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Jarquez Hunter earned national recognition for stellar performance against Kentucky
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Jarquez Hunter had a night for the ages on Saturday in Lexington, and Auburn’s senior running back was properly awarded in the aftermath, being named the Reese’s Senior Bowl Offensive Player of the Week.
Hunter punished the Kentucky defense all night long, carrying the ball 23 times for an eye-popping 278 yards and 2 rushing touchdowns in the Tigers’ 24-10 victory. Not surprisingly, Hunter’s rushing total was a career-high and so were his amount of carries, as Auburn just kept feeding Hunter because the Wildcats couldn’t do anything to stop him all night.
And did we mention that Hunter added 4 receptions for 19 yards out of the backfield for good measure?
https://twitter.com/seniorbowl/status/1850894331911037240
After the Tigers overcame a 10-0 deficit and tied the game at 10-10 at halftime, Hunter helped put things away for Auburn by scoring both of his touchdowns in the 2nd half. He scored on a 1-yard run in the 3rd quarter and showed he wasn’t tired at all in the 4th quarter by rumbling for a 45-yard score to help the Tigers snap a 4-game losing streak.
Hunter now has 863 yards rushing this season on 120 carries. He’s averaging an astounding 7.2 yards per carry after Saturday’s performance, and he has 5 rushing touchdowns on the year.
Vanderbilt’s defense will be the next unit tasked with stopping Hunter, as the Commodores visit The Plains on Saturday for a 12:45 p.m. ET kickoff on SEC Network.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
