This is an opinion column.
Hugh Freeze is a prophet.
Looking like a man whose been sick the last few days, his interview with the SEC Network after the first quarter of Saturday night’s game was rough.
His team was down 10 and managed exactly 38 yards in the first 14 snaps. They were headed for a sixth straight SEC loss at Kentucky when it was TV time.
“We’ve got to run the ball some,” said Freeze, reportedly dealing with symptoms that matched food poisoning. “We tried to come out throwing. We’re not protecting very well. We have to keep it balanced, but we need to establish the run.”
And they did.
Genius.
The Tigers exorcised a few demons from that point forward, steamrolling Kentucky by … running the ball. A 24-10 Auburn win ended the skid against SEC teams at five — seven against power conference teams in a show of brute force.
His name is Jarquez Hunter, the cure for a season-long tummy ache.
Auburn (3-5, 1-4 SEC) opted into using their star running back and he set career-best in rushing attempts (23) and yards (278). His previous best was 183 yards last year at pre-Pavia Vanderbilt.
That 278 from Hunter also easily dwarfed Kentucky’s total output of 224 yards. It was also the fourth-highest single-game total in Auburn history and that’s a history that involves some impressive running backs.
As a team, Auburn’s 326 rushing yards were the most against SEC competition since running for 345 against Arkansas in 2017.
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Kentucky (3-5, 1-5) hadn’t allowed that many rushing yards since Georgia rolled up 331 in 2018, according to the Herald-Leader.
So yes, running the ball was a good idea.
Even more impressive? That 326-yard rushing total included a first quarter that ended with negative-8.
All 278 of Hunter’s record-breaking night came in the final three quarters since his only touch in the first 15 minutes was a run for no gain.
The light-bulb then went on.
After that, he had 10 carries of 10-plus yards. That includes three of 40-plus.
Hunter’s final four runs of the game:
- 45 yards (TD)
- 10 yards
- 11 yards
- 46 yards
The last one set up a moment nobody’s seen in a while. Auburn showed mercy in the closing moments of an SEC game, opting for a few kneel downs inside the 10-yard-line to drain the clock. That pushed the Tigers’ total offensive yardage under 500 yards and the statement was made.
A team that blew 11-point fourth-quarter leads twice in its four SEC losses to date this season made its point without a garbage time touchdown.
This wasn’t a garbage Kentucky defense, either. It held Georgia to 13 points last month when it beat Ole Miss, 20-17. The Wildcats entered the night with the 22nd-best run defense that allowed just 102 rushing yards against Georgia (3.4-yard average) and 92 to Ole Miss (3.2 avg.). Auburn averaged 6.5 a carry overall while Hunter had 12.1.
Running the ball, a good idea.
The Tigers did that 50 times total Saturday night with 47 coming after that first quarter to forget. Kentucky led 10-0 after that opening statement, outgaining the visitors 115-38. Auburn ran it just twice on purpose with a sack accounting for the negative-eight yard total.
Payton Thorn threw it 11 times before the second quarter began, was intercepted once and had the Tigers going straight to the hole they’ve occupied since beating Arkansas last November.
But then it started to run the ball. Auburn outgained Kentucky 313-36 in the middle two quarters in a statistical show of force.
This is, after all, still modern-day Auburn so there wasn’t comfort until Hunter’s 45-yard touchdown run with 12:11 left.
That’s because Auburn had two impressive yet point-free drives in that span like ones that have dotted this losing streak. First, there was a 10-play, 66-yard possession to close the first half that ended with a sack and a failed attempt to rush the field goal unit onto the field before time expired. The Tigers, without a timeout when Thorne was sacked, had 14 players in the field goal formation before letting the time tick off.
Freeze predictably laid blame on Thorne during halftime interviews but this is about this column is about his stroke of genius, not Bus Driver Hugh.
The drive of the night, a 14-play, 75-yard march to open the second half was the masterpiece. Auburn ran it 11 of those 14 plays for an average of 4.2 a pop. The possession chewed through 7:53 of the third quarter clock as Hunter’s 1-yard plunge gave the Tigers its first and last lead of the night.
The next drive was another of the unfortunate endings, but the missed field goal after a seven-play, 61-yard drive didn’t haunt Auburn this time.
Why? Because Hugh Freeze is a genius.
He saw Jarquez Hunter in the post-first-quarter huddle and decided his veteran running back deserved a chance.
Freeze was right.
Hunter hunted.
And, for the first time since Nov. 11, 2023, Auburn walked off the field of SEC competition a winner.
Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.
