Auburn Tigers football coach Hugh Freeze has two awkward weeks ahead of him. After a second straight failed final drive resulted in another one-score loss in as many weeks in a 16-10 loss to the Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday, Freeze faces the bye with uncertainty and a 3-2 record that has steadily seen the team get worse in all five games.
That Week 1 high from August, a 38-24 win over the Baylor Bears in Waco, seems like forever ago. Looking back, though, the 108 passing yards from Jackson Arnold were a red flag that was ignored. The fanbase forgave because of the emphatic opening night win.
That forgiveness is nearly gone. But not totally gone. There's still room for the fanbase to be okay with losses to the Georgia Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide. But any losses to the Missouri Tigers, Arkansas Razorbacks, Kentucky Wildcats, and Vanderbilt Commodores won't be tolerated.
Not by the fanbase. And probably not by the administration, since the SEC's first firing domino has fallen with Arkansas's dismissal of Sam Pittman. Amid a brutal stretch over the next month, the Florida Gators may do the same with Billy Napier.
Auburn doesn't have a "brutal" stretch, by most Tiger fans' admission. It's not an easy one, though. The Mizzou Tigers, Hogs, and Commodores put up points. They are three of the top seven scoring offenses in the SEC. Vanderbilt and Missouri are No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.
Spend too much time expecting 8-4, and it'll be the last thing that'll happen. As far as AU's offense is concerned, 4-8 might be more likely. DJ Durkin cannot be expected to have a defense so good that it'll carry Freeze and Co.'s unit against yet another historically good SEC.
The good news is that the Tigers have more talent than most of their opponents. The bad news is that Mizzou's Eli Drinkwitz and Vandy's Clark Lea have been doing more than Freeze with less. The jury is out on Bobby Petrino's return to the helm at Arkansas, but his first go-round with the Hogs saw more success than not.
AU's remaining schedule isn't UGA, Alabama, and a bunch of cupcakes. There are legitimate chances to go 6-6, or worse, and that will be the end of the line for Freeze considering how much public opinion has turned against him.