AUBURN, Ala. (EETV) – No. 24 Auburn rode a balanced attack from their offense, winning their 34th straight homecoming game against South Alabama at Jordan-Hare Stadium, 31-15.
Auburn (3-0) was stellar at keeping the defense guessing down after down, with 142 yards through the air via quarterback Jackson Arnold and 195 yards on the ground. This was enough to outpace a well executing South Alabama (1-2) offense that gave the Auburn defense some struggles.
“I thought we could throw or run,” said Tigers’ head coach Hugh Freeze. “Protect, go through progressions, give our receivers a chance to win routes, and obviously we felt like we could run the ball as well.”
Every time South Alabama had a drive that silenced the crowd of 88,043, the Auburn offense responded and made sure to not allow the Jaguars to close the score.
Eventually, freshman Jared Smith made a play, strip-sacking Jaguars’ quarterback Bishop Davenport and giving the Tigers the defensive dagger they needed. Defensive end Keyron Crawford also provided a turnover for the Tigers, picking off Jaguars quarterback Bishop Davenport on a tipped ball over the middle.
Jackson Arnold played well from his spot at quarterback, throwing 24 passes for 13 completions, 142 yards, and a touchdown. Arnold also found his way on the ground, rushing for 50 yards and two scores.
The Auburn offensive line kept the pocket clean for Arnold in the game. The boys up front only allowed one sack in the game and did not commit a single penalty.
“Yeah, that’s kind of like, outstanding. It’s good. I can smile now,” said right guard Jeremiah Wright. “Just being able to keep the pocket clean and not have any holding calls, or any penalties on the whole line, that’s very good.”
The main back on the ground for Auburn was Jeremiah Cobb with Damari Alston still injured from the Tigers' week one matchup against Baylor. Cobb scored a touchdown himself and carried the load with 119 rushing yards on 19 attempts, giving the junior 6.3 yards per carry.
“It’s awesome, especially running behind a line like that,” said Cobb. “It is very rewarding.”
Coach Freeze had high praise for the running back as well.
“Two consecutive 100-yard games in a row, and I thought they were tough runs today, too, a lot of them. And number one, he took care of the ball very, very well,” Freeze said.
Auburn looks ahead to SEC play and Oklahoma next weekend, Sept. 20 in Norman. Jackson Arnold takes his first trip to play the Sooners since his transfer in the spring. Arnold said there’s “no noise” to get in his head for the 2:30 p.m. CDT kickoff next Saturday and all he plans to do is the job he’s given. South Alabama hosts Coastal Carolina in Mobile to start Sun Belt conference play the same afternoon at 6 p.m. CDT.
