Auburn's Hugh Freeze Laments 2-3 Record: 'Could Easily be Sitting 5-0'

The Auburn Tigers are 2-3 on the season, and head coach Hugh Freeze knows his team missed an opportunity to be 5-0 to start the year.

Hugh Freeze and the Auburn Tigers have self destructed in their three losses. / John Reed-Imagn Images

No matter how close a head coach ever feels his team is to turning a losing narrative into a winning one, it's always a case of, "what have you done for me lately."

When Hugh Freeze took the head coaching job at Auburn University, it was understood there was a massive reconstruction of the roster that needed to be done. Still, despite preaching patience, the 2-3 record feels like a missed opportunity to be 5-0, causing angst among the Auburn Family.

Much like a bittersweet lament penned by the now late-great Kris Kristofferson, Freeze spoke words yesterday that were etched with missed opportunities, sorrow and classic misfortunes.

"We could easily be sitting 5 - 0, but we didn't get it done," Freeze mused on Monday. "We can point to coaching errors, we can point to 11 turnovers and all those things. It's a mixture and it's our job to get it done. We can point to youth...we can sit here and talk about all those things, but we're a result oriented profession and those results didn't go our way."

For all the dreaming and crowing about possibly being 5 - 0, facts are facts. Therefore, Freeze can only whistle along sadly for so long, especially before reality snaps back into view and the broken record gets stuck all over again.

Of course, the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs now lie in wait like wounded dogs after an emotional loss to Alabama. The chances of sliding to 2 - 4 are very real and extremely worrying for Freeze. ESPN pegs Auburn's chances of getting a win in Athens at just 8.8% with the Tigers entering the game a 24-point underdog.

Hence why it was so important the Tigers got off to a fast start with their pivotal 5-game home-stand.

"There are many positives to build from, from that game," Freeze said of the late loss against Oklahoma. "If you look at 90% of the plays, there's a lot of really, really good things that I hope can carry over as we get ready for a top ranked team in Georgia. We certainly can't let the hurt and the sting of losing a game that you feel like you should have won carry too long, because we've got some very tough tasks facing us coming up with two top-10 teams on the road. October is a road challenge for us, we haven't experienced that yet."

We've reached the point where Freeze understands he's under pressure to turn the program back around - heavy does weigh the crown down on the Plains.

"There's no way I can sit here and say that those three games weren't winnable," Freeze declared. "That's the toughest thing for me to say to them. I know what the sacrifices are that all our boosters and families, supporters, administration and everybody pours into supporting this program. I'm not taking anything away from those teams, they found a way to win the games, but we found a way to lose them, in my mind."

Freeze is right. This is a results business, and Auburn has been notoriously impatient with coaches dating back decades. "Should have won" will only play for so long before Freeze starts to sound like a broken record.