Auburn’s Shadarius Toodle shows up with all the tools for victory
-
Tricia Darcy, Southeast Conference correspondent
- November 8, 2026
Elijah Melendez leads Auburn's depleted linebacker corps
AUBURN, Ala. – The University of Auburn is 441 miles away from Walt Disney World, yet freshman linebacker Shadarius Toodle gave the young Tigers plenty of reason to think about the popular Mickey Mouse Clubhouse character “Toodles” on Saturday afternoon at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
When the Auburn defense needed a tackle against Arkansas, they could usually count on their 6-foot-3, 235-pound Toodle to show up with the right tools. Shadarius Toodle made his college debut Saturday afternoon, and he quickly adjusted to the new role to help Auburn beat Arkansas 26-23.
Shadarius Toodle recorded a game-high 11 tackles (10 solo), three sacks and 4.5 tackles for a loss.
Toodle sacked Arkansas quarterback KJ Jackson twice within two possessions in the second half. Toodle and the Auburn defense held Arkansas to only three points in the third quarter.
‘Oh, Toodles’
“Every time he was in the backfield, everyone was saying ‘Oh, toodles,’ like Mickey Mouse,” Auburn quarterback Byrum Brown said. “That was so much fun to see.
“You know he doesn’t really say much around the facility, but he puts his head down and goes to work. I’m extremely happy for him, and we’re going to need him down the stretch.”
More from Our Esquina
Auburn siblings Antonio, Elijah Melendez pack punch
Nicholas Rodriguez, Curly Ordoñez, Elijah Melendez among NCAA leading tacklers
Texas A&M kicker David Olano made own path from Futbol to Football
Auburn pulled away with its fourth one-score victory of the season with a dominant defensive performance to keep the score close. The early success on defense helped the Tigers find success after their slow offensive start.
“A lot of credit to our defense for keeping us in it the first half,” Auburn’s head coach Alex Golesh said. “I thought we held the quarterback in a big way.”
The Tigers defeated the Razorbacks 26-23, forcing three field goals on and two turnovers. After losing its past two games by 20-point margins, Auburn found a way to pull away with its fifth win of the season.
Elijah Melendez leads the way
Linebacker Elijah Melendez, a Puerto Rican from Kissimmee Fla., got Auburn started defensively. He had all four of his solo tackles in the first half. In addition, Melendez recorded one tackle for a loss. The defensive captain leads Auburn in total tackles (67) and passes broken up (6).
Since Bryce Deas was sitting out with an injury and De’Marcus Riddick had an early exit, Melendez was the only player left from the experienced linebacker group.
“Defensively, I thought we did a really, really solid job,” Golesh said. “So many guys had to step up. We came in beat up, and we got more beat up. I set it earlier in the week, we were going to have to play some guys that hadn’t played a ton.”
With multiple players out for injury, Melendez had to help lead younger players who were stepping into new roles.
On top of Melendez and Toodles strong performances, safety Kaleb Harris recorded six tackles (5 solo) and 0.5 tackles for a loss.
Defense turns to offense
Auburn’s defense got off to a strong start, but the fourth quarter surge from Brown and his offense confirmed the victory for the Tigers. Immediately, Brown came out in the fourth quarter scoring a 5-yard rushing touchdown, putting Auburn in the lead for the first time all game. The defensive efforts didn’t stop once the offense started scoring, though.
Auburn limited Arkansas’s Max Gilbert to kick a 46-yard field goal to tie the game at 16. The Tigers and Razorbacks went back and forth on touchdowns before Auburn kicker Alex McPherson made a 43-yard field goal to seal the win.
”I thought the whole challenge for us going into this game was the ability to go finish, and it’s literally the only thing we talked about the entire week,” Golesh said. “We made a huge emphasis in practice, changed some things around and truly the only word last night was ‘finish.’
“The only word this morning was ‘finish.’ The only word at halftime was ‘finish.’ Play to play, finish drives and then certainly finish the game. So really really big to go and be able to finish.”
Tricia Darcy
Southeast Conference correspondent
Tricia Darcy is a freshman at Auburn. She had a distinguished high school journalism career at Kingwood Park High, where she earned many national and Texas awards and the prestigious Don Sanders Journalist of the Year Award.
Stay in the Loop
Get the Our Esquina Email Newsletter
By submitting your email, you are agreeing to receive additional communications and exclusive content from Our Esquina. You can unsubscribe at any time.