The Auburn Tigers are 4-4 and no longer winless in SEC play following a 33-24 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday. Hugh Freeze embraced Ashton Daniels, benching Jackson Arnold, possibly for good, in the triumph from Fayetteville.
It was a good win. But it doesn't have Auburn Tigers On SI's Scott Kennedy believing that an eight-win season is a formality for Freeze's team. Not with the Alabama Crimson Tide and Vanderbilt Commodores remaining on the schedule.
Kennedy still believes the Freeze-killer, Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia, and the Crimson Tide are a tough task to reach the program's preseason expectation of what a successful season would look like in Freeze's third season.
"Arkansas lost close games to both Tennessee and Texas A&M and looked like a dangerous opponent. The win is Auburn’s first of the season in the SEC and evens the Tigers’ record at 4-4. With four games left, an eight-win season isn’t out of the question for the Tigers, but they’ll need to vanquish either Freeze tormentor Diego Pavia and Vanderbilt or Alabama, as well as winning a bowl game," Kennedy wrote.
Hugh Freeze should have to deliver an Iron Bowl win or beat Diego Pavia to keep his job
If there's anything Freeze owes Tiger fans, it's either a rivalry win at home or a victory against Pavia by the end of his third year. It's clear the record will only marginally improve, and asking Auburn to run the table is probably an unfair ask. Unless Daniels is the needed savior the Tigers' QB room has needed since Bo Nix left in 2021.
But winning an Iron Bowl at Jordan-Hare Stadium or marching into Nashville and humbling the Pavia hype train a bit would be everything to the Auburn family.
In fact, it may be enough to convince fans that Freeze needs just one more year to get this right. Throwing Tiger fans a bone could do wonders for the Oxford, Mississippi, native's goodwill on the Plains.
We'll see how the next month plays out.