Coming off an ugly 37-27 home victory over the UAB Blazers last weekend, the Arkansas Razorbacks (2-1, 0-0 SEC) will look to begin Southeastern Conference play on a high note Saturday against the Auburn Tigers (2-1, 0-0 SEC) at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama.
This matchup dates all the way back to 1984 with Auburn leading this series 20-12-1. Last year’s game was rough for the Razorbacks, suffered a 48-10 loss to the Tigers and first-year head coach Hugh Freeze. Offensively, Auburn totaled the most first downs, rushing attempts and yards since during Freeze’s short tenure so far.
The last time the Razorbacks went into Auburn, they won 41-27 against a Tigers team that was led by former head coach Bryan Harsin. Interestingly enough, the road team has won this matchup three of the last four times, with the only win for the home team being Auburn’s infamous 2020 victory in the “Bo Nix fumble” game.
Auburn opened its 2024 season taking down Alabama A&M, 73-3, which was the most points Auburn has scored since Freeze was named head coach. In Week 2, California went into a sold-out Jordan-Hare Stadium and pulled off a major upset, 21-14. That loss, which featured quarterback Payton Thorne throwing four interceptions, led to a Week 3 change featuring redshirt freshman Hank Brown getting the start over Thorne.
On Saturday, Brown and company took down the New Mexico Lobos, 45-19. A former 3-star recruit, Brown originally verbally committed to Freeze at Liberty in 2022. Once Freeze made the move to the SEC, Brown signed his letter of intent to the Tigers just a few weeks later. Brown was 17-of-25 passing with four touchdowns on 235 total yards in his first start against New Mexico.
“Their Quarterback they brought in, Brown, had an exceptional game,” head coach Sam Pittman said Monday. “[Brown] had four touchdowns and can really sling the ball.”
Auburn has called for a “Power Stripe Out” from fans in the stands at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday and it will be broadcast on ESPN. Below dives into what we could see from Auburn this weekend including its strengths and weaknesses.
