Hugh Freeze explains decision to bench Jackson Arnold, turn to Ashton Daniels

Auburn chose to bench Jackson Arnold in favor of backup Ashton Daniels right before halftime against Arkansas on Saturday. Arnold threw a pick-six in the closing minute of the second quarter, leading to a head coach Hugh Freeze going forward with the change.

Daniels would ultimately lead the Tigers to a 33-24 victory — their first SEC win of the season. After the game, Freeze revealed why he decided to turn toward the senior signal caller at that moment.

“He’s got this maturity and poise about him. Obviously, he’s a college graduate and has played in a lot of big football games, so it’s not going to be something that overwhelms him and just thought it was time,” Freeze said. “… But I felt like at that time, the decision that Jackson made obviously wasn’t a great one. They were in a two-high shell. We’re running the football, and we’ve got to be smart and take what they give us.

“But really, we had a plan to play (Daniels) all along, and probably should have done it. I thought I was going to do it the third possession, but we were kind of clicking on them pretty good. I just thought he was going to give us a little poise and pick-me-up at the time we needed it.”

Freeze was impressed with how his QB played. Perhaps even more so because Daniels didn’t arrive on Auburn’s campus until July because he was finishing up his undergraduate studies at his previous school, Stanford. He didn’t get any significant reps under center behind both Arnold and freshman Deuce Knight until around Week 3 or 4.

He immediately noticed a maturity and poise about the veteran quarterback. He’s selfless, and loves his team — two great qualities for any quarterback to have. Daniels was willing to play scout team, help out whenever and wherever he was needed. That’s why it made sense to Freeze to ultimately make the move to Daniels in an SEC road environment.

In the end, Daniels finished the win completing 6-of-8 passing for 77 yards. He added seven rushes for 35 yards in just over two quarters on the field. He led Auburn to five-straight scoring drives in the second half (all field goals), and the Tigers never punted after he was in the game.

“Thought he played really solid,” Freeze said. “Didn’t ask him to do a whole lot in the passing game, but I believe he can do that too.”

It remains to be seen what Freeze’s plan under center for the rest of the season will be. Regardless, Auburn will welcome a 2-5 Kentucky team to Jordan-Hare Stadium this coming weekend. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. ET live on the SEC Network.