The Auburn Tigers earned another victory on Saturday afternoon over the South Alabama Jaguars to get to an impressive 3-0 start, just their second since 2019 with a 31-15 win to take down their in-state foe.
It was a tremendous start to the game which got Auburn going on the right foot, driving 92 yards over 12 plays to find the end zone on a Jackson Arnold 32-yard bomb to Cam Coleman for the sensational sophomore wide receiver’s first touchdown of the season.
Things stalled a bit from there for the remainder of the quarter before a Keyron Crawford interception put the Tigers in favorable field position where Jackson Arnold as able to take it himself for yet another rushing score.
After the defense forced a three and out, Arnold wound up finding the end zone himself once again on the very next position to put Auburn up 21-3 midway through the second quarter.
The Jaguars scored a touchdown to bring it to 21-9 with a Bishop Davenport pass complete to Jeremy Scott, however Jeremiah Cobb would score for the fourth time this year as well right at the end of the half to put the Tigers up 28-9 at the break.
South fought back hard, scoring another touchdown early in the third quarter to make it a two-score game on another Davenport toss.
Auburn kicked a field goal, but it was a struggle for both offenses for much of the second half from there as the Jaguars hung on trailing by two possessions.
As they drove down the field in the fourth quarter to try to cut it to one score, it was a fumble recovered by Xavier Atkins to effectively put the game away.
Arnold finished the afternoon completing 13 of his 24 attempts for 142 yards and a touchdown with 50 yards on the ground to go along with the two scores there.
Cobb led the Tigers in rushing with 119 yards on 19 attempts with the score, and Eric Singleton Jr. added six receptions for 65 yards.
It’s a nice start to the year for the Tigers, but things get very real starting next week as Arnold returns to his former school with a road game against Oklahoma.
With conference play starting and Auburn still not in the loss column though, fans have to be pretty thrilled with the way things have began.
Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP and hear him every weekday morning from 6 to 9 a.m. on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5, available free online.
