Ashford's Career Day Against Arkansas Had Auburn Fans Nervous

Hogs' defense did just enough to keep Tigers fans happy

Author:
Kent Smith
Updated:
Oct 30, 2022 11:15 PM EDT
Original:
Oct 30, 2022

In this story:

The question heading into Saturday was whether the Arkansas defense would make statically one of the worst quarterbacks in college history look like a beast.

The answer was yes, relatively speaking.

There is little doubt that Auburn quarterback Robby Ashford has SEC talent. He's just not an SEC quarterback.

The Auburn quarterback had a 47.9 completion rate for an average of 200 yards per game.

But that didn't keep Arkansas from making him kinda look like one by allowing Ashford to have a career day.

It was obvious when Simeon Blair took a bad angle on the same deep route that Arkansas always takes a bad angle on while getting beat, yet still managed to have the ball look like it was thrown to him instead of the receiver, that the secondary was facing arm talent so lacking that even they could look dominant.

What should have been a touchdown was instead a symbol of hope for the Arkansas defense. What followed was a result that would have meant somewhat holding down an average SEC quarterback.

However, in Ashford's case, it was a day of huge success. It was improvement so massive that Auburn fans could feel a little hope in their quarterback.

His 73% completion percentage was his best of the year by a mile. That's over 25% higher than his average coming into the game.

Ashford also posted 285 yards passing, an increase of over 42% above his average. If the Tigers' QB had even a little accuracy, it would have been well over 350 yards as he missed multiple wide open targets.

He also rushed for a career high 87 yards.

The resulting quarterback rating of 155.3 was Ashford's best as a starter by nearly 19 points.

Yet, as a clear sign that the media in Alabama is out for blood, not one reporter asked about the dramatic rise in production during Harsin's press conference. The offense was completely ignored in questioning to focus on the defense.

For a young man trying to pull it together and improve himself while under the SEC spotlight and in the awkward position of playing for a lame duck coach, the Arkansas defense was a gift from God.

Unfortunately for Ashford, all that matters in college football is winning. The spoils of that designation goes to the defense that allowed his career day, and rightfully so.

As for the Auburn fan base, all that matters is the removal of Harsin. While the fans may be happy for Ashford and his career day, they were definitely nervous that he was at serious risk of leading Auburn to a win, thus giving Harsin yet another life line.

As excited as Arkansas fans are that their defense held Auburn to 27 points, Tiger fans were equally excited, if not more.

If a Halloween firing were to take place, Arkansas coach Sam Pittman and defensive coordinator Barry Odom may open their doors to find chocolate jukeboxes and an undisclosed amount of NIL money to be used as they see fit from a secret fan base.

As for Ashford, he will have to get his Halloween candy the old fashioned way. However, we recommend he consult Arkansas basketball coach Eric Musselman for advice on how to maximize his result s before he does.