Paul Finebaum: Auburn losing to Vanderbilt would be 'pretty punishing' for Hugh Freeze

The Vanderbilt Commodores and their fearless quarterback, Diego Pavia, have been one of the surprise stories of the 2024 college football season. Pavia has helped fuel the ‘Dores to upset wins over Alabama, Kentucky, and nearly stunned Texas last week. Next in the Commodores’ sights are the Auburn Tigers. On the Thursday morning edition of Andy & Ari On3, Paul Finebaum noted that if Auburn goes down to Vanderbilt, it’d be a crushing blow for Hugh Freeze’s tenure there.

Diego Pavia led New Mexico State into Jordan Hare Stadium last year, and they came away with a 31-10 win over Auburn. In that one, Pavia finished with 201 passing yards, while tossing in three touchdowns with no interceptions. If he can find that same magic this year, Paul Finebaum knows it’ll be bad for Hugh Freeze’s tenure at Auburn.

Paul Finebaum on the importance of this game for Hugh Freeze

“Well, the good news is at least Hugh Freeze will prepare for Diego Pavia this time around. Which he clearly didn’t a year ago. I want to give Hugh Freeze credit for saving the season with that win over Kentucky,” Finebaum began.

“But it seems rather lame, considering how bad Kentucky is. But I think it was enough to quiet everyone down, Andy. A week ago, this conference was buzzing about Hugh Freeze’s future. I think the folks at Auburn are content to let it play out. They still believe in him even though I’ve seen very little from him, from a head coaching standpoint this year that impresses me. Or really, over the last two years,” Finebaum continued.

Before their win over Kentucky last weekend, Auburn had lost four straight games. And they currently sit at 3-5 overall and 1-4 in the SEC. That’s surely not what many had envisioned when he was hired in late November of 2022.

“But I think a loss would be pretty punishing though. The only thing that you could say is Vandy is a lot better than they used to be. Ultimately, if he lost this game, he still has A&M and Alabama. So, do the math. That’s easily what I would call a disastrous season. ULM is actually competitive, too,” Finebaum explained.

“Yeah, they’re good,” Staples chimed in on ULM.

Louisiana Monroe currently sits at 5-2 overall. Their two losses have been blowouts to Texas and South Alabama. ULM will face off against Auburn on Saturday, Nov. 16th.

Auburn and Vandy will face off on Saturday, Nov. 2nd. The game will be nationally televised on the SEC Network.