Is Auburn football a lock against Texas A&M AND Kentucky? | Auburn Tigers Podcast

Auburn's battle with Texas A&M and Kentucky should they be true lots for the Tigers to [Music] win you are locked on Auburn your daily podcast on the Auburn Tigers part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day yes welcome on into lock on Auburn your daily Auburn Tigers podcast I'm your host Zack flery and thank you so much for making lock on Auburn your first listen every single day it is a war Rapport Wednesday with the Mike G of the war aore how many wins do Auburn win this season we discussed that but Mike G y'all did a Show recently where you guys did it y'all do this every year the boss toss and loss and so the games the part of Auburn schedule that you think are are guaranteed wins you put it into the boss category the 50 tossup games you put in toss and then the ones that you think Auburn are going to lose you put in the loss I love it I love it you you were pretty aggressive in favor of Auburn you were pretty aggressive in favor of Auburn you've got a lot in the in the boss category that guaranteed wins and we'll jump into that in a second but earlier in the offseason I mean you were pretty critical on this team where you said you know seven and five you know eight and four I don't want to put words in your mouth but you said something around that was the ceiling if I remember correctly you've kind of pivoted I me you're pretty high on this team now what what changed in your mind yeah look uh for for full accountability sake Zack I thought seven and5 might actually be the ceiling for this team preing now seeing how theyve developed during the Spring um you know after and this was after sitting down with Q frees oneon-one and sitting down with pyton Thorne oneon-one and sitting down with coaches oneon-one and hearing how things are different and how they've developed and then seeing that not only in the AA game but also uh in the scrimmages and the reports that we been getting from practices uh you know the addition of Keandre Lambert Smith um you know the emergence of Perry Thompson and Malcolm Simmons during the scrimmage that we watched Zach remarkable um I'm a lot higher I'm a lot higher on this offense and and in talking to Derek Nicks as well too so uh yes I have gone from seven and5 to potentially nine win season here uh but yeah it's it's about the Improvement that hu frees was out able to get out of his Squad uh from the time that we made that segment until now it's been pretty remarkable and he hung his hat on this he said look I'm a developer of QBs and a builder of programs and I do it quickly so I'm holding him to his word here and believing that this thing has turned around and that fans should see a marked improvement on offense especially this fall yeah and there's other teams in the conference now that I think as we learn more about them it's like I think Auburn improved more than Texas A&M this off season I think Auburn improved more than Oklahoma so how people are so high on Texas and M Zack baffles me right that Oklahoma is interesting to me I'm with you all right so I want to put this up this is from the war aore and and this is your predictions of Boss toss and loss so the boss you've got New Mexico Cal Arkansas Alabama A&M Kentucky Vandy ULM and Texas A&M for the losses you have Georgia and Missouri and then for the tosses the 50-50 games you've got the iron bowl and then Oklahoma um certainly I certainly agree with a lot of this but the one that stood out to me the boss which is y'all are saying is a guaranteed win right I just want to make sure the terminology is correct so you've got Kentucky Road game to Kentucky and then obviously the home game against Texas A&M you've got those as guaranteed wins why uh Auburn's gonna get one on the road they're not going over on the road right I agree with that if you've got Alabama you've got Georgia on the road and you've got Missouri on the road all teams that finished in the uh final top 10 of the AP last year who are you going to pick there for me it's Kentucky look HRI has improved this squad I think that he's approved them above the level uh where we could should expect a road loss at Kentucky he's got to get one on the road this year I think that KY is the game now I know a lot of people will challenge me and say well you know that's the definition of a tossup game I'm saying no absolutely not he's got to get that one on the road he will get it on the road so I'm putting Kentucky in the boss call yeah this feel feels similar to when Auburn went to fville last year where it's like okay a lot of people really liked Arkansas going into last season because of KJ Jefferson and people love Sam Pitman still I love Sam Pitman don't know if he's a great coach but I like Sam Pitman but you look at it it's a similar thing with Stoops and I think the view of Kentucky is a little inflated because they've benefited from being like the okay team in the SEC East when a lot of the CC east teams have been bad there's no divisions anymore they've got to play everybody and I just think when you look at ky's schedule they host South Carolina okay they host Georgia they go to Old Miss no way they host fandy sure the week before they go to k uh they host Auburn they go to Florida like I don't think Florida's a great team but I do think from a roster standpoint they're better than they're tough they're tough now they've