The final bell has rung, folks! And as college football programs hit the gridiron for practice, it’s now an open book to learn about their strengths and weaknesses. For instance, after Steve Sarkisian’s Texas practice on August 9, came a concerning report. Arch Manning and his unit stumbled, while the defense came off with flying colors. Looks like Hugh Freeze’s Auburn Tigers are taking the same road, with a struggling offense and an overperforming defense.

The Auburn head coach made a risky move by taking in the Oklahoma transfer quarterback Jackson Arnold. The same quarterback who had put up some lacklustre feats. For instance, the one against Tennessee where he struggled in the first half, going 7-of-16 with 54 passing yards and an interception. But even then, Elko had high expectations for Arnold to delete the problematic Payton Thorne era. But here we are.

The media had less than an hour to watch the individual periods of practice as Auburn geared up for its season opener at Baylor on Friday, August 29. Auburn insider for On3 Sports, Justin Hokanson, tweeted on August 15, “Auburn scrimmaged again today. Here are notes from sources in attendance. Let’s just say the defense thoroughly dominated. The D-line was really good. The O-line? Not so much.” Maybe the analyst thought that Freeze’s defense needs some more praise. He retweeted again and wrote, “Offense made some plays, but the defense won this day. No doubt. Also, continue to hear great things about Amaris Williams. I’m intrigued to watch him continue to develop.” 

Freeze’s defensive line has posed challenges for the run game. During last week’s 11-on-11 practice period, the offense was forced into a lot of third-and-long situations while they had a hard time gaining rushing yards on their first two downs. Already, there are lofty expectations about the defense, which is led by returning stars Keldric Faulk, Demarcus Riddick, and Jay Crawford. Freeze has hailed one of the deepest units of the team in its defense. They have a mix of athletes and experience.

However, it’s a 5-star EDGE who won Hokanson’s heart. That’s none other than Amaris Williams. He only played 119 snaps on defense, with nearly half of them coming in paycheck wins over Alabama A&M and Louisiana-Monroe. But this time, Freeze’s rising star will make sure that he has all the spotlights on him.

Meanwhile, not many good things are heard about the offense. Last season, the Auburn offense ranked No.71, averaging 263.9 passing yards and 165.5 rushing yards per game. At the start of camp, it was evident that there was still progress to be made on the timing. Their quarterback was hesitant in the pocket at times. On the other hand, his passing game felt out of place. 

Those present at Freeze and Co.’s scrimmage on Friday took careful notes on how Arnold showed hesitancy in some drop-back situations. Does that mean Freeze’s dream to get rid of their long history of quarterback struggles by counting on Arnold will not come true? 

Hugh Freeze’s patience ran thin with Jackson Arnold

Already, Freeze is losing his cool. A clip has been doing the rounds on social media from the Tigers’ August 14 practice. And in that video, the head coach is spotted having a heated moment with Arnold during a drill. “God almighty, man…it ain’t that dang hard,” the head coach can be heard telling his quarterback, after slamming his visor to the ground. 

When Freeze faced the media, he was asked about what made him struggle with patience during the practice. We must admit that there are too many things on Freeze’s plate. The most bitter food to swallow is the Tigers going 11-14 over the past 2 years with back-to-back sub.-500 campaigns. “When we have the right thing called the expectation, and I think it’s a reasonable one, is we execute it,” said Freeze during the interview. “Now, if we haven’t coached it well enough when we get in there, maybe that’s the case, I’ll ask the quarterback staff, ‘What did we tell him?’ because we’ve got him wide open and we don’t throw the touchdown, and that’s frustrating as heck.”

After all, Arnold is expected to fly high under Freeze, after he had been trapped under the shackles of a defensive-minded coach, Brent Venables. While working with the Auburn head coach will give Arnold a lot more freedom, Freeze, too, is carrying a burden of a dark past.

Anyhow, things are a bit sensitive for Jackson Arnold, who is yet to get over the trauma of getting sacked 34 times last season. But on boarding Hugh Freeze’s wagon, here comes a concerning issue. On the TexAgs podcast, Brooks Austin pointed out, “When Jackson Arnold throws an interception to cost them a football game in the fourth quarter, which he will, by the way, cause Hugh Freeze’s offense have lost the turnover battle 12 of his 13 years coaching. Hugh Freeze’s offenses have turned the ball over 25 plus times, eight of 13 seasons coaching football. They’re going to turn it over. He’s going to be negative towards Jackson… So, that’s always been my concern about Hugh Freeze.” Now, if Arnold falters this season, will it be his or Freeze’s fault?