Coming off a bye week, the #11 Auburn Tigers (5-1, 2-1) head to Fayetteville to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks (2-4, 0-3) Saturday morning.
How to watch or stream
Time: 11 a.m. CT
TV: SEC Network
Streaming: WatchESPN
Preview
Things were going very well for the Auburn Tigers prior to their meeting with Florida two weeks ago. Bo Nix and the Tigers were off to a 5-0 start, with victories over Oregon and Texas A&M in their pockets. Then, The Swamp happened.
Despite playing it close in the first half (Auburn trailed by just four points at the break, 17-13), Florida’s defense bottled up Nix and the Tigers offense throughout the second half to cruise to a 24-13 victory. It was a rare occasion that the freshman quarterback actually looked like a freshman quarterback, throwing three interceptions, two of which came in the second half.
Auburn had a bye week last week, so they’ve now had a long time to put the Florida loss behind them and turn focus to Arkansas.
To the benefit of the Tigers, Arkansas defense has been a bit of a mess this year, allowing 399.8 yards per game, fourth-worst in the SEC. Of those 399.8 yards, 175.3 are rushing yards, second-worst in the conference. Since Auburn is now without JaTarvious Whitlow (knee), the Arkansas rush defense could be a good opportunity for Kam Martin to get comfortable in his newfound RB1 role. While Whitlow was obviously a dynamic playmaker, Auburn’s depth at running back should be an asset in this game.
On the Arkansas side, running backs will also be the story. SEC leading rusher Rakeem Boyd’s shoulder injury against Kentucky last week (Boyd had an x-ray at halftime and returned to the game) has been something to monitor this week for Razorback fans, but it won’t keep him out of action. Look for the junior running back to be the focal point of the offense, as usual.