Auburn football head coach Hugh Freeze didn’t sugarcoat what went wrong after his team’s 24-17 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday. While the Tigers had moments to stay competitive, their miscues on special teams quickly flipped the game in the Sooners’ favor, and Freeze made sure to call it out.
“Undisciplined. Bad decisions. Put our offense in bad positions three times,” Freeze said postgame via the Auburn Observer's Justin Ferguson. “That was disappointing and certainly undisciplined.”
The blunt assessment came after a series of avoidable mistakes that stalled Auburn’s momentum. The Tigers gave Oklahoma short fields to work with, and the Sooners took advantage, cashing in points when Auburn couldn’t afford the lapses.
The miscues flipped momentum in what was otherwise a fairly even matchup. Auburn actually had more plays than 69 to 62 and dominated time of possession, holding the ball for more than 35 minutes compared to the Sooners’ 24. But field position mattered more, and the Tigers repeatedly gave Oklahoma short fields.
Oklahoma capitalized. Quarterback John Mateer threw for 271 yards, keeping the Sooners’ offense balanced enough to score when Auburn slipped up. The Sooners didn’t dominate on the ground, finishing with just 32 rushing yards, but they didn’t need to when Auburn’s errors gave them chances to cash in.
Auburn quarterback Jackson Arnold completed 21 of 32 passes for 220 yards with no turnovers. On paper, that efficiency should have kept the Tigers in range. The problem was red zone execution. Auburn finished drives with field goals instead of touchdowns, leaving points on the board that Oklahoma didn’t hesitate to snatch away.
The Tigers’ run game also never found a rhythm, managing just 67 total rushing yards. That lack of balance left Arnold to carry too much of the offensive load against a disciplined Sooners defense.
Statistically, Auburn had some positives: no turnovers, more total plays, and a nearly 11-minute edge in possession. But those advantages didn’t matter once special teams broke down. Giving Oklahoma three short fields was the turning point, and Freeze’s frustration reflected that reality.
For Auburn fans, this wasn’t about losing to a ranked opponent; it was about how the Tigers lost. Freeze has hammered home the importance of discipline since arriving on the Plains, but Saturday proved the Tigers still have work to do.
