BY BRANDON HUGHES
FOR THE OBSERVER
AUBURN — The Auburn Tigers made their 2025 home debut Saturday night against an outmatched Ball State squad. The game went about as expected when an SEC power faces a MAC opponent, as the Tigers (2-0) easily defeated the visiting Cardinals (0-2) 42–3 in front of a raucous Jordan-Hare crowd, hungry for their first opportunity to watch the home team.
A week after pounding Baylor with a ground-heavy attack, head coach Hugh Freeze flipped the script, using Ball State as an opportunity to sharpen the passing game. The Tigers called 23 pass plays in the first half alone, and quarterback Jackson Arnold could hardly have been more efficient, completing 24 of 28 passes for 251 yards and three touchdowns. Afterward, Arnold spoke about getting to this point in his career.
“I’m super appreciative of Coach Freeze bringing me in here and believing in me when other people wouldn’t,” he said. “ … He trusted me, handed me the keys to this offense and allowed me to have a full offseason to build chemistry with this team.”
Auburn QBs spread the ball around, targeting eleven different receivers. Eric Singleton Jr. hauled in two touchdowns, including his first as a Tiger on a wheel route where he was so wide open, he looked like the first man out to practice. Horatio Fields added another score, while Cam Coleman led the group with eight catches for 77 yards.
“I’ve got dudes all across the field I can [get] the ball to,” Arnold said.
Singleton spoke about his first experience in Jordan-Hare.
“This is my first time even coming to an Auburn game, so I was amazed. The atmosphere and the crowd was amazing,” Singleton said.
Even in a night designed to showcase the passing game, the ground game would not be overshadowed. Jeremiah Cobb provided the fireworks, ripping off touchdown runs of 46 and 45 yards en route to 121 yards on just 11 carries. UConn transfer Durell Robinson added a 54-yard burst late in the fourth to cap Auburn’s six-touchdown evening. The Tigers finished with 224 rushing yards, averaging 6.6 per carry.
From the opening snap, Ball State looked like it was playing offense in a phone booth. Auburn finished the game with six sacks and 14 tackles for loss, forcing three-and-outs on nine of the Cardinals’ 12 drives. Linebacker Xavier Atkins led the onslaught with four tackles for loss and two sacks, while Buck Keyron Crawford chipped in two more sacks.
The Tigers held the Cardinals’ offense to a minuscule 34 yards in the first half — the fewest by an Auburn opponent in a half since holding Western Kentucky to 11 yards in 2003 — and suffocated Ball State’s offense into just 68 total yards, including -3 rushing. The effort marked Auburn’s stingiest defensive outing since 1985, when the Tigers held Ole Miss to nine total yards. Defensive lineman Malik Blocton embraced the milestone.
“We had so many penalties, and we didn’t play our cleanest game,” Blocton said. “To hear that was the best game in 40 years, and it wasn’t our best, it just excites me for the future.”
“Those guys up front are different,” Safety Sylvester Smith. “I think everyone is starting to realize we’ve got some dudes up front. It’s going to be tough to run the ball [against us].”
Cobb set the tone early, bursting through the line for a 46-yard score on Auburn’s second possession. Singleton followed on the next drive, turning Arnold’s perfectly placed throw into a 30-yard touchdown. A Fields 11-yard reception in the final minute of the half gave the Tigers a commanding 21–0 lead at the break.
The second half opened much like the first. On Auburn’s second drive of the half, Cobb raced 45 yards, beating the defender to the pylon, giving the Tigers a four-touchdown lead. Singleton added a 13-yard catch and run for his second score, and Robinson put the exclamation point on the night when he dashed 54 yards with just over five minutes remaining for the game’s final score.
Ball State’s lone points came in the third quarter on a 22-yard field goal.
By the Numbers:
- The Cardinals’ rushing total (-3 yards) is the lowest output by an Auburn opponent since Akron was held to -3 yards rushing in 2021, and it’s the first time since 2017 (Georgia Southern) that an Auburn opponent failed to gain 100 yards in a game.
- Auburn has 10 sacks in two games this season. Last year, the defense recorded 28 sacks in 12 games.
- Auburn improved to 8-0 versus teams from the MAC with an average score in those games of 45-11.
Up Next: Home versus South Alabama at 11:30 a.m. on the SEC Network. This is Auburn’s homecoming game.
