11.16.23 Football Articles

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si.com

 

Hugh Freeze Says Blocking vs Arkansas Was Probably Best of the Season

Lance Dawe

2–3 minutes

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Auburn went wild on the ground against Arkansas last weekend.

Auburn went wild on the ground against Arkansas last weekend.

The Tigers (6-4, 3-5 SEC) ran for 354 yards and a pair of touchdowns and 6.4 yards per carry. The offense as a whole averaged 6.8 yards per play.

Through wins over Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and Arkansas, Auburn has averaged more than 6.5 yards per play in three straight games for the first time since 2017.

It's all been thanks to a rushing attack that is seemingly getting stronger. Either that, or it's a trio of bad opponents the Tigers have played in a row to get things back on track.

Regardless, the ground game has been continuing to impress for three straight weeks now, and the win over Arkansas is the current pinnacle. Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze said he was pleased with the blocking performance form the Tigers on Saturday. It may have been the best perimeter blocking of the season.

"We still have a ways to go, we left some yards out there because of that, but we have improved it, other than the Vandy game," Freeze said. "But the others we've done a decent job, that was probably our best, down the field, people being aggressive and finishing and playing without the ball, I thought that was our best to date, but we've still got to work on it."

Freshman center Connor Lew has stepped in for the injured Avery Jones and has looked solid. Dillon Wade had one of his best games this past weekend against the Hogs.

The unit could struggle against Alabama in a couple of weeks, but right now they're clicking. Having confidence in that has been a key for Hugh Freeze.

"It's really good to see our kids play with confidence," Freeze said in his Monday morning press conference. "I don't think you can be very good at anything if you don't have confidence in what you're doing. They seem to be a confident group that's excited for another opportunity."

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saturdaydownsouth.com

Hugh Freeze comments on the evolution of Auburn’s offense from Week 1

Ethan Stone | 17 hours ago

~3 minutes

Hugh Freeze was asked Wednesday afternoon at the SEC teleconference to discuss the improvement of Auburn’s offense from Week 1 to now.

The Tigers offense has dropped 27 or more points in each of their last 3 games as Payton Thorne starts to find his groove with the unit. But it goes deeper than that.

On Wednesday Freeze told reporters that he believes the identity of the offense has changed, or more accurately, Auburn finally found an identity.

Here’s his explanation:

“We’ve just really changed to having that identity, I don’t think we ever had a true identity,” Freeze said. “I think we were searching all the way through the Ole Miss game truthfully, until after that when — and I have nobody to blame but myself. Sometimes when I talk about this, people think I’m blaming the offensive staff or me not being totally in charge of it totally at that point, or whatever. Ultimately, it’s my responsibility, so I was on board with what everybody thought was our best chance to win those games. But ultimately it just became so uncomfortable for me that I just said this is what’s worked for me for all my years in college and I just can’t go any longer — and no one fought back on that. Everybody was kind of probably relieved. And so we have an identity now.”

The Tigers are back in action this week against New Mexico State, looking to build some more momentum before the Iron Bowl.

 

Ethan Stone was an editor for his student newspaper at the University of Tennessee and is now a News Manager for Saturday Down South. Follow on Twitter.

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lindyssports.com

Before Iron Bowl, Auburn not overlooking New Mexico State | Lindy's Sports

2–3 minutes

Field Level Media

November 15, 2023 at 4:06 pm.

Two bowl-eligible teams riding win streaks will meet when New Mexico State visits Auburn on Saturday afternoon.

The Aggies (8-3, 6-1 Conference USA) have won six straight and seven of eight behind dynamic dual-threat quarterback Diego Pavia and a scrappy defense.

Pavia has passed for 2,257 yards and 19 touchdowns with just six interceptions and has rushed for a team-high 703 yards and five scores through 11 games.

In last week’s 38-29 win over Western Kentucky, Pavia passed for two touchdowns and ran for 44 yards to pace a New Mexico State offense that rushed for 236 yards.

Safety Mehki Miller became the first Aggie to score a defensive touchdown this season when he picked off Austin Reed and raced 57 yards to pay dirt. The play sealed all hopes of a Hilltoppers comeback and helped New Mexico State clinch a berth in the C-USA title game in Jerry Kill’s second season as head coach.

“I’m just kind of in shock really, but it means the world to do it with these kids and in Las Cruces,” Kill said. “Having it happen so quickly, we’re still not where we need to be and here but we are playing for the conference championship.”

Auburn (6-4, 3-4 Southeastern Conference) became bowl-eligible after it turned in its most complete performance of the season in a 48-10 road win over Arkansas.

Payton Thorne threw three touchdown passes and ran for 88 yards and a score. Jarquez Hunter surpassed the 100-yard rushing mark for the third straight game (109), while Rivaldo Fairweather added two scoring receptions. Auburn’s defense recorded five sacks and forced two fumbles and Keionte Scott returned a punt 74 yards for a touchdown.