got the hardest schedule in college football but they're tough Zack yeah this is going to be Florida's sigh of relief at home is when they host Kentucky and then obviously you know Auburn will play Kentucky the following week but then uh they go to Tennessee they go to Texas and then you know we'll see what happens when they play Louisville but this is a team that I don't think is going to do well this year and I just have a feeling that the national or conference wide perspective on Stoops and Kentucky as a whole kind of goes takes a step back after this season when they actually have like a an SEC legitimate schedule because this isn't an easy schedule ky's one of those teams Zach that every once in a while they have one of those great Seasons where you feel like they're on the brink and then right when you get your hopes up the very next season they disappoint you I have absolutely no faith when they have to play real teams yeah yeah look I mean the SEC is obviously a monster uh where you're going to see real teams like you said week in and we out um but I believe that hu frees has improved this squad enough that we can expect them to go down to Lexington and get a win um I don't think that's an unreasonable expectation now we've seen last year when hu called plays or so we've been told it it looked Mark marketly better now you've got Derek Nixon there you've got an improved Payton Thorne and I'll tell you if anything has my confidence skyhive that alurn should and will go into Lexington and get a win versus Kentucky it's Thorn's confidence in what they're doing now he absolutely blew me away in our one-on-one uh you know we sat down at vintage 2298 over in Auburn and you know he just he shared what you eat what you eat there I I had the steak well we both had steak pton had steak Yeah uh and man let me tell you these guys can eat we did Hank right after him I did both of them on the same day and those guys put down some steak man but um love it you know even you know even in talking to Hank as well about the marked differences from from last year to this year it's crazy how much more confident these guys sound and so look I'm riding with them you know you know Hugh F has told us I think he's been really really honest if you think about the things that he said in the media there's not been a lot of fluff or coach speak in there it's been exactly what he said it was last year around this time he told us pton Thorne was pressing this year he's acting like he's the most confident he's ever been in any quarterback and I believe I believed him last year so I'm gonna believe him this year yeah I also think it's encouraging now wouldn't have been encouraging if they did this a year ago but whenever you asked about the changes in staff I mean these quarterbacks just totally light up whether it's Hank they do whether it's Payton They Don't Really hold a lot back and you know we're not asking super pointed questions here but it does seem cons like significantly better than a year ago and the dude who's not getting any like real credit here in all this is Ken Austin who is I mean every quarterback that I talk to about Ken Austin they light up and they say wow this guy's so smart he's such a gifted communicator and a coach and a motivator and it sounds like he just gets it and I think elevating him is naturally going to help with all this too and so yeah the combination of him Derek Nicks and Hugh fre like that's a strong offensive um combination there I wanna Z let let me add this about the quarterbacks right um and that's encouraging to hear about Ken Austin obviously you know we knew that as well but like um the quarterbacks are spending way more time with them than they are with Hugh frees right now um and so you want that to be the case uh Hugh freeze had you know is trying to balance the CEO role and continuing to recruit with being Hands-On enough and learning from maybe some of those mistakes of last year where he got hands off a little bit and maybe things didn't go the way that he they should have gone that's how you lose to New Mexico state in my opinion right you get a little T hands off thinking that it's it's a guaranteed and and some things got to way and it wasn't done totally his way obviously they fired Phil Montgomery in the offseason so uh yeah I I'm encouraged to hear what you're saying about Ken Austin because those guys are tied to him right now and he is responsible for their development and their Improvement and it seems like it's happening no question all right so I want to jump into why is this uh game against Texas A&M a guaranteed win in your book because nationally nationally it's become really trendy to to pick the agies over Auburn so that's coming up in just a moment right here unlocked on Auburn Today's Show is brought to you by our friends at game time Mike G let me ask you this question yes sir when you buy a ticket do you want it to be more where you're buying it or less where you're buying more you want to pay more for tickets oh yes sorry can we let's do that over let's do that you don't want to spend more money no no no no no no no no you be more complicated or less complicated I know you're going to get this one right I know you're less complicated game time uh definitely makes that happen they've got um they've got game time picks you know curation to make it uh easier to save more on Sports concerts comedy the theater whatever it might be