Hugh Freeze admits Vanderbilt is a 'scary' game for Auburn

Halloween may be a few days beforehand and the Tigers are currently a double-digit favorite over a Vanderbilt squad that finds themselves at the bottom of the SEC. With all that said, though, Hugh Freeze is already concerned about getting a scare from the Commodores in Music City on Saturday.

Freeze spoke about Auburn’s upcoming road trip to Nashville to play Vandy this weekend during his press conference on Monday. He shared his worry because, somehow and some way, FirstBank Stadium has already been an odd venue for his teams to play in – even before it was an active construction zone.

“This is a scary game to me. I’ve always thought playing there was difficult for whatever reason,” admitted Freeze. “It’s a difficult place to play.”

Freeze is also naturally worried that many on The Plains, including his players, could overlook Vanderbilt. He knows their record but doesn’t believe that it truly reflects how competitive Clark Lea’s team has been at times, specifically in the conference.

“I know you can look at their schedule or their record and say whatever. But they’ve played a tough stretch with Kentucky, Missouri, Florida, Georgia, Ole Miss,” noted Freeze. “I mean that’s a tough stretch of games and they’ve been competitive at times in all of them.”

Vanderbilt is currently on a seven-game losing streak including an 0-5 start in the SEC. They’ve lost by an average of 17 points per game in that run overall. The Commodores have since lost by an average of just a hair over 20 points in league play.

Still, even so, Auburn, who just picked up their first conference win of the year a few days ago, isn’t yet allowed to look over any opponent. That’s why Freeze is going to give the Commodores their due respect and hopes that his Tigers will too over the course of the week.

“It has got my full attention and hopefully our kids will be mature enough to approach this with the same hunger that they did last week,” said Freeze.

Freeze reacts to earning first SEC win at Auburn

After a painful stretch in the SEC, Hugh Freeze has notched his first conference win as the head coach at Auburn.

The Tigers earned a 27-13 victory against Mississippi State at home on Saturday. Speaking postgame with the SEC Network, Freeze spoke about what it meant to finally get over the hump.

“They come to work every day,” he said. “It’s good. Listen, our first SEC win at Auburn. They don’t come easy in this league and they didn’t come easy in the second half. Really proud of the way they prepared. Our coaches and our players. Our fans are incredible. We’ve got a big homefield advantage here.”

For Freeze, it was a critical moment in his tenure with the Tigers. Auburn faced ranked opponents in three of their first four conference games to start the year but finally showed what it is capable of against a team of equal caliber.

“We’ve been through a very difficult stretch,” Freeze said. “You look ahead and you think, ‘If we can just get some momentum? We can really turn this around and give us some momentum heading into the offseason’. That’s our hope. We’ve got to come a go to work. We’ve got two on the road in this league, which are always difficult.”