Hugh Freeze A-Day postgame: 'We got the most out of every minute with our kids this spring'
AUBURN — Hugh Freeze obviously isn’t ready to say the Auburn football program is where it needs to be in terms of talent and overall culture, but he is seeing plenty of signs of improvement finishing up his second spring camp.
“We got the most out of every minute we were allowed to be with our kids in spring,” Freeze said following the Tigers’ spring game.
Auburn’s offense won A-Day, coming back from 27-0 to win 28-27 behind a 58-yard field goal from Towns McGough. McGough earned special teams MVP, while Cam Coleman earned offensive MVP and Jerrin Thompson earned defensive MVP honors.
Here’s everything else Freeze said after A-Day in Auburn:
Needless to say, Freeze is fairly confident in his team’s special teams with McGough, Alex McPherson and Oscar Chapman kicking footballs. Dating back to last season and through A-Day, McPherson and McGough are 20-20 kicking FGs.
“It gives us great confidence. Points are important anytime you can get them. Alex has already proven he can get the job done there. It was a great opportunity for Towns to step in and show us what he can do. We’re really confident in both of them. We’re going to be a solid special teams unit.”
Cam Coleman finished with four receptions for 92 yards and a touchdown during the spring game. It’s obvious the difference maker that Coleman projects to be.
“I think he changes us. We need more. I’m anxious to get the other signees here to join with that group. I’m glad our fans got to see that. He just tracks the ball and thinks every ball is catchable. I know he made a couple great ones. There’s one he didn’t that might have been his best effort. He honestly had that for a second. They didn’t call many of those today. He tracks the ball naturally. He’s so teachable and coachable. He had a couple of missed assignments in the tight redone on balls we were hoping to throw him down there that got us in trouble. That’s on us, we have to clean that up and make sure he knows the whole system. But when he knows what to do, he’s really, really talented.”
The Auburn quarterbacks finished 26-49 for 365 yards and one touchdown on the day. Thorne and Geriner both completed 70 percent of their passes. Freeze believes his QBs are in a much better spot post-spring than where they were last summer or even last fall.
“The more talented receivers we get, the better our passing game will be. We’ll make sure our quarterbacks understand we made a few mistakes today, we threw a few slants behind people, but I think I’m confident we can move the football if we continue to add pieces to the roster. We’ve done that some, we need to continue to do that.
“We got better this spring of understanding what the expectations are from that position and running our offense. I felt like standing back there today, most of the decisions were correct. I didn’t always like some of the throws that were made, but I thought in the RPO game, most of the decisions were correct. I’ll have to watch the film and see. I know we improved our knowledge of being on the same page of what our expectations are in this offense for our quarterbacks.”
Georgia State transfer Robert Lewis finished with five grabs for 73 yards. Freeze loves what he’s seen from Lewis during the spring and is extremely hopeful for the fall that Lewis might have.
“Maturity. Veteran, maturity. He’s a guy that’s played a lot of snaps. He’s a really good route runner, I think his hands are really good also. It was good to see him have some nice catches today. He’s done that all spring. He’s going to be a valuable part of that room for sure.”
And maybe the most surprising thing about A-Day might have been the way Auburn’s defensive line controlled things along the line of scrimmage. There are high hopes for Connor Lew and his group, but Freeze says the Tigers’ defensive front won the day.
“I felt like they won the line of scrimmage, That’s very positive. I like the effort the guys are giving over there, I just don’t think you can ever have enough of them. We have a couple of spots left on our roster that if you’re going to fill it, let’s fill it with D-line with receivers. That’s where we need to add some more depth. It did seem like they played well today. We need some of those young kids like DJ Reed, Bobby to come on and I thought DJ made some plays in the backfield, TJ Lindsey showed up, obviously the two young ends are talented. I was excited, but I thought the D-line dominated the line of scrimmage today.”
