Auburn 33, Arkansas 24. Defense dominated. The kicker was perfect. Tigers win despite Freeze.
For the first time in over a month, Auburn fans could exhale. The Tigers finally broke their losing streak, overcoming a halftime deficit and a sluggish offense to beat Arkansas 33–24 in Fayetteville. It wasn’t pretty, but it was pure Auburn — a game defined by chaos, grit, and a defense that simply refused to lose.
The win moved Auburn to 4–4 overall and, more importantly, 1–4 in SEC play. It didn’t fix everything, but it stopped the bleeding.
Auburn dominated the game where it mattered most — the clock and the trenches. The Tigers held the ball for nearly 38 minutes, outgained Arkansas 230–63 on the ground, and outscored the Razorbacks 17–0 in the fourth quarter. They did it the old-fashioned way: defense, special teams, and sheer will.
DJ Durkin’s defense was relentless from start to finish. Auburn completely shut down one of the SEC’s most explosive offenses, caging in Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green and limiting the Razorbacks to just 63 rushing yards. The turning point came late, when the defense delivered one of the most dominant fourth quarters of the season — four straight turnovers to end the game. Linebacker Xavier Atkins was everywhere, finishing with 13 tackles, four for loss, and two sacks. His strip-sack set up a key field goal that extended the lead, while cornerback Rayshawn Pleasant turned the game upside down with a 49-yard interception return for a touchdown — and then snagged another interception on the very next drive.
This defense didn’t just keep Auburn in the game — it won it.
The same can’t be said for the offense or the coaching that guides it. Once again, Hugh Freeze’s play-calling was baffling at times, and his quarterback management bordered on panic. Starter Jackson Arnold gave Auburn an early lead with a gorgeous 23-yard touchdown strike to Cam Coleman, but his 89-yard pick-six before halftime handed Arkansas all the momentum and a 21–10 lead. Freeze benched him immediately for Stanford transfer Ashton Daniels, who didn’t light up the stat sheet but did what Arnold couldn’t — protect the football. Daniels finished 6-for-8 for 77 yards, managing the offense efficiently and leaning on Jeremiah Cobb to carry the load.
And carry it he did. Cobb was a workhorse, rushing for a career-high 153 yards on 28 carries. Behind a patchwork offensive line missing captain Connor Lew, Auburn’s run game became the steady drumbeat that wore down the Razorback defense. The Tigers’ ball control — nearly 38 minutes of possession — was the difference.
Still, Auburn’s red zone offense was a mess. Six field goals from Alex McPherson tell the story — six drives that reached scoring range but failed to finish. Yet, in a poetic twist, the very kicker who was blamed for last week’s loss became the hero of this one. McPherson went 6-for-6, tying a program record and accounting for 18 points. Take that Barstool!!! His kicks — 36, 23, 43, 26, 47, and 37 yards — weren’t just points; they were punctuation marks in a game where Auburn couldn’t afford a single mistake.
After the game, Freeze revealed that McPherson had been the first player to apologize in his office after the Missouri loss. On Saturday night, he didn’t need to say a word. His leg did the talking.
Cam Coleman’s one-handed touchdown catch in the first quarter reminded everyone why he’s Auburn’s future, and Rayshawn Pleasant’s pick-six provided the jolt that flipped the entire tone of the game. But the theme of the night was simple — the defense and special teams carried a broken offense across the finish line.
Auburn’s offense continues to be its own worst enemy, but the locker room needed this one. The defense needed proof that their dominance could still turn into victories, and McPherson needed redemption after last week’s nightmare. Freeze got the win, but the questions remain. The same red zone failures, the same lack of rhythm, the same hesitation from the head coach who seems lost calling plays in the clutch — none of that disappeared.
What did appear, though, was fight. Auburn finished. The defense took control, the kicker delivered perfection, and the team found a way.
Final score: Auburn 33, Arkansas 24.
The Tigers didn’t win because of their offense. They won because of their heart — and a defense that’s tired of being the only grown-up in the room.
HotFootballTake: Auburn’s defense and Alex McPherson’s right leg drug Hugh Freeze’s offense to a win he barely deserved. The Tigers survive, but the questions about their head coach aren’t going away anytime soon.