you also get a panoramic view almost butchered that word get a panoramic view from your seat in the app before you buy so take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time download the game time app an account and use code locked on college for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again creating an account and redeem code locked on college for 20 bucks off had a DM from aist last night hey what's the game time promo code it it's locked on College download game time today last minute tickets lowest prices guaranteed let's jump into this Texas A&M matchup because you I think you've seen the same thing like anybody who's you know rolling out these National predictions at the or predictions at the national level I'm seeing most most people have Auburn losing to Texas C&M at home and I'm going to be honest like I don't get this one I don't get I I get the argument for Oklahoma more so than Texas A&M this one's tricky to me and I feel like I'm on an island here clearly I'm not because you have this as a guaranteed one uh look the the optimism around Mike Elco going to College Station uh you know and I'm not saying that it shouldn't be but I think it's being a little overplayed now uh you know we saw that no matter how many five stars you have you can absolutely coach them down I think that there's been some real dysfunction in Texas A&M for a lot of years there right and and have they fixed that enough that those guys are going to come into Jordan ha and get the win now same energy I have for the road games right like when you look at Auburn's home schedule right we're counting Alabama A&M as a win we're counting Cal win hopefully right like I I hope nobody out there thinks Auburn's going to lose a cal at home right then you've got New Mexico I haven't seen that I'm sure they're out there but I haven't seen that prediction publicly yet right yeah then you've got New Mexico then you've got Arkansas and then you've got Oklahoma which I think is a true toss I put that in my toss column because I think that alurn season the direction that goes hinges on that Oklahoma game you win that one you go into a Georgia undefeated undefeated you got a real chance to hit the over which Vegas said at seven and a half now you don't play a road game home game I'm sorry in the month of October which really sucks hre talked about this this is your best weather for football and you've got Georgia Missouri bye-week in Kentucky right then you come home and you've got Vandy and ULM and you know everybody expects them to get those games but look you know I would say of all the home games outside of Oklahoma Texas A&M is probably Auburn's realest opponent right outside of Oklahoma the rest are we're expecting to be guaranteed wins so you're going to tell me Auburn's going to navigate this whole schedule and possibly not have one solid win at home not one come on man they're gonna beat Texas A&M and I think that Hugh F has got his program in better position right now in year two than Texas A&M is after just firing Jimbo Fisher so you know it's one thing to talk about talent but the dysfunction that goes on behind the scenes is not always fixable in one offseason it's not and and you know maybe by the end of the season they have this together I'm not saying that Auburn is going to run Texas A&M off the field but I don't see Auburn losing this game I think they're going to get a really good win at home I think the Texas A&M is it could that be Auburn's biggest win of the season I think Oklahoma would be the biggest win of the season um uh yeah I'm stuck between Oklahoma in in in Texas A&M uh but the issue with Oklahoma is like it when Auburn beats them it'll look good maybe I think there's a chance that they lose to Tennessee the week before and schedule they've got a brutal schedule they got a brutal schedule like there's a very real chance that they start 0 and three in conference and then like from a resume point of view it's like oh well of course Auburn beat Oklahoma they weren't ready for the SEC and to me I I don't I don't like it might mean more because that's the first like like Marquee win for freeze right but when it's all done like Auburn Texas uh Tennessee they go to w Miss they go to Missouri they host Alabama they go to LSU at the end of the year we may be looking at Oklahoma as this six and six seven to5 team and it's like who cares who cares that you beat Oklahoma yeah I I read somewhere where popular ESPN personality was saying that uh Oklahoma fans better get ready for seven or eight wins and uh you know listen it's going to be tough but I think if they get to that eight win Mark it's going to be a respectable win most people understand what Oklahoma is up against in this first year in the SEC so even if the record doesn't look great at the end of the year Zach I believe that it's going to be a respectable win on on on on Auburn's schedule uh you know they're coming to the planes for the first time in history there's gonna be a lot of hype around this game if they so happen to both be 4 and0 headed into that game you're going to see unprecedented love vipe for this game because the winner has a chance again to make sure that their season continues to Trend the right direction Oklahoma with the tough schedule and then Auburn you know coming off a home stretch which is terrible for fans by the way five five straight home games is terrible for fans uh I hope that doesn't happen again but um you know a month on the road is also not great and you know even though I put Kentucky in the boss column you know if you lose to Oklahoma then you possibly have a month where you don't win a game because you've got to go on the road to Georgia you got to BU week you've got to go on the road to Mississippi right uh I'm sorry to Missouri and uh you know those teams look to be formidable Brady cook and Luther Burton are probably going to be one of the most prolific wide receiver QB combos in the country you know I expect them to give Auburn some trouble uh look they played Georgia really tough last year if you remember that game in Athens and so uh yeah you know like I said I go back and forth about it but I really am leaning Texas A&M here in terms of Auburn should beat them it's going to be a really good win on their schedule and you know we'll see with Oklahoma U you know with the with the schedule that they have in the beginning Zach uh I you hope that everything is sorted out by by the time you get to Oklahoma but just in case they're not you know I put that in the toss column yeah the you know the timing of the Oklahoma game I think is ideal for Auburn I've been pretty consistent with that and especially now because of seeing where Auburn is now that fall Camp is done they're just so far ahead of where they were a year ago and think about yeah I mean it's it doesn't look like the same program it's insane both physically and as far as execution goes it's just everything about it is just so much farther along and I think Auburn's going to benefit from that because still people forget Oklahoma's replacing an entire offensive line they've got a new quarterback and this is their first road game there's no like other test they've got to go to Jordan hair to do that and and I just think that's Jackson Arnold yep Norman yeah yeah and I think he's talented don't get me wrong I think he's talented but it's just you can't replicate that and we we've been talking about offensive line communication from an Auburn point of view just because of some of frieza's comments lately but it's going to be hard for that offensive line to communicate especially with the way that this defensive front for Auburn has been portrayed over the last two or three weeks of Camp I just think that's a really strong potential mismatch and so Yeah the more I talk about this game the more I think yeah Auburn should be Oklahoma at this point yeah will they be ready for the environment that's going to be Jing hair like I said I expect Auburn to be four and0 going into that game I know you do too and once they get here they're going to be met with something that um not necessarily that they haven't seen before because they played in Rockets environments but it hits different down on the planes when we went to Media day Zach and you were there with us you heard player after player from other teams when asked said jorda is the hardest place to play the right now look I I'm I'll never take the title of toughest home environment from LSU because I believe night games at LSU are just built different but it was interesting to hear these players from Georgia and Old Miss and all these other teams say yeah man when we got to go down there their fans are nuts I think and also like let's keep in mind the players that were being interviewed in media days have never played a good Auburn team right right yeah and they still imagine once imagine once we get this thing rolling again yeah exactly uh that's actually a great point so imagine again a four Alburn going into that game yeah right like you know it's gonna be it's all the game's already sold out the university sent us the email Zack the game is sold out we're giving away two tickets to uh that game to that game we give away two tickets to every home game uh so tune in if you want to win some tickets like sure I I don't I'm telling you it's going to be probably one of the more prolific on the planes here in the leadup too and I think H is going to be ready for it he knows that this game is pivotal it's been repeated over and over again in the media when I went on fine bomb he asked me about this game everybody has asked me about this game and I'm telling you yeah ESPN is gonna be gearing up to broadcast this thing nationally and pump it up and I think Auburn needs to be ready on this stage if you're Hugh free what a great you know to cap this Zack what a great recruiting tool for you Oklahoma come into your house you beat the hell out of them and uh you know you go into Georgia undefeated man come on dude this guy's already tearing up the recruiting trail that that will be a big I'm gonna predict that's gonna be a big visit weekend for sure for sure all right uh it's good to have you back on I've missed you so much how can people check out everything you've got going on uh going over to YouTube and search the war report we got lots of great building Rapport segments coming in so I know you have Jake crane on we also have him on as well too CU Heather D will be joining us from ESPN uh so lots of great stuff coming for you guys there follow us on socials every single social media platform T report on Tik Tok we're at the war report yeah hey be sure to like the video please subscribe also check out the barn auburn.com I Dro nuggets there all the time and uh yeah be sure to check that out we'll see you next time this has been locked on Auburn