Jarquez Hunter injury update: Hugh Freeze addresses concerns about Auburn RB

It was a quiet afternoon for Auburn running back Jarquez Hunter in a 17-7 loss against Vanderbilt on Saturday. Just one week after rushing for a career high in the Tigers’ first SEC win against Kentucky, Hunter was held to a season-low 50 yards on 12 attempts.

The running back carried the ball only twice in the second half, prompting some to wonder whether he was dealing with an injury. But according to coach Hugh Freeze, the lack of carries for Hunter were mostly a result of Auburn being behind and needing to pass more to catch up.

“I don’t think he’s banged up, but he did look gassed to me,” Freeze said. “The second half, I can’t remember how many possessions we had but we didn’t have many. When we did, the last two for sure, were ‘we gotta go.’ So you’re not handing him the ball in those circumstances. But other than that, I don’t know that we had but two other possessions.”

Auburn began the second half tied at 7 with Vanderbilt and saw a total of five possessions the rest of the way. Hunter’s only two runs came on the first possession of the half and Auburn did not manage to score on any of the five times it had the ball.

Jarquez Hunter was coming off of a 278-yard, two-touchdown performance the week prior, so it was surprising that Auburn did not continue to give him every opportunity it could. The result was yet another loss in what has been a disappointing second season for Freeze.

The Tigers at least appeared in a bowl game during Freeze’s first year but would need to win their remaining three games to do so this year. With Texas A&M and Alabama being two of those three games, that doesn’t seem likely.

Before then, however, the Tigers have a bye this week before a winnable matchup against Louisiana-Monroe in Week 12. Perhaps we’ll see more of an effort to get Hunter involved in that game.