Heading into game three of the 2025 season, the Auburn Tigers football team is looking significantly improved from last year. The Tigers opened up the season with a big win on the road against the Baylor Bears, and then returned home last weekend to dominate Ball State. Earlier this week, the Tigers made their way into the AP Top 25 at #24 for the first time since 2021
Of course, we are only two games into the season, and Auburn has yet to face an SEC team, but things are looking up for a team that has ended the year with a losing record for several years in a row.
The Tigers have major talent on the offensive line and a defense that is hungry to show they mean business. Not to mention the all-star group of wide receivers featuring Cam Coleman and Eric Singleton Jr.
But there is one player who has likely had the biggest impact on the Tigers' improved offense, and it was pointed out by South Alabama head coach Major Applewhite earlier this week. With the arrival of former Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold on the Plains, the offense has looked better than it has in two years.
"They're more together and more cohesive," Applewhite said of the Auburn Tigers' offense. "I feel like the quarterback play has really contributed to that. When you know exactly where the ball is going and have a strong idea as a coach where he may go with that football and what he might do, it's a heck of a lot easier to call plays. When it's just an absolute roll of the dice of where he's going to throw the football or where he's going to go, it's not a fun day at the ball yard.
"Arnold has done a phenomenal job distributing the ball, making good reads with the run and the RPO game. There's been times where they abandon the RPO game and just hammer the ball at you. But he's very efficient, very smart in how he uses his legs. He understands when he's gotten enough, how to protect himself. He understands when to extend plays. I really enjoy watching him play quarterback. I'm not going to enjoy it Saturday. But he's a phenomenal player."
The Tigers will host South Alabama for the first time in Jordan-Hare Stadium this weekend for the homecoming game at 11:45 a.m. on the SEC Network.