This, by Hugh Freeze’s own designation, is season two for Auburn in 2023. Season one, Auburn’s head coach said before playing Georgia, consists of the games leading up the team’s bye week.

Then comes that bye week which is spent evaluating and assessing what took place in the games leading up to that point — in the case of Auburn that’s just the first five games.

Auburn went 3-2 in the opening stretch of the season, part one for Freeze. It played poorly in two road games and struggled offensively against Power 5 opponents. Yet that season one culminated with pushing No. 1 Georgia to the edge in a game Freeze feels Auburn was close to winning if not for defensive back Jaylin Simpson’s later injury and about 10 total plays he felt could have swung the game.

So with all that film to review and a week to focus without game planning as a priority, what did Freeze learn about his team?

Freeze did not delve into the specifics of self-scouting his own team, but he did describe tendencies he’s keyed in on.

“We usually are creatures of habit,” Freeze said Monday, his first media availability after the Georgia loss.

He especially noticed tendencies on third down for both his offense and defense. It’s an area where Auburn has noticeably struggled on offense.

Freeze described repeated coverage habits for his defense on third down coming off a game against Georgia where Auburn allowed conversions of eight of the 13 third downs it faced. The struggle to get off the field allowed Georgia to come back to win the game.

But as a whole, Auburn’s defense has actually been pretty good on third downs this season. Overall, Auburn’s third down defense is ranked 40th nationally and sixth in the SEC.

The offense on third down has been far worse — ranked 105th overall and second to last in the SEC. Freeze noted third and short as an area Auburn has to improve.

At this midway point between Auburn’s season one and season two, the offense is still ranked at the bottom of the conference in multiple statistics. It is second to last in the SEC in total offense, last in passing offense, last in passing efficiency, 11th in scoring and second to last in first downs made.

Auburn still has not thrown for 100 yards in a game against a Power 5 opponent.

For all the struggles, Freeze said a philosophy change is not coming. It’s hard to change dramatically within the season. Most of the changes Freeze saw came from continuing to trim down mistakes at the line of scrimmage on his run-pass-option plays. He said Auburn can phase out repeating drills of formations Auburn has nailed down, but continue to hone in on formation errors that have proved costly in multiple games this year.

He noted mistakes in protections for quarterback Payton Thorne — something he pinned on himself — but also mistakes from Thorne to see open receivers and mistakes by receivers failing to come down with passes that hit them in the hands.

“And then obviously trying to make sure our identity — particularly in the passing game — matches our personnel,” Freeze said of self-scouting his offense. “And whatever we feel strongly about in that, then let’s do it over and over and over and over and over again, until we are really, really confident and really, really good at that. So that was pretty much the focus offensively.”

It’s an identity Auburn is still finding. It ran the ball for more than 200 yards against Georgia but lacks a consistent or reliable passing offense.

Freeze didn’t dive into specifics either of what he saw on film for his defense, but he did note the number of injuries on defense — a point where the week off comes in especially handy to get healthy, or at least healthier.

There aren’t wholesale changes coming. Freeze’s plan is still years long, not weeks long. Nor does it appear Freeze had any overarching revelation.

But expect small technical changes to come as Auburn enters season two — from players and coaches alike.

“But the margin of error for us winning and losing right now is so small against teams that probably have a better roster in some spots,” Freeze said. “We can’t afford those. We have to look at everybody: Coaches, players. Why are we not getting that executed? If we can’t do it, personnel-wise, get it out of the plan. If we can do it, but we’re not doing it right, then we’ve gotta coach it better. That’s what the whole week was about. How do I not go to be after a game feeling that way?”

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