Auburn’s rushing game was supposed to carry a lot of the load this season, and even with some uneven production against Baylor, Jeremiah Cobb still drew a big vote of confidence from co-offensive coordinator and play caller Joel Gordon.
Cobb didn’t just flash as a runner in that game. He also delivered one of the key plays of the night as a blocker on Byrum Brown’s eventual game-winning touchdown run. Gordon lit up talking about that effort.
“He plays so hard,” Gordon said. “He’s a really good player. Obviously, for him to not have his number called on that last play, but to be the lead block and spring that thing the way he did, that just shows you everything about him that you need to know.”
That sequence summed up why Cobb continues to stand out in Auburn’s backfield. On the stat sheet against Baylor, he led the Tigers in rushing with 53 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries, good for 4.4 yards per attempt.
His rise to this point has been steady, and then some. Cobb first grabbed the starting job last season after Damari Alston was injured, and he held onto it so firmly that Alston eventually quit the team, with the senior looking for more production in his final year.
Cobb made the most of that opportunity in 2024, piling up 969 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 175 carries while averaging 5.5 yards per carry in a Hugh Freeze offense that was still searching for consistency. His biggest outing came the week after Alston’s injury against Ball State, when he ripped off 121 yards and two scores on only 11 carries.
That production carried over into spring camp, where Cobb came out as Auburn’s RB1 after beating out Baylor transfer Bryson Washington and holding off a push from fellow returner Omar Mabson II. Mabson made a strong run at the No. 2 spot, but Cobb was never really challenged for the top job.
Now the workload gets heavier, and the stage gets bigger. Auburn is staring at a brutal schedule that includes LSU, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and more, which means Cobb will need to keep raising his level if the Tigers want to stay in the fight.
Gordon doesn’t sound worried.
“He’s a special player, he’s a great man, and he’s the definition of what an Auburn Tiger should be,” Gordon concluded.
In Other News...
Auburns Offensive Line Faces An Early Test Fans Cant Ignore
Auburn spent its season opener at Baylor sorting through the kind of offensive line issues that tend to linger if they are not cleaned up quickly. The staff rotated multiple players at guard, and the shuffling showed up in the ground game, leaving the Tigers with some obvious work to do before the season settles into a rhythm.
Alex Golesh said he liked the way the group has responded to coaching and kept working, which matters with Southern Mississippi next on the schedule. The official depth chart still shows several players in the mix at guard, so Auburn is clearly trying to find the right combination without letting the early-season uncertainty spill into another week. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn Fans Just Got A Reminder What Saraland Keeps Producing
SEC Media Days gave Auburn fans one more reminder of the talent pipeline coming out of Saraland, where Alabama wide receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams took time to praise former teammate DeShawn Spencer and credit the work ethic that developed during their high school days. It was the kind of comment that fits neatly with what Saraland has built under coach Jeff Kelly, a program that has turned itself into a steady source of college and pro players and takes obvious pride in that lineage.
Kelly folded Coleman-Williams words into Saralands pregame video, which already features highlights of former Spartans now playing in college and the NFL. The video, produced by Saraland graduate Jeremy Haney, plays before home games and serves as another reminder of how tightly the school ties its current team to the players who came before it, with Spencer and Coleman-Williams just the latest names to keep that reputation alive. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn Tried To Ease One Big Fear About Losing A Home Game
Auburns decision to shift its 2026 football season opener against Baylor from Jordan-Hare Stadium to Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta raised a familiar worry around town: what happens when a home date disappears from the fall calendar? The move, part of the Aflac Kickoff, leaves the Tigers with six home games, and it immediately prompted questions about the economic ripple effect for a city that leans heavily on game-day traffic.
Auburn athletics has since tried to ease that concern by pointing to a broader picture of how the city benefits when big events come to town. The school released a report comparing the impact of the Baylor game change with past football dates, and city officials have already cited the international soccer friendly between Argentina and Iceland in Auburn as proof that the local economy can absorb and even benefit from major events beyond football, with Camp War Eagle also helping shape hotel occupancy during that week. [Read more 🡒]