Auburn quarterback Jackson Arnold picked up a first down or a touchdown on seven of his 10 carries against South Alabama at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Auburn Sports Information)
Auburn running back Jeremiah Cobb, who gives the Tigers a reliable inside running threat, picked up 119 yards on the ground against South Alabama Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Auburn Sports Information)
Auburn freshman Jared Smith (41) causes South Alabama quarterback Bishop Davenport to fumble deep in Tigers territory in the fourth quarter Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Auburn Sports Information)
AUBURN — So far, Hugh Freeze is driving it right down the middle of a wide fairway, no mulligans needed.
But Freeze has a history of hitting into plugged lies in bunkers and having a hard time extricating himself. We’re about to find out starting next week, when Auburn goes to Oklahoma to open SEC play, if Freeze and the Tigers are new and improved enough to avoid the hazards he has often gotten entangled in since arriving on the Plains.
The summer-long outcry about Freeze placing more importance on his golf swing than recruiting has abated, at least for now. Auburn is 3-0 after beating South Alabama 31-15 Saturday at Pat Dye Field at Jordan-Hare Stadium, although the 88,000 fans assembled in gleaming white shirts seemed unsure if they were supposed to get excited or, given the 11:45 a.m. kickoff, still be at home in their pajamas watching College Game Day. The Tigers were efficient, didn’t turn it over, played 13 redshirt freshmen, wore down USA with a series of draining, sustained drives, were never seriously threatened and did what they were supposed to do — dispatch the Jaguars, who were paid $1.3 million for their chance to beat one of the SEC’s traditional powers.
But Freeze knows Auburn won’t beat the Sooners or any other upper-echelon SEC team playing the way it did against South Alabama.
“There’s no question we could play better than we did today,” said Freeze, who admitted he got conservative after taking a 21-3 lead in the first half. “I don’t think anyone can argue that. I’m not sure that anyone would say that that was the standard to which we have to play to win games next week and the following weeks.”
It’s true that $1.3 million doesn’t go as far as it used to and there was no shock in this first football meeting between the Tigers and Jaguars — not like South Alabama’s 86-84 victory over Alabama in the 1989 NCAA tournament, which remains the single most significant moment in the school’s athletic history — but USA can say it got a lot from the experience: It was competitive, not embarrassed, and fought Auburn to a statistical draw. Tigers fans were even happy enough to roll Toomer’s Corner, which is a common occurrence now and is not reserved for the occasional win over Alabama.
South Alabama coach Major Applewhite let it be known he didn’t come to Auburn to play it close.
“I’m obviously disappointed in the loss,” he said. “You’re never satisfied unless you win. I’m proud of the way they played, proud of the way they came into a good environment and settled down and executed. I’m pleased about the way the guys came in and competed against a really good football team.”
The Jaguars (1-2) made the Tigers sweat in the fourth quarter, reaching Auburn’s 17 and 22 before losing a fumble and turning the ball over on downs. Quarterback Bishop Davenport was 18-of-26 passing for 170 yards and two touchdowns.
“I think South Alabama’s a solid football team,” Freeze said. “They present a challenge offensively with all their 12 personnel (two tight ends and two receivers). They played extremely hard. They’re going to score some points. We didn’t fit the counter very well today but it’s good that you can say all that and know they did get two turnovers while we took care of the ball.”
There are plenty of positives to go around that suggest this will be Freeze’s best team yet on the Plains. Auburn leads the SEC in rushing offense and run defense, which is a winning parlay, and Freeze pointed out he had a cache of freshmen on the field when the Tigers stopped the Jaguars twice in the red zone in the fourth quarter, including safety Eric Winters, Star linebacker Anquon Fegans and defensive ends Jared Smith and Darrion Smith.
“There’s no better teaching than that experience and it wasn’t like the game was over,” Freeze said. “I mean, those were critical drives there at the end and you see a bunch of freshmen out there.”
Freeze has also constructed a reliable running game — which can control the tempo and the clock and convert the tough third and fourth downs — with running back Jeremiah Cobb, who ran for 119 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown, and Jackson Arnold, the Oklahoma transfer who is easily the best quarterback Freeze has had at Auburn. Arnold had 50 yards on 10 carries Saturday but of those 10, seven went for first downs or touchdowns.
“Having a guy like Cobb that I know can run and get a dirty five yards just gives me peace of mind,” Arnold said. “In the RPO game, if there’s any indecision at all, if I hand that ball off (to him), I know we’re going to go get four or five yards.”
Cobb and Arnold benefit from the most experienced offensive line in the SEC with 257 career games played. Here’s a telling turnaround: The Tigers already have 10 TD runs in their first three games and had 13 in all of 2024.
“I thought they played their butts off again,” Arnold said. “Fantastic in the running game and fantastic in the passing game. (South Alabama) was heating us up a good amount and they picked up blitzes phenomenally. We got sacked one time, so they did a phenomenal job today.”
Freeze said they were also adept at adjusting to the Jaguars’ multitude of defensive sleights.
“All the different looks you got from that crew, I thought they handled it well, particularly in the running game,” he said. “The first few drives, I thought the pocket was clean, too, for Jackson to be able to go through his progressions and throw good balls.”
With no disrespect intended, Freeze also knows South Alabama isn’t Oklahoma, Georgia, Missouri, Texas A&M and Alabama.
“I think we’re still learning about us,” he said. “We’ve got to just continue to work on protection, route understanding and Jackson making sure he knows what the coverage is when certain routes are called.”
Freeze feels Jackson gives him a mature, versatile quarterback who can deal with the Sooners when he meets his former team next week and with everyone else on the schedule.
“He knows what it takes to win football games,” Freeze said. “Him being emotional about whatever happened in the past is not gonna help us and he knows that.”
Added Arnold: “There’s no noise for me. It’s a job for us.”
The job for the Jaguars is to improve on their 1-8 record against SEC teams and, one day, welcome Auburn to 80,000-seat Joe Gottfried Field. Don’t laugh. Few thought South Alabama would ever have a Division I football team which would one day play at Jordan-Hare Stadium and be competitive.
