On Saturday night, the Auburn Tigers faced off against the California Golden Bears in Berkeley, a matchup that didn’t sit well with Auburn coach Hugh Freeze.
Despite Freeze’s reluctance to schedule games on the West Coast, the Tigers managed to secure a narrow 14-10 victory, much to the disappointment of New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
In addition to his alma mater’s loss, which dropped them to a 1-1 record early in the college football season, Aaron Rodgers had another reason to be unhappy: a bet he made with his Jets teammate CJ Uzomah.
Uzomah, who played as a tight end for Auburn from 2011 to 2014, had wagered with Rodgers that his Tigers would emerge victorious over the Bears on Saturday.
On Sunday, Aaron Rodgers had to fulfill his end of the bet.
What were the stakes, you ask? The former Bear found himself sporting an Auburn cap and a vibrant orange shirt emblazoned with the famous Auburn chant, “War Eagle.”
Auburn football shared the results of the bet in a video on social media, playfully stating, “The newest fan of Auburn Football. Sorry @AaronRodgers12, looks like @cj_uzomah won this one.”
In the video, Uzomah can be heard teasing Rodgers, who responded with a thumbs-down sign while wearing the Tigers’ gear.
“Say ‘War Eagle,'” Uzomah prodded Rodgers, who continued to shake his head in refusal. “Just once…”
Rodgers’ frustration was not unwarranted. According to ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, “From 2018-22, NCAA teams that committed four turnovers and failed to achieve 15 first downs in a game had a record of 1-65.”
Auburn, in this game, had four turnovers and only managed to secure 12 first downs against Cal.
Following the game, Auburn’s Coach Freeze commented on his team’s performance, saying, “I don’t think we could have played any uglier or sloppier on offense. I’m really proud of our defense. All the credit goes to that side of the ball tonight. There will be nights when we can score 50, and there might be nights when we have to in order to win. And there will be times when they have to hold the opponent to 10, and we have to score 11. This is one of those nights, given how poorly we played on offense.”
Additionally, Cal’s missed three field goals contributed to Auburn’s victory.
