Freeze Unhappy with Auburn's Offensive Efforts

AUBURN, Ala.- Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze spoke about his team's continuation of effort during plays, in other words, straining. He is unhappy with the way his team has not been finishing plays, a few seconds into plays.

“Offensively, I did not think we strained very well, up front, particularly," Freeze said. "I know we averaged nine yards a rush. The run blocking was solid. But I did not think we strained the entire game, particularly (with) another slow start in both halves.”

The Auburn offense had to punt in its first possession of the game, only gaining two first downs on 12 yards of offense. On their second possession, it only took Jeremiah Cobb one touch to rush for a 46-yard touchdown. 

Hugh Freeze also mentioned how his team got used to hearing whistles early in training camp, and how that could’ve affected his team’s strain. 

“I think this hurt us defensively, too,” Freeze said. I don’t want to go off on a tangent, but all throughout fall camp that whistle is blown pretty quick when you’re not in live situations, which is, what, 85 percent of camp? I think our DBs get used to that whistle being blown pretty quick, and they think, ‘Well, the blitz got there.’ They just get used to that timing. 

All of a sudden, you get into a game, and that’s not happening. You have to strain for the entire play. I think it’s the same way with the O-line sustaining blocks. We’re blowing a whistle pretty dang quick when somebody gets close to that quarterback, and they’re not straining for the four seconds it may take. I think that’s a long time to hold up, but sometimes you have to.”

“I think this hurt us defensively, too,” Freeze said. I don’t want to go off on a tangent, but all throughout fall camp that whistle is blown pretty quick when you’re not in live situations, which is, what, 85 percent of camp? I think our DBs get used to that whistle being blown pretty quick, and they think, ‘Well, the blitz got there.’ They just get used to that timing. 

All of a sudden, you get into a game, and that’s not happening. You have to strain for the entire play. I think it’s the same way with the O-line sustaining blocks. We’re blowing a whistle pretty dang quick when somebody gets close to that quarterback, and they’re not straining for the four seconds it may take. I think that’s a long time to hold up, but sometimes you have to.”

The Auburn offensive line gave up five sacks against Ball State, far too many if you want to win close ball games. Some of the sacks were due to quarterback Jackson Arnold holding the ball slightly too long, allowing the defense to get to him. 

“I think we can all strain a little more to win at the top end of routes as receivers, quarterback, to make sure we’re at the right launch point and we’re progressing through our reads properly, and O-line straining to win for a little longer length of time, and tight ends the same. It’s not just them, not just the O-line. There’s five of them on every play that get graded, and we’re probably grading them pretty hard right now, but I’d like to see us get off to faster starts in both halves.”

Slow starts for offenses are manageable when your defense is playing at a really high level. However, Hugh Freeze knows that slow starts could hurt your team in the long run. 

Auburn is set to host a stout South Alabama team this weekend at 11:45 a.m. in Jordan-Hare Stadium. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

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