Freeze Split on Auburn's Sack Blaming: 'I Thought it was Dead Down the Middle, 50-50'

Auburn's 10 sacks given up against Oklahoma set a school record.

Auburn Tigers quarterback Jackson Arnold was sacked 10 times in the loss to Oklahoma. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In the Auburn Tigers' 24-17 loss to Oklahoma on Saturday, few things stood out quite like the sheer number of sacks Jackson Arnold found himself subject to. The Oklahoma transfer was sacked a total of 10 times throughout the game, seven of which occurred in the first half alone.

The total set a school record.

There were two schools of thinking as it pertained to this issue. Some argued this massive hole in Auburn’s performance was the result of poor blocking, while others believe it’s a Jackson Arnold issue. Namely, the belief that he’s holding on to the ball for too long, resulting in good blocking not being enough for the time he’s in the pocket led to the sacks.

In his Monday press conference, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze provided his take.

“There’s five that I don’t think (Jackson Arnold) could do anything about,” Freeze said. “There’s five that I think he’s got to trust that our receivers in one-on-ones will protect him and make a play. So I thought it was dead down the middle, 50-50.”

This makes sense when rewatching the film for the Tigers’ matchup, as there were indeed a multitude of situations in which the sacks were much too quick to be Arnold’s fault. Five unavoidable sacks allowed by an offensive line is still cause for concern, and will need to be improved if the Tigers are to compete at a high level.

The other side of the issue, though, has been circulating since Arnold’s time as a Sooner. Simply put, Arnold is struggling to trust his weapons in one-on-one situations and waiting too long for them to get wide open, as Freeze said. 

There were multiple occasions where Arnold showed flashes of overcoming this issue, trusting receivers like Cam Coleman and Eric Singleton Jr in one-on-ones, and it almost always worked out for him. After all, Coleman averaged 29.3 yards per completion, and Arnold didn’t turn the ball over on Saturday, a strength of his so far.

The question becomes, then, is Arnold simply too cautious, or is he really struggling to trust his receivers that much? Freeze weighed in on that as well.

“[Arnold] and I met yesterday, watched everything,” Freeze said. “Tough environment, tough defense, but we’ve got to trust our guys. Good things happened when he did that, and we’ve just got to continue to work to improve that. Don’t think he could do a whole lot about five of them, but there’s 50 percent that I think the ball’s got to come out.” 

Arnold will have another chance to prove his trust in his receivers this coming Saturday, when the Tigers will head to College Station for another difficult matchup against the now ninth-ranked Texas A&M Aggies. The game will be played at 2:30 p.m. CST and televised on ESPN.