AUBURN — Hugh Freeze talked about being more consistent in execution during the bye week from both his players and coaches to start off the second half of the season and get things turned around.
“The emphasis was on us,” Freeze said. “And just, here are the things we've got to get better on these short distances and critical downs on both sides and red zone. And you know, really, what is our bread and butter and let's try to make it look maybe different ways. But ... we probably don't need more. Let's do less and keep doing it better. So, had two really good days, truthfully, for an open week. I think having fall break really helped it, you know, because I think everybody needed a little break - coaches, players and obviously, we did some recruiting also, but it was a good open week."
Freeze mentioned that his players have responded well to the disappointment thus far. He said they attacked the bye week practices with an emphasis on executing in all three phases of the game. One thing Freeze mentioned specifically was execution on short-down situations offensively. Saying that the bye week provided them time to prepare for what’s coming, it would be infuriating if those mishaps continue.
“We have most of the game plan in because we obviously started last week, and so now it's, ‘Are we really, really sure, from everybody in this room that you feel really, really good about your kids executing this against all these different looks that we may or may not see on this given play, particularly on these critical down calls,’” Freeze said. “And so just having the time to really ‘Alright, let's go back and watch it again. Let's go back and watch it again for the third time this morning, on three different deals.’ And so it will be really, and I don't know, you know, again, you got to block and tackle and you got to, you got to catch the football and you got to make the right read a quarterback. But, if we have a critical down, it will be very, very, very, very disheartening and infuriating. If another situation happens on a fourth and one, or a third and one, where our kids don't have a clear understanding of what should happen, that would be quite infuriating.”
Freeze said that self-scouting was “about as good as it's ever been” during the bye and emphasized that Payton Thorne has played well recently.
“I think as of late, he's (Thorne) played really consistent, and we're going to need that for the next few weeks for sure to be able to compete with these teams we’re going to play," Freeze said.
Heading into the matchup against Missouri, Freeze praised head coach Eliah Drinkwitz, saying he’s one of the best in the business at what he does in this new world of college football. Drinkwitz has won seven straight home games and had his team in the AP top 10 for the majority of the season thus far. Quarterback Brady Cook and wide receivers Luther Burden and Theo Wease present a scary dynamic duo for a young Auburn secondary.
“They've got veteran guys that have proven to be some of the best in this league, where they're going against, you know, the top tier corners and safeties or not,” Freeze said. “We're due to some injuries, and then just to our youth, obviously, it's going to be a great test for us. And you know, we’ve got to find a way to get them some help and eliminate the explosive plays, which is very difficult to do against them. But again, it's part of the growing process of where we are currently. And I'm sure our kids will be excited for the challenge.”
Auburn will travel to No. 19 Missouri on Saturday for an 11 a.m. kickoff on ESPN.
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