3 takeaways from the debut of Hugh Freeze at Auburn

Auburn football cruised to victory in the debut of head coach Hugh Freeze, hammering UMass by a lopsided score of 59-14.

The Hugh Freeze era at Auburn opened on Saturday, with the Tigers handling business against UMass. To sum up the feeling around a program that was in a dire position just a year ago: things are different.

To set the stage, Auburn football is exiting the darkest period in its history. First, it ousted Gus Malzahn, a perennially successful head coach, when a group of influential boosters attempted to install former defensive coordinator Kevin Steele as head coach.

Steele is instead now the defensive coordinator at Alabama, and the power struggle over head coach was won by Athletic Director Allen Greene, who hired Bryan Harsin.

The Harsin era was an absolute flop, lacking a single notable positive moment for this program. Harsin was ousted in the middle of the season a year ago, and Greene no longer holds his position either. New AD John Cohen was brought in, and his first priority was hiring a coach. After a search, he found his man in Hugh Freeze.

The beginning of the Freeze tenure occurred Saturday, with Auburn football hammering UMass 59-14. The story of this era of Auburn football is yet to be written, but things are looking up on the plains.

1. Tigers go with a two-quarterback system

Payton Thorne was named the starting quarterback and a captain of this team just before this season started, but that didn’t mean Robby Ashford would disappear. Both quarterbacks saw significant playing time on Saturday, and both had success against an outmatched UMass defensive unit.

Thorne was clearly the number-one man, going 10-for-17 for 141 yards and a touchdown through the air. He started drives and wore the “C” on his chest, but had one big hole on Saturday. Under Thorne, the offense stalled in the red zone.

Freeze elected to bring Ashford into the game in those situations, and he thrived. The better rusher of the two, Ashford had three touchdowns on the ground in the first half, helping put this game out of reach early. On the day, he had a total of nine carries for 51 yards and went 2-for-6 through the air for just three yards.

The old adage that “having two quarterbacks means you have none,” didn’t apply Saturday, as each player had their way with the defense regarding the strength of their game. There is a concern, however, that better defenses will adapt to whichever quarterback they see on the field.

They’ll get a tougher test on the road at Cal next week, but it’s not until week four against Texas A&M that this offense will face SEC competition.

2. It’s tough to truly evaluate the Auburn defense

The Auburn football defense looked stout on Saturday, but the quality of opponent and injuries rendered the result a bit questionable. On UMass’ first offensive drive of the game, the Minutemen drove 89 yards down the field in eight plays, ending the drive with a touchdown.

On the next offensive drive, UMass quarterback Taisun Phommachanh was clearly favoring his leg. For the rest of his time in this game, he was moving slower and wasn’t nearly as effective.

As a good defense should, Auburn football pounced, forcing turnovers and suffocating everything the Minutemen offense attempted to do. The next four drives lasted five plays or fewer, and UMass didn’t score that second touchdown until 8:50 left in the fourth quarter, at which point Auburn held a 52-14 lead.

At the end of the day, the Auburn defense did what it needed to do. They held UMass to just 1-of-9 on third down and just 301 yards of total offense. All you can ask of a team is to handle the opponent that is in front of them.

Until Texas A&M, it will be tough to get a read on what this defense is capable of. Even then, Aggie coach Jimbo Fisher has run much-maligned offenses during his time at College Station. The Tigers may have to their September 30th matchup at Georgia without having faced a truly effective offense. That will be a tall task.

3. The atmosphere at Jordan-Hare is electric again

It’s no secret that the Bryan Harsin era sapped much of the life out of the Auburn football program. The atmosphere on the plains was consistently bereft of energy and passion under the former Boise State head coach.

After his departure, the interim tenure of Auburn legend Cadillac Williams showed that the Tiger faithful still loved this program, they just needed a leader they could place their faith in.

Enter Hugh Freeze.

Freeze’s record is clearly exciting for Auburn. Off-field issues aside, his habit of bothering Alabama during his time at Ole Miss is exactly what Tiger fans want. When this program is rocking, it is competing with Alabama and making the Iron Bowl a classic, heavyweight fight. Freeze knows exactly how to compete with Nick Saban.

This is an exciting time on the plains. This fan base knows that things are trending upward. Freeze has won recent recruiting battles over Georgia and Alabama, and it’s only a matter of time until that translates onto the field.

While on the subject of the atmosphere at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday, this is also a good place to wish a solemn Rest in Peace to Jimmy Buffett, who attended Auburn for a brief time during the ’60s.

It was a great day at Jordan-Hare on Saturday, and it’s a time of possibility and potential on the plains.