Second-year Auburn football coach Hugh Freeze made a name for himself after he rattled off a couple of wins over former Alabama coach Nick Saban when he was at Ole Miss. With Saban now retired, Freeze and Auburn are set up to become one of the elite teams in the SEC once again.
It usually doesn't take Freeze long to have his teams racking up wins. In his first year at Arkansas State, the Red Wolves went 10-3. At Ole Miss, by Year 2, the Rebels were 8-5 after 7-6 the year before. At Liberty, he went 10-1 in his second season after 8-5 the prior season. What will Year 2 on the Plains look like for Freeze?
That’s tough to say, but it looks promising given Freeze’s track record. However, this is a much different SEC compared to when he left back in 2016. It’s added two new members (Texas and Oklahoma), one of which the Tigers will play in September (No. 16 Oklahoma). There are also no divisions in the conference now and a 12-team playoff field to determine the national champion.
Also, don't forget that Freeze’s last season at Ole Miss he went 5-7. Does he still have the ability to produce some of those eight, nine, or 10-win seasons again at Auburn? Time will tell. Now let’s get into our final Auburn football predictions for the 2024 season.
Payton Thorne throws for at least 2,500 yards
Payton Thorne was one of Freeze’s main transfer portal additions last season, but the former Michigan State quarterback didn’t have a great 2023. The Tigers were dead last in the SEC in passing yards per game (162.2).
For the year, Thorne had career lows as a full-time starter. He completed 162-of-265 pass attempts for 1,755 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. In the previous two seasons for the Spartans, Thorne threw for 3,232 and 2,679 yards. Another year in Freeze’s offensive system, plus a massive upgrade to the wide receiver room, should make a notable difference in the passing offense this season and allow Thorne to reach at least 2,500 yards.
Auburn football has at least one wide receiver exceed 600 yards
Sticking with the offensive woes of last season, Auburn's leading receiver, Rivaldo Fairweather, had just 394 receiving yards. Not since 2020 has Auburn had a receiver surpass 600 yards. With what hopes to be a much-improved receiving corps, that should hopefully change.
Firstly, the Tigers bring in five-star standout Cam Coleman, who should make an almost immediate impact. From the transfer portal, they added KeAndre Lambert-Smith out of Penn State and Robert Lewis from Georgia State, both coming off career years. Lambert-Smith led the Nittany Lions with 53 receptions for 673 yards and four touchdowns. Lewis had 70 receptions for 877 yards and seven touchdowns.
Honestly, with Year 2 in Freeze’s scheme, this prediction may be a little modest. With the upgrades this group has gotten, there could be more than just one receiver to exceed 600 yards.
Auburn football wins four straight going into facing Alabama
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Starting at the end of September, the Tigers go on a tough three-game stretch against preseason top 25 opponents. They’ll host No. 16 Oklahoma before going on the road the next two weeks against No. 1 Georgia and No. 11 Missouri. There’s bound to be a loss or two in there. However, afterward, the schedule lightens up for a little while.
The next five weeks will consist of a third straight road game at Kentucky, then home for three weeks against Vanderbilt, UL Monroe, and No. 20 Texas A&M before the Iron Bowl against Alabama to end the regular season. These four matchups could prove crucial in Auburn earning bowl eligibility. The Tigers can definitely go 4-0 during this stretch and, in doing so, gain major momentum heading into Tuscaloosa.
Auburn football finishes with eight to nine wins and ranked
In the long history of the Auburn football program, they haven't had four consecutive losing seasons since the late 1970s. This is why Freeze was brought in—to stop the bleeding. If not for letting the game against Alabama slip away in the final moments, the Tigers would have had a winning season last year, making it to seven wins. Is seven wins this season considered a minor failure, though?
If it is, it won’t be one that will cost Freeze his job, but this team feels like it could be better than seven wins. If eight or nine wins becomes a reality, then so could a season-ending ranking. The Tigers haven't finished a season ranked in the top 25 since 2019, when they finished 9-4, their last winning season. In what was Gus Malzahn’s next-to-last season, they ranked 12th in the final College Football Playoff poll and 14th in the AP poll.
