The Auburn Tigers’ season continues to spiral after a heartbreaking 23-17 double-overtime loss to Missouri, dropping them to 0-4 in SEC play. Head coach Hugh Freeze called the loss “sickening,” describing the frustration of being so close to winning yet unable to finish games. Now, his latest setback adds another layer of uncertainty: a season-ending injury to a key starter.
Bryan Matthews of On3 Sports reported that Auburn’s starting center, Connor Lew, suffered a torn ACL during the second half against Missouri and will miss the rest of the season. Lew, a veteran leader on the offensive line, had started every game since his freshman year and served as a cornerstone of Freeze’s offense.
True freshman Kail Ellis replaced him midgame and is expected to begin the rest of the year, but his inexperience showed, most notably with a high snap in overtime that killed a key drive.
The injury further complicates Auburn’s offensive woes, as the team has averaged just over 20 points per game in conference play after posting 37 points per game during its 3-0 non-conference start.
Freeze admitted after the Missouri game that “you could easily be sitting here with one loss,” but instead, the Tigers are battling both execution issues and a string of critical injuries.
Amid the chaos, Freeze is also reopening Auburn’s quarterback competition. According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Freeze told reporters that both starter Jackson Arnold and Stanford transfer Ashton Daniels will get first-team reps in practice this week.
“We’ll see how that goes before making any declarations on the quarterback situation,” Freeze said. The move comes after inconsistent play from Arnold, who has shown flashes of potential but struggled with turnovers and late-game accuracy in SEC play.
With Auburn’s season teetering, Freeze hopes internal competition will spark improvement across the roster. “It’s sickening because you could easily be sitting here with one loss, but we’re not, and that falls on me and the staff,” he said postgame. “At some point, you have to win football games.”
Despite growing frustration from fans, Freeze insists the Tigers are “close” to turning things around. “I know that people are tired of hearing that because I’m tired of saying it,” he said. “But we’ll get it over the hump.”
Auburn faces Arkansas next week, still searching for its first SEC victory, and possibly, its next starting quarterback.
