Auburn's Hugh Freeze on Oklahoma: ‘One of the Best Defenses I’ve Seen in a While’

Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze has a lot of respect for head coach Brent Venables and the Oklahoma Sooners defense.

The Auburn Tigers face the Oklahoma Sooners this week and head coach Brent Venables who has been a defensive coordinator for the previous 20+ years. / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

The Auburn Tigers are approaching the meat of their schedule, taking on the No. 21 Oklahoma Sooners this week.

Both teams will be looking to get back on track after dropping their games on Saturday, Auburn to Arkansas and Oklahoma to No. 6 Tennessee in Norman. 

Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze knows that the Tigers have their work cut out for them this week.

“There's no better staff that I'd rather be with in the fire or players and looking forward to going back to work and getting prepared for a very, very difficult opponent in Oklahoma, who has one of the best defenses I've seen in a while,” Freeze said. “They really are so, so multiple and can hit and run and strike, and they're really, really, really talented. 

“It appears offensively they got a little spark last week at the end of the game by bringing in the freshman quarterback that was pretty dynamic.”

Freeze will be coaching against Brent Venables, someone he has known for a long time.

“I don't know who exactly is running the defense, truthfully,” Freeze said. “Whether it’s him or the young man he hired from Jacksonville State, who I actually played against when I was at Liberty, and I thought did an outstanding job. Obviously Brent has a hand in it I’m sure, and he's known as a great defensive coach. I got to meet Coach Venables when we both had young kids and were on vacation. I see him sitting in the pool, and we had young kids then, the kind where you’re not playing golf on vacation, you’re babysitting your kids in the pool and stuff.”

“So we got to spend a good part of the week together, and I really liked him as a human being. He’s about the right things, and runs the right kind of program, his players play really hard for him, and he does a great job defensively. It’s a lot to prepare for, for sure.” 

Oklahoma is only ranked No. 8 in the SEC in scoring defense, one spot ahead of Auburn, and No. 9 in total defense. However, they lead the conference with 14 sacks, a stat that doesn't bode well for Auburn's turnover prone quarterbacks.

Freeze hasn't committed to a starting quarterback against the Sooners, but Oklahoma finds themselves in a similar situation. There is uncertainty surrounding Oklahoma’s quarterback room. Freeze will have his team prepared for either of the Sooners’ signal callers who each bring a different style of play to the table.

“Oklahoma quarterbacks, two different deals,” Freeze said. "Like we have faced the last two weeks, (Jackson Arnold) runs around and makes plays with his feet as much as he does his arms, so it will be a challenge if that's who they go with. The other kid is a little more pocket-style, RPO guy, runs a little bit too.”

Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The television broadcast can be found on ABC or ESPN+. Oklahoma is considered a 2.0-point favorite by ESPN.