Rebels vs. Auburn Tigers Week 7 Preview

New Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze is certainly familiar with life in the SEC after a five-year stint with the Rebels from 2012 through 2016. However, he inherits a team that needs a ton of help after going 11-14 over the past two seasons.

The Ole Miss Rebels travel to Auburn, Alabama for a Week 7 matchup with the Tigers in 2023. By this time of the college football season, we'll have a clear idea of what the Tigers look like under new head coach Hugh Freeze, who takes over for the departed Bryan Harsin.

Freeze is certainly familiar with life in the SEC after a five-year stint with the Rebels from 2012 through 2016. However, he inherits a team that needs a ton of help after going 11-14 over the past two seasons.

In an attempt to expedite the improvements, Freeze and the Rebels went to the transfer portal and landed Michigan State transfer Payton Thorne to take over at quarterback. That's a good start for a program that needs all the help it can find on both sides of the ball.

Expectations are low for the Tigers this season, and a winning record and a bowl appearance would be considered a hugely successful first season for Freeze.

Last season, the Tigers' offense ranked 11th in the SEC in scoring with 24.8 points per game and yards per play at 5.7. The passing attack was anemic as well ranking 119th in the nation.

Freeze brought in Philip Montgomery as the new offensive coordinator who hopes to inject some life into the offense with an RPO-based spread system.

The defense might have been worse than the offense last year, allowing the third-most points in program history at 29.5 points per game, good enough for 98th in the country. Auburn also gave up five 40-point games last year, the most ever for the program.

Freeze will task new defensive coordinator Ron Roberts with the responsibility of fixing the defense, but it's a project.

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