GAME SNAPSHOT
KICKOFF: Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET
SITE: Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, Ala.
TV: SEC Network
SERIES: Auburn leads 15-11-1. Auburn won the last meeting 52-20 in 2017.
RANKINGS: Auburn No. 9
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Razorbacks
–RB Devwah Whaley has been inconsistent in Arkansas’ first three games. He bounced back from a 28-yard performance in the season opener to post a career-high 165 yards on 26 carries the next week, but had just 12 yards on nine carries against North Texas.
–WR Mike Woods, a freshman, was Arkansas’ leading receiver in the loss to North Texas. Woods had four receptions for 61 yards. He was suspended from the season opener after an offseason arrest and did not catch a pass the following week.
–DT Armon Watts has been a consistent performer with sacks in each of Arkansas’ first three games. He also has forced two fumbles that led to Arkansas touchdowns.
Tigers
–QB Jarrett Stidham was up and down in the loss to LSU, throwing an interception on his first pass attempt that led to an early LSU touchdown, passing for a touchdown and 21-10 lead in the third quarter, and following that with a second interception. It was only the third time in his collegiate career he has thrown more than one pick in a game. He should have a chance to work out some kinks against an Arkansas pass defense that ranks 12th out of 14 SEC teams.
–RB Ja’Tarvious Whitlow has taken over the team rushing lead after gaining 104 yards in the loss to LSU. The redshirt freshman is averaging 5.8 yards per carry for 254 yards in the three games. Arkansas has held opponents to just 87 yards a game, so this could be a pretty good test.
–LB Deshaun Davis has emerged as the leader of the defense. He leads the team in total tackles with 24 with 14 of them a team-best solo efforts. He also has one of Auburn’s 10 sacks.
KEYS
TO THE GAME
Auburn may be looking to rebound from the gut-punch that LSU delivered last week with a field goal as time ran out for a 22-21 victory, but Arkansas has many more issues to get over when the two clash Saturday.
The No. 9 Tigers (2-1, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) and struggling Razorbacks (1-2, 0-0 SEC) will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET in Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium. The SEC Network has the telecast.
The Hogs obviously have plenty of room for improvement across the lineup after losses at Colorado State 34-27 and at home to North Texas 44-17, but right at the forefront is the quarterback situation.
Three Arkansas quarterbacks threw a combined six interceptions in last week’s debacle against North Texas — four by sophomore starter Cole Kelley and one each by true freshman Connor Noland and John Stephen Jones.
Junior Ty Storey didn’t take a snap against the Mean Green, but first-year Arkansas coach Chad Morris said Storey will start at Auburn.
“Ty Storey will start for us as we take this thing forward,” Morris said.
Morris said Storey was healthy and available for the North Texas game, but Morris felt it would be unfair to put him on the field in what had turned into a rout. The Mean Green led 34-10 at halftime.
“We came into the game last week with the intent to settle with Cole being there, and that’s why we went with him in the second half. I wanted to see if we could work through some things,” Morris said.
“We got to a point in the second half, especially after the last interception, and they go down and kick a field goal that put them up 37-10. I just felt like Ty in that situation there would have been — I’ve been saying all along, I wanted to get the freshmen some reps, and that was an opportunity for us to do that. I just thought that it’s time to go with Ty and give him an even slate as he starts the game.
“Regardless of the practice, regardless of the way things go, I wanted him to know straight up from yesterday that, ‘Look, we’re going to go with you, and let’s respond. Now instead of putting you in to where you’re in a tough situation with the momentum not in our favor, how would you respond?’ ”
Storey had a strong performance in a season-opening victory over Eastern Illinois, coming off the bench to complete 12 of 17 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. But he struggled as Arkansas’ starter the following week, completing 5 of 13 passes for 36 yards with two interceptions in a loss to Colorado State.
Auburn is very settled at quarterback with Jarrett Stidham, who has completed 64 percent of his passes, but coach Gus Malzahn is still working on getting the more out of his running game. The Tigers rushed for only 130 yards in the loss to LSU.
Junior Kam Martin has started at running back, but has produced only 124 yards in three games and is getting a heavy push from freshman Ja’Tarvious “Boobee” Whitlow, Shaun Shivers, and Asa Martin.
“Those freshman running backs, every snap they are getting better,” Malzahn said. “They are understanding the blocking scheme, whether it’s a gap or zone scheme. You even started to see Boobee start to slow down a little bit. We’ve been trying to get him to slow down some and read it.
“We are still in the early stages of our run game, and it’s kind of what I said with our offensive line. With the running backs, I’m confident we are going to get better just with the more experience that group has.”
Malzahn expects to get a better game out of Arkansas than what the Hogs have delivered so far.
“We expect them to improve,” he said. “I think back in 2013 when I first took over here. It took three or four games to kind of really get in a rhythm, so we expect to get their best.”
