It's been a rough season for the Auburn Tigers' offense, and it came to a head in last weekend's 10-3 loss at home to Kentucky. Heading into the Vanderbilt game, Hugh Freeze has been fired and the Tigers named defensive coordinator DJ Durkin as their interim head coach.
Durkin addressed the media in the weekly press conference earlier this week, and when he was asked about improving the offense, he stated that there were definitely some suggestions he could make from a defensive perspective on that unit. He also noted that Derrick Nix would take over as the sole play caller on the offense.
On Monday, Durkin did not have an answer for who the Tigers' starting quarterback would be heading into the Vanderbilt game. Two games ago, Jackson Arnold was benched in favor of Ashton Daniels, who carried the Tigers to victory over Arkansas. But late in the second half of last weekend's matchup, Daniels was benched in favor of Arnold, who was ultimately swapped back out with Daniels.
Durkin said that as a defensive guy, he would not be stepping in to try to make decisions that were out of his wheelhouse and that the coaches were still evaluating which quarterback would give the team the best opportunity to win. It seems they have found their answer today.
"We made the decision as a staff: Ashton Daniels will be our starting quarterback," Durkin said, per Auburn Undercover. "He gives us the best opportunity to win the game. Our team, our coaches are all 100 percent behind him. He's done a really good job preparing this week. He'll be the guy we go with, and I think we have a good plan for him."
Daniels completed 13 of his 28 passing attempts for 108 yards against Kentucky. He and the Tigers will face off against Vanderbilt at 3:00 p.m. this Saturday.