AUBURN, Ala. – Despite a fast start, the No. 24 Auburn Tigers didn’t have the afternoon they were hoping for in Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Auburn (3-0), wearing white jerseys at home for the first time since 2007, picked up a 31-15 win over the South Alabama Jaguars in its final opportunity to tune up before conference play begins. A slimmer margin of victory than had been expected of the Tigers.

Despite not everything going according to plan, the Tigers managed to get the job done.

“Happy to be 3 -0. We tied the school record for consecutive sellouts," said Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze. We played 13 true or redshirt freshmen today. I think South Alabama is a solid football team. We've got a lot, obviously, to improve on. The goal today was to be 3-0 … 1-0 today and 3-0 headed into conference play. Our team achieved that. We're going to celebrate that and hopefully get some folks healthy, get some rest this weekend and get ready to open conference play."

Jackson Arnold connected with Cam Coleman for a 32-yard touchdown pass early in the first quarter. The Jaguars got on the board with a 29-yard field goal by Hamilton DiBoyan, but the Tigers found the end zone two more times before the visiting Jaguars put their first touchdown on the board.

Auburn took a 28-9 lead into halftime, but South Alabama refused to go down quietly. The Jaguars scored to cut Auburn’s lead to 13, and were threatening to do so again until a fumble by Bishop Davenport gave the Tigers the ball back, leading to a game-sealing 34-yard field goal by Alex McPherson.

That was one of two turnovers forced by Auburn, the other being an interception by Keyron Crawford. It finished the game with one sack and seven tackles for loss.

Arnold finished the day 13-of-24 on passing attempts for 142 yards and a touchdown. He also added 50 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

Jeremiah Cobb led Auburn in rushing with another dominant performance, picking up 119 yards and a touchdown off 19 carries.

Eric Singleton Jr. led the Tigers in receiving, catching six passes for 65 yards. Cam Coleman followed closely, catching two passes for 49 yards.

"He’s been great. That first drive was huge for us, we ran our mesh concept and he got open, just found open," Freeze said of Singleton. "He has a knack for getting open. Remember another time, he ran a stick route and attacked that tampa middle safety and spun him around, I remember smiling during that smile play. He has a knack for getting open, it’s been good. That’s a guy I can trust on normal downs and third downs, too, to go and run his route the correct way and find space."

The Tigers return to action next week for their conference play opener against the No. 13 Oklahoma Sooners on the road on Saturday, Sept. 20. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT and ABC will carry the broadcast.