Hugh Freeze frustrated by controversial ‘deception’ play from Oklahoma offense

The Auburn Tigers traveled to Norman to take on the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday for quarterback Jackson Arnold‘s homecoming. Coming out of the game, however, Arnold wasn’t the major story. It was a poorly officiated trick play that led to an Oklahoma touchdown and gave Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze his first loss of the season.

On the play, Sooners wide receiver Isaiah Sategna acted as though he was subbing out. He didn’t, though, lining up at the edge of the field uncovered. He’d then end up wide open for a touchdown, which should have resulted in a 15-yard penalty for being deceptive in their substitutions. The SEC would admit as much after the game in a statement admitting to the mistake.

“NCAA football rule 9-2, Article 2 is labeled ‘unfair tactics’ with Paragraph (B) stating, ‘No simulated replacements or substitutions may be used to confuse opponents. No tactic associated with substitutes or the substitution process may be used to confuse opponents. This includes any hideout tactic with or without a substitution.’ The officiating crew did not properly interpret the action as a hideout tactic,” the statement read. “If properly officiated, the second play should have resulted in a team unsportsmanlike conduct penalty of 15 yards assessed from the previous spot.”

In a 24-17 game, that blown call could easily be regarded as the reason why the Tigers weren’t able to force overtime. However, there’s no going back and changing it after the fact. Still, it’s no surprise that the call, among other issues Auburn seemed to have with the officiating, had Freeze frustrated following the game.

“I guarantee you,” Hugh Freeze said. “Well, I better be quiet. Said they didn’t hear us trying to call a timeout. We were instructed all offseason about deception plays and things. So, we’ll see what’s said. I really don’t know what’ll be said about that.”

Ultimately, there’s no fixing the issue now. With that, Auburn fell to 3-1 and needs to bounce back. That means turning the page because, as analyst Paul Finebaum recently shared, in the grand scheme of the season, it’s the loss that gets remembered more than the bad call by the officials.

“It was bad enough, if you’re an Auburn fan, that you had a bad beat in the final minute of the game. You’re gonna lose the game but you were gonna win the bet, which isn’t the perfect ending,” Finebaum said.

“But at least it’s a better ending. Now, everything goes away. It could not have been a worse weekend. I’m in Birmingham today, reading some of the reaction from the media, and they’re piling on Hugh Freeze, which is understandable. In the moment, it feels outrageous, but a week from now it won’t make any difference. It’s really, and I’m not defending the SEC, officiating is terrible everywhere. The only thing I like about the ACC is we hear it in real time.”

Hugh Freeze entered the season needing to start winning at Auburn. That means finding more success in SEC play, where he went just 5-11 in his first two seasons. Now, he’s 0-1 in SEC play in 2025 to drop to 5-12 during his time at Auburn. The schedule doesn’t get easier from here, either, with a road trip to Texas A&M upcoming. Hopefully, there won’t be any further officiating concerns there.