Is Auburn football still playing to not lose football games?
Head coach Hugh Freeze sure thinks so after the Tigers’ (2-5, 0-4 SEC) losing streak reached four games with a road loss to Missouri. Auburn led the game by 11 points going into the fourth quarter and allowed a 17-play, 95-yard drive by Missouri to take the 21-17 lead. Auburn then had three incompletions and a sack on its next drive, sealing the loss.
Freeze credits some of the issues to a young team that still has a lot to learn, and contributes that to playing to not lose. He also thinks that mentality as started to effect the coaching staff, including himself.
We have a young team, and they’re learning and they’re growing, but I do think we still play not to lose instead of ‘Man, let’s play to win.’ Truthfully, we probably are coaching that way some, too. I feel the pressure of those calls and not being free to do what I’ve done for years. And, ‘Oh man, we could screw this up,’ or, ‘We could not execute this correctly.’ Those are all feelings that are real and legitimate and probably have an effect on us not finishing games really well,” Freeze said.
Freeze hadn’t met with his players yet Monday before talking with media with practice being later in the day, so he’s not sure if they are actually playing to just not lose, but knows that they are starting to feel the pressure of the losing streak. For Freeze, he’s trying to balance coaching and playing free with the pressure of eliminating mistakes.
“It’s just I don’t know, I didn’t feel — and that could be all of my emotions and feelings, too — that we’re not playing to win from the thoughts I have in my mind. And it may not even be in our kids’ minds. Who knows? I’ll talk to them today at the team meeting about that and get some honest feedback,” Freeze said. “There’s no question that you feel the pressure of those moments of ‘Do I just be free and loose like most of my life and coaching has been’ or ‘Man, we’re so desperate that our kids deserve to win one of these games, don’t do anything that’s going to put them in jeopardy of doing that.’ “
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Freeze said the Tigers are close and, even on a four-game losing streak, he remains confident wins are coming. Freeze also gets confidence from not having a losing season in 32 years as a coach, dating back to his time as a high school coach in Tennessee.
“Gosh, it’s frustrating. I’ve said it before, and I remain confident in the staff and in our players,” Freeze said. “We’ll just continue to trust the process of what we’re becoming through the challenging times. Hopefully, the results will start to show sooner (rather) than later. I know they’re coming. No one wants to see the Auburn family and our players get to enjoy that more than myself.”
The Tigers will once again be on the road this Saturday when they travel to Kentucky for a 6:45 p.m. CT kick on SEC Network.
