Former Auburn Tiger Quarterbacks Open Up Week 0 With Wins

While the Auburn Tigers don’t start the 2026 college football season until next Saturday against Baylor, many teams began their season in week zero yesterday. With that came the appearance of two Auburn starting quarterbacks who led the team the majority of last season.

Both Florida State University (FSU) and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) played their first games of the season with Ashton Daniels and Jackson Arnold at the helm, respectively. Despite starting with different records, the reaction and takeaways from both performances are drastically different.

Daniels and the Seminoles took the field first against the New Mexico State Aggies, where FSU opened as a 31-point favorite in a game many expected to be pure domination from the ACC team. The redshirt senior went 17 for 27 with 202 yards, one touchdown and an interception. On the ground, he had eight carries for 30 yards and a score.

Daniels led FSU to a narrow 17-point win, with the game being a lot closer than the score indicated. The interception came in the second quarter and was followed by boos from the Seminole faithful. The lack of control over the game against a much worse opponent caused quite a reaction on social media about what the former Tiger and his new school will do in 2026.

In four games with Auburn last season, Daniels threw for 797 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions with a 57.1 completion percentage. He ran for 280 yards and two touchdowns as well. In three years at Stanford, he had 3,986 yards with 21 touchdowns and 20 interceptions.

On the other side of the country, Arnold and the UNLV Rebels lost to Memphis in a potentially important game when it comes to the College Football Playoff and which Group of Five teams will make it. Regardless of the loss, the former Oklahoma Sooner and Tiger impressed and potentially locked up the starting position long term. He threw for 291 yards and two touchdowns with a 67.6 completion percentage.

Backup quarterback Alex Orji was expected to play, but head coach Dan Mullen kept in Arnold after they got off to an early lead. Mullen seemed to always have faith in Arnold and was confused by his struggles on the Plains last season.

“I didn’t understand what they were doing with him.”

After having a promising first two years at Oklahoma, Arnold struggled and eventually was benched for Auburn after the offense was the clear weak spot for the Tigers. He appeared in ten games and compiled 1,309 passing yards, six touchdowns, and two picks.

The other starting quarterback for Auburn in 2025 will likely not see a lot of playing time. Former five-star Deuce Knight transferred to Ole Miss in the offseason and will develop behind Trinidad Chambliss after an impressive game against Mercer for the Tigers last season.

Both Daniels and Arnold will look to build off their opening win momentum as they take the field next Saturday, while the Tigers and new starter Byrum Brown aim for a strong start to the season as well.

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