Hugh Freeze and the Auburn Tigers returned to the state of Alabama with a win within its grasp. But boy, it didn’t come easy.

Auburn came from behind with a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter to finally climb on top of Cal and give the Tigers a four-point advantage they were able to white-knuckle down the stretch. The Tigers’ scoring drive, which was capped off by a 5-yard touchdown pass from Payton Thorne to Rivaldo Fairweather, was Auburn’s most efficient of the night, much in part to the Tigers holding onto the football.

Head coach Hugh Freeze said after the game that he didn’t think Auburn could’ve played “any uglier or sloppier” on offense while crediting the Tigers’ defense for the win.

“As ugly as it was, as many records as Auburn broke for offensive ineptitude, it really doesn’t matter,” Finebaum said during an appearance on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning. “They still have everything in front of them. And that’s my takeaway.”

Offensive ineptitude might be a polite way to put it.

The Auburn offense tallied just six first downs through the first three quarters. Meanwhile, the Tigers passed for less than 100 passing yards and were outgained 273 yards to 230 and committed four turnovers.

“Understanding that we don’t use game film anymore, I would still burn the game film,” Finebaum said. “I wouldn’t look at that. If I were Hugh Freeze I would just forget that experience. I think a lot of things factored into it. Namely, flying halfway across the world [and] playing at a weird time.”

The Auburn football team left Auburn on Thursday evening, traveled just less than 2,500 miles and jumped over two time zones before kicking things off late Saturday night. Auburn’s 7:30 PT kickoff on Saturday was the equivalent of kicking the game off at 9:30 p.m. back in Auburn.

Fortunately for the Tigers, they didn’t make the trip alone.

A strong Auburn contingent also came along with the Tigers, including Auburn men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl.

“That was a big win I thought for Auburn,” Finebaum said. “For however many people made it to the end of the game, rejoice in it. This is a program that has not had many big wins in the last couple of years.”