Auburn Football: Tigers look to rebound at expense of Arkansas

Coming off a tough loss to LSU last weekend, Auburn football looks to bounce back against another SEC foe in Arkansas this Saturday.

Sure, the Tigers lost their chance at an unbeaten season and controlling their own destiny to a spot in the College Football Playoff when LSU buried a game-winning field goal last week, but they can still achieve other goals by getting back on track vs. the Razorbacks.

Jarrett Stidham should have a field day against an Arkansas defense that has failed to slow down any quarterbacks so far this year. Stidham enters having thrown for 584 yards with three touchdowns, numbers he should definitely improve upon by late Saturday night.

Jatarvious Whitlow leads the Tiger ground unit with 254 yards, while Ryan Davis has caught 13 passes for 109 yards.

Arkansas, on the other hand, has bounced around with its signal caller, using both Cole Kelley and Ty Storey. It appears as if Storey will be given every opportunity to roll with the starting job after he was given it earlier this week.

Devwah Whaley has ran for 205 yards and two touchdowns, and the Razorbacks also have “Last Chance U” star Rakeem Boyd in the backfield.

Dating back to last season, Arkansas has lost four of five, allowing 34 points in three of those games.

Here’s how you can watch Saturday’s game between Arkansas and Auburn:

Date: Saturday, Sept. 22
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: Auburn, Ala.
Venue: Jordan-Hare Stadium
TV: SEC Network
Live Stream: WatchESPN | Fubo TV

Keys to Victory

Plain and simple for Arkansas is keeping the ball away from Auburn, converting third downs and scoring touchdowns – not field goals – when you get close. Easy enough, right?

The problem for the Razorbacks comes from their defensive unit, which is allowing almost 33 points and 300 yards passing per game. Stidham likely will have been like a kid on Christmas morning when he watched film of Arkansas this week.

Auburn needs to play like a team with its backs against the wall because, to be honest, they are. The Tigers can ill-afford a slip up against a team the caliber of Arkansas with bigger games awaiting them down the road.

Betting Odds

Odds courtesy of OddsShark

Point Spread: Auburn ‘28.5
Over/Under: 57

Prediction

One would have to believe that Chad Morris and Arkansas get the ship straightened out eventually, but with a hungry Auburn team coming off a loss and at home – at night – this isn’t the week for it to happen.

Final Score: Auburn 44, Arkansas 17