Jeremiah Cobb had two big touchdown runs and the Auburn defense enjoyed one of its best games ever as the Tigers rolled over Ball State 42-3 in their home opener Saturday in Auburn, Ala.
A reserve back in his first two seasons at Auburn, Cobb had his second career-best game in a row and his first career 100-yard game as he tallied 121 yards on 11 carries. He put the Tigers (2-0) up 7-0 with a 46-yard scoring run with 4:15 left in the first quarter. The junior also busted a 45-yarder midway through the third quarter to make it 28-0.
While Auburn gained 224 of its 495 yards on the ground, the Cardinals (0-2) had a historically low performance running the ball. Ball State ran 33 times for minus-3 yards, the first time in the program’s 50-year Division I history that it finished with negative yards rushing.
It was also Auburn’s second-best defensive performance stopping the run. The Tigers forced the Florida Gators to lose 36 yards in a game on Oct. 13, 2001. Auburn’s defense had 14 tackles for loss, including six sacks, on Saturday.
Auburn quarterback Jackson Arnold, who ran for 137 yards in last week’s win at Baylor, showcased his passing abilities on Saturday. He was 24-for-28 passing for 251 yards and three scores before being replaced by Deuce Knight with less than 10 minutes remaining.
Two of Arnold’s scores went to Eric Singleton Jr., including a 30-yarder in the final minute of the first quarter to make it 14-0. Arnold’s last pass was a 13-yard catch-and-run by Singleton that put the Tigers ahead 35-3 with 12:22 left.
The Cardinals, blanked by Purdue 31-0 in their season-opening loss last week, avoided what would have been a historic second straight shutout thanks to Joey Stemler recovering a fumble at the Tigers’ 23 with 4:54 left in the third quarter. That led to a Carson Holmer 22-yard field goal to make it 28-3 with 1:04 left in the period.
Auburn’s Durell Robinson added a 54-yard touchdown run with 5:13 remaining.