Although it was the Tigers’ third straight win, Hugh Freeze doesn’t want his team overlooking New Mexico State before its meeting with rival Alabama in the Iron Bowl on Nov. 25.

“We’ll talk about it today in our team meeting, and that’ll be my message,” Freeze said earlier this week. “We won’t talk about the other team that you mentioned (Alabama); we’ll talk about the one we have right in front of us that could sting us. And I’ve experienced that before.”

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auburnwire.usatoday.com

 

New Mexico State quarterback Diego Pavia listed as 'day-to-day' for Auburn game

Taylor Jones

~2 minutes

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The New Mexico State Aggies are having an impressive season to this point. They enter Saturday’s game at Auburn with an 8-3 record and will play in the Conference USA Championship game at Liberty next month.

The Aggies hope to use their momentum to upset Auburn on Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium but may have to endure a setback as their star quarterback may not be available to compete.

New Mexico State quarterback Diego Pavia has passed for 2,257 yards and 19 touchdowns this season and has rushed for an additional 703 yards and five scores. In a report by Colin Deaver of KTSM News in El Paso, Texas, Pavia has not been at “full speed” this week and is in “day-to-day” status according to Aggies head coach, Jerry Kill. Kill says that Pavia got banged up in last week’s game at Western Kentucky, but did not specify the details of his injury.

If Pavia can not play on Saturday, New Mexico State will likely go with Eli Stowers. Stowers has played in all 11 games to this point and has completed 4-of-8 passes for 99 yards and a touchdown.

Auburn faces New Mexico State on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. CT at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The game can be seen on SEC Network.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on  X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__

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al.com

 

How will Auburn keep players from flirting with the transfer portal? Hugh Freeze has a plan

Updated: Nov. 15, 2023, 1:28 p.m.|Published: Nov. 15, 2023, 1:27 p.m.

4–5 minutes

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Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze, center, and quarterback Robby Ashford (9) react after an interception by Mississippi during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill )AP

It today’s world of college football, there might not be anything more tempting than the transfer portal.

Considering how common and easy transferring to another program has become, the second a player feels unhappy or that he might have better opportunities elsewhere, it’s easy to jump ship.

And Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze sees that as players giving up on the “process of becoming.”

“My preference would be to develop kids,” Freeze said when asked if he preferred recruiting high school recruits to dipping into the transfer portal. “But the process of becoming is kinda being lost.”

Freeze misses the days of recruiting a player out of high school and spending one or two years to develop him before having him ready to see quality snaps. Unfortunately for guys like Freeze and other “old school” coaches, that just can’t happen anymore as patience has become razor thin.

“There’s too many voices in the heads of these young men,” Freeze said during the SEC Teleconference Wednesday afternoon. “And I think they get bad advice and we’ve made it really, really easy to quit something because it’s hard. And I think that’s a bad lesson for now and a bad lesson for life.”

Now, obviously Freeze didn’t seem to mind the transfer portal when he first accepted the job at Auburn and brought in more than 20 transfer players. But given the situation he inherited after the Tigers’ program was left bare by the previous coaching staff, Freeze was left no choice but to try and plug and play transfers.

Moving forward, one can expect Freeze to focus on high school and junior college prospects. That’s already become evident as Freeze and the rest of Auburn’s coaching staff continue to reap success on the recruiting trail.

Last week was a big week as the Tigers earned the commitments of the No. 1 JUCO safety Laquan Robinson, flipped 4-star edge rusher Jamonta Waller away from Florida and reeled in 2025 4-star tight end Ryan Ghea.

But often times, bringing in young, raw talent from the high school ranks means some guys might be sitting in their first season or two. And given what we know about the appeal of the transfer portal, the question of how Freeze intends to keep underutilized players from flirting with the transfer portal is a big one.

“I have a plan for that,” Freeze said Wednesday when asked how he tries to players from jumping ship.

Because Freeze feels it’s working, he didn’t want to offer too many specifics as to what exactly that plan looks like.

In short, he calls it the “SOAR Program.”

“We’ve got a group of men in this building, that’s one of their sole charges is developing the relationships with these young kids to try to convince them of truth and not believing some lies or hopes,” Freeze explained.

Freeze didn’t offer insight into who makes up the group of men.

And while Freeze feels confident in his approach to this point, he realizes it won’t work every time.

“I don’t know that any of us are ever going to be 100% in it and it certainly makes it very difficult to manage your recruiting and roster management,” Freeze said. “But it’s part of the game now and it’s not a part that many of us like, but you better pay attention to it for sure, because it’s here.”

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al.com

 

How Auburn QB Payton Thorne’s intangibles continue to be vital for the Tigers

Updated: Nov. 15, 2023, 8:43 a.m.|Published: Nov. 15, 2023, 8:41 a.m.

5–6 minutes

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Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze laughed and acted stumped when a reporter asked him about the Auburn offense’s recent “renaissance.”

