‘I’m tired of losing’: Jarquez Hunter’s 278-yard performance against Kentucky

Jarquez Hunter was fed up.

The All-SEC, who was the shining light of an otherwise underdog Auburn team through seven weeks, wanted to see his personal success translate into team success.

It wasn’t four straight games, but he had the best game of his career against Kentucky Hunter. He rushed for a career-high 278 yards on first down and earned Auburn’s first Power 4 win of the season.

Hunter looked like he was getting angry. Constantly going head-to-head with defenders and often winning the battle, Kentucky struggled to find an answer. When asked if he had any extra motivation, Hunter’s answer was simple.

“I’m tired of losing,” he said. “I told my coach: ‘We’re going to find a way to win this game, and it doesn’t matter how we do it or how it’s done.’”

That’s exactly what Hunter and Auburn did. Trailing 10-0 in the first quarter, Auburn outscored Kentucky and the offense racked up 498 yards, including 326 from the ground.

Hunter’s 278 rushing yards were the fourth-most in Auburn history and the most by an Auburn player since Tre Mason’s 304 in the 2013 SEC Championship game.

“This was a phenomenal night and the credit goes to the front runners and of course Damari made some good runs as well with the way he ran the other backs as well,” Hugh Freeze said after the game. he said.

Hunter averaged 12.1 yards per rush, breaking runs of 45, 46 and 50 in the game. He was everything Auburn needed in its rushing attack; He was constantly converting in short-yardage situations while also stopping big runs.

“Making the dirty three when he needs to and then hitting a big three,” Payton Thorne said, “makes it easier.”

Auburn’s slow start left the offense with almost no looks as Hunter became the story of the game.

He carried the ball once in the first quarter and Auburn found itself down 10-0 and lost 115-38 to Kentucky. Once Auburn started driving the ball, it found a rhythm on offense.

The Tigers averaged eight yards per carry on their first touchdown drive, and once Freeze and the offensive staff figured out what was working, they didn’t look back.

In the final three quarters, Auburn rushed the ball 47 times against just 15 passes.

Freeze said after the game that they initially aimed to pass the ball due to Kentucky’s generally good run defense, but they knew establishing the run was important. Auburn once did this. Kentucky couldn’t stop it.

“I think that speaks highly of our O-line, our running backs, our tight ends and our coaching staff,” Freeze said.

This was also the second time in Hunter’s career that he had 20 or more carries in a game. Freeze has talked about needing to get the ball to Hunter more at times, and Saturday showed what Hunter can do when he gets consistent touches.

For Hunter, a big part of the performance was patience.

“That’s the biggest key to the running game,” he said. “You have to let the O-line and the blocks that the tight ends give you develop.”

But it wasn’t just about being patient in the backfield. The Hunters needed to be patient to allow a play like this to happen due to previous losses where their touches were limited.

Hunter did that, and both he and Auburn were rewarded for it.

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports AL.com. You can follow him at: @peter_rauterkus or email him [email protected]M.