Oklahoma reporters Eddie Radosevich and George Stoia of Sooner Scoop don't know what to expect from the 2024 Auburn football program under Hugh Freeze given the uncertainty at the quarterback position.
“It’s huge, Andy, and we don’t know what to make of Auburn,” Stoia said. “I think, because second year under Hugh Freeze and the quarterback situation there and I think they’re gonna be pretty good defensively, and all of that. So, that’s a huge one.”
Payton Thorne is the biggest question mark on Auburn's roster. If he shows flashes of the 2021 Michigan State version, the Tigers will be a viable low-seeded College Football Playoff berth. Anything resembling the 2023 version could result in his benching -- and behind him are three QBs with no combined starts.
Ultimately, Stoia was dismissive of AU, calling Ole Miss and Mizzou the potential make or break games of the Sooners' season. Texas, Alabama, and LSU were seen as potential losses; the Longhorns all but being counted as a loss on OU's schedule by the Sooner Scoop reporters.
Auburn football cannot be doormat if Hugh Freeze wants to stay off hot seat
Because the expectations have been raised due to his recruiting, Freeze runs the risk of having one of the hottest seats in the SEC come 2025 if Auburn doesn't take any tangible steps forward from a 6-7 season in year one.
While On3's rankings have Freeze at No. 11 on their 2024 SEC Head Coach Pressure Rankings, that's assuming a seven or eight win season. Either keeps any talk of his job being in peril at bay.
Auburn is soon getting off their Gus Malzahn and Bryan Harsin payouts, and they figure to want to save money on NIL expenditures rather than another buyout. But this is a restless fanbase demanding excellence and a disappointing Freeze run would probably be more hurtful on a personal level than Harsin not panning out.