Arkansas Football lets Auburn hang around for a little longer than expected
Arkansas Football beat the Auburn Tigers, 41-27. KJ Jefferson lit up the stat sheet with 234 yards and 1 TD. He also had 45 yards rushing and 2 rushing TDs. Raheim Sanders helped the Razorbacks to the victory with his legs as well. Sanders ran for 171 yards on 16 carries.
The game started out with an Arkansas three and out. Tank Bigsby and Robby Ashford put the Auburn Tigers in field goal position on their starting drive but couldn’t capitalize, as Auburn missed the field goal.
Auburn would get another chance on offense after Jadon Haselwood fumbled the ball on a pass from KJ Jefferson. Despite the running game providing all it could, the offense had to settle for three. This time, the Tigers made their field goal.
Sanders quickly responded with his legs, carrying the Razorbacks to a TD. After a punt by Auburn, KJ Jefferson quickly matched Sanders with his legs and arm, as the Razorbacks went up 14-3.
Both teams exchanged punts, and Robby Ashford and Tank Bigsby both used their legs to get Auburn into the end zone for the first time in the game. On the first play of the next possession, KJ Jefferson threw a pass to Matt Landers that would put the Razorbacks immediately in the red zone. They couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity and had to settle for three.
Once again, both teams exchanged punts until Robby Ashford finally got the passing game going for Auburn. They got into the red zone, mainly thanks to two big passing plays, but couldn’t capitalize and had to settle for three, instead of tying the game.
Auburn started the third quarter with the ball and was able to drive down the field into good field position. They couldn’t finish though, as the Tigers had their field goal blocked. The Razorbacks would take over the ball. Sanders and Jefferson would never look back as they led Arkansas to a touchdown. After a three-and-out by Auburn, Arkansas would score another touchdown.
At that point, the game was particularly over. Arkansas would end up winning, 41-27. Robby Ashford would end up throwing for 285 yards, and 1 TD. He also ended up with 87 yards on 19 carries. He did end up averaging 4.6 yards per carry. That is impressive, but take away his longest carry of the day, and he only averaged a good 3 yards per carry.
Arkansas Football defeats Auburn 41-27
This is the Tigers’ fourth straight loss. Going into this game, I didn’t expect the Tigers to win this game and they didn’t. They definitely hung around later than I thought I would. I really don’t think this team will be able to win three of their next four to get bowl eligible.
They have a chance to beat Texas A&M and Western Kentucky, but I don’t think they will beat Mississippi State or Alabama. This was is not a good year for the Tigers. Certainly, Auburn has plenty of problems for the new AD to come in and fix. The new Auburn coach will have to start from scratch, if he wants to get Auburn back to their glory days.
I was certainly a little shocked that Arkansas allowed Auburn to hang around as long as they did. A lot of the issues that allowed Auburn to stay in this game are what have prevented Sam Pittman’s squad to be a good squad, not a great one.
This team has a bit of a rough schedule going forward. They have Liberty coming up next, followed by LSU, Ole Miss, and finishing with Missouri. It’s a bit of a tough situation but if the Razorbacks want to get into a good bowl this year, they will have to beat a ranked opponent to end the year.
It might be a little hard to judge Liberty based on the fact that both teams do not play the same quality of opponents but the Flames have beat BYU and would be unbeaten if not for a missed 2-point conversion against Wake Forest. While the Razorbacks will be the favorite going into this matchup, beating Liberty is certainly no walk in the pond.
It probably stands to reason that Arkansas Football will need to show their turnover issues and overall offensive struggles in this game are non-existent for at least one game (whether it be Ole Miss, LSU or Liberty) if they want to go to a good bowl this season.
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If Arkansas Football wants to go to a good bowl game, it will have to correct its issues for at least one game. Whether it be the LSU, Ole Miss, or Liberty game, Arkansas has to look better if they want to avoid the Music City bowl (not shade to the Music City Bowl though). While other teams have easier paths to 7 or 8, or 9 wins, this is the case for Pittman’s squad. The question is, can they do it?