FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas and Auburn will open SEC play on Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Both teams have a 2-1 record and each loss to the best team they played. Arkansas fell to then No. 16 Oklahoma State 38-31 in two overtimes on the road. Auburn fell to Cal 21-14 at Jordan-Hare. Auburn has yet to leave Auburn for a game. They defeated Alabama A&M 73-3 and New Mexico 45-19. On the other hand, the Razorbacks have played one game in Fayetteville. Sam Pittman is looking forward to facing Auburn.
"Auburn has a really good team," Pittman said. "Very physical on the offensive line. Obviously, (Jarquez) Hunter is a great running back. Their quarterback they brought in, (Hank) Brown, had an exceptional game. Four touchdowns and can really sling the ball. They protected him well. They got good wideouts, tight end is a transfer from FIU and they have extra. But, Coach(Hugh) Freeze always uses tight ends well. Very physical guys. (Rivaldo) Fairweather can really run routes and catch, good player. Really good offensively.
"Defensively, a little different than what coach was at A&M. A lot of odd, three-down, a lot of blitzing. Over half their snaps are that way. They’re using (Jalen) McLeod, their “jack” linebacker, really well. He makes a lot of plays. I like (Keldric) Faulk, the defensive end, number 15. Already has three sacks on the year. Long, good player. Great corner in (Keionte) Scott and safety and nickel and (Sylvester) Smith. Will run to the ball like an SEC team."
Auburn also has a good special teams directed by a former coach who spent time with the Razorbacks.
"Special teams, one of the best special teams coaches in Tanner Burns," Pittman said. "Obviously you guys know he was here. But, he’s a great coach, great person. And they’re punting, kicking it well. Their kicker is two out of three but he missed a 61-yarder that he attempted, so you know he’s got a great leg. And two really good — Scott is a punt-returner as well, really good, and then their kickoff returner is exceptional too. I think he’s had a 40-something yard return this year as well.
"So, they’re a really good team. The freshman quarterback, or redshirt freshman quarterback played really well last week. I think they want to run the football, they should. Hunter is a really good running back and their line’s big and physical."
Arkansas suffered several injuries in the loss to Oklahoma State. It hampered the team against UAB who the Hogs downed 37-27 last week.
"We’re trying to get healthy," Pittman said. "Oklahoma State game beat us up a little bit. We’re trying to get healthy. I think we’ll take a healthier team into Auburn. A lot of respect for them. They beat the heck out of us last year in our building. Certainly have a lot of respect for Coach Freeze and the job that he’s done there and throughout his career. We’re looking forward… We know it’s going to be loud. It’s going to be our first SEC game. So we’re excited. Had a good week of practice so far and excited to go up there."
This is an extremely important game for both teams as they will face several ranked teams later in the season. Pittman was asked given the importance of this game who has stepped up as a leader?
"Yeah, the mentality has been great this week," Pittman said. "Two really good practices. Physical practices. We're flying around the football. We understand, SEC getting ready to play. Landon Jackson's kind of that guy that you're speaking of defensively, and Taylen Green's the guy on offense, for the most part, is is vocal. But been very spirited practice, very physical practices. And our team has played extremely hard at practice, getting around the football, straining on offense. But those two guys You're talking about have been Green and Landon."
Auburn defeated the Hogs 48-10 last season at Razorback Stadium. Pittman feels his team could use that as motivation.
"Well I think the ones that were here certainly last year should be motivated by that," Pittman said. "You know, teams are changing so much now with the portal that you have a lot of kids that didn’t experience it that are playing for us now. So maybe in the past that was more motivation because you didn’t have the exchange of players like you have now. But certainly we’re aware as they are too that they came in here and embarrassed us. But it affects about half the team. It doesn’t probably affect the whole team."
Freeze expects Arkansas to be his team’s toughest foe of the young season.
“We haven’t been challenged like this,” Freeze said. “…A good football team that’s well-coached. They’re deep at some places and they look like an SEC football team, particularly the O-line, running backs, tight ends. The quarterback’s very, very dangerous.
“Big defensive line, the inside guys are huge. (Number) 40 (Landon Jackson) is a preseason all-SEC guy at defensive end. They replaced a couple linebackers, but these guys seem solid. The secondary, they’re going to challenge you.”
Auburn is eighth in the SEC against the run, but last versus passing. Arkansas' left tackle on offense Fernando Carmona expects to see a difficult Auburn defense though.
"Yeah, they’ve got a lot of big boys up front," Carmona said. "They like to blitz. It’s going to be really key for us as an offensive line to have our eyes up. Just being locked into this game plan and kind of just being able to read these blitzes before they even happen. It’s going to be a lot in our preparation and our game plan, and I think if we are able to do that throughout the week, we’ll be just fine."
Auburn had a new starter at quarterback last week with Hank Brown. He completed 17 of 25 passes for 235 yards and four touchdowns in a 45-19 win over winless New Mexico. Linebacker Xavian Sorey Jr. is impressed.
"I think he’s a great player," Sorey said. "He’s a young player but he’s a great player. He earned his role, so you know what I mean. He earned that spot. I respect all opponents and I’m excited to go out there and play against them."
Pittman also liked what he saw of Brown.
"He was very impressive," Pittman said. "And the thing is anytime you get a new quarterback, you want him to not be pressured. They did such a good job of protecting for him. He looked really comfortable running in the game running the offense and was very very accurate, If you didn’t know he was a redshirt freshman, you wouldn’t have known it watching the game, He did a wonderful job. They did what he does well and they protected him."
Arkansas and Auburn will kickoff at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday at Auburn and televised on ESPN. It was announced on Monday night that Arkansas and Texas A&M will kickoff at either 2:30 or 3:15 on Saturday, Sept. 28, on either ABC, ESPN or the SEC Network.
Photos Courtesy of Craven Whitlow CW3 Sports Action
