Five reasons we beat Arkansas

[aubiefifty 18,236]

Five reasons Auburn will beat Arkansas

JD McCarthy

3-4 minutes

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Auburn is set for another tough game Saturday. 

The Tigers will travel to Fayetteville to take on No. 17 Arkansas.

The Razorbacks are coming off losses to Ole Miss and Arkansas and are looking to return to the form that had them 4-0 to start the season.

This will be Bryan Harsin’s second conference game on the road after beating LSU in Baton Rouge earlier this season. In the non-conference slate, Harsin and his Tigers lost to Penn State for the first loss of his Auburn tenure.

It will be a tough game for Auburn to win but here are five reasons they will win against the Razorbacks.

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Arkansas started the season with a strong run defense but that has fallen apart over the past two weeks. Georgia and Ole Miss combined to rush for 597 yards, eight touchdowns and 5.7 yards per attempt. 

This matchup is exactly what Auburn needs to get Tank Bigsby, Jarquez Hunter and the rushing attack back on track. Expect Auburn to run early, often and with success. 

John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Arkansas uses a balanced attack on offense but will have a tough time moving the ball on the ground against a strong Auburn run defense. The Tigers are allowing opponents to rush for just 2.91 yards per carry on the ground and only Georgia and Georgia State have rushed for more than three yards per carry. 

Auburn can force Arkansas to be unbalanced on offense then they may be able to limit a potent Arkansas offense. Even if they are unbalanced, they will have a dangerous passing attack led by K.J. Jefferson and Treylon Burks but it will be an easier task for the Auburn defense. 

John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

The Razorbacks are averaging 1.67 sacks per game and have not recorded a sack in their past two games. Their 1.67 sacks per game is the second worst mark in the SEC. If Nix is able to stay in the pocket and deliver accurate throws, then Auburn will have a chance to get their passing attack going. 

Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

The Razorbacks have converted on 36.84% of their third down opportunities, which is 13th in the SEC and ahead of only Vanderbilt. Auburn’s defense has allowed opponents to convert on 35.71% of their chances on third down, good enough for seventh in the SEC and 48th in the country. 

Auburn should be able to take advantage of this and cut short some of the Razorbacks drives and get the ball back to the offense. 

John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

This has been a very one-sided rivalry in recent years, Auburn has won the last five straight and seven of the last eight games. This Arkansas team is far superior to some of those teams that Auburn beat, but Fayetteville has not been a tough place for Auburn to play recently. 

[aubiefifty 18,236]

Franks is not here so let me be Frank............i am not sure we win another game other than maybe SC and i am worried about that. maybe if we get pappy back we do better but the offense just seems to get worse and worse and i wonder if bo might have lost the team. this is just my own personal gut feeling. i think playing tj some is a must to show the team the staff is trying to win. pull out all the stops. the article with cube getting on bo about his body language is a worry to me. and i am not disrespecting bo but if he does act immature it hurts the team and i believe it hurts bo in the teams eyes. bo is tough and he is a gamer and i will pull as hard for him as anyone on the team saturday. i am seriously asking a question. when bo throws a pass does he leave his receivers out to dry so to speak? are they getting hit more than normal and it is a problem or am i over thinking again? and i guarantee you guys arkie wants to beat us pretty bad.

[TigerHorn 1,385]

12 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

Franks is not here so let me be Frank............i am not sure we win another game other than maybe SC and i am worried about that. maybe if we get pappy back we do better but the offense just seems to get worse and worse and i wonder if bo might have lost the team. this is just my own personal gut feeling. i think playing tj some is a must to show the team the staff is trying to win. pull out all the stops. the article with cube getting on bo about his body language is a worry to me. and i am not disrespecting bo but if he does act immature it hurts the team and i believe it hurts bo in the teams eyes. bo is tough and he is a gamer and i will pull as hard for him as anyone on the team saturday. i am seriously asking a question. when bo throws a pass does he leave his receivers out to dry so to speak? are they getting hit more than normal and it is a problem or am i over thinking again? and i guarantee you guys arkie wants to beat us pretty bad.

Commentators on Saturday specifically noted Bo's positive body language when he was on the sidelines. I think Cube is a game behind. 

[Newbomb 194]

"The Razorbacks are coming off losses to Ole Miss and Arkansas"

 

Did they lose on their bye week or what?

 

World class journalism.