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Nix helps Auburn hand Arkansas 3rd straight loss

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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas had its chances, but shot itself in the foot too many times and lost its third straight game Saturday.

After taking the lead in the third quarter, the Razorbacks squandered an opportunity to extend it when KJ Jefferson was strip-sacked in the end zone. That gave Auburn the lead for good in a game it eventually won 38-23 inside Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

It is Arkansas’ sixth straight loss - and eighth in nine games - to the Tigers, who have scored at least 30 points in each of those games and averaged 43 points over that span.

As good as Jefferson was, accounting for 294 yards of offense, the Razorbacks just had no answer for Auburn quarterback Bo Nix. The junior completed 21 of 26 passes for 292 yards and two touchdowns, plus added 42 yards and another score on five carries.

Despite losing by 15 points, Arkansas actually out-gained Auburn 460-427 and also converted 10 of 29 third downs, but it failed on all three of its fourth-down attempts.

The opening drive of the game went much like last week at Ole Miss, as Auburn sliced through the Arkansas defense with very little resistance. The Tigers covered 75 yards on just six plays, with the last being a 39-yard strike from Nix to Ja’Varrius Johnson, who got behind Greg Brooks Jr. and Myles Slusher in coverage.

On their first possession, the Razorbacks put together a nice 11-play drive, but it stalled just outside of the red zone and they had to settle for a 44-yard field goal by Cam Little. That makes it 7-3 midway through the first quarter.

It didn’t turn into a track meet, though, as the defenses settled in after that. Auburn and Arkansas exchanged punts before the Tigers escaped disaster in the shadow of their own end zone.

Facing a third-and-short, Jarquez Hunter took a handoff and was met in the backfield by Jashaud Stewart, who wrapped him up and threw him back. The ball appeared to come loose and Arkansas recovered it, but Hunter’s forward progress was ruled to have been stopped and the play stood after a replay review.

Instead of taking over deep in Auburn territory, the Razorbacks got the ball near midfield thanks to a 35-yard punt. It proved costly, though, because they eventually had to attempt a 53-yard field goal and Little’s attempt was well short.

With a chance to force a three-and-out on the ensuing drive, Arkansas gave up a 19-yard completion to Landen King on third down and the Tigers went on to score a touchdown. Tank Bigsby’s 1-yard plunge made it 14-3.

The Razorbacks responded with a nice drive on which it converted a couple of third downs on their way into the red zone, but the 13th play was a fourth-down stuff of Raheim “Rocket” Sanders that stood upon review.

Auburn once again marched into Arkansas territory on the next drive, but this time, Montaric Brown came down with his third interception of the season on a Nix deep ball intended for Ze’Vian Capers down the sideline.

That gave the Razorbacks an opportunity to potentially score at the end of the half and then receive the opening kickoff. It seemed like a sack might prevent them from doing the first part of that, but Jefferson hit Treylon Burks for a big third-down conversion.

Given a fresh set of downs, Arkansas moved the ball down the field and capped a 12-play, 84-yard drive with a touchdown pass from Jefferson to Burks. The 11-yard score came after Jefferson pump faked a jump pass to Hudson Henry and made it 14-10 with 18 seconds left.

The Razorbacks completed the two-for-one when they also scored on the opening possession of the second half. After a 20-yard scramble by Jefferson moved the chains, he threw it up to Burks in the end zone and he came down with the 30-yard touchdown to give Arkansas its first lead of the day, 17-14.

Momentum was all in Arkansas’ favor when the defense forced a three-and-out, especially considering the third-down stop came when Hayden Henry cut down Bigsby behind the line of scrimmage on third-and-short.

However, the Razorbacks had to punt it back. The defense forced yet another three-and-out on the next drive, but things started shifting in Auburn’s favor when Nathan Parodi let a punt drop and roll an extra 10-15 yards.

Starting at the 11 instead, Jefferson was sacked on back-to-back plays. The last of those came in the end zone, with Derick Hall knocking the ball loose and Marcus Harris recovering it for a touchdown to put the Tigers back on top 21-17 midway through the third quarter.

The Razorbacks bounced back with a nice drive, but - a few plays after De’Vion Warren dropped a pass that would have kept it going and got them into the red zone - they were stopped on fourth down.

On the very next play, Auburn dialed up a deep ball. Demetrius Robertson beat Hudson Clark and Nix hit him in stride for a 71-yard touchdown. That put the Tigers up 11 again.

Needing to answer, the Razorbacks went on a 13-play, 75-yard drive that included a trio of third-down conversions. Dominique Johnson capped it with a 10-yard run up the middle for a touchdown on the final play of the third quarter. After the two-point attempt failed, Arkansas trailed 28-23.

It looked like the defense forced Auburn into a long field goal try when Nix’s third-down pass sailed well over his receivers head, but Clark was called for pass interference on the play.

The Razorbacks managed to keep the Tigers out of the end zone, but Anders Carlson’s 29-yard field goal pushed Auburn’s lead to 31-23.

With a chance to tie it up, Arkansas went three-and-out and had to punt it back to Auburn with just under nine minutes remaining. The defense had a shot to get the ball right back, but Nix hit Tyler Fromm to avoid a three-and-out.

The Tigers were able to bleed all but 2:30 off the clock before Nix ran the final 23 yards himself for a touchdown to ice the game.

Arkansas has one more game before its open date, traveling to Little Rock to face in-state and FCS foe UAPB at War Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT Saturday on the SEC Network.

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