Freeze shoved Arnold backmost into nan crippled for 2 bid successful nan 4th quarter, successful which he completed 2 passes and was sacked twice.

Auburn trudged disconnected nan section astatine Jordan-Hare Stadium pinch fans calling for Freeze’s firing. It would costs astir $15 cardinal successful buyout money to get free of him. That’s a lot, but 4 years agone Auburn group what was past nan manufacture modular pinch a $21 cardinal buyout connected Gus Malzahn’s deal. Malzahn went 68–35 astatine nan school, a grounds that by existent standards is perfectly magical, and he still sewage whacked.

It’s a reliable twelvemonth to compete successful nan occupation market—but sitting connected nan sidelines while Freeze is authoring a 3rd consecutive losing play was impossible. It’s a very bully job, pinch an incredibly passionate and loyal instrumentality guidelines and entree to abundant section talent. Freeze isn’t nan feline to do it.

Miami Stumbles Once Again

Meanwhile astatine Miami (5), things are obscurity adjacent arsenic dire but person taken a move for nan worse. Another Mario Cristobal swoon (6) is looming.

The Hurricanes person shown a inclination to get worse arsenic nan play goes on nether Cristobal. His grounds astatine The U successful August and September is 16–2; his grounds successful October is 9–5; and his grounds successful November is now 4–9 aft the nonaccomplishment Saturday astatine SMU.

Under Mario Cristobal, Miami has fallen level down nan agelong erstwhile again. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

A 9–0 commencement successful 2024 became a 10–3 finish. A 5–0 commencement this twelvemonth has go 6–2, pinch nan ‘Canes presently successful seventh spot successful an upside-down Atlantic Coast Conference.

Under Cristobal, location person been large victories early: Texas A&M, Florida, Notre Dame, etc. Then location person been upset losses later that return nan radiance disconnected a play and imperil playoff bids: Georgia Tech and North Carolina State successful 2023; Georgia Tech and Syracuse past year; Louisville and SMU this year.

Quarterback Carson Beck (7), Miami’s big-dollar portal acquisition, threw six interceptions successful nan losses to nan Cardinals and Mustangs. He’s now thrown 21 picks successful his past 21 games.

Could Miami still make nan College Football Playoff? Yeah, it’s imaginable astatine 10–2 pinch wins complete Notre Dame and a South Florida squad that is still successful nan conflict for nan Group of 6 bid. But if nan Hurricanes don’t moreover make nan ACC title game, they could beryllium bypassed conscionable arsenic they were astatine 10–2 past year.

At present, nan ACC leader is Virginia (8) at 8–1 wide and 5–1 successful nan league, contempt a nonaccomplishment to NC State. (That matchup was scheduled arsenic a nonconference game). The Cavaliers were picked to decorativeness 14th earlier nan season.

It’s nary mini irony that Clemson (9) and Florida State (10) are obscurity adjacent nan title pursuit aft suing nan convention to attain preferential gross shares based connected higher TV ratings. They’re a mixed 3–8 successful nan ACC, and their matchup this Saturday successful Clemson has been relegated to nan ACC Network. That won’t precisely beryllium a ratings bonanza.

The CFP action committee unveils its rankings Tuesday night, opening nan month-long silly play starring up to nan only 1 that matters—the last rankings connected Dec. 7. As of today, this is really The Dash sees it—with 2 Big Ten teams acold up of nan remainder of nan pack.

(Of note: BYU and Texas Tech will clear things up betwixt them Saturday successful Lubbock.)

1. Ohio State
2. Indiana
3. Texas A&M
4. Alabama
5. Georgia
6. Mississippi 
7. Oregon
8. BYU
9. Texas Tech
10. Virginia
11. Louisville
12. Memphis 

On nan bubble: Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Iowa, Georgia Tech, Miami, Texas, Vanderbilt, USC, Michigan, Missouri, Pittsburgh.

First-round games:

No. 12 Memphis astatine No. 5 Georgia
No. 11 Louisville astatine No. 6 Mississippi
No. 10 Virginia astatine No. 7 Oregon
No. 9 Texas Tech astatine No. 8 BYU

Quarterfinals:

Cotton Bowl: Memphis-Georgia victor vs. Alabama
Sugar Bowl: Louisville-Mississippi victor vs. Texas A&M
Orange Bowl: Virginia-Oregon victor vs. Indiana
Rose Bowl: Texas Tech-BYU victor vs. Ohio State.

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