[autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] has revamped the culture of Auburn football in just a short time, which is why many Tiger fans feel that their team will experience a serious upswing this season.
In a recent episode of The Hard Count, On3’s JD PicKell forecasted a 6-6 record for the Tigers in year one under Freeze but lays out a plan for Auburn to completely blow past the prediction.
One way that Auburn can exceed expectations is to find new ways to stop the run on defense.
“The talent level is there, but my concern is that talent level being improved is great, but you still have a defense that allowed over 180 yards rushing game last year,” PicKell said. “You can’t do that in the SEC and expect to be successful; you just can’t do it.”
PicKell also mentions quarterback play when discussing the possibilities of Auburn clawing its way to nine wins. How quickly can [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag] adjust to Hugh Freeze’s scheme? Will he have plenty of talented targets to choose from?
“Now, if Payton Thorne does ball out, the other thing that’s probably true about Auburn this coming season is you have a big dog at wide receiver step up,” PicKell said. “Whether it is Camden Brown, (or) Nick Mardner. Like whoever it is, that would have to be true. I think it goes hand in hand with Payton Thorne excelling and excelling quickly in this offense.”
Check out PicKell’s breakdown of Auburn’s schedule here:
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