“That’s a big word,” Freeze joked.

But it’s a fitting word meaning “a revival or renewed interest in something.”

Certainly, Auburn’s offense appears revived after sputtering along to start the season. And certainly, more and more people have been talking about what Freeze and the Tigers are doing on offense after their two recent showings against Vanderbilt and Arkansas.

“It is really good just to see our kids play with confidence. I don’t think you can be very good at anything if you don’t have some confidence in what you’re doing,” Freeze said Monday. “And you know, they seem to be a confident group right now that’s excited about another opportunity.”

However, confidence is fleeting – or at least it can be.

But it’s the mentality of having another opportunity that’s kept Auburn’s junior Michigan State transfer quarterback Payton Thorne’s confidence high and his head above the waves, even when they’re at their choppiest.

In each of Auburn’s last two games, Thorne has tossed early interceptions – one being a short Pick 6 against Vanderbilt.

And because Auburn junior defensive back Keionte Scott knows throwing those interceptions early in a game can be demoralizing and can lead to a snowball effect of negativity, he’s always quick to approach Thorne afterwards to be sure his attitude is in check.

“Yeah, always try to come up to him and he’s already on that,” Scott said. “So I don’t even have to mention it to him.”

When Freeze arrived to The Plains, he brought with him a “FAMILY” acronym.

Freeze was looking for faith, attitude, mental toughness, integrity, love and each individual player – or “you” – to establish the foundation of the rebuild he was taking over on The Plains.

And the ‘M’ part of that acronym has been tested this season – especially if your last name is Thorne.

But Thorne – especially recently – has proved to have mental toughness and has illustrated a “next-play mentality” when things go awry a bit during games.

“Quarterbacks, they better have that,” Freeze said. “He does have it, and he’s able to handle me, lets me rant a little bit without it destroying him.”

It goes without saying, but Thorne hasn’t been perfect this season.

Through 10 games, Thorne has passed for 1,432 yards, 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Surely, Thorne’s touchdown-to-interception ratio isn’t where he or Freeze wants it. So there have been plenty of coaching opportunities on the sidelines.

“I think it’s obviously glaring when he’s made a mistake at quarterback. But one of the reasons I think he handles it is because, the few mistakes he’s made, he knows better. I guess that’s why it upsets me sometimes,” Freeze said. “But man, he’s a no-excuse guy, play the next play. It shows.”

When Thorne threw that Pick 6 against Vanderbilt, it was ugly looking. It appeared as though he tossed it right into the arms of the Commodores’ defender, who had a short and clear path to the end zone.

“I just didn’t see him,” Thorne said after the fact. “Threw it out there thinking that Rivaldo (Fairweather) was wide open. Obviously he was not, so I gotta be better there.”

On the television broadcast, announcers commented that they thought the sun being in Thorne’s eyes might be to blame, making for an easy alibi.

But Thorne isn’t interested in alibis.

When asked about the sun being in his eyes, Thorne simply shook his head and assured that wasn’t the case.

“The sun is a lot worse at practice than at the game,” Thorne said.

Despite having thrown an interception in each of his last games, Thorne – and the rest of the Auburn offense – seem to be finding their stride at the most opportune time as a date with the team from Tuscaloosa looms large.

And needless to say, both against New Mexico State this week and Alabama next week, Thorne won’t be looking back on the interception he threw against Vanderbilt or the one he threw against Arkansas.

Thorne doesn’t do much looking in the rearview mirror. There isn’t time to do that.

“I mean, it is always a cliche thing to say he is focused on the next play because the last one, he can’t get back anyways,” said Auburn tight end Tyler Fromm. “You don’t want to see a guy (griping) on a mistake he made 20 plays ago when he can’t do anything about it. So it’s always good to see a quarterback, a leader like him move on and take the team with him.”

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[SaltyTiger 7,890]

War Eagle from another gray but beautiful morning on the Plains Fiddy. Good to see you up and working.

Need a report on NMSU. About decided I’m going to the game Saturday for my yearly visit inside JHS. Hopefully get out of there at halftime and home for most of 2nd half.

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Just now, SaltyTiger said:

War Eagle from another gray but beautiful morning on the Plains Fiddy. Good to see you up and working.

Need a report on NMSU. About decided I’m going to the game Saturday for my yearly visit inside JHS. Hopefully get out of there at halftime and home for most of 2nd half.

i have to go get a MRI today and a bllod test but allis well! NMSU says their starting qb is slowed and doubtful for the game.

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[SaltyTiger 7,890]

1 minute ago, aubiefifty said:

i have to go get a MRI today and a bllod test but allis well! NMSU says their starting qb is slowed and doubtful for the game.

Hope all goes well. Saw the info on the QB. Would hope it doesn’t make a big difference who they have at QB.

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[bigbird 60,580]

Thanks, @aubiefifty

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[WarTim 3,457]

Thanks Fifty