College Football Analysts Claims Hugh Freeze Needs to Bring "Significant Improvement" At Auburn in Year Three

Coach Hugh Freeze and the Auburn Tigers have a significant amount of pressure going into the 2025 season as they enter the third year of the partnership. While on "Joel Pate's College Football Show", Pate discussed how it is time for coach Hugh Freeze to step up in his third year with the Auburn Tigers.

"The pressure is fair in Year 3 because in today's college football, with all the roster reconstruction mechanisms at your disposal and how well resourced Auburn University is, you have no excuse to suck in Year 3. Hugh Freeze knows that, everyone at Auburn know that. They've got capable people in that building who have understood that from Bell one when they walked in, they knew they had a three-year rebuild on their hands."

Pate continued to discuss how the lack of an answer at the quarterback position could be the program's downfall going forward.

"It's not like we're banging on the door demanding them to be in Atlanta when the dust clears in December but they better be a lot better than they've been the last couple of years. And it is still unknown because you really don't know what you have at quarterback Year 3. It better happen, you better see significant improvement and as it usually does in the sport, it boils down to the quarterback position."

The quarterback spot is expected to be filled by Oklahoma transfer Jackson Arnold and he finished completing 154-of-246 (62.6%) for 1,421 yards with 12 passing touchdowns to three interceptions.

Below is the full clip from the show.

Hugh Freeze has struggled in the first two years with the Tigers thus far as the team has gone 11-14 in the 25 games, including 0-1 in bowl games and not having a winning record in either season.

What does the Auburn 2025 schedule look like?

While the 2025 college schedule has not been officially revealed yet, we do know the opponents the Tigers are facing. A lot of the season depends on how the schedule goes, but let's take a look at which opponents are lined up.

Tigers Road Opponents

• Baylor Bears
• Oklahoma Sooners
• Texas A&M Aggies
• Arkansas Razorbacks
• Vanderbilt Commodores

Tigers Home Opponents

• Ball State Cardinals
• South Alabama Jaguars
• Georgia Bulldogs
• Missouri Tigers
• Kentucky Wildcats
• Mercer Bears
• Alabama Crimson Tide