Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze knew he’d be asked questions about last season’s game vs. Cal this week as he and the Tigers are set to see the Golden Bears again on Saturday.

However, that doesn’t change the fact that no part of him wanted to revisit that long, September night in the hills of California.

“We probably don’t need to talk about that one,” Freeze said during his Tiger Talk radio show on Monday evening.

Just as it will this Saturday, Cal played the role of Auburn’s Week 2 opponent last year while the Tigers were coming off a lopsided win over UMass as Auburn put up 492 yards of total offense, averaged more than seven yards per play, had no turnovers and was forced to punt just twice.

However, once Auburn made its way to Cal Memorial Stadium the following week, the Tigers’ offense found itself stuck in the mud.

And that there is why Freeze wasn’t eager to revisit the game on Monday night.

“I was frustrated,” Freeze said of last year’s game. “Boy, I was just really frustrated.”

Against the Golden Bears last fall, the Tigers’ offense mustered just 230 yards of total offense — less than half of what it did the week prior.

“What I remember from that game, honestly, is just I feel bad for anyone that was watching that game,” Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne said in an interview with The Next Round earlier this week. “That was about the most boring game offensively that I can remember being a part of.”

Thorne and the Auburn passing attack contributed less than 100 yards in last year’s Cal game, while the Tigers managed just 4.2 yards per play on offense and went just 4-for-12 on third down.

The Tigers also lost three fumbles, while Thorne tossed an interception to bring Auburn’s turnover total to four.

In hindsight, it was the first look at some of the same issues that would plague Auburn’s offense all season long.

And, in retrospect, it sounds like it might’ve been the beginning of the end for former Auburn offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery, who was fired at the conclusion of the 2023 season.

“It’s probably when I started this uncomfortable feeling of, ‘Oh man, we’ve gotten away from everything I know and I can’t help,’” Freeze said on Monday. “I’m certainly not saying that I have all the answers, but it was just really, really uncomfortable for me.”

When Freeze was hired as Auburn’s head coach in November of 2022, he quickly brought Montgomery aboard and gave the former Tulsa head coach the role of Auburn’s play-caller.

Freeze knew a Montgomery-led offense would come with different terminology than what he was accustomed to, but it was something he was willing to take a gamble on at the time.

However, as the season unfolded and Auburn’s offense continued to spin its tires, it became increasingly obvious that Freeze was starting to have his doubts about the offense.

And from the sounds of it, it all started in Berkeley, California.

“Thank God we won it. Rivaldo made one heck of a catch and out defense played extremely well,” Freeze said of last year’s 14-10 win over Cal. “But it was kinda just the beginning of me saying, ‘Oh man, what have I done?’ in changing the offense around to something I’m not familiar with.”

Getting back to familiarity is something Freeze prioritized in the offseason.

After letting Montgomery go in the first week January, Freeze quickly zeroed in on longtime Ole Miss assistant Derrick Nix, who was officially hired at Auburn 12 days later.

Having spent 16 seasons at Ole Miss prior to coming to Oxford, Nix previously worked under Freeze when Freeze was the head coach of Ole Miss from 2012-16.

And because of Freeze’s history with Nix, the familiarity piece that was missing with Montgomery had been found.

My history with D-Nix goes back to our Ole Miss days,” Freeze said in an interview shortly after Nix’s hiring. “He’s an incredible man, No. 1, and he’s an incredible recruiter. Excited about having someone who knows our system to be able to add great value to our offense.”

Since Nix has settled into his role at Auburn, Freeze has continued to rave about the comfort and familiarity he feels coming into the football facility each day and is quick to shoulder the blame for not feeling that way last season.

“I have no one to blame but myself. This is not a negative toward anyone else, but yes, I’m very much more comfortable walking down the halls and walking in the offensive room and saying, ‘Alright, now, I know what means,’” Freeze said in the spring.

It’s still a bit early to judge how much the added comfort and familiarity will bolster the Auburn offense in 2024 (though scoring 73 points in the season opener against Alabama A&M was certainly a step in the right direction, albeit not the strongest test).

However, when Auburn and Cal meet again on Saturday, it could make for another meeting that reveals what the identity of this year’s Auburn offense will be.

“Here’s your chance — our chance, not just them, but us, too, as coaches,” Freeze said on Monday. “Here’s our chance to prove we can be a fundamentally efficient scoring machine against a team I think plays really efficient defensive football. It’ll be a really good test for us.”