Hugh Freeze identifies the one problem Auburn Tigers will have to take care of against Missouri Tigers to stop losing streak
Auburn must stop star running back Ahmad Hardy and that’s going to take discipline all game long
The Auburn Tigers desperately need to get a win. Yes, their three consecutive losses have come to top tier, top ten teams in the country (Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and Georgia). However, Hugh Freeze knows that he has to start winning soon or his seat is set to get incredibly hot.
When coach Freeze met with SEC media this week to talk through the upcoming Missouri matchup one particular problem came to mind that he was going to have to take care of if Auburn wanted to take home a victory. Containing running back Ahmad Hardy. That’s likely going to be a problem, especially if Auburn’s defense plays like they did down the stretch against Georgia.
Key stats to know ahead of Auburn versus Missouri
- Auburn Tigers still rank second among all FBS teams in yards per carry and rush success rate allowed on defense
- Missouri Tigers rank 7th in offensive yards per carry and 11th rush success rate in the nation
- Auburn ranks 23rd overall in adjusted EPA (expected points added) per play allowed on defense
- Missouri ranks 17th overall in adjusted EPA per play on offense
- Auburn still ranks 131st in sacks taken this season
- Missouri ranks top 25 in sacks per game generated on defense
Auburn Tigers must be disciplined to stop Mizzou’s Ahmad Hardy
For those unfamiliar, Ahmad Hardy, Missouri’s star running back leads all power conference players in rushing yards as of this week. He’s averaging nearly seven yards per carry and over 130 yards per game as the centerpiece to the Missouri offensive attack. Stopping him will be priority number one for Auburn and might be a huge problem according to Hugh Freeze:
“[Ahmad] Hardy, I think he’s got like 600 yards after contact. He’s got a really good offensive line, and they play well in their system. They know what they’re going to do, and they do it really, really well. And you add to that a quarterback that’s very dynamic with his feet and can make explosive plays down the field with the receivers he has. It’s it’s a tough combination, for sure. But Hardy, it starts with him keeping them on schedule, which he’s been able to do in most every game.”
To Freeze’s point, Hardy seriously has more than 600 of his yards coming after contact this season (of his 783 rushing yards), good for over five yards after contact per rushing attempt. Hardy is extremely tough to bring down. The good news? Auburn ranks second in the nation in yards per carry and rush success rate allowed. However, that didn’t exactly happen against Georgia in the second half last week.
Freeze talked about how proud he was of his young defense overall this week, but he did address the problematic showing to end last week’s Georgia game. If that continues against a ferocious runner like Hardy, Auburn’s going to have a rough day:
“We know we’re playing a lot of young kids on defense, but they are executing very, very well for the major part of the game [against Georgia]. We only had 23 missed assignments in the game, which is very, very, very low defensively. But 11 of them came on the last that 17 play drive [that sealed the win for Georgia].”
Auburn continues to put together a really strong showing for the majority of football games, but then fall short in critical moments. If that trend continues this week against Missouri, then Hugh Freeze might be in for a world of hurt. If Auburn can perform well all game long, that will be the difference. Auburn at their best can beat most anyone, but the self-inflicted errors have to stop.
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