Auburn to Stick with Jackson Arnold at QB

In last week's loss to Georgia, Arnold went 19-for-31 for 137 yards, with a 14-for-19 mark and 107 yards coming in the first half. Freeze did admit that, though he was impressed with Arnold in the first half against Georgia, he saw the sharp decline that Auburn fans have been seeing.

“When you look at the first half, you’re in love with what you see,” he said. “When you look at parts of the second half, you question why not the same throws, why not the same accuracy. All of that is certainly worth looking at.

“He’s got to shine, and I think he has done a lot of nice things. Obviously, he is taking care of the football, for the most part, but certainly I think he has got to have a little more poise in the pocket. And when we’ve got to have those critical throws, we have got to make them. We have lacked some of that, so that’s where he has got to improve, and he knows it, and hopefully we will see that Saturday.”

Auburn faces an absolute must-win scenario for Freeze’s job security ahead of the Missouri game, and Freeze seems to be placing all his chips on Arnold’s success. It didn’t quite work out for him with previous transfer starter Payton Thorne, adding to the pressure with sticking by Arnold.

Auburn will kick off its next game of SEC play, still hunting for its first SEC win, this Saturday at 6:45 P.M. CST against Missouri.

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