Hugh Freeze says Auburn is 'finding out who we are,' reacts to getting bowl eligible

Auburn is going bowling in its first season under coach Hugh Freeze. The Tigers rolled to a dominant 48-10 road win against Arkansas to earn their sixth win of the year and attain bowl eligibility after missing out in 2022.

Saturday’s victory marked the third straight for Auburn after a rough stretch to start SEC play in which it went 0-4. Speaking postgame, Freeze explained why the Tigers are starting to click at the right time and how they can carry that momentum into the final two games of the regular season.

“I love our kids and they way they’ve come to work and our staff,” he said. “I felt good. I really thought our week was good. We’ve won a couple of SEC games in a row after a rough stretch. The way they’ve responded every day to work, I think we’re kind of finding out who we are a little bit. I’m just so pleased with the effort today.”

Auburn wasted no time at all pouncing on the Razorbacks as it jumped out to a 21-3 lead by the end of the first quarter. The Tigers then scored 27 unanswered points in the second and third quarters combined to lead 48-3 heading into the fourth with the game already well in hand.

They used a massive day on the ground to do so, totaling 354 yards rushing on 6.4 yards per carry. Jarquez Hunter led the way with 109 yards rushing while quarterback Payton Thorne added 88 yards on the ground to go with four total touchdowns.

After a tumultuous past two seasons for Auburn under Bryan Harsin, things are quickly trending in a much more positive direction with Hugh Freeze at the helm. He knows how important of a milestone reaching a bowl game is after all the program has been through of late, and is hopeful to finish out the season strong.

“They remember what you do in November,” he said. “I think Frank Broyles said that. I want our kids to compete and they have. Now we find ourself bowl eligible, which I think is a step that was important to me and for our team and our program in our rebuild. I think we’re getting better and looking forward to the next two games.”

Coming off of the win against Arkansas, Auburn will next face New Mexico State at 3 p.m. CT at home. After that they’ll close out the year with the annual rivalry game against Alabama.