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Hugh Freeze had a few notes for the officials during and after No. 11 Auburn's 24-17 loss to No. 11 Oklahoma.
One of the biggest swings of the game came on Oklahoma's first offensive drive, when a pass to wide receiver receiver Isaiah Sategna III ended up on the ground. Auburn cornerback Kayin Lee picked up the ball and ran it back for a touchdown to seemingly open the scoring.
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However, a review resulted in the play being overturned, with the officials concluding that Sategna never possessed the football.
Freeze, to put it lightly, was not happy about the turn of events. He was in open disbelief as the ruling was announced and later told the ESPN broadcast he disagreed with the refs:
“I don’t know how it’s not a fumble. I don’t know. Maybe they had a different review up top. Looked like he juggled at first, regained, and ran. We stripped it. Thought it should have been a touchdown.”
He had something similar to say after the game as well.
Hugh Freeze and Auburn had some complaints after their loss to Oklahoma. (Photo by John Rivera/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Then, in the second quarter, Oklahoma scored the first touchdown of the game with some sleight of hand. Sategna appeared to pretend to head to the sideline, but remained on the field and was left wide open by an unaware Auburn defense.
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Freeze was again furious.
ESPN rules analyst Matt Austin sure seemed to think the maneuver was illegal, saying "you cannot use the substitution process to deceive your opponent. If that's what they were trying to do, that's an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty."
Oklahoma offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle disagreed after the game, saying the Sategna touchdown was a "tempo play," not deception, because Oklahoma hadn't substituted a player on the previous play, per On3's George Stoia III. He claimed Sategna had actually checked in with an official before the play.
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Freeze seemed hesitant to unpack the play after the game, saying "I better be quiet," before noting his staff was instructed "all offseason" that such deceptions were illegal.
Obviously, both of those plays loomed large in a one-score win for the Sooners. Auburn left the game with its first loss of the season, with a pair of top-10 matchups in its next two games against No. 10 Texas A&M and No. 5 Georgia.
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