Jackson Arnold Talks Alabama Upset + Hope for Auburn in 2025

Last season, Alabama was a two-loss team that controlled its own destiny for the SEC Championship and the College Football Playoffs. All Alabama had to do was leave Norman, Oklahoma, with a victory and win the Iron Bowl.

Get our free mobile app

60 minutes later, Alabama left Norman battered, bruised, and beaten in a 24-3 upset win for the Sooners. Oklahoma, led by former five-star quarterback Jackson Arnold, dominated the game on the ground.

"The biggest success was the run game," Arnold said. "Whether it was me running the ball or our running backs running the ball and being effective. I thought we had a really good game plan that week, and I don't know if we caught them off guard by running it so much, but I thought we were very aggressive that game, very efficient in decision making. Whatever we did, we just went out and had a good game."

Whatever it was, the Sooners dominated the Tide with 257 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns, averaging 5.1 yards per carry. Alabama had just 70 rushing yards and averaged just 2.3 yards per carry.

Despite the big win over Alabama, Oklahoma went 6-7 last season, and Jackson Arnold now has a new home: Auburn, Alabama. Arnold is familiar with the Tide's Iron Bowl win streak, with Alabama winning five straight since 2020.

"What would it mean for Arnold to lead the Tigers to an Iron Bowl win?

"It'd be awesome," Arnold said. "All the dudes on the team, even the old fifth-year senior guys, still haven't beaten Alabama. They came close twice, but they haven't beaten them yet, so for those guys, I want them to get a win. One last win before they head out."

Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze didn't hide his confidence in Arnold when asked about him.

"I loved Jackson out of high school. I think everybody did. He was a Gatorade Player of the Year, top quarterback in the country coming out. Boy, he fit everything that I believe in doing offensively, and Coach Nix believes it.

"So I knew how I felt about him then, but of course, you're doing this speed dating her,e and things weren't great statistically or whatever performance-wise. Then you have to do a deep dive into why was that, and can I get past whatever that was. When you evaluate it, you said it, he had several different play callers, injured offensive line and receivers, and yet when you pull all of his throws, I still saw that there it is, that's what I saw. There it is again. He still has that about him.

"Then you look at his toughness, and in the Alabama game, putting his team on his back with his legs, and I mean, he had some tough runs. So I knew he had the toughness to him. And now it was just a matter of, man, let's give this guy a restart and let him regain his swagger and confidence, and I knew that the receiver room we had could assist in that, and it did pretty quickly when he found out, man, I make a good throw in this area and this one-on-one, our guys are making plays. I've seen that swagger and confidence come back pretty quickly."

Arnold and the Tigers will face the Tide in the final game of the regular season, with Auburn playing host for 2025.

Pearl River Resort sponsors our coverage of SEC Media Days, live from Atlanta, Georgia. Check out Pearl River Resort at pearlriverresort.com.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.