When Auburn travels to Fayetteville on Saturday to take on Arkansas, it will be a battle of one of the league’s worst defenses versus one of the league’s worst offenses.
Arkansas’ defense sits dead last in the SEC in scoring defense (32.7), rushing defense (188.7) and total defense (443.9). It sits at 15th in the league in passing defense (255.1).
Meanwhile, the Tigers’ offense has not scored more than 17 points in league play this season and ranks 15th in the SEC in total offense.
Early success, late struggles
Auburn is on a four-game skid since beginning conference play, and it’s in large part due to its offensive woes. The Tigers have had no problem starting off the game hot the last two weeks, scoring two consecutive opening-drive touchdowns against Georgia and Missouri.
But maintaining the consistency throughout four quarters of play has been a significant problem, and quarterback Jackson Arnold has taken the brunt of the criticism regarding the late-game miseries.
“The details. We have to coach harder, demand more of ourselves and of the kids. The answer can’t be, ‘I don’t know why he ran it right in the first quarter and he didn’t in the third quarter’. That’s no longer acceptable,” Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze said.
Freeze evaluates quarterback situation
Freeze noted that because of the hot start to the game, Arnold would trot out undercenter to start on Saturday, but that Stanford transfer Ashton Daniels – whose plan was to redshirt – would be ready to go.
“You have to start looking, as well as Jackson played in the first half of the last two games, you have to start looking at everything. Why did we not have the winning ways and sit here feeling like we do? We’re going to get him and Ashton a lot of reps and see where it goes from there,” Freeze said.
“Not anymore. We are going to play to win,” Freeze added on Daniels’ redshirt status.
Freeze also added that freshman Deuce Knight was in the mix and all three scholarship quarterbacks would be “ready to play.”
Offensive line adjusting after Lew’s injury
After starting center Connor Lew went down for the season with a torn ACL, Freeze noted that the front five will, obviously, undergo some personnel changes. Right tackle Mason Murphy and Kail Ellis – the youngest player in the FBS – will both take reps at center with Izavaion Miller filling in at tackle, if Murphy moves to the middle.
Auburn must lean on its run game
Whatever the circumstances, Auburn – much like the case is every week – needs to rely on its run game and let it open up the offense as it goes along. Arkansas is giving up 188.7 yards per game on the ground.
Freeze noted throughout the week that Arkansas’ defense has looked much different in the last two weeks after some staff changes. Jeremiah Cobb and the run game will still need to be a focus, but the perimeter run game might not be easy to attack against the Razorbacks.
“That really depends on how they are playing you. Jeremiah Cobb obviously has the talent and speed to do that,” Freeze said. “If Arkansas, again, you are kind of facing a two-game sample size on the defensive side, so you are trying to decide how much you make of that, and in these two games, they have played one style of football pretty much. It doesn’t tend to lend toward a whole lot of easy perimeter runs, because it is a ton of man coverage, and they are playing with leverage over your tight end. So we will have to see how they are playing us, but again, in the two-game sample, that tends to be a high percentage of who they want to be.”
The Tigers will kick off on Saturday against Arkansas at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium at 11:45 a.m. on SECN.