Arnold Learning to Trust Auburn WRs after 10-Sack Loss

AUBURN, Ala.- After taking 10 sacks against the Oklahoma Sooners, Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze spoke about what he believes were the causes of the high number of sacks, attributing half to the offensive line and half to quarterback Jackson Arnold. 

"There’s five that I don’t think (Arnold) could do anything about. There’s five that I think he’s got to trust that our receivers in one-on-ones will protect him and make a play," he said earlier this week. "So I thought it was dead down the middle, 50-50.”

After Tuesday morning's practice, Arnold made it clear that he learned from the game against his former team.

“I think for us it wasn’t really tighter windows (to throw the ball into), it was more so trusting the receivers down the field," he said. "Whether that is the last progression in the read and just not being able to get to him or trusting that our guys will be there and it will either be caught by us or pi (pass interference) or an incompletion. Little stuff like that.”

With one of his top receivers in Horatio Fields being ruled out for the rest of the year with a foot injury, Arnold will have to look to trust in other receivers not named Cam Coleman or Eric Singleton. Malcolm Simmons

Malcolm Simmons recorded four catches for 30 yards in the Tigers' loss to the Sooners last Saturday, and Freeze emphasized that Perry Thompson is the next man up in the rotation.

Week-by-week, Arnold and the Auburn offense has been trying to get the passing game to rise to the level of its strong rushing attack, taking more shots down the field and trusting the receivers to make plays.

Arnold threw a lot more deep passes compared to what he did in the first three weeks of the season, targeting Coleman on multiple deep passes, missing him once on what could’ve been an explosive touchdown. 

“I mean it sucks, but at the end of the day it’s one pass,” Arnold stated. “It doesn’t affect you. I think I was more proud of the way we came back and fought and scored a touchdown to put us up in that fourth quarter. But you know, misses like that happen. Obviously I want that one back, everyone wants that one back. But misses do happen, it's just part of the game.”

All in all, Arnold has learned from his mistakes in the loss to the Sooners. He will have the opportunity to put on display how much he has learned this Saturday against a fresh ninth-ranked Texas A&M team, which is coming off a bye week. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT and will be televised on ESPN.

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