It’s make or break time for Auburn football head coach Hugh Freeze.
Now in his third season as the Tigers head coach, Freeze has once again led his team to a stagnant start in SEC play. Freeze’s Auburn teams have now begun each of his three seasons 0-2 to begin the conference campaign and run the risk of falling to 0-3 for the third consecutive year with a loss this week.
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In total, Auburn’s head coach 5-13 in SEC play since taking over. Those wins have come against a pre-Diego Pavia Vanderbilt program, a Mississippi State team that won a single conference contest in 2023, a 2024 Kentucky team that cycled through quarterbacks faster than Skybar cycles through bouncers, Arkansas, and Texas A&M.
Not once in three seasons has a Freeze-led squad beaten rivals Alabama, Georgia, LSU or revived conference contenders like Ole Miss or Missouri. Up until now that could be blamed on a lack of talent setting his teams up to fail. That is no longer the case.
2025 was supposed to showcase the fruits of Hugh Freeze’s labor on the recruiting trail. Now three years in, the talent brought in by Freeze and his staff is riddled across the Tigers roster. The blueprint has been built, the vision has been achieved, the NIL deals have been signed, and the speeches are nearly as fiery as the new pyrotechnics at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Everything is working. Well, almost everything.
Eventually wins have to come. So far, they have not. Auburn’s fan base is not asking for, or expecting, a National Championship, or even an SEC Championship. Improvement is needed however.
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A home loss to Georgia this weekend would drop Auburn to 3-3 on the season and virtually end any hopes the Tigers have at a magical run towards a College Football Playoff Spot in December. It would also put the Tigers in danger of missing yet another bowl game.
It’s almost unfathomable to think an early October home game can be labeled as a must-win contest, but Saturday’s primetime matchup on the Plains is as close to it as we’ve seen in recent memory for this Auburn football program. This team has already spiraled into mediocrity. Another lost season could lead to much worse.
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This article originally appeared on Auburn Wire: Brian’s Column: Saturday is a must win for the Auburn football program
