With its win over Vanderbilt, Auburn won its second straight game against an SEC opponent, raising its season record back above .500. Auburn will take its first trip to Fayetteville, Arkansas, under coach Hugh Freeze to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks, in the last road game of the season.
Arkansas snapped its six-game losing streak last week in a 39-36 overtime victory against Florida. This will be new offensive coordinator Kenny Guiton’s second game calling plays after being promoted mid-season.
Auburn leads the series 19-12-1 all-time with its last win coming in 2021, 38-23, the last time they went to Fayetteville, where they put up their most yards of that season with 486. Auburn can gain bowl eligibility with a win Saturday while Arkansas needs a win to keep their bowl game hopes alive.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
AUBURN:
Jarquez Hunter
Hunter is coming off his best game of the season against Vanderbilt, rushing for 183 yards with two touchdowns. The junior back has looked great over the past three games, tallying over 145 yards from scrimmage in each game along with four touchdowns. The Arkansas defense ranks 45th in the country in rushing yards allowed per game at 129. Auburn will need another big game from Hunter if they want to pull out a win on the road.
Auburn’s Pass Rush
Arkansas has one of the worst offensive lines in the SEC so far this season, allowing four sacks per game. Auburn's front four has had its struggles this year only managing to tally 12 sacks in six SEC games this year. The Tigers managed to sack the quarterback five times against Vanderbilt, but they will need to see the pass rush build off that performance against a poor offensive line in Arkansas.
ARKANSAS:
Raheim Sanders
Sanders was one of the premier backs in college football last season rushing for over 1,400 yards at over 6.5 yards a carry. In the first game of the season, he hurt his knee and has struggled in the games since then, managing only 91 total rushing yards until last week's contest. Against Florida, he rushed for 103 yards at over five yards per carry. Auburn will need its rushing defense to step up since it allows over 150 yards a game to ball carriers, which ranks third-worst in the SEC this season. If Sanders is healthy and able to fully participate in this game, he will change the whole dynamic of how Arkansas plays offense, as he will look to take advantage of a vulnerable Auburn front seven.
Arkansas Rush Defense
The Arkansas front seven this season has been near the SEC average this season, ranking seventh in the SEC in rushing yards allowed per game at 129.4. They have held opposing ball carriers to under 3.8 yards per carry, but they have been vulnerable in some big games allowing over 175 rushing yards to Texas A&M, Alabama, LSU and Ole Miss. Auburn is one of the best rushing teams not only in the SEC, but the entire country, rushing for over 190 yards per game. Arkansas will have to slow down the Auburn run game to keep the Tigers in passing situations where Auburn has struggled this season.
Keys to Victory
AUBURN:
Auburn was able to establish itself on the ground early last week against Vanderbilt and it will need to do the same this week. Avoiding negative plays should be priority No. 1 for the offense this week because Auburn’s passing offense has been nothing short of underwhelming all season. As long as the ground game can stay on track and keep it in third and short situations, Auburn should have a good day offensively. If the run game stalls or Auburn finds itself in too many long-yardage situations, they will have to trust the arm of Payton Thorne who has not proven to be consistent all year passing the ball, which could spell trouble for Auburn in this game.
ARKANSAS:
Arkansas got to see a complete game from its offense last week, eclipsing 225 yards on both the ground and air. This came two weeks after barely putting up 200 total yards against a lowly Mississippi State team. Arkansas will need to see another balanced offensive game and hope to see KJ Jefferson put together another complete game this week as both a runner and passer. If Jefferson and Raheim Sanders can force Auburn to commit to stopping the run, that could open up opportunities through the air against a stingy Auburn secondary.
Auburn and Arkansas kick off Saturday, Nov. 11, at 3 p.m. CST in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The game will be televised on SEC Network.
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Luke McClure is a junior from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in sports production. He joined The Plainsman in fall 2023.
Twitter: @lukemcclure0
