It’s a wait of four days for the Baylor Bears’ season opener against Hugh Freeze’s Auburn Tigers. And where do the two teams stand? Baylor finished last season with an 8-5 record, winning six straight before falling to LSU in the Texas Bowl. Auburn wrapped up the 2024 season with a 5-7 overall record. Right now, Freeze is in the hot seat as he has yet to finish a season above .500. On the other hand, the Bears will enter this season with their own playoff aspirations and will be hungry for an opening-day win. After all, what better way to boost one’s morale than winning against an SEC opponent? This makes Freeze superconscious. What did he say?

Already, Freeze is now facing a mild challenge of playing on Friday instead of the traditional Saturday. Well, this seems to be manageable. However, the head coach now raises a wake-up call for his boys about five Baylor boys to keep a safe distance from. Who are they?

On August 25, Freeze faced the media. Turns out that the head coach had put his glasses on, kept every distraction at bay, and spent a lot of time scouting Baylor in film and by the stat sheet. And now he has a report card in front of him, having the names of the Baylor players who passed with distinction. “Just watching games from that kicked off in the early week it it’s just a reminder, a stark reminder that mistakes cost you in these games, and hopefully we can play as mistake-free as that gives us the best chance to win against a very talented team… Really impressed with [number] 0 [Jackie Marshall], and 3 [Devyn Bobby], I think those two guys are really good players.”

Jackie Marshall is the top graded Baylor defensive player by PFF, owning a 78.4 defensive grade, an 88.4 rush defense grade, and a 63.9 pass rush grade. Last season, he logged 619 total defensive snaps, fifth-most on the team and second among defensive linemen. But what makes Freeze scared of Devyn Bobby? The junior started 13 games at safety, ranking third on the team in tackles (80). He played 792 total snaps, which is the third most on the defense and the most among any of Dave Aranda’s secondary players. Who’s next on Freeze’s watch list?

“They’ve got a highly rated transfer [Matthew Fobbs-White], I think he’s wearing 50, from Tulane, a pass rusher who’s a really good player. Number 27 [Tevin Williams III] is a solid guy; 11 [Keaton Thomas] is returning, a linebacker, and he looks like a real SEC-type player,” said Freeze. The Tulane transfer Matthew Fobbs-White played only two seasons as an outside linebacker. In 2024, he totalled 24 tackles in 18 games. He is the third best on the Baylor roster and scares Freeze coming off with a 78.8 defensive grade against 15 quarterback pressures. 

On the other hand, Tevin Williams III started against BYU, Iowa State, and LSU in the Texas Bowl. He had 15 tackles, one for a loss, and one forced fumble. The cornerback holds the second-best PFF pass coverage (78) grade on the team. Freeze got his eyes fixed on Keaton Thomas, too. The returning linebacker finished with 114 tackles, seven for a loss, with 2.5 sacks, three QB hurries, and an interception returned 35 yards for a touchdown. If you think that Freeze’s watch list is over, here are a few more. 

Hugh Freeze’s tight rope situation for the Baylor players

Sawyer Robertson finished last season with over 3,000 passing yards and 28 touchdowns. So, he enters the 2025 season as an unquestioned starter. Now that’s enough to leave Freeze’s squad in a pool of cold sweat. Last season, he lost the quarterback battle in fall camp to Dequan Finn, a highly rated transfer from Toledo. So, it’s natural that he will make up for the missed time. And Freeze is already on high alert.

As he shared, “Dave, I think he’s in year six or seven now. His quarterback played off-the-charts good the last part of the year.” Freeze continued, “And they have special talent in the return guy, 34 [Josh Cameron]. He’s electric and also a very talented receiver.” Josh Cameron caught the buzz by emerging as one of the nation’s best receivers and the nation’s best punt returner. As a redshirt junior, he started 13 games in 2024, totaling team highs in catches (52), yards (754), and touchdowns (10). As Auburn walks on a tight rope as the Baylor clash draws near, Freeze has too many things on his plate.

First things first, he got to figure out a winning scheme with his new quarterback, Jackson Arnold, who had long felt stunted under a defensive-minded head coach, Brent Venables. So, already Freeze has to become the fixer, which calls for a lot of expectations. In that case, no matter how bitter it might sound, Brooks Austin shed light on Freeze’s dark past on the TexAgs podcast.

The analyst shared, “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 lose 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.” No more coasting for Auburn; with Baylor on deck, Hugh Freeze is wired for battle.