Cole Cubelic: Auburn lacks confidence, 'feels confused' in critical moments

Auburn‘s 2-4 start to the 2024 season is a disappointing one for Tigers of the past, present and future. That includes former Tigers offensive lineman and SEC analyst Cole Cubelic.

Joining the Paul Finebaum show after an upset-filled Week 6 slate, the two landed on the topic of Cubelic’s alma mater. Auburn lost to No. 5 Georgia 31-13 over the weekend, and Cubelic said he saw good effort out of his former team.

However, he pulled no punches when discussing Auburn’s weaknesses this season. That includes the instance where quarterback Payton Thorne “didn’t go with what we had called,” on a critical fourth down, according to head coach Hugh Freeze. To begin the fourth quarter, a called dive to Jarquez Hunter turned into a quarterback option from Thorne, who rushed for a loss of four yards and turned the ball over on downs.

“The big difference this season has been in critical moments,” Cubelic told Finebaum on Monday. “This football team feels confused, they lack confidence, and there have been big mistakes in game-defining moments. And that has to stop. It has to go away. You are at a stoppage in play at the end of the quarter with three timeouts remaining and a two-minute timeout remaining, down 11 points, and you allow whatever happened, this confusion, this befuddlement of what was going to be called. What was called wasn’t called.

“… Hugh Freeze called it a critical drive in his post-game press conference. You have to figure those things out, and that confusion’s got to go away. If this team’s going to find a way to start winning games, they’re finding ways to lose games. That’s not a great place to be.”

Freeze was shown on the broadcast appearing to be furious with his quarterback after the play on the sideline. Georgia would go on to outscore the Tigers 10-3 in the final quarter and secured the three-score win.

Auburn will look to regroup while on its bye week in Week 7. They will return to action on Oct. 19 for an SEC road trip to No. 21 Missouri.