The Auburn Tigers enter the upcoming matchup against the Kentucky Wildcats at home on Saturday night with a chance to do something they have not done all season long: start a winning streak in the conference
After a win in the first game of the season against the Baylor Bears before taking care of business against both Ball State and South Alabama, it was four consecutive losses over what was a very turbulent month for the program. When they went down 21-10 at halftime last week against Arkansas, it looked like that was it for the current coaching staff, and more specifically Hugh Freeze.
After an impressive second half comeback on the road though, Auburn is in the midst of the lightest portion of their schedule and has a chance to create some momentum in what continues to be must-win games for Freeze and his staff.
Going up against an absolutely dreadful Kentucky team and the chance to win the first home conference game of the year, even though the Tigers are perceived to be heavy favorites, this is an absolutely massive showdown on The Plains.
It’s massive because much like last week, finding a way to somehow lose to what is without a doubt the worst team in the SEC, heads are going to roll at Auburn.
While the pressure is as high as ever — and frankly a decision may already be made but delayed — the Tigers face the Wildcats before a road test against top-ten Vanderbilt, hosting Mercer, and finishing with the Iron Bowl at home in Jordan-Hare.
These are absolutely all winnable games and may have to be in order for Freeze to keep his job, but handling business against a down and out Kentucky team who may soon undergo a coaching change of their own would be an excellent start to keeping things going in the right direction over the second half.
There is still a conceivable road to 8 wins, which most every fan would have been happy with before the season, but the room for error is gone.
