Hugh Freeze addresses rumors of Auburn stealing signs against Mississippi State

Hugh Freeze addresses rumors of Auburn stealing signs against Mississippi State

During the SEC’s weekly head coach’s teleconference, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze was asked about a report from Sunday his team may have been stealing signs during the 27-13 win against Mississippi State.

The report suggested Auburn’s defense may have figured out terminology for if Mississippi State’s offense was calling a run or pass play. But if Auburn did figure out such a code, the stats didn’t suggest Auburn played any better.

“Well, we did a poor job if we did,” Freeze said Wednesday. “They had more yards and more explosive plays in the second half than in the first.”

In the second half, Mississippi State’s offense had more than 100 yards more than it did in the first half —122 compared to 223.

“You need to come to your own conclusions from that report,” Mississippi State head coach Zach Arnett said Monday. “I let the facts speak for themselves.”

Freeze didn’t explicitly deny the report and said that it’s “no secret” that teams look across the sidelines during games. But he again reiterated that if Auburn did steal signs, they didn’t do it particularly well.

This rumor comes at the same time as a significantly larger scale sign stealing investigation involving the Michigan football team and led to Michigan reportedly rescinding a contract extension to head coach Jim Harbaugh.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]