After snapping a four-game skid against Arkansas last week for its first conference win of the season, Auburn returns home on Saturday to take on Kentucky.
Auburn, looking to stack together two SEC wins for the first time since 2023, leads the all-time series versus Kentucky 28-6-1. It has won 19 of the last 20 matchups against the Wildcats, dating back to 1967. The Tigers are riding a four-game win streak in the series, with the most recent loss to the Wildcats coming in 2009 – a 21-14 loss at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Led by the longest-tenured coach in the SEC, Mark Stoops, Kentucky sits at 2-5 overall on the season and winless in conference play.
Here are the biggest things to look for in Saturday’s game:
Ashton Daniels named QB1
All eyes were focused on Auburn's "open competition" in the quarterback room this week.
And it was Aston Daniels who came out on top.
According to multiple reports, head coach Hugh Freeze notified the team on Friday evening that Daniels would be the starter on Saturday against Kentucky. Freeze noted multiple times throughout the week that both Daniels and Jackson Arnold, who started under center in the Tigers' first eight games, were efficient while splitting reps throughout the week.
Daniels completed 6-of-8 passes last week against Arkansas after starter Jackson Arnold was benched following an 89-yard pick-six, which gave the Razorbacks an 11-point lead.
Daniels led the Tigers' offense on five of its six scoring drives and added 35 yards on the ground, punching in a keeper on a 2-point conversion.
Keep feeding Cobb
Auburn made its living last week on the ground, rushing for 230 yards – its second-highest total of the season.
And Jeremiah Cobb accounted for 153 of them on 28 carries, both of which were career highs.
Freeze noted on Monday that Cobb’s workload in practice would be lighter to preserve his body for gamedays, and that Omar Mabson II and Durell Robinson – who is back from an injury suffered in Week 2 – would take some of the reps.
But Cobb needs to be the focal point of the Tigers’ offense moving forward.
Cobb is one 100-yard outing away from becoming the first Auburn player since Tank Bigsby in 2021 to rush for 100 yards or more in at least five games. He is second in the SEC in rushing with 717 yards.
Wreak havoc on young Kentucky quarterback
Kentucky’s offense sits in the latter half of the conference standings in nearly every statistical category.
But it has seen a recent offensive surge under the guidance of quarterback Cutter Boley, who has taken over the job since Week 3.
Freeze believes that Boley’s presence makes Kentucky a “very dangerous” team. In his last two outings, Boley has completed 57-of-74 pass attempts (77%) for 588 yards and five touchdowns. He is fifth in the SEC and 34th nationally with a 66.5% completion rate.
Kentucky has allowed 17 sacks on the season, with Auburn notching 23 sacks itself.
Saturday will be another great opportunity for Auburn linebacker Xavier Atkins to continue his recent tear in league play and make life uncomfortable for Boley in the pocket.
Convert in the red zone
Auburn got away with only scoring one touchdown on six red zone appearances last week, thanks to kicker Alex McPherson knocking home all six of his field goal attempts and a quartet of turnovers forced in the fourth quarter to seal the deal.
But that cannot be a continuing trend again on Saturday, or for the remainder of the season, if Auburn wants to stay on the winning side of things.
Auburn has converted 24 of its 28 red zone appearances into points, which comes out to an 86% red zone scoring percentage – 68th nationally. However, only 13 of them have come by way of touchdowns, with the other 11 coming on field goals.
Kentucky has allowed 24 scores on 28 attempts when its opponents reach the red zone. Twenty of those have been touchdowns, with 17 coming on the ground.
Again, when Auburn’s offense gets inside the 20-yard line on Saturday, it needs to feed Cobb and convert some of its trips into more than three points.
Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. on SECN.
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