Hugh Freeze out of answers in hopeless Auburn football loss to Kentucky
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AUBURN — The SEC’s latest nightcap was a battle of the hot seat, pitting a pair of coaches with jobs in question against each other. On one sideline, Hugh Freeze led Auburn football into battle. The other sideline hosted Kentucky, where Mark Stoops found himself on equal footing.
Freeze had the presumed advantage. Auburn was a double-digit favorite. It had lost to its opponent just once in their last 20 meetings, and a forever famous home-field advantage was on its side.
It meant nothing.
Auburn lost, 10-3, and the result arrived in familiar fashion. That’s now four one-score losses this season, but the last three came against ranked opponents. Somehow, Freeze’s offense showed more life in each. It left the head coach with only words. His responses provided no answers, and the contest showed the same.
Quarterback Ashton Daniels got the starting nod over Jackson Arnold. The former was a bright spot a week prior, with a second-half performance that allowed Auburn to beat Arkansas in comeback fashion. Against Kentucky, he couldn’t provide the spark for Auburn’s offense Freeze has long discussed.
Daniels was 8-for-16 passing with 72 yards through one half and a drive. Enough was enough. Freeze brought Arnold back. It amounted to a pair of measly possessions, good for 26 yards on six plays. Then Freeze went back to Daniels. The last hoorah was good for 15 plays and 46 yards. It ended in a game-sealing heave of an interception.
That was all Auburn’s longest drive could offer. There wasn’t a touchdown to be found.
“I really don’t know,” Daniels said of Auburn’s inability to find the end zone. “Those critical situations in the SEC, you have to be able to go out there and convert those to be able to score points … . Critical situations is probably the biggest area for us to improve on.”
It’s Year 3. Freeze is 34 games in. Auburn’s still failing to execute in those critical situations. Kentucky presented a prime opportunity to progress, let alone quell chatter of a possible firing for another week.
Instead, Auburn finds itself in an uphill battle for bowl contention. It’d need to beat FCS Mercer and a ranked Alabama or Vanderbilt to get there. Jordan-Hare Stadium remains seemingly powerless under Freeze’s watch, as Auburn fell to 2-10 at home against Power 4 opponents in his tenure.
The fans remained despite the hopelessness. In sticking around, they shared a clear message as Freeze left the field. He was soaked with raining boos and chants calling for his job. The only remedy he could truly offer postgame was his understanding.
“I wish I could ask for patience but that’s not really something that people want to give in this day and time, and I understand that,” he said. “I just know we’re so dang close and if we had a few things go our way earlier in the year, I think we’re looking at a whole different deal. … I would love for their patience, but you’re probably not getting patience from them, because they want to see a better product on the field and so do I. I understand it.”
Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at acole@gannett.com or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter.To support Adam’s work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Hugh Freeze has no answers after Auburn football loses to Kentucky
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