Jackson Arnold is still in (at QB1), Damari Alston is out and more
In the wake of the Georgia loss and ahead of a visit from Missouri, here are seven thoughts on a busy Monday for Auburn football.
AUBURN — Here are seven thoughts about Auburn football in the wake of a 20-10 loss at Georgia and before a visit from a ranked Missouri team this Saturday.
And, in case you missed them, here’s what we heard from the basketball side of things Monday morning. (It’s been a busy day.)
1: Jackson Arnold will remain Auburn’s starting quarterback this week.
Early in Monday’s press conference, I asked Hugh Freeze if Auburn was considering a starting quarterback change in the midst of this three-game losing streak.
Freeze said that Jackson Arnold will be who the Tigers go with Saturday against Missouri. He added that “other guys” — namely Deuce Knight and Ashton Daniels — will continue to get reps in practice this week.
“When you look at the first half (against Georgia), you’re in love with what you see,” Freeze said. “When you look at parts of the second half, you question why not the same throws? Why not the same accuracy? So all of that is certainly worth looking at.”
At the halfway point of the season, Arnold is last in the SEC in passing yards per attempt at 6.0 and is down to 5.0 in games against conference opponents — more than a full yard worse than the next qualified quarterback, Kentucky’s Cutter Boley. Arnold averaged 5.1 yards per pass attempt in SEC play last season at Oklahoma.
Nationally, Arnold is No. 119 out of 139 qualified FBS quarterbacks in EPA per dropback this season. Only Florida’s DJ Lagway trails him in the SEC, and Lagway has already thrown seven interceptions this season. Arnold has none. Additionally, Arnold is just 1-11 passing on attempts of 10-plus air yards over the last two games.
But Auburn is sticking with Arnold for at least another game. Freeze said he hopes Arnold could get off to the same start he had against Georgia and continue it through four quarters of a game. Arnold went 14-19 passing in the first half last Saturday for a total of 107 yards. He also had 51 rushing yards before halftime.
Later in the press conference, Dan asked Freeze where he thought Arnold had to improve.
“Critical moments,” Freeze said. “He’s got to shine, and I think he’s done a lot of nice things. Obviously, he’s taken care of the football for the most part, but certainly, I think he’s got to have a little more poise in the pocket. And when we’ve got to have those critical throws, we’ve got to make them, and we’ve lacked some of that. So that’s where he’s got to improve, and he knows it, and hopefully we’ll see that Saturday.”
2: Senior running back and captain Damari Alston is no longer with the team.
The question about Arnold was the second one in this week’s press conference, only because the first one was about the reports swirling Monday that Damari Alston had left the team.
“Damari failed to meet the standards and expectations of our program,” Freeze said. “We love him. Wish him the best. But that’s where it’s at.”
Later on, when asked for clarification, Freeze said Alston “won’t be playing here anymore.”