College Football Overtime: Hugh Freeze's Auburn future, another round of top 10 upsets lead Week 10 takeaways

Another week, another round of upsets in college football with a trio of top 10 teams falling (Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt, Miami). It's the fourth week this season in which at least three top 10 teams lost on the same weekend. That unpredictability means leagues like the ACC, Big 12 and SEC remain incredibly knotted at the top entering November. Not that everyone could watch all those Week 10 upsets. If you're a YouTube TV subscriber like me you had to get a little creative to view the games you wanted to watch. But don't worry, if you had any concerns about where to turn, SEC commish Greg Sankey and is there to shill for his partner at ESPN. But that's college football in 2025!

Anyway, Week 10 is over and you know how this works: Let's run through the week that was in college football starting with the looming decision at Auburn that could add more fuel to an already blazing coaching carousel.

ONE BIG THING: IT'S NOT WORKING AT AUBURN

Update: Auburn fired Hugh Freze on Sunday afternoon.

Auburn's game with Kentucky followed a damning cadence for Hugh Freeze: An Auburn punt coupled by a round of boos. It happened again and again Saturday evening as the Tigers lost 10-3 against a Kentucky (3-5) team that entered the week at 14th in the SEC in points allowed per game.

By the time Auburn limped off the field in defeat, the Tigers fans remaining had already begun to belt, "Fire Hugh! Fire Hugh!" It's a signal from the fan base that the end is near. Those are chants that coaches don't usually survive.

When you lose the fan base, you usually lose your job. Only hope puts butts in the seats and dollars into the ever-growing coffers required to succeed at college football's highest levels. That's usually in short supply when the boo birds rain down with regularity.

There really isn't an argument to keep Freeze at this point.

The Tigers went all in this offseason. Boosters poured more than $10 million into the roster with a top 10 transfer class. There were a pair of four-star offensive tackles, a superstar receiver (Eric Singleton Jr.) and a seven-figure quarterback in Jackson Arnold whom Freeze and his staff handpicked to trigger the offense.

Arnold wouldn't be another Payton Thorne. He'd be a problem solver, a former five-star recruit Freeze whom could coach up and "fix" after a unflattering starting debut in Norman, Oklahoma, as a sophomore.

By the time November rolled around, Freeze had already played his last card — he benched Arnold, looking to spark an offense that only once cleared the 17-point barrier in SEC play this season.

It didn't work.

Auburn (4-5) opened the game with four straight punts and averaged four yards per pass. The Tigers finished with more punts (seven) than points (three). It's the first game that the Tigers have lost since 1991 in which they surrendered 10 points or fewer.

At this point, I'd remind you that Freeze came to Auburn as an offensive messenger. He's the quarterback whisperer, someone who could turn broken Auburn transfer Malik Willis into a Day 2 draft pick at Liberty. Hughes would be the play-caller. He'd be the advantage.

Instead, Freeze could never quite get around his own hubris. He wouldn't fully give up play-calling. He couldn't find the right quarterback, including joining the Cam Ward sweepstakes weeks too late.

He recruited well. He flattered the boosters. But at the end of the day none of that matters without wins, and Freeze is just 15-18 on the Plains, including 6-15 in SEC play.

So I ask aloud: What's the point of an offense-first head coach who can't score points with a top 10 or 15 roster in the sport? Expect athletic director John Cohen and a buzzing Auburn booster base to be asking themselves that same question Sunday evening and Monday morning.

(Editor's note: Auburn has since fired Freeze.)

REPORT CARD

A. OHIO STATE BUCKEYES

For the first time since Ohio State's opener against Texas, the No. 1 Buckeyes had a real challenge, holding just a three-point halftime lead over Penn State. That score would have been perfectly reasonable if you could erase the Nittany Lions' last month. But with Penn State suffering four straight losses and firing James Franklin, that margin could have been cause for alarm in Columbus, Ohio.

So, Ohio State came out after halftime and scored 21 unanswered points, which led to a 38-14 win. The Buckeyes (8-0) allowed just 7 yards on Penn State's first three second-half drives. The fourth and final drive by PSU (3-5) ended in an interception. The offense, meanwhile, opened with back-to-back touchdown drives of 75 and 84 yards. Neither took more than seven plays.

The Buckeyes just keep winning with surgical, almost boring precision. But don't overlook how hard that is to do in this parity-filled season of college football. This is an Ohio State team that's beaten Big Ten opponents by an average of 26.6 points per game.

That's dominance no matter the opponent, and the Buckeyes have done that to some really quality competition like Washington, Illinois and Minnesota.

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The push for a repeat is alive and well in Columbus. The Buckeyes have no obvious holes.

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