Auburn football dealt with the injury bug following the Ball State game. Head coach Hugh Freeze watched two of his Tigers running backs get dinged up.
Are the duo healthy enough for South Alabama? Freeze helped drop updates there via Justin Hokanson of On3/Rivals Monday.
“Freeze says RB Durell Robinson had an odd reaction where blood collected on his thigh postgame. He traveled to Birmingham to remedy the issue. Robinson will be out for the time being,” Hokanson posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Robinson carried the ball twice but tallied 54 yards — all of it on his fourth quarter touchdown run. He's not the only key ailment in the backfield.
“Auburn RB Damari Alston will be a game-time decision for South Alabama,” Hokanson said.
Auburn ground game early strength for Hugh Freeze
Freeze entered the offseason on the hot seat. The offensive whiz struggled with getting anything consistently going on that side of the ball.
But his ground attack rose as an early strength this season.
Freeze's spread option attack racked up 307 rushing yards in the 38-24 win over Baylor. Quarterback Jackson Arnold handled most of the ground load, though. He carried the ball 16 times for 137 yards and scored twice. Damari Alston and Jeremiah Cobb each handled 16 carries too. Both combined for 158 rushing yards and scored one touchdown apiece.
Cobb established himself as the lead rusher against the Cardinals Saturday. Gashing Ball State with 121 yards on 11 carries and scoring twice. Arnold struggled to get his mobility going — carrying the ball nine times for five yards.
But Auburn tallied 224 rushing yards to provide balance for the Tigers. Arnold lifted Auburn to 271 passing yards.
Auburn previously sat at No. 8 in the Southeastern Conference Power Rankings. But the SEC witnessed one shocker down in Gainesville with USF knocking off Florida. The unbeaten Tigers likely will move up by virtue of the Gators' loss.
