Hugh Freeze believes Auburn will be tested after difficult night against LSU

Auburn suffered its most embarassing loss of the season on Saturday night against LSU.

LSU controlled the SEC West matchup from the opening kickoff, and Auburn couldn’t get much going after entering halftime with a 17-point defecit. Losing 48-18, head coach Hugh Freeze had no excuse for his team’s performance after the game.

“It was a difficult night for us. They beat us in every way that you could. We had no answers for them on defense,” Freeze said postgame, via AuburnLive. “Offensively, just not consistent enough to stay in a scoring match with them. We got to own everything that’s on that film and go back to work and hopefully get better. This will test us. Football does that. The only way to get out of this funk is to work hard.

“To do that, you have to have the right attitude and be able to put the past behind you but, at the same time, own what you’re doing. I don’t know that we would have won the game, but we certainly could have played better. That’s a really, really good offense. We didn’t play our best.”

Auburn had no answer for LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels during the matchup. Totaling 418 offensive yards by himself, Daniels accounted for four of LSU’s six total touchdowns on the afternoon. Compare that to Auburn’s 293 total yards of offense — and Daniels single-handedly outplayed Auburn in Death Valley.

Auburn entered the game last in the SEC in passing yards per game (156.2) and ultimately ended up just under that mark with 154. Payton Thorne finished the game 12-of-23 passing for just 102 yards and no touchdowns as Robby Ashford was also mixed in the game plan. That has continued to be an alarming trend for Auburn this season, as the Tigers are averaging just 16 points per game through three SEC games.

“I felt really good about the plan,” Freeze continued. “I felt like we had a chance to maybe get some long drives and keep our defense on the sideline. We just never found any consistency. It is disappointing, for sure.”

Auburn has a week to shake the 30-point loss off and regroup for Week 8’s homestand against Ole Miss. Opening kickoff is set for Saturday night at 7 p.m. ET live on ESPN. The Rebels have opened as a 7-point home favorite according to FanDuel Sportsbook. The over/under is set at 55.5 points.