Auburn Tigers football coach Hugh Freeze cannot move the needle significantly forward against the Baylor Bears with a win tonight. But he can move the needle significantly in the wrong direction with a loss in Waco.
That's the implication Saturday Down South's Connor O'Gara gave while downplaying a potential Tigers win on the road.
"No, it won’t necessarily be a game that defines Freeze’s tenure, but it can sure as heck set the tone in a pivotal Year 3," O'Gara wrote.
"Ask yourself this — would Freeze winning at Baylor be his best win to date? Some would put a 4-overtime victory against Texas A&M in there, but like everyone else that the Tigers beat in the last 3 seasons, they finished unranked. We’ve got a long way to go to know where Baylor will finish in an up-for-grabs Big 12."
O'Gara may be right in a broader context.
The truth is, Freeze doesn't lack big early-season road wins in his Tigers tenure. Auburn knocked off the Cal Golden Bears in 2023 in Week 2. What he does lack is having a team in the hunt for anything significant by mid-October.
So sure, Freeze and Co. can beat Baylor on Friday night and get the season off on the right foot. But that's just part one of a quartet of tests Freeze has to mostly pass to keep his job.
"Finebaum believes that if Freeze does not perform well in the upcoming four games against the Baylor Bears, Oklahoma Sooners, Texas A&M Aggies and Georgia Bulldogs, three of which are on the road, he could be fired as the head coach," relayed Athlon Sports' Jaron Spor.
A winning culture has to start somewhere. But after it starts, it has to go somewhere.
Let's start by beating the Bears. Then storming Norman and upsetting Jackson Arnold's former team, the Oklahoma Sooners. From there, a win against the Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field and/or against a vulnerable Georgia Bulldogs with Gunner Stockton can be the official announcement that Auburn is back. For real.