Auburn's Jarquez Hunter Presents Challenge for Mizzou in Run Game

The focus for Missouri football is going to be largely on stopping the run, where Auburn senior Jarquez Hunter has exceled this season.

Auburn running back Jarquez Hunter (27) drives in for a touchdown during the second half of a NCAA college football game against Georgia in Athens, Ga., on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. / Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The tale of Missouri football's opponents throughout the 2024 season has been facing dual-threat quarterbacks, but on Saturday against Auburn, its toughest challenge will likely come from the running back position.

Senior Jarquez Hunter has been standout for Auburn the last two years, totaling 528 rushing yards on 78 carries along with three touchdowns so far this season. He's been a crucial element of its offense, and poses a difficult matchup for Missouri to plan for.

"Talk about a guy with really good contact balance, has great vision, short area quickness, can really get into a hole and burst through it," Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said. "He is a very difficult tackle."

With a 5-foot-10, 209-pound frame, Hunter is able to utilize his size by running through his pads, making it more difficult for defenders to bring him down. Especially for bigger and taller defenders, it's a challenge to reach down enough to complete a tackle.

Missouri's defense has done a solid job of stopping running backs through six games, although Texas A&M's Le'veon Moss gave it trouble with 138 yards on 12 carries and three touchdowns in Week 6. The run game wasn't the only reason why the Tigers fell to the Aggies that week, but it was undeniably a factor.

Moss has better counting numbers this season, but Hunter isn't too far behind in the list of offensive weapons Missouri's been forced to encounter.

"He is a really good running back," Drinkwitz said. "We played some really good ones so far this year, but he's up there with the best."

Hunter has only received 13 carries per game this year, compared to Moss' 15 and Missouri's Nate Noel's 16. For as effective as Hunter has been for the Tigers, his usage hasn't been that of some of the best running backs around the SEC.

Auburn coach Hugh Freeze is looking to change that after some mismanagement of Hunter against Georgia, which could've played a factor in the Tigers losing that game.

There's no question, 27 needs to touch it more," Freeze said. "That's the frustrating thing with some of our short-yardage deals that have been called and not executed at a high enough level where he actually touches it. We've got to get that corrected."

Drinkwitz and the Tigers would certainly prefer that Hunter doesn't receive a higher workload, but that might be the expectation come Saturday. If they can't prevent him from scoring in the red zone, getting their eighth-straight win on Homecoming is going to look a lot more harrowing.

Read more Missouri Tigers news:

Auburn's Asante at the Helm of Creative Defensive UnitInterceptions and Unforced Errors are Red Flags of Auburn's Offense
3 Things to Know About Auburn for Mizzou's Week 8 Matchup