How Does Auburn’s Win at Arkansas Affect Hugh Freeze’s Job Security?

The Auburn Tigers claimed their first SEC victory of the season with a 33-24 win over Arkansas, but many of the same recurring issues showed up once again in Fayetteville on Saturday afternoon.

Auburn scored just one offensive touchdown, which, similar to the Georgia game, came on the opening drive, and its inability to capitalize in the red zone against a lackluster Arkansas defense was concerning.

However, although Saturday marked Auburn’s first win in 42 days, fans are still skeptical of the program’s leadership and head coach Hugh Freeze.

Some fans even expressed on social media leading up to the game how they wouldn’t be too disappointed if Arkansas won, assuming that Freeze would’ve been fired if the Tigers had lost.

There’s no way to know what athletics director John Cohen would’ve done, but the fact that Auburn fans would be willing to sacrifice a win in order to fire Freeze is a testament to the public feeling around him.

Freeze may have survived this weekend, but a nine-point win against a 2-5 team that is winless in the SEC, holds zero Power Four wins, and is led by an interim head coach is certainly not enough for him to feel comfortable or “save” his job.

This win didn’t exactly tell us anything new about Auburn. D.J. Durkin’s unit could be considered a top-three defense in the country, which was already known, but the offense still struggled heavily against a Razorback defense that ranks last in the SEC in most statistical categories.

Arkansas sits at dead last in the conference in yards allowed per game (435.9), points allowed per game (32.8), rushing yards allowed per game (193.9), and 14th in the league in passing yards allowed per game (242.0). There are only two teams in the nation – Oklahoma State and Syracuse – that allow more yards per game than the Razorbacks.

Yes, the Tigers scored 33 points and Alex McPherson went 6-for-6 on field goals, but Auburn scored one offensive touchdown against a historically bad defense.

Stanford transfer Ashton Daniels provided a spark for the Tigers after Jackson Arnold was benched towards the end of the first half, but he didn’t do much to prove that he is a far better option than Arnold.

What a catch, Eric Singleton Jr. pic.twitter.com/VrdalSuCEW
— The Barn (@TheBarn_Auburn) October 25, 2025

Daniels found success running the football, totaling 35 yards on seven carries, and he hit Eric Singleton Jr. on a beautiful 48-yard deep ball down the field in the fourth quarter, but Auburn didn’t find the endzone on offense a single time with him at quarterback.

Not to say that he can’t be a continuous spark throughout the next few games, but the Tigers’ offense didn’t experience a drastic change when Daniels was under center.

Additionally, there’s an underlying theme to this quarterback change that isn’t being talked about enough.

Freeze missed on another quarterback.

He brought in Payton Thorne for his first season and doubled down on him last year, which obviously didn’t work out. Then, Freeze picked up Arnold out of the transfer portal over the offseason, believing Arnold could succeed with a change of scenery and a fresh start in a new system.

However, it appears Arnold is not what Freeze had envisioned, meaning he likely committed another missed evaluation. And in the end, everything comes back to the head coach.

Auburn fought through adversity and found a way to win for the first time this season, but a win against arguably the worst team in the SEC will not affect Freeze’s job security.

Auburn has high standards as a program, and consistent mediocrity (or worse than) is unacceptable.

His seat is still scorching hot, and the pressure on Freeze will not alleviate heading into the last four games of 2025.