The Auburn Tigers had one of college football's biggest wins in Week 1, downing the Baylor Bears 38-24 in Waco in an early season-defining triumph. It wouldn't have been possible without quarterback Jackson Arnold having a Cam Newton-esque debut in Hugh Freeze, Derrick Nix, and Kent Austin's offense.
The Athletic's Sam Khan Jr. believes Arnold fits Freeze's offense "like a glove," and tabbed the Oklahoma Sooners transfer's stock as "up."
"Arnold’s Auburn debut was promising. He took good care of the football, which was an issue at times at Oklahoma, and took whatever Baylor’s defense gave him. He made the right reads in the run game and made Baylor pay when the Bears didn’t commit to him, picking up first downs and touchdowns. He fits Hugh Freeze’s offense like a glove," Khan wrote.
There is no better assessment Auburn fans could've asked for. Arnold mostly had success on the ground, but he and the receiving corps connected on enough big plays to use the receiving game as a decoy.
As long as the team wins, there is nothing else to consider Arnold. Tiger fans simply want a QB who can move the chains and score. Arnold delivered on both of those things, and not coincidentally, the Auburn family has no problem christening him the next in a long line of big-play dual-threat QBs in the vein of Cam Newton, Nick Marshall, or Bo Nix.
Evidently, Arnold won in a QB duel against Bears quarterback Sawyer Robertson, who was also in the "stock up" category.
Khan claimed Robertson was "slicing up the Tigers' secondary."
"While Baylor’s defense was getting gashed by Auburn to the tune of more than 300 yards, Robertson kept the Bears in the game by slicing up the Tigers’ secondary. Robertson primarily attacked the middle of the field but was able to stretch it outside the hashes for big plays. He had a rough start, completing 12 of his first 26 passes, but finished strong, completing 15 of his last 22," Khan wrote.
Robertson was a worthy foe, and he and his team went down with a fight. At the end of the day, though, Arnold was the anecdote on the Plains for a problem that has persisted for several seasons.
Hopefully, he can continue to fit in so well with the offense. If so, his stock has no ceiling in sight.