Hugh Freeze says he should have 3 wins vs. Nick Saban: ‘I respect the King,’ but ‘I want to beat him’

Don’t mistake respect for fear.
Hugh Freeze said Tuesday he respects “the King,” but also wants to beat that King, Alabama’s Nick Saban.
Freeze, who joined the SEC Network after meeting with the media in Nashville during Day 2 of the SEC media days, talked about how close the team men are but wanted to make it clear the goal is to beat Alabama.
“I respect the King,” he said.” I respect the gold standard. I respect the heck out of it. He’s actually a really good friend. I know that’s hard for a lot of people to hear. Jill and I have actually vacationed with he and Miss Terry.”
Freeze shared Saban was a dear friend to him after, in July of 2017, Freeze resigned from Ole Miss after the school conducted an investigation and found “a pattern of personal misconduct” by the coach.
“When I went through my two years out of the game, he was one of the biggest encouragers that I had, so I can’t lose the respect I have there,” Freeze said. “But, at the same time, I want to beat him. I want to measure ourselves against the gold standard.”
Freeze doesn’t shy away from the challenge. In fact, he said he “relishes those opportunities.”
The former Ole Miss coach is one of only three coaches to beat Nick Saban more than once. He did it twice, while former Auburn coach Gus Malzahn and former LSU coach Les Miles have each done it three times.
Freeze is quick to point out he should have three wins against Saban, too.
“We were able to have success at Ole Miss,” he said. “Two wins and really should have won the third one, truthfully, 50-49. We got a touchdown overturned.”
It appears he was talking about the 2016 game, which Alabama actually won 48-43.
The Tide fell behind by three touchdowns, then rallied before blowing the lead.
In that game, Daron Payne’s fumble recovery for a touchdown early in the third quarter erased Ole Miss’ lead completely. A field goal gave Alabama its first lead at 27-24, and it appeared Ole Miss answered on Chad Kelly’s 32-yard pass that was originally ruled a touchdown only for the call to be reversed after review.
Alabama freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts threw for 158 yards and ran for 146 more, but it was unlikely defensive touchdowns from Jonathan Allen and Da’Ron Payne -- along with a special teams score from Eddie Jackson -- that proved to be the biggest plays of the game.
Ole Miss (1-2, 0-1 SEC) looked like it might be on its way to a third straight win over the Tide late in the second quarter. Instead, it was the Rebels’ second collapse in three games.