Damari Alston's injury news might end up being awful for the Auburn Tigers. He's an offensive linchpin, sure, but in his absence, a breakout candidate might be brewing in the Plains.
With Alston out, all eyes were on Jeremiah Cobb, and he came through in his first start for the Tigers in two years with 121 yards and two touchdowns.
Hugh Freeze believed this performance was Cobb's first step in proving his prediction for him right.
"I said several times this summer that I really thought he would be one that had a breakout year, and I still believe that," Freeze said in his post-game conference. "And tonight, he even took a step toward that. I think he's a very talented back."
In actuality, Cobb started paving the way toward it right from their season-opener against Baylor. Although Alston started that game, Cobb brought in his A-game as well with a touchdown and 74 yards from Auburn's 307 rushing yards.
The Tigers totaled 224 rushing yards vs. Ball State, which looks a lot less than what they did against Baylor. A reason for this was their focus on improving their pass game this week. Were the strategy scoring more, Freeze's money would be on Cobb having another massive night.
"Still has a little – pass pro is a little – he's working and getting better at it, depends on who he's matched up with," Freeze said." You wish he were a little heavier for some of the pass pros in this league. But the few times he did tonight, he did really well. And we could have probably given him five, six more carries, and he would’ve had a huge night.
"He probably averaged, I bet, close to 10 yards a carry, 11. I would guess that's a pretty dang good night."
With Damari out, Freeze emphasized how important Cobb becomes. That was the reason why they pulled him out and let the young players take the lead in the second half.
"So with Damari being out, good to see him step in there and then obviously, we got him out pretty quick in the second half," the coach said. "We don't want to be without him and Damari, even though I thought Durrell came in and Omar and had some really solid runs, you'd like to have the maturity of Jeremiah and Damari."
The running back will need to continue producing quality plays consistently, like he has for the first two games of the season, against Auburn's SEC opponents as well, to set his breakout year in stone.