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Stay hydrated with Joe’s free newsletter, SPORTS! Happy Hour. Here’s the link to sign up. This is an opinion column. ____________________ The Monday morning notes column begins with Auburn, which appears to be allergic to winning. Should Freeze have been fired after this latest loss? Does anyone have an EpiPen for this Auburn football team? Something needs to change on the Plains. Meanwhile, the UAB Blazers found immediate success after kicking coach Trent Dilfer to the curb, and sister school Alabama is back on top of the SEC. WAKE & TAKE It’s a new week and Hugh Freeze is still the coach of the Auburn Tigers. Many expected Freeze to be fired after losing to No.15 Missouri in overtime, but athletics director John Cohen made the decision to give Freeze more time. Why? Auburn is still selling out its games, and no one can argue that the team isn’t competitive. Something obviously needs to change, though. This team needs a reset going into this weekend’s game against the Hogs. Arkansas has already fired its coach. This is a must-win game for Freeze and the Tigers. The freak-out factor is always a little higher down on the Plains, but this program isn’t in complete disarray like it was with former coach Bryan Harsin. Freeze made his case after this latest heart-breaking defeat, and pointed out that he’s a good culture fit for the Tigers. It was a curious card to play after losing four straight games to ranked opponents. What culture is that exactly? No one loses closer games to good teams better than Freeze and Auburn. In the SEC, there is only one culture that really matters, and that’s winning. And sometimes simply winning isn’t good enough. Just look at Florida. Florida fired Billy Napier on Sunday after the Gators struggled to victory against Mississippi State. Was Napier a bad culture fit? In his written statement announcing the termination, Florida athletics director Scott Stricklin even noted that Napier was a positive influence on his players. Nice only gets you so far in Gainesville, though. UF fans are already dreaming of SEC super-troll Lane Kiffin. When I think of Florida football, Steve Spurrier, Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow come to mind. (Aaron Hernandez, too, but we won’t go there.) When I think of Auburn, I picture Pat Dye, Pat Sullivan, Bo Jackson and Cam Newton. Auburn needs an energetic, tough coach who can recruit elite players to take down on one of the toughest schedules in the country year in and year out. The good news for Auburn, is that in this new era of college football, an enterprising coach can identify and pay for great players. The bad news for Auburn is that Freeze thinks he’s really smart and can fix anything. He’s like the guy who floods the house trying to fix his kitchen sink. Dude, just pay for the plumber. Every year is the same thing with Freeze. He thinks he can save a little money on quarterbacks. You’re at Auburn, Hugh. Pat Dye had Bo Jackson. Gene Chizik and Gus Malzahn had Cam Newton. No one wants to see Jackson Arnold get sacked more than grapes at the grocery store and then walk off the field and shrug it off like, “Meh, no big deal.” The Tigers have been so close every week. Auburn was leading late in the game against Oklahoma. The defense couldn’t hold on and the quarterback wasn’t good enough to manufacture a winning drive. That was the beginning of the trend. It’s been the same story every week. It’s time to bench Jackson Arnold. He had his chance. He’s done. Auburn goes to Arkansas and then Kentucky. It’s time to bring in freshman quarterback Deuce Knight and begin looking to the future. Is Cohen correct in giving Freeze another week to turn things around? Yes. There’s still a lot to like about this Auburn football team. That’s the tough part to square for anyone who wants Freeze fired. Freeze has recruited great skill players. The defense is elite. It costs too much money to change coaches and flip a roster if the current roster is good enough to win. This is going to sound counterintuitive, but I’m beginning to like Freeze more and more with every loss. His team is still playing hard despite all the losses. That’s a sign of good coaching, right? THE BRIGHT LIGHT OF MORNING UAB fired the worst coach in America and then turned around and defeated rival Memphis six days later. Congrats to UAB interim coach Alex Mortensen. He’s already a UAB legend after one game. Hey, it doesn’t take much on the Southside. The UAB-Memphis game was on in the press box at Bryant-Denny Stadium before Alabama’s kickoff with Tennessee. I was glued to the TV. A small collection of reporters then gathered around to watch the crazy ending. Mortensen made some brilliant calls and it looks like he’s found a new quarterback, too. Ryder Burton is from Utah. He should probably be a pro snowboarder with that name, but he’s now the starting quarterback for the Blazers. Burton has hopped around all over the country (BYU, West Virginia), but it looks like he found a home in Birmingham. Burton completed 20 of 27 passing attempts and had three touchdowns in UAB’s shocking victory. Burton’s final touchdown pass came with 4:06 to play and clinched the victory. The Battle for the Bones Trophy stays in Birmingham and UAB is now 11-7 all-time against rival Memphis. Did anyone think UAB could upset No.22 Memphis? Not to brag, but here’s what I wrote last week: This being UAB and the AAC, though, don’t be surprised if UAB shocks the conference and actually upsets rival Memphis. I’m curious to see how interim coach Alex Mortensen handles the opportunity. Mortensen worked for Nick Saban at Alabama for nine years. He learned from the best of the best. UAB ends the season with Rice, North Texas, No.18 South Florida and then Tulsa. That’s a tough schedule. If Mortensen finishes strong, then he should be the permanent coach of UAB. I have always believed in Mortensen’s ability to be a great head coach, and he’s already proving he can do the job. UAB is lucky to have him. RISING STAR The Rising Star Award this week goes to Alabama linebacker Yohnzae Pierre. He only had one career sack going into the Third Saturday in October, but then tripled that total against Tennessee. Pierre is from Eufaula, Ala. He’s the player who forced Tennessee’s safety in the second quarter. Pierre also had a key sack on third down of the Vols’ second drive of the game. FADING STAR The fading star is crashing through the entire state of Florida this week. Previously undefeated Miami lost to Louisville on Friday and the Canes dropped all the way from No.2 to No.9 in the AP Poll. But cheer up, Canes fans. At least you’re not Florida and Florida State. Wouldn’t it be bizarre if both Florida and Florida State went into Rivalry Week with interim coaches? It could happen. Billy Gonzales is the interim coach at UF. Over at FSU, coach Mike Norvell is back on the hot seat after the Noles’ loss to Stanford. Stanford’s roster has been decimated by injuries this season, but the Cardinal still found a way to upset FSU, which has now lost four straight conference games to begin the season and nine straight games to ACC foes dating back to last season. Remember when FSU opened the season with a victory against Alabama? Nah, me neither. YOUR EMAILS JR of Auburn writes … Going back to last year’s games against Arkansas and Oklahoma, and then fast forwarding to all of this year’s losses, each game has eerily similar traits. Pretty darn good defense, crucial missed field-goal opportunities and terrible red-zone offense. And last but not least, finding creative ways to lose. Charles in LA writes … Why I am certainly encouraged by Alabama’s play of late, it may be a little premature to claim them as the best team in the country. I’m still very concerned with our lack of a running game, and the defense still has issues as well. I do think that the NIL and the transfer portal have created more parity where there will probably not be any more dynasties. LENGTH & GIRTH MVP This week’s Hugh Freeze Honorary Length & Girth MVP (it’s a major award) goes to Vanderbilt cornerback Jordan Matthews. Matthews is the player who made that touchdown-saving tackle in the Commodores’ 31-24 victory against LSU. “I ran a lot of high school track, and middle school and even younger than that,” Matthew said after the game. “So, I credit all of that to my upbringing, my dad. My brother, he was pushing me as a kid. “And this team, playing hard every snap will just earn you a win. And that play was a great example of that. So, I’m glad Coach [Clark] Lea preaches that every day.” Matthews, who is from Louisiana, spent two seasons at Tennessee before transferring to Vanderbilt.
