What follows is a rough transcript of Hugh Freeze's appearance on "Tiger Talk" Monday night. This is not meant to be a comprehensive transcript. We try to have fun with it.
• ANDY is Andy Burcham, the official Voice of The Auburn Tigers.
• NOT ANDY is Brad Law, who is not the Official Voice of the Auburn Tigers yet is terrific in his own right.
(ANDY is in Maui and therefore not available tonight.)
NOT ANDY asks about what it was like going out after the game last weekend. His wife, Jill, had grilled sausage and corn on the cob waiting on him at home.
NOT ANDY says it was quite a win. "A&M's roster is as good as we've seen. You knew they were going to make a run and make big plays. I know people boo when I run it on third-and-long ... devastation could happen. You're not going to protect against those type of fronts (that they use on third-and-long.) It was really gratifying to see our kids ... in this particular game ... keep fighting and win."
NOT ANDY asks about how the seniors got a big win. "I'm happy for our fans. We finally delivered to them something that brings them joy. That means a lot to me. It bothers me that we had a chance to win more games this year and didn't. Auburn people are different. They see growth. They see recruiting efforts and are excited about what can be."
***COMMERCIAL BREAK***
HERB is in the house. He wants to thank Hugh for spending so much time with fans at these events. (Hugh is getting paid to do this show, guys.) He asks a complicated question about kickoffs. This is too far in the weeds for me.
NOT ANDY wants to talk about keeping emotions in check during the last drive in regulation. "Do you want to go through the full gamut of emotions I went through that night? (GUFFAWS ALL AROUND.) When you watch the film ... this not a negative because Jarquez played his guts out ... there's a run there if he trusts the block of Dre, I think he scores and the game's over in regulation. I do start feeling the anxiety when you've got to kick the three points. I was pretty full of anxiety at that moment. Give Ian credit. I was on his tail earlier (after the miss). I don't usually do that to kickers, but he's one I can talk to pretty normally. He responded in big-time form."
SOME DUDE is in the house. He asks about coaching in the Iron Bowl. "I've honestly always enjoyed playing there. I'm one of the few to go in there and get a win. And I plan to do it again soon. You have to change how you prep -- we'll prep with crowd noise and we'll have to get in the huddles more to make sure we communicate effectively. Road games in this league are not much fun. This is one we will embrace -- home and away. It's the greatest rivalry in college football."
***COMMERCIAL BREAK***
BUSTER is in the house. It's his birthday! He's confused on the OPI call against Rivaldo. "It almost cost us the game. In all honesty, I have never ... I was full of so much rage at that moment. I wanted a piece of that guy so bad. I told the head official: 'I want to fight him right now. If you get him over here, I'm going to fight him.' I might be fined, I don't know. I said that in the press conference too. That's how I felt at that time, too. It was an absolute phantom call. I'm sure they feel awful when they see that they've made a mistake. You've got to believe that. All we as coaches just continue to ask for it: Make it be a quality foul. Sometimes it just seems like they anticipate something happening. I did have a conversation today with the head of the officials and he was incredibly supportive."
NOT ANDY asks if officials are OK with coaches getting mad sometimes. "The good ones ... have done this for a while and they've very tolerant to a point. I think they get it. As long as they hear me out, I usually can get over it pretty quick."
DREW is in the house. He wants to talk about Dre's big catch. "I don't know that he gets enough notoriety." (Wrong word choice there.) "He continues making contested catches as good as anyone I've seen. We've run that particular play maybe 10 times over the course of fall camp. He's made that catch maybe eight times against our guys, so I wasn't surprised. Dre's done a heck of a job of us."
NOT ANDY asks for more information on Dre. "We probably haven't used him enough. We probably should target him more."
NOT ANDY asks about Dre and Cam working together. "They both complement each other well."
"I wish we could play a few more games over right now. We're starting to get into our stride offensively."
***COMMERCIAL BREAK***
DAWN is in the house. She wants to know what they're doing for Thanksgiving. She also wants to know when reverse Tiger Walk will happen.
a.) "I love getting together with our team and talking about gratitude. Each position room has adopted a family in need. They're responsible ... to go out and purchase everything they need to have a Thanksgiving. They'll deliver those tomorrow and Wednesday. We'll be together on Thanksgiving day and then leave Friday for Tuscaloosa."
b.) We don't know about reverse Tiger Walk times.
NOT ANDY asks Freeze to design his perfect Thanksgiving plate. "Has to be my mother's dressing. I don't like everything kind of dressing, but I like her. Has to be butter beans, cream corn and smoked turkey or ham. It's a pretty big plate that day."
MAKENZIE/MCKENZY/MACKENZIE is in the house. She wants to know how to defend Ryan Williams. "I wish it was only him we had to worry about so we can focus on him. At some point, he'll be in some 1-on-1s with our guys. You gotta hope we win our share of 1-on-1s. We've got to keep (Milroe) in the pocket."
NOT ANDY asks about how Milroe is good when he's out of the pocket. "It's very challenging."
KIMMY is in the house. She wants to know about injuries. "We're sore. It was a very, very physical game. I expect no one to be held out of practice tomorrow. Jeremiah Wright is struggling through some injuries. Rivaldo got hit in the eye off of a JUGS machine ... but I think he'll be OK."
ART is in the house. He wants to know if Auburn will butt-stomp Alabama. GUFFAWS ALL AROUND. "That would be really, really nice to deliver that to you. It wouldn't shock me if we go up there and steal one."
NOT ANDY wants to know about keys to the game. "We're really good when we win first down and stay out of those third-and-longs. You've got to win first down and obviously turnovers. We've taken pretty good care of it of late and I hope that continues."
He finishes with an earnest "Thank you guys for ... your love for Auburn. War Eagle."
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