Week one is in the rearview mirror for the Auburn football program, which pulled off a sound victory against the UMass Minutemen in the season opener on the Plains. After all the anticipation, Tiger fans finally got to see their first Hugh Freeze-coached team in action.
However, the week two matchup is going to look a little different. For the first time, the Tigers will travel across the country, covering nearly 2,500 miles, to take on the California Golden Bears in Berkeley, CA. Not only will the trip be a long one, but the kickoff time is tied for the latest scheduled in Auburn football history at 9:30 p.m. central time.
According to Ainslie Lee of AL.com, this trip will be the longest Hugh Freeze has ever traveled as a coach, longer than when the Liberty Flames crossed the country from Virginia to Utah to take on BYU in 2019. The long trip is not an exciting prospect for Freeze, who stated he’d much rather play a team on the East Coast.
The Tigers’ head coach did say that the experience will be a good test for the team as a whole:
"“I think it creates some challenges, but this will be a good test for all of us. Coaches, trainers, staff, nutritionists, drink staff, support staff, players. How do we handle it if things are a little uncomfortable?,” Freeze said. “You’ve gotta play a really good football team at their place when our body times are 9:30 or 10 at night and we’re kicking it off. All of that is going to be a challenge, but you know what, that’s what life is.”"
Freeze went on to note that the most difficult part would probably be Saturday, sitting around until 9:30 Auburn time waiting to play, but that the Tigers will attempt to approach this challenge with gratitude as another chance to represent Auburn football to the world.