Hugh Freeze assesses Jackson Arnold's play vs. Ball State

At 2-0 on the season with one quality non-conference win to its name, Auburn is beginning to build a little confidence. Quarterback Jackson Arnold has a lot to do with that.

The Oklahoma transfer has been everything the Auburn faithful would have hoped for so far. There’s room for improvement, sure, but Arnold is getting the job done. A strong showing against Ball State helped prove that.

“I thought he made two throw-aways and was still 24-of-28, so it was a solid night passing,” coach Hugh Freeze said. “I don’t like the sacks, and he used his legs when he needed to. We didn’t call any quarterback runs for him Saturday evening, but he still used them to be effective at times.”

Arnold ran nine times for only five yards, but it was enough to help keep the chains moving and keep the defense off-balance. The rest he unlocked with his arm.

When the night finished, Jackson Arnold was 24-of-28 passing for 251 yards and three touchdowns. He did not throw an interception.

That’s a far cry from the regular production Auburn got at quarterback last year. That, quite frankly, simply wasn’t up to snuff.

“I mean 24-of-28’s a pretty good stat night,” Freeze said. “Thought he got our receivers involved and allowed us to stay balanced like we’d like to be from game to game. Obviously each game has its own flavor when you get into it and you figure out the way people are trying to play you. You certainly want to be wise in doing what is going to be effective or has the best chance to be effective against that, provided you can block them and win routes and things.”

Whether Jackson Arnold can continue to be as consistent going forward remains to be seen. There’s a little bit of time still until the real meat of the schedule.

Up next will be a contest against South Alabama. Then it’s onto SEC play with a strong of four games against currently ranked opponents, including the first two away from home.

That figures to provide a real test for Jackson Arnold and company. But so far so good.

“I thought he had a really solid night truthfully,” Freeze said. “Looking forward to improving upon it as we move forward. We’ll need to be balanced against South Alabama as they do a lot of things. And we need to try to keep their offense on the sideline for sure and limit their number of opportunities.”