The Arkansas Razorbacks started their season with a 70-0 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Interestingly, Pine Bluff turned around a beat Arkansas Baptist 73-0 the next week. That’s a lot of bloodshed inside the Natural State.
Despite the opponent, it looked like Arkansas had maybe improved a decent amount from their 4-8 record a year ago. It does take some good things to win by 70 points.
The very next week, the Razorbacks traveled to Stillwater and went into the half up 21-7. Is this team… good? Well, they ended up being outscored by 14 in the 2nd half and lost in overtime. Yeah, but an overtime loss on the road at Top-15 Oklahoma State? That’s not too bad.
Last week, Arkansas hosted UAB. The Blazers were coming off a 32-6 loss to UL-Monroe. You’ll remember that UL-Monroe once beat Nick Saban’s Alabama. But back to the task at hand. UAB didn’t look like a good team at all. However, the Razorbacks were deadlocked with the Blazers 20-20 at halftime before coming away with a 10-point win.
So how good is Arkansas? Well, they weren’t good last year. This year they started off with a blowout over a cupcake and a good first half against what seems to be a good team on the road. But in the last 6 quarters, they’ve give up a 14-point lead in a loss and then struggled with UAB.
So they’re probably not as good as a team that beats a cupcake by 70 and they’re probably not as awful as a 10 point win over UAB. If I had to guess, they’re somewhere in the middle, but a lot closer to the bad side.
Like every game this season, this weekend’s matchup should all come down to Auburn. The Tigers are more talented, have a tad more positive vibe, and are playing at home. They just have to use that.
It feels like as long as the universe doesn’t have a Cal-type outcome planned, Auburn should run away with it. Obviously, the biggest piece of the puzzle will come down to Hank Brown. Of course, a lot of Hank Brown’s success will likely hinge on the offensive line.
Can they provide protection and open holes like they did in the 2nd half of Auburn’s win over New Mexico? If so, the only thing that will keep Arkansas in the game is Auburn’s secondary.
Cal and New Mexico seemed to be able to dump the ball all over the field the last two weeks. We knew the secondary was the green part of Auburn’s squad, and it’s definitely shown. That said, Auburn was finally able to cause two turnovers last week, which changed the game. From that point forward, the defense played a little more loose and free and the game ended up feeling like it should have all along.
It appears Arkansas runs the ball, including their quarterback, much better than they throw the ball. That definitely works in Auburn’s favor. As long as the Arkansas quarterback doesn’t turn it into a ‘is he scrambling or is he giving a receiver time to get open’ type situation, Auburn’s defense should be able to use their strengths.
It’s the first SEC game of the season for both teams. The major positive is that Auburn gets it at home. There’s some optimism with Hank Brown playing fairly well last week. Regardless of the situation with he and Payton Thorne, the positivity created by his stat-line and subsequent win is extremely valuable to Auburn’s mojo and vibe given what it was like the week before.
When Auburn beats Arkansas it always seems to be a blowout. Last year was 48-10 in Fayetteville. I think it will be a whole lot of the same. Turnovers, big plays, punt returns for touchdowns.
Hank continues his mojo with 3 touchdown passes to 3 different receivers. Jarquez anchors the offense and adds 2 touchdowns. There’s a pick-six or a punt return in there somewhere. The Auburn defense plays it’s best of the season. The SEC gauntlet starts with a good one for Auburn.
Auburn 42, Arkansas 16
