CFB Analyst Reveals Key to Auburn's Offensive Success in 2025

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Grant Bricker | Last updated Jul 1, 2025 7:15 PM ET

The Auburn Tigers were one of the worst teams in college football in terms of turnover margin in 2024.

The Tigers ranked 120th in college football, with a margin of (-9). However, On3's JD PicKell discussed how Auburn could right the ship this season.

He believed it would all come down to Oklahoma Sooners transfer Jackson Arnold on a recent edition of "The Hard Count."

Arnold played in 10 games, with nine starts, last season, throwing for 1,421 passing yards, 12 touchdowns, and three interceptions.

While the interceptions do not look too bad, Arnold struggled more with fumbles last season. He fumbled the ball nine times in 2024.

"Auburn's success in 2025 offensively will go with the confidence of one Jackson Arnold," PicKell said. "Because when you play confident football, you usually play efficient football. Efficient football equates to somewhat low mistake football. Which is what plagued Arnold at Oklahoma."

Arnold was not the starter for long at Oklahoma last season. After a rough start against the Tennessee Volunteers, where he threw one interception and lost two fumbles, he was benched.

Michael Hawkins Jr. started the next three games before Arnold was put back in the starting role for the remainder of the season.

Fast forward to 2025, and Arnold is expected to compete for the starting job at Auburn. The Tigers added a solid weapon for the quarterback to use in former Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets receiver Eric Singleton Jr.

In other recruiting news for Auburn, the Tigers were dealt a tough blow with five-star running back Ezavier Crowell after he committed to the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The team did make history with one of its recent commitments, however. Three-star offensive tackle Nikau Hepi was the first player from the NFL Academy Asia-Pacific campus to commit to a United States college.

Hepi is a three-star prospect via 247Sports and hails from New Zealand.

Arnold and Auburn kick off the 2025 season against the Baylor Bears on August 29.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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