Don’t Be Too Quick to Just Assume Easy Win for Hogs at Auburn

Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman not looking at record, but "scary" team.

Author:
Andy Hodges
Publish date:
Oct 28, 2022 4:41 PM EDT

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — While Auburn may be 3-4 right now, Arkansas isn't exactly in a lot better shape.

They've both lost only to teams that are either currently ranked now or were when the Razorbacks lost. That's Texas A&M in case you forgot.

Fans are already looking down the road and starting to wonder where they need to make bowl plans. Tiger fans aren't even sure who the coach will be at the end of the year.

Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman with Alabama coach Nick Saban at Razorback Stadium — (Nelson Chenault / USA TODAY Sports)

"You don’t really look at a team’s record," Hogs coach Sam Pittman said this week. "You just look at the team on film and Auburn’s very scary. They’re very talented on both sides of the ball."

While the Hogs are favored by 3.5 at SI Sportsbook but ESPN's matchup predictor thing gives Auburn a 56.3% chance of winning the game.

The bottom line is the experts are all over the place on this game because Auburn still has some good players, but isn't exactly playing well as a team this season, which is why coach Bryan Harsin is trying to tiptoe through the flames.

"They’ve got a lot of talent and they play extremely hard," Pittman said.

Harsin had the same sort of compliments about the Hogs this week.

"Overall they’ve got a good system," he said. "They’ve got good players, then they utilize them well."

While the usual analysis of this game says Arkansas can run the ball and Auburn can't stop it leads to the conclusion it's a big win for the Hogs. The Tigers can run the ball, too with Tank Bigsby, who might be the best running back in the SEC.

KJ Jefferson-Raheim Sanders-Alabama — Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback KJ Jefferson leaps to avoid a leg whip by an Alabama Crimson Tide defender as Raheim Sanders looks for running room in a 49-26 loss on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022, at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark.

The leading rusher in the league, though, is with the Hogs in Rocket Sanders.

"You've got to get multiple players to the ball because he runs hard," Harsin said. "He's having a big year and he's a really good player.He's explosive and he runs hard. From what I've seen, he's got really good vision."

The Hogs' defense will be as healthy as it's been since early in the season when the season started with three straight wins.

The problem is the secondary wasn't that great with everyone playing. They were better than they've shown, but not great.

Now comes a team everybody agrees can't throw the ball in the Tigers, who can run the ball pretty well. They have a porous defense that can't stop the run.