Hugh Freeze laughs off allegations Auburn stole Mississippi State signs in Saturday's win

Auburn took down Mississippi State on Saturday, with Hugh Freeze earning his first SEC win on The Plains. It’s a big step for the program after a rough start to Freeze’s tenure. It also came with a slight cloud after social media reports suggested the Tigers secured the win by figuring out the signs on the opposing sideline throughout the game.

Sign stealing is a major topic in college football at the moment. Michigan is under a lot of heat for staffer Connor Stalions’ efforts to scout opponents by recording their signs at other games. Auburn is not being accused of such. Instead, the report from Mike Gittens of The War Rapport states they were able to look across the field and figure out if Mississippi State was running or throwing the ball, which is entirely legal.

Freeze responded to that report, neither confirming nor denying whether Auburn got Mississippi State’s signs. “If” they did, the head coach was not too impressed with the execution.

“Well, we did a poor job if we did,” Freeze said jokingly during Wednesday’s SEC Coaches Teleconference. “They had more yards and more explosive plays in the second half than in the first.”

Mississippi State wound up scoring 10 of their 13 points in the second half, totaling 220 yards. Both are way better than what the Bulldogs produced in the first half, where only 125 yards were earned against Auburn.

Freeze does believe every coaching staff in the country is looking for a way to get an advantage during games. Anyone who does not is “foolish” according to Freeze.

“There’s no secret that every single team is trying to gain an advantage on game day within the rules of looking across the sideline,” Freeze said. “It would be foolish not to. It would be like telling your kids to line up but don’t look at what defense you’re about to run the route against. But we obviously didn’t do a good job, if that’s the case.”

Sign stealing will continue to be a popular topic in college football. New information is being revealed about the Michigan case daily, with some of the allegations allegedly showing Stalions’ boldness with the scheme.

As for Auburn, nothing they did was illegal. Freeze was open enough to talk about it, even if he never admitted whether or not they participated.