Honoring an ongoing theme throughout Auburn football's 5-7 2024 regular season, Hugh Freeze threw Jarquez Hunter under the bus following the Tigers' 28-14 loss in the Iron Bowl to Kalen DeBoer's Crimson Tide.
Freeze, who had previously claimed Hunter was "gassed" against Vanderbilt in a 17-7 loss and didn't get touches in the second half because of it, was snide about a botched play call during Saturday's action in Tuscaloosa.
"Freeze says Jarquez Hunter should have thrown the ball back to Payton Thorne on the double-pass, with Alabama having a safety deep. Freeze said they 'obviously' didn't coach Hunter well enough. OK," On3's Justin Hokanson tweeted from the November 30 postgame presser.
It's now been five straight Iron Bowl victories for Alabama. The last time the Tigers were on top was when Bo Nix was under center in a 48-45 instant classic back in 2019. Before the COVID-19 pandemic and NIL.
Freeze spent the offseason talking up his record against Nick Saban but when push came to shove, he couldn't even beat DeBoer. And doing so isn't that hard. Oklahoma and Vanderbilt both did it in 2024.
Then again, Auburn couldn't beat those teams either.
2024 will go down as one of the more disappointing teams of the 21st century on the Plains. There were legitimate hopes for an 8-4 team, but somehow, AU took a step back record-wise from what was a disappointing 2023 campaign.
2025 figures to be when things get better, but before that can happen, expect transfers in droves, inbound and outbound, as well as several staffing changes.
Expect the running game to take a step back too if Freeze can't find a suitable replacement for Hunter. Too bad he never appreciated No. 27 when he was in orange and blue during the Oxford, Mississippi native's coaching tenure.