Auburn Head Coach Hugh Freeze Takes Blame for Improbable Loss to Oklahoma

Auburn had Oklahoma on the ropes. What is preventing the Tigers from earning wins in close games.

Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze walks off the field after watching his team waste a golden opportunity to beat the Oklahoma Sooners. / Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

For the third time this season, the Auburn Tigers dropped a game that felt winnable, falling 27-21 to the No. 21 Oklahoma Sooners.

Auburn had the lead for most of the game but a critical mistake in the fourth quarter cost it the game.

Head coach Hugh Freeze takes a lot of the blame for this loss on himself.

“This one stings for sure,” Freeze said. “I’ve got to help my team get over the edge when you have a chance to win a game like that. Proud of those young kids, I thought they played really well and started to mature some.”

Auburn had a stop on fourth down in the fourth quarter that put the offense back on the field with a two-possession lead. After a 22-yard run from Jarquez Hunter, ESPN had the Tigers' chance of winning at 97,4%, However, machines can't predict Auburn going away from the run and failing to run more than 90 seconds off the clock before missing a field goal.

“Run the football and take as much time off the clock as we can up two scores,” Freeze explained what Auburn should have done in that situation. “That possession stands out for sure and we should have had 10 more points in the first half. I’ve got to do a better job of making sure our kids get points in those situations. Protecting the football around the clock is a priority and we didn’t handle it very well.”

Despite having more sound performances on the offensive side of the ball, Auburn is struggling to come out on top in these close games, a problem Freeze does not have an answer for. Simply looking at the team stats, one would be shocked to find out Auburn didn't win by three scores.

They outgained Oklahoma 482 to 291, had 26 first downs to the Sooners' 11, and controlled the clock 35:26 to 24:34.

“That’s kind of been a story,” Freeze said. “We out-gained Arkansas last week by a good amount, today also. We’re not winning football games. We’ve got to do something different to win these games when we’re able to produce the yards we are. We’re not producing the points that should come with that to assist the defense.”

Auburn hits the road for the first time next week, heading to Sanford Stadium for a matchup with the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT and the television broadcast can be found on ABC and ESPN+.