Auburn’s quarterback situation looked like a complete nightmare after Jackson Arnold, Deuce Knight, and Ashton Daniels. All these transfers forced head coach Alex Golesh to bring in a familiar face to replace Arnold. After weeks of his arrival, QB Byrum Brown is already gaining momentum over Arnold’s inconsistencies.

“225 at 342, 65.8, 28 touchdowns, and seven picks,” LO Seminoles publisher Brian Smith said on The Portal podcast. “The grade for passing the football is 85.7. I mean, that is such a far cry from where they were with Jackson Arnold. It’s not even.”

Brown is one of the rarest dual-threat quarterbacks in college football. Byrum Brown completed 226 out of 341 passes for 3,158 yards and 28 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. Then he also added 1,008 rushing yards and 14 more TDs on 175 carries through 12 games. On top of that, his 4,166 total yards from scrimmage make him one of the nation’s most productive quarterbacks.

Notably, Brown became only the 12th player in FBS history to record over 3,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in a single season. His rushing skills matched Jalen Hurts and Jayden Daniels’ production. One of his best games last year was against UTSA, and that increased Alex Golesh’s interest in him.

“He’s so self-aware, so conscious of what he feels like,” Golesh said. “He is truly as close to a coach on the field as you can ever imagine.”

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Now, Arnold too started with good momentum, taking Auburn to 3-0. But then inconsistencies crept up against Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Georgia, and Missouri, forcing them to bench him in favor of Ashton Daniels and Deuce Knight against Arkansas.

But blaming Arnold is totally easy. There are serious offensive line problems. They failed to protect their quarterback, who took 42 sacks. With him, even Knight and Daniels went 0-2 in the season. Because of this, even Arnold couldn’t find any consistency in the system. He just recorded 1,309 passing yards, six touchdown passes, and two interceptions.

To make sure the same thing doesn’t happen to Brown, Alex Golesh made sure to add key pieces to their offensive line. He got linemen TJ Hedrick, Jacob Strand, and Cole Skinner. He even hired Tyler Hudanick as Auburn’s run game coordinator/offensive line coach under offensive coordinator Joel Gordon.

With Brown and a rebuilt offensive line, Auburn is hoping to avoid the issues that plagued Jackson Arnold. Meanwhile, Arnold is looking to revive his career under a new coach and program.

Jackson Arnold’s challenging last season at college

Jackson Arnold faces a brutal reality after two disappointing seasons at Auburn and Oklahoma. After transferring to UNLV, Arnold faces immense pressure to perform. This surge looks like an impossible task, but it’s not something that’s new for UNLV’s head coach. Dan Mullen has developed quarterback Anthony Colandrea from a rough season at Virginia into the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year. With one year of eligibility remaining, Arnold is hoping for a similar career turnaround under Mullen’s guidance.

CBS Sports’ Shehan Jeyarajah also believes that Jackson Arnold can be a perfect fit for Mullen’s program.

“Arnold made a bad call last year by hitching his wagon to doomed Auburn coach Hugh Freeze. When things went wrong, Freeze quickly threw Arnold under the bus,” Jeyarajah said. “Luckily, Arnold chose much better for his third school, landing with Dan Mullen at UNLV.”

On top of that, Mullen has already developed top quarterbacks, like Tim Tebow, who was a Heisman Trophy winner at Florida and was under his tutelage while working as OC there. Additionally, he has a strong history of turning programs around, with successful runs at Mississippi State (69-46) and Florida (29-9). He often helps less-talented teams become competitive against top SEC opponents.

For Arnold, the move to UNLV isn’t just a change of scenery. It’s a final chance to live up to the potential that once made him a top prospect.