Social media is dragging Hugh Freeze with Auburn losing to Georgia

After Auburn’s Week 5 loss to Oklahoma, Hugh Freeze spent the week throwing his quarterback, Payton Thorne, who threw a game-deciding pick-six, under the bus. Now the 2-3 Tigers are struggling in Athens in the 129th edition of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry, down 28-13 and social media has decided that it’s Freeze, not Thorne, who is at fault for the team’s struggles. 

Freeze ripped into Thorne after the veteran quarterback in his second year at Auburn kept the ball on a zone read that was defended well by the Bulldogs. Thorne was tackled for a loss on fourth-and-1, prompting Freeze’s tirade, but his running back Jarquez Hunter would have been stopped short if Thorne had given him the ball instead. 

Greg McIlroy, former Alabama quarterback and ESPN color commentator theorized that Freeze may have given Thorne a check at the line of scrimmage to change the play call if he didn’t like the look from the Georgia defense, but Thorne ran the running ball anyway, prompting the tirade. That’s awfully kind to Freeze, and the internet has not given the second-year head coach the same grace. 

It wasn’t the first time in the game that Freeze came under fire from fans. Auburn had been very effective on offense early on but struggled in the red zone. Thorne is 13/20 for 155 yards with eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter while running back Jarquez Hunter has been the offense’s best player with 91 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries, yet Freeze has put the ball in the hands of the quarterback he’s continually criticized. 

Auburn doesn’t have much of a chance to mount a comeback and if Thorne cannot manage one, Freeze’s team will fall to 2-4.