Hot Football Takes: Freeze on Thin Ice as Auburn Faces a Must-Win War with Mizzou
Let’s be clear: Auburn isn’t just playing Missouri this weekend — they’re playing for their season, and maybe Hugh Freeze’s job.
After the Georgia meltdown, Auburn fans are still seething. The officiating was a disaster, sure — but the bigger truth was harder to ignore: when the chaos hit, Freeze lost control. The offense froze, the sideline panicked, and a 10–0 lead evaporated into another lifeless, predictable loss.
Now, with Missouri coming to town, Freeze gets his first real judgment day. This is the “get-right” game — or the one that proves Auburn isn’t right at all.
Mizzou: Not One-Dimensional, But Close Enough
Missouri isn’t bad — they’re just built the way Auburn used to be: tough, physical, and fully committed to running the ball down your throat.
They enter this matchup ranked 6th nationally in rushing offense (270.5 yards per game). Running back Ahmad Hardy has been a revelation, leading the country in rushing through the first six weeks. But when Alabama bottled him up — holding him to 52 yards on 12 carries — the Tigers’ entire offense unraveled.
Quarterback Beau Pribula is athletic and smart, but against an elite defense, he’s shown what happens when the run game disappears: two interceptions, multiple stalled drives, and a complete loss of rhythm. Mizzou can pretend to be balanced, but when the run doesn’t work, the truth comes out.
That’s what Auburn’s defense is built to exploit.
Strength vs. Strength: Auburn’s Front vs. Missouri’s Ground Game
If Auburn has one elite unit, it’s the defensive front.
The Tigers rank 11th nationally against the run, allowing just 86.5 yards per game. This is the matchup where that number actually matters. Alabama provided the blueprint — crowd the box, force Pribula to throw — and Auburn’s defensive personnel fits that script perfectly.
The problem is what comes next.
Auburn’s defense can’t spend another game carrying the load for 40 minutes.
. They’ve done it three straight SEC games — Oklahoma, A&M, Georgia — and every time, the offense left them stranded. If Freeze can’t find a way to move the chains and give that defense a breather, it won’t matter how well they start.
The scoreboard will end the same way: another close, exhausting loss.
The Jordan-Hare Effect
This is Missouri’s first road game of the season — yes, really — after six straight at home. And it’s not just any road trip; it’s Jordan-Hare at night, with a desperate team and a crowd tired of excuses.
Oddsmakers noticed. Despite Mizzou being ranked #16 and Auburn sitting at 3–3, the Tigers from the Plains opened as a slight favorite (-1.5). That tells you everything about the setup: Auburn’s defense, home crowd, and desperation outweigh Mizzou’s ranking and record.
If there’s ever a moment to reset the season, this is it.
The Freeze Factor
Here’s the problem: Hugh Freeze has been outcoached in every SEC game this year.
He’s emotional when he needs to be calm, reactive when he needs to be strategic, and predictable when Auburn needs creativity. Against Georgia, the team fed off chaos — and instead of settling them down, Freeze fueled it. That’s not leadership.
Now, he faces the kind of game that defines coaches at Auburn. Win, and the noise fades — the locker room buys back in, the fans remember hope. Lose, and the calls for his job get a lot louder than the calls for bad officiating ever were.
A win against Mizzou won’t fix everything. But it’ll buy Hugh Freeze one more week of oxygen.
🔥 HotFootballTake
Auburn has the ability to beat Missouri. The talent is there. The defense is good enough. On paper, the Tigers should win this game. But if Hugh Freeze can’t keep his composure — and can’t keep the team motivated when adversity hits — Auburn could be staring at a repeat of what happened against Georgia.
Can they win? Absolutely.
Will they? I’m not gonna hold my breath!