Heading into the 2025 season, it was crucial that Hugh Freeze find a quarterback who possessed the charisma, confidence, and talent to lead Auburn's offense back to competing for SEC championships.
Through the Tigers' first two SEC games, results show that Jackson Arnold isn't that guy.
The highly hyped recruit out of Denton, Texas, and the No. 4 recruit in the 2023 signing class was seen as a bust after two seasons at Oklahoma, after playing behind an offensive line that couldn't block a junior high pass rusher. Unfortunately for Arnold, that protection might have gotten even worse when he arrived on the Plains, but it isn't just the five guys in front of him. The quarterback holds onto the ball too long, even when he has time.
Continually being bailed out by the Auburn defense, Arnold has had two drives in the last two weeks where he could lead the Tigers down the field for a go-ahead score. On both, he's failed. But, again, it wasn't all his fault. The quarterback was sacked twice on the drive against the Aggies. Against Oklahoma, we already know what happened.
But, somehow, he got a third try. After the Aggies kicked a field goal, the Tigers got the ball at their 25. Three straight incompletions later, and Hudson Kaak had to punt it back, hoping that the Auburn defense could make a stand one more time.
The Tigers' defense did their job. But once again, Arnold and the offense came up short. It just made sense that Arnold was sacked on the final play.
A play in the third quarter of the loss to Texas A&M showed how much awareness the quarterback lacks.
In a crucial fourth-and-long, Arnold found himself in the open field, but there was no way he was going to gain the yardage necessary to continue the drive. Watching the game, you could see an open Eric Singleton Jr. open for the first down. Instead of trusting one of his receivers to go up for a catch, he tried to pile-drive an Aggie defender. It didn't work even a bit.
The Auburn defense held up its end of the bargain on Saturday in College Station, but it was Arnold, under the head coach who signed him, Hugh Freeze, that kept the Tigers from pulling off an upset.
It's apparent to any defensive coordinator, or even the average fan, that Arnold can't take the pressure, and that Auburn's offensive line can't control it. That makes it even more confusing when Freeze and his offensive staff abstain from trying to run the ball.
The entire offensive plan and play-calling were frustrating, not just for Auburn fans but also for the players and coaches. So was the execution of Arnold, as well as the offensive line and the costly penalties that have plagued the Tigers in big games during the past three seasons. The team is undisciplined, and the penalties that might not have cost Auburn in the first three games have become a bite in their tail in the two-game losing streak.
It was another game that Auburn could have won, a trend that has become common in the Freeze era. While the panic button shouldn't be hit yet, the case should at least be open in case the Tigers implode against Georgia.
Arnold isn't the answer. Will Freeze and his staff go with someone else? We shall see.