Know Thy Enemy: Adam Cole from The Montgomery Advertiser previews Auburn

For the first time in 2025, Mizzou football is hitting the road, and the inaugural voyage comes at a critical point in the season.

The Tigers were gut-checked for the first time this season in a 27-24 loss to Alabama, as the Crimson Tide made a few more big-time plays than the Tigers did. Now, Mizzou will look to bounce back on The Plains, where MU suffered a shocking 17-14 defeat in overtime three seasons ago. Since then, Auburn has remained mediocre, while Mizzou has skyrocketed into SEC title contention. But in a series filled with wild and wacky moments, expecting normalcy might be foolish, even if one team has fared better than the other in recent years.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Q: Auburn has had a wonky season up to this point. What have you made of it?

A: It’s kind of become what the presumed worst-case scenario was going into this year. Last year, everybody really wanted to put it on the quarterback (Payton Thorne), and that’s fine and dandy. But the reality was, if you went out and got who you got in the transfer portal in Jackson Arnold or anybody of that equivalent, and they look like Payton Thorne all over again, it’s hard to put that on anybody but the coach (Hugh Freeze).

There’s a lot of talent in that locker room. But Freeze is calling plays based on his history of success and his reputation as a play caller, and when you don’t change the dynamic to fit what your team is doing best, which is running the football, you’re going to be really hard pressed to win football games.

Q: Jackson Arnold’s season has mirrored his team’s up-and-down nature. How much of his struggles have had to do with his faults versus the shortcomings of everything around him?

A: It’s definitely a bit of both. This could change from the time we talk to the time this publishes, but I would not be shocked if there’s a change at quarterback. At the same time, some of that falls on the offensive line for some of the struggles that have happened up to this point.

I think Jackson Arnold has, at times, held on to the ball for too long. He’s missed open reads, but at the same time, whether it’s him, whether it’s Mason Murphy or Xavier Chaplin at the tackle spots, it’s hard to want to see those guys get better when the guy calling plays for them isn’t adjusting to try to put them in spots to win. When Jackson gets his legs involved, it opens up a lot. But this has not been the explosive, high-flying Air Raid type of offense that I think a lot of people hoped it would be this year.

Q: If it were up to you and the masses, would Auburn run the ball more?

A: I think the masses would certainly say yes, and I would say yes.

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Jeremiah (Cobb) has looked great this year. There was a level of wonder about how he would look between the tackles with more reps, and he has very much looked the part. He looks like a true feature back. You have to get out there and maul a little bit to get the defense respecting what you do in the run. That way, they’re not pinning their ears back to rush the passer on every single down. Auburn looked like it was doing that for one half of football last week, and then everything happens with that fumble call, and it’s back to the same old, same old. They were pressing.

You’ve got to be stubborn running the football. Auburn has been far from stubborn in doing that.

Q: Who are some other players on offense that folks should look out for?

A: The name that’s going to steal headlines is Cam Coleman. He’s an electric player. His bread and butter is the one-on-one jump ball. The other guy that almost everyone knows is Eric Singleton Jr. He was super dynamic in Georgia Tech’s offense last year. He was, at one point, one of the top-rated players in the transfer portal. Despite the lack of offensive success Auburn has had in SEC play, he’s still looked very dependable.

Q: Auburn’s defense has kept the team afloat for much of the season. What do they do well, and which players have played the best?

A: It’s such a cliché, but they’ve really been a bend-don’t-break defense. Auburn has not let a lot of teams score many points. The only team that scored at least 20 points against them before Oklahoma was Baylor. They’ve done a really good job in the red zone. They’ve done, for the most part, a pretty good job on crucial downs. But I think their biggest weakness is the pass defense, especially from the non-secondary players. It’s been porous. That’s been the case over the last two years, but they’ve looked a lot better this year. They’re not an elite defense, but they’re a defense that plays good football.

As far as names to know, a lot of people know Keldric Faulk. He’s probably going to be a top-15 pick in the NFL Draft this year. The guy on the other end, Keyron Crawford, has just exploded this year. He was a super productive transfer who came in last year from Arkansas State. He only had one sack last year, but he’s their leader in sacks this year. He’s looked incredible rushing the passer. Another guy who’s been a blast to watch is Xavier Atkins. He was a freshman at LSU last year and played only a handful of snaps. He’s looked like Auburn’s best defender. He’s explosive, one of those guys you probably want a little more from in pass coverage, but what he brings to the defense as far as intensity and swagger … he’s a really fun player to watch.

Q: During Freeze’s tenure at Auburn, the Tigers haven’t been very good in close games. Freeze said after the Georgia game that his team didn’t handle adversity well. Has that been a common theme over the last few years?

A: Yes. This platitude of culture, there’s only so much weight in speaking about it. But I do think there’s a lot of truth in the fact that your team is an extension of your coach. Auburn goes into the locker room against Georgia, and they’re still up a touchdown. You’re still in a good spot, but you manage to piss it away, and that’s been a constant through three years. It does not matter what the opponent is. It does not matter the location. If the game is close and Auburn finds itself having to battle back on offense, they have not been able to respond. You can put that on some of the players, but at the end of the day, when it happens so consistently, at a certain point, that falls on the shoulders of your head coach.

Q: What do you think is going to happen on Saturday?

A: I think if people are picking this game, they would be wise to pick Missouri. At the end of the day, I think this game is going to be low-scoring. It’s going to be a grind. I think it could be really ugly, and you’re either going to see Auburn finally do what it needs to do to get over the hump, or you’re going to see the same sort of flatlining. I would not be shocked if there’s a coaching change on The Plains after that.