The Auburn Tigers football program has been deemed a team with 10-win potential -- but only if Hugh Freeze's ace in the hole, Oklahoma Sooners transfer quarterback Jackson Arnold, holds up his end of the bargain.
Payton Thorne caught flak in the process, as tends to be the case while assessing why Freeze's tenure has been on the wrong side of .500 both years at the helm.
"After two fruitless years of Payton Thorne, Freeze has staked his and Auburn’s future on Arnold. The rest of the roster looks good enough to compete for 10 wins, even if Freeze won’t put a number on what he expects this year. Arnold struggled at Oklahoma, but he'll be tasked with hitting the ground running at Auburn," On SI's Keith Cummings wrote.
"Make no bones about it, winning ball games remains the principal objective, but Freeze is determined not to bite off more than he can chew."
Freeze has been riding off this excuse for two seasons. Thorne is no longer a scapegoat. If anything, his signing with the Cincinnati Bengals shows NFL teams are willing to write off his two years at AU. 2023 and 2024 were not pro football-caliber years for Thorne outside of a few spurts.
To be fair, Thorne was much improved in 2024 and doesn't get enough credit for the team's 43-41 win over Texas A&M last November. Thorne had 339 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns against the Aggies.
Freeze cannot possibly get away with blaming Arnold for his problems in 2025. If he even tries to, Tiger fans should let it be loud and clear that they won't accept this product; a la the #StopSteele movement in 2020.