TIGERS-HOGS: Teams enter Saturday with similar goals
Tank Bigsby had 31 yards rushing against Georgia last week and will need a bigger day for the Auburn Tigers to improve offensively against Arkansas. (Auburn Media Relations)
By TIM GAYLE
Through the first two weeks of the season, Arkansas and Auburn look a lot alike offensively.
Both teams try to drive the ball with a short passing game and are still searching for their rushing attack. Arkansas ranks 11th in the Southeastern Conference in passing offense, 12th in rushing offense and total offense and 13th in first downs. Auburn is close behind, ranking 12th, 13th, 13th and 14th, respectively.
“I think the big thing is going to be to help (quarterback Bo Nix) out to be more balanced,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “To be balanced, you have to be successful running the football, too. We’ll work extremely hard on that moving forward, and I think that will be a big key.”
First-year Razorback coach Sam Pittman had similar goals.
“We have to run the football,” Pittman said. “We’re just not doing it at our standard yet, but I believe that we have the players to do it and we’re going to work extremely hard on that this week.”
Arkansas (1-1) visits Jordan-Hare Stadium this weekend to play the Tigers (1-1). Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. on the SEC Network. Auburn is a 14-point favorite.
What will unfold in Saturday’s game isn’t likely to be pretty. Two scrappy football teams likely will battle through a low-scoring first half in search of an offensive rhythm that has been missing from both teams this fall. You could sense what both coaches expect by listening to them brag on the opposing defense.
“Their defensive coordinator, Barry Odom, is one of the best there is,” Malzahn said. “What he did against that (Mississippi State) offense that set SEC all-time records the week before, he deserves coach of the week awards with everything he did with that. When you look at their defense, they forced six turnovers in the first two games. I think they’re second in the league with red-zone defense. Then of course their linebacker corps is leading the conference in tackles, having 20 last week. That was really unbelievable to watch.”
Arkansas, of course, snapped a 20-game conference losing streak in winning at Mississippi State, marking the first time the Razorbacks have won a conference game since beating Ole Miss on Oct. 28, 2017. In doing so, Pittman became the first coach in school history to earn his first win against a ranked opponent. And, as Malzahn mentioned, the linebacker corps is playing lights out through the first two weeks, with junior linebacker Bumper Pool leading the nation in tackles per game at 15.5.
Pittman offered similar praise, singling out the linebackers when talking about the challenge of taking on the Tigers this weekend.
“I really like their linebacker corps in (Owen) Pappoe and (Christian) Tutt and KJ Britt,” Pittman said. “They get to the football. It’s Auburn. And when you play Auburn, you’re going to play one heck of a defense. I think they’ve got a good offensive football team, a good defensive football team. It’ll be an unbelievable challenge for us.”
Both teams expect a physical tug of war this weekend. Auburn will be trying to put behind the disappointment of losing to rival Georgia, while Arkansas will be trying to get grounded after beating Mississippi State.
“I really don’t think it’s going to be a problem,” Pittman said. “We put the game to bed in the first half of our meetings and talked about Auburn. I don’t think it’ll be a problem, I really don’t. I know our coaching staff has moved on and our players usually do what we do.”
Both teams likely will have to contend with Hurricane Delta and its affects on the game, another reason that both teams may need to find that long-lost rushing attack.
“We are preparing for it to be wet,” Malzahn said. “As it gets closer in the week, we’ll know more about everything, but we are prepared for it to be raining. We’ll see as it gets closer what specifically that will look like.”