This is an opinion column.

Let’s get the asterisks out of the way. Auburn’s first SEC victory of the 2023 season came against Mississippi State, not Georgia or Alabama. It was State without injured starting quarterback Will Rogers, who had torched the Tigers for 772 yards and nine touchdowns in Bulldog victories the last two years.

Sadly and most significantly, it was State without Mike Leach, whose shocking death last December left a hole in that program – and a lot of hearts beyond it – that will be difficult to fill.

Maybe Leach’s spirit inhabited the home team Saturday in Jordan-Hare Stadium. Something got into Payton Thorne and the suddenly productive Auburn passing game in their 27-13 win. Thorne taking almost every snap helped as he found an early rhythm and completed 20 of 26 passes for 230 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions or sacks.

Those aren’t exactly Air Raid numbers unless you compare them to his previous work on the Plains.

With that must-win in the bank, with Hugh Freeze’s first SEC victory since Nov. 12, 2016, with Ole Miss at Texas A&M in the rear-view mirror, it’s time for the head coach to rearrange his priorities and his schedule. He’s admitted that he’s divided his time, even on game days, between recruiting and game-planning. There’s one more daily requirement to add to his to-do list between now and Nov. 25.