Auburn Tigers football coach Hugh Freeze sunk all his money into Jackson Arnold being the savior of his offense, but the run-first dual-threat quarterback hasn't gotten much out of an all-world receiving corps amidst a 3-2 start to the 2025 season.
That futility through the air, which has stunted the run game, could soon prove fatal for Freeze. Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde noted Freeze's failures in finding a quarterback who can lead the offense, the second time in as many tries finding his man under center, and warns that the season can be "buried" if Auburn can't handle the Georgia Bulldogs or Missouri Tigers at home.
"In an objective vacuum, there is no shame in road losses by a combined 13 points to a pair of undefeated SEC opponents that have also scored major nonconference victories. But how they’ve happened underscores the inconvenient truth: Onetime offensive maestro Freeze can’t get his team in the end zone against quality defenses. Auburn was 14th in the SEC in scoring offense last season in league games, and is 14th thus far this year as well," Forde wrote.
"Auburn was a futile 0 for 13 on third downs against A&M, and 0 for 2 on fourth downs. Quarterback Jackson Arnold has taken 82 yards in losses in two SEC games, which is partly on the Tigers’ offensive line but also partly on him. Freeze hitching the Auburn wagon to the Oklahoma transfer was a chance proposition to begin with, and it isn’t working out well so far.
"After an open date, Auburn hosts Georgia and Missouri. Those are opportunities to turn around the season—or to bury it."
Freeze misfiring at the QB position, as an offensive-minded coach whose play-calling has become a punchline -- whether it be because of third-and-short passing plays or because of how many people he claims are calling the plays -- is the worst possible development for Tiger fans.
If the team can't at least start showing basic competency moving the chains, finishing with at least 300 yards per game against SEC opponents, there's no world where keeping Freeze would satisfy the fanbase. Some were chomping at the bit to see the message board rumors of Freeze stepping down on Tuesday night be true. He may have already burned that bridge, especially with UGA, and the inevitable acceptance of losing, looming.
Arnold either starts to look like a world beater through the air, getting star Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets transfer Eric Singleton Jr. and the Tigers' top-rated receiver ever, Cam Coleman, more involved, or the offense is turned over to someone new that DJ Durkin picks as the interim head football coach.
Did anyone want to have these conversations in late September or early October? No, but a week after Bruce Pearl's retirement, there's urgency to right this ship and keep Auburn University from falling into dark days from a competitive standpoint across the athletic department.