Problems on the Plains
We've spent much of the past year fretting over coach Billy Napier's status on the hot seat for his inability to right the ship at Florida in a timely enough fashion, but perhaps we've been focused on the wrong SEC coach.
Napier's Gators went into cowbell country Saturday and delivered an emphatic win over Mississippi State with nearly flawless QB play from Graham Mertz and DJ Lagway, who combined to have just two incompletions.
Meanwhile, Auburn lost at home for the fourth time in its past six games -- 24-14 to Arkansas -- behind yet another miserable day of quarterbacking from Hank Brown and Payton Thorne.
A quick accounting of how bad things are:
While Napier's flagging Florida program at least has a solid veteran QB and a dynamic freshman to build around, Auburn's numbers at the position under Freeze since 2023 are a train wreck: 51.5 Total QBR, completing 59%, 5.6 yards per dropback, 29 touchdowns and 19 turnovers. Thorne was benched after throwing four picks in a loss to Cal two weeks ago, only for Brown to be benched Saturday after throwing three against Arkansas.
Making matters worse, one of Freeze's former quarterbacks, Bo Wallace, took to X in the waning moments of Auburn's latest loss to gleefully celebrate Freeze's failures, suggesting the coach had abandoned him as soon as he could no longer help Freeze win games.
Since the start of last season, Florida has one fewer win but a better record in conference play, is averaging more points per game, and has had markedly better QB play (65.7 Total QBR). So why is Napier on the hottest seat of them all?
Auburn took a major risk in hiring Freeze, a coach whose on-field résumé had been exceptional, but whose off-field reputation was often troubling. It was a calculated gamble to try to right the ship after years of shaky coaching. It's hard to see how the gamble could pay off at the moment, and with its next three games coming against ranked SEC teams, it's likely to get worse before it gets any better. -- David Hale
We've spent much of the past year fretting over coach Billy Napier's status on the hot seat for his inability to right the ship at Florida in a timely enough fashion, but perhaps we've been focused on the wrong SEC coach.
Napier's Gators went into cowbell country Saturday and delivered an emphatic win over Mississippi State with nearly flawless QB play from Graham Mertz and DJ Lagway, who combined to have just two incompletions.
Meanwhile, Auburn lost at home for the fourth time in its past six games -- 24-14 to Arkansas -- behind yet another miserable day of quarterbacking from Hank Brown and Payton Thorne.
A quick accounting of how bad things are:
- Auburn is 0-2 against Power 4 opponents this year
- Auburn is 6-19 in its past 25 games against power conference foes
- Auburn has not beaten a Power 5 team that finished the year with a winning record since Halloween weekend of 2021
While Napier's flagging Florida program at least has a solid veteran QB and a dynamic freshman to build around, Auburn's numbers at the position under Freeze since 2023 are a train wreck: 51.5 Total QBR, completing 59%, 5.6 yards per dropback, 29 touchdowns and 19 turnovers. Thorne was benched after throwing four picks in a loss to Cal two weeks ago, only for Brown to be benched Saturday after throwing three against Arkansas.
Making matters worse, one of Freeze's former quarterbacks, Bo Wallace, took to X in the waning moments of Auburn's latest loss to gleefully celebrate Freeze's failures, suggesting the coach had abandoned him as soon as he could no longer help Freeze win games.
Since the start of last season, Florida has one fewer win but a better record in conference play, is averaging more points per game, and has had markedly better QB play (65.7 Total QBR). So why is Napier on the hottest seat of them all?
Auburn took a major risk in hiring Freeze, a coach whose on-field résumé had been exceptional, but whose off-field reputation was often troubling. It was a calculated gamble to try to right the ship after years of shaky coaching. It's hard to see how the gamble could pay off at the moment, and with its next three games coming against ranked SEC teams, it's likely to get worse before it gets any better. -- David Hale
