In a night marked by disappointment for Auburn, wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith provided a silver-lining, delivering a standout offensive performance in the Tigers’ 24-14 loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks.
The Penn State transfer finished the contest with five receptions for 156 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 31.2 yards per reception.
Auburn’s offense was stagnant against the Razorbacks, struggling to gain momentum and consistently falling short on key third-down conversions. The Tigers could not sustain drives, losing the time of possession battle 36:36 to 23:24 and managing to convert just 5-of-11 of their third downs.
The Tigers did not lead against the Razorbacks for the entirety of the matchup, but big plays from Lambert-Smith gave life to an offense that looked to be dying. Two big plays from Lambert-Smith gave Auburn a chance to get back in the game– one to tie things up at 7-7 and one to put the Tigers within three points of the lead in the fourth quarter.
Lambert-Smith’s first big play came in the third quarter with just under six minutes on the clock. Starting from their own 23-yard line, the Tigers managed to move the chains on third-and-3, pushing the ball to their own 36-yard line.
On the next play, quarterback Payton Thorne made a deep pass up the middle to Lambert-Smith for 54 yards, advancing the ball into Arkansas territory and setting Auburn up to score. Just two plays later, Thorne connected with Lambert-Smith again, this time on a 10-yard strike to the end zone, tying the game at 7-7 with 5:44 remaining in the third quarter.
The Thorne and Lambert-Smith connection did not stop there, as the duo made another big play to give Auburn a chance in the matchup early in the fourth quarter. In a fourth-and-2 situation from their own 33- yard line, Thorne delivered a strike to Lambert-Smith over the middle for the first down. But Lambert-Smith didn’t settle for just a short gain—he took off for 67 yards to the end zone, cutting the Razorbacks’ lead to 17-14 midway through the fourth quarter.
“That's who I got all my reps with when I first got here in the summer,” Lambert-Smith said of his connection with Payton Thorne. “So we've always had a connection since day one. We just made plays in the second half.”
Lambert-Smith totals 12 receptions for 338 yards and five touchdowns this season, leading Auburn in every receiving category. He averages 28.2 yards per catch and his 67-yard touchdown against Arkansas marks his longest reception of the year.
Despite Lambert-Smith’s two touchdowns, Auburn was ultimately hampered by costly mistakes and inefficiency. The Tigers struggled to sustain drives, and their five turnovers—two of which led to Arkansas points—proved too much to overcome.
Auburn’s offense could not keep pace, and Lambert-Smith’s performance, while dominant, failed to rescue the Tigers from a 24-14 defeat in their first SEC contest of the season.
With a tough conference slate ahead, the Tigers will face off against the No. 15 Oklahoma Sooners next Saturday, Sept. 28. Kick off is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CST and will be televised on ABC.
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Grace Heim is a senior from Enterprise, Alabama, majoring in Political Science. She started with The Plainsman in January of 2023.
You can follow her on X (Twitter) at @graceeheim
