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Auburn QB Jackson Arnold provides dual challenge for Georgia: 'He's a weapon'

Jeremy Johnsonby: Jeremy Johnson10/06/25JeremyO_Johnson
Jackson Arnold (Photo by Auburn Athletics)
Jackson Arnold (Photo by Auburn Athletics)

Georgia’s pass rush has been the topic of discussion over the first five weeks of the season. The Bulldogs have seven sacks on the season. That puts the Bulldogs in the bottom four in the SEC in that category.

On the other side, Auburn has allowed 21 sacks as a team. The Tigers’ quarterback Jackson Arnold has been sacked 20 times this season in five games. That’s more than any other team in the country.

This is an easy thing to point to as a place where Georgia can have some success and be aggressive. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart did not go there in his thought process.

Smart sees Arnold’s athleticism and feels that it makes him a weapon in Hugh Freeze’s offense. Arnold has run for 192 yards, which is fifth among quarterbacks in the SEC. Arnold has run for five touchdowns.

“First thing is, his athleticism,” Smart told reporters on Monday. “He’s had two or three plays that were broken plays or plays that, maybe scramble plays, RPOs that were designed to be thrown, but maybe the look changed, and he takes off running. He runs for 60 yards and he runs for 70 yards. He doesn’t just run for 8-9 yards and go down. I mean, he runs like a running back. He runs over you, through you, around you, speed.”

Running quarterback once again a staple in Hugh Freeze’s offense

Auburn intentionally uses the quarterback run game with Arnold as well. That element has been a staple of Freeze-led offenses for most of his career. Arnold can also create in the pass game by extending plays.

“They run gap schemes with him,” Smart said. “They run perimeter runs with him. And then probably the toughest thing to defend is when he drops back, and he ends up taking off running. So he’s a weapon, and they’ve got weapons around him in terms of the ability to throw the ball downfield.”

How can Georgia counter Arnold’s mobility?

Georgia’s challenge will be to keep Arnold in the pocket.

“Really just trying to do a better job to try to contain him, keep him in the pocket,” cornerback Daylen Everette said. “I feel like that’ll kind of counter it in a way. So, we’ve just got to stay locked in and do a good job of countering the fact that he can run, because he’s a good quarterback that can throw and run.”

Auburn’s skill players add to the challenge

Auburn’s wideouts have Georgia’s attention as well. The Tigers have two receivers over 200 yards so far this season in Eric Singleton and Cam Coleman.

“You see it in games,” Smart said. “They’ve had several games where they’ve been explosive and use the skill they have. Like I said, playing on the road in our league is really tough. They’ve had two times they’ve gone into, you guys know A&M and Oklahoma’s environment, and it’s just tough places to play. They have the skill, and they have a lot of them. They’ve got a lot of speed out there with those guys. That includes their back. Their backs as receivers are fast, athletic guys.”

Many of Georgia’s secondary players have seen both Singleton (at Georgia Tech) and Coleman once already.

“They’re two really good receivers. Cam, he has the size. He’s one of those guys, you can just really just throw it up to him. He’s like the 50-50 type of guy, so we’ve just got to do a good job of making plays on the ball when that opportunity comes. Singleton, we played him last year when he was at Georgia Tech. He’s also a really good receiver, real shifty. You can put him anywhere, so we’ve just got to stay locked in.”

Georgia and Auburn will kick off at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night.

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