SEC INSIDER

No. 11 Auburn visits Arkansas coming off bye

Field Level Media

October 15, 2019 at 11:27 pm.

Auburn looks to remain unbeaten under coach Gus Malzahn after an open date when it heads to Arkansas for Saturday’s Southeastern Conference West matchup in Fayetteville.

The No. 11 Tigers (5-1, 2-1 SEC), who are 8-0 under Malzahn coming off an idle week, have won the last three meetings with the Razorbacks (2-4, 0-3 SEC) by an average of 31 points.

Auburn, however, will be playing without leading rusher JaTarvious Whitlow (544 yards), who is out for a month after undergoing ankle surgery.

“First of all, you’ve got to be real,” Malzahn said. “We’re not going to Arkansas with one of the best tailbacks in our league — that’s the reality of the thing.

“But we do have confidence in our other guys, and we’ve got confidence in our offensive line. What we’ve been talking about is opportunity. We’ve got some guys that have opportunities.”

One of those guys could be freshman D.J. Williams, a much-heralded recruit has been limited by injuries. He had shoulder surgery after the spring drills and has had a hip issue this fall.

Williams has appeared in three games but carried in only one, rushing seven times for 32 yards late in a 56-23 rout of Mississippi State on Sept. 28.

“He is going to get the opportunity to touch the ball,” Malzahn said. “I think he has earned that and is healthy now, but we also have the other guys we are taking with us that will touch the ball, too.”

The starting job likely will go to senior Kam Martin, who has 34 carries for 174 yards playing behind Whitlow. Sophomore speedster Shaun Shivers (27-144) also has seen added time.

Sophomore wide receiver Anthony Schwartz (five catches, 110 yards) also could see an increased role in the offense.

“Any time you’ve got a playmaker like him, especially when you have an off week, you have more ways to get your playmakers involved,” Malzahn said.

Auburn lost 24-13 at Florida in its last outing on Oct. 5.

Arkansas has lost three straight games by a combined 15 points since posting a 55-34 win over Colorado State. The Razorbacks lost each of their last two outings, to Texas A&M and at Kentucky, by four points.

“We keep putting ourselves in position to win games and we’re not stringing things together to finish it and that’s our job as coaches,” Hogs coach Chad Morris said.

“We’ve got to do a better job of getting our guys executing and making things clear to our guys so that they can go out and execute in those key moments.”

Transfers Ben Hicks (SMU) and Nick Starkel (Texas A&M) have been splitting time at quarterback for the Hogs. Hicks (41-of-80, 510 yards) started the first two games and finished the last one. Starkel (81-of-150, 1,060 yards) started the last four games.