The 3-2-1: Three things learned, two questions and one prediction following Auburn's win over Cal

Auburn football was extremely fortunate to escape Barkeley with a victory over Cal. Thanks to three missed field goals by Cal kicker Michael Luckhurst, the Tigers remained within striking distance long enough to finally mount a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter. That's when Payton Thorne found Rivaldo Fairweather for a beautiful jump ball in the corner of the end zone, just below the mass of Auburn fans that traveled to the west coast to witness the Tigers' win. Hugh Freeze said it best following the game: It was sloppy and it was a win, but a sloppy win affords Freeze and his coaching staff the luxury of being hard on the team this week, even though they won the game. In a way, it's the best of both worlds. Auburn notches the W, but will arrive home on Sunday morning with a feeling of humility and understanding that in most cases, a performance like theirs against Cal would have resulted in a L. The mixture will cultivate a good learning atmosphere this week around the Woltosz Performance Center. For a new coaching staff, new team, new program in many ways, you take the win and move on as quickly as possible. That type of offensive performance won't result in many, if any wins in the SEC. Freeze knows that. Thorne knows that. Philip Montgomery knows that. If you listened to Freeze closely going back to the spring, he's been fairly transparent about this football team. There's a lot of unknowns about what this Auburn team can and can't accomplish. There's a reason Freeze said this was the most "uncomfortable" he's ever been entering a season. Saturday's action revealed quite a bit of what makes Freeze uncertain about what this team will accomplish this season. Come Monday's weekly press conference, I'd imagine you'll hear much of the same from Freeze as you heard following the UMass win. There will be a combination of optimism and harsh realism as Auburn prepares for Samford before SEC play begins. Let's jump into The 3-2-1 for this week.