ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS FOOTBALL
Arkansas Game Report
Arkansas defense answers after rough week, Razorbacks grind out 19-14 road win at Auburn
Jordan Hare Stadium | Auburn, Alabama
Fayetteville, Arkansas - A week after Arkansas' defense was left searching for answers, the Razorbacks found them on the road.
Arkansas held Auburn to just 229 yards of offense, controlled the football for nearly three quarters of the game and leaned on four Max Gilbert field goals to escape with a 19-14 victory Saturday night.
It wasn't pretty offensively. It didn't need to be.
The story was a Razorback defense that looked dramatically different from the unit that surrendered 41 points to Missouri a week earlier. Auburn managed only 12 first downs, ran just 45 offensive plays and converted two of nine third downs. The Tigers were also held scoreless for the entire first half and never established enough consistency to put sustained pressure on Arkansas.
For a defense coordinated by Porter Davis, it was exactly the kind of response Arkansas needed.
Auburn finished with only 229 total yards — 125 through the air and 104 on the ground — and its two touchdowns came on passes of 35 and 14 yards from Byrum Brown to Chas Nimrod. Outside of those two connections, the Tigers produced little through the air.
Brown completed 13 of 22 passes for 125 yards and was sacked four times, with John Howse IV, Hunter Osborne, Quincy Rhodes Jr. and Khmori House each getting to the Auburn quarterback. Three of their sacks came on third downs and forced Auburn punts. Brown was also hurried on multiple other drop backs.
The Razorbacks also kept Auburn's running game from taking over. Jeremiah Cobb had a productive 88 yards on 14 carries, but Brown was limited to 16 yards on nine attempts and the Tigers failed to score a rushing touchdown.
Arkansas' defense helped dictate the entire shape of the game. The Razorbacks possessed the ball for an overwhelming three to one advantage over Auburn and ran 75 plays to the Tigers' 45.
The offense took advantage by playing conservatively and refusing to give Auburn easy opportunities.
KJ Jackson completed 17 of 28 passes for 154 yards without a touchdown, but Arkansas did not turn the football over. Instead, the Razorbacks leaned heavily on Braylen Russell.
Russell carried 27 times for 121 yards and scored Arkansas' only touchdown. Jackson added 59 yards on 11 carries as Arkansas piled up 204 rushing yards on 47 attempts.
The approach wasn't explosive, but it kept the Razorbacks on the field.
Arkansas struggled badly on third down, converting only three of 15 opportunities, but went three-for-four on fourth down. Those conversions helped extend drives and allowed the Razorbacks to continue bleeding the clock even when touchdowns proved difficult to find.
Gilbert provided the points.
After nearly an entire scoreless first quarter, Gilbert connected from 45 yards with 1:33 remaining to give Arkansas a 3-0 lead. He added kicks from 29 and 34 yards during the second quarter, sending the Razorbacks into halftime with a 9-0 advantage.
Auburn finally broke through early in the third when Brown found Nimrod for a 35-yard touchdown, cutting the lead to 9-7.
Arkansas answered with its best offensive sequence of the night.
Russell finished the drive with a nine-yard touchdown run at the 4:32 mark, and Gilbert's extra point restored a two-possession advantage at 16-7.
From there, the defense went back to work.
Auburn remained stuck on seven points until late in the fourth quarter, while Gilbert's fourth field goal — a 22-yarder with 3:42 remaining — pushed Arkansas ahead 19-7.
That kick ultimately proved important.
Brown and Nimrod connected again for a 14-yard touchdown with 1:44 remaining, trimming the deficit to five, but Auburn had simply run out of time to overcome nearly an entire game's worth of offensive frustration.
The final numbers showed just how completely Arkansas dictated the contest.
The Razorbacks held advantages of 358-229 in total offense, 21-12 in first downs and 75-45 in offensive plays. Arkansas also finished plus-one in turnover margin after Auburn lost a fumble, while the Razorbacks committed just one penalty for five yards.
Ja'Quavion Smith, Carter Stoutmire and Miguel Mitchell led Arkansas with six tackles apiece. Howse added five tackles along with his sack, while Osborne, Rhodes and House helped give the Razorbacks one of their better pass-rushing performances of the season.
Offensively, Donovan Faupel led Arkansas with 61 yards on three catches. Chris Marshall caught four passes for 29 yards, Russell added two receptions for 28 and Jamari Hawkins caught five for 27.
It was hardly the offensive showcase Arkansas has produced at times this season. The Razorbacks scored only one touchdown, averaged 4.8 yards per play and went just 20 percent on third down.
But after watching Missouri score 41 points the previous week, Arkansas didn't need style points.
It needed stops.
A week later, the Razorbacks got plenty of them.
Auburn scored 27 fewer points than Ole Miss had, managed only two touchdowns and barely possessed the football. For Davis and the Arkansas defense, the turnaround could hardly have been more pronounced.
And after losses to Vanderbilt and Missouri, the Razorbacks finally had something even more important to show for it:
A win.
Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER
ARK — Max Gilbert 45-yard FG, 1:33
SECOND QUARTER
ARK — Max Gilbert 29-yard FG, 6:20
ARK — Max Gilbert 34-yard FG, 1:49
THIRD QUARTER
AUB — Chas Nimrod 35-yard pass from Byrum Brown (Doug Stein kick), 8:40
ARK — Braylen Russell 9