No more Diego Pavia vs Hugh Freeze. How Vanderbilt is preparing to face Auburn with interim coach

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For most of the season, it looked as though Diego Pavia had a great shot at improving his record to 4-0 against Hugh Freeze.

Pavia's New Mexico State teams beat Freeze when he was the coach at Liberty in 2022 and Auburn in 2023. Then, with Vanderbilt football, Pavia beat Auburn again in 2024.

But it was not to be. Freeze was fired on Nov. 2 and defensive coordinator DJ Durkin was named Auburn interim coach, meaning Pavia won't get the chance to face Freeze again when Vanderbilt (7-2, 3-2 SEC) faces the Tigers (4-5, 1-5) on Nov. 8 (3 p.m. CT, SEC Network) at FirstBank Stadium.

For his part, Vanderbilt football coach Clark Lea doesn't see much of a difference in his game preparation.

"DJ Durkin's been a head coach, he's sat in that seat before," Lea said. "I'm sure defensively, that's been a strength of their team, and they'll be excited to play for a coach in his new role. … I think the team probably plays unburdened from just the cloud that's been hanging over, and maybe they play a little freer."

Durkin was the Maryland coach from 2016-18.

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Auburn has certainly performed well defensively this season, ranking fourth in the SEC in both scoring and total defense. Vanderbilt struggled against the three elite defenses it has faced this season: Alabama, Missouri and Texas. The Commodores did win the Missouri game, and Auburn may provide a similar opportunity given its offensive struggles.

The Tigers switched quarterbacks from Jackson Arnold to Ashton Daniels a week ago, but Daniels struggled too in Auburn's 10-3 loss to Kentucky. This season, Arnold is 133-for-210 for 1,278 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions. Daniels is 19-for-36 for 185 yards and one interception.

In the run game, Arnold has 258 yards on 109 attempts while Daniels has 83 yards on 22 attempts.

"I would say one is more of a runner, and one is more of a thrower," Vanderbilt safety Marlen Sewell said. "That's the main difference."

The stakes are also different from the last time Pavia beat Freeze. In 2024, the Commodores' 17-7 win in Auburn got them bowl eligible. This season, Vanderbilt needs to win the game to stay in College Football Playoff contention after a loss to Texas.

This will be the second time in Lea's tenure, and first time in an SEC game, that the Commodores have faced an interim coach. The first was a win over UConn in 2021, Lea's first season. Two teams that Vanderbilt defeated this season, Virginia Tech and LSU, fired their coaches later in the season.

"We're really trying to focus on what we do as a team, and we know that Auburn's a good team," Vanderbilt tight end Eli Stowers said. "No matter who the coach is, they've got players. So we're going to have to attack every single day, and we're going to have to put our best foot forward."

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt ready to face Auburn with no Diego Pavia-Hugh Freeze matchup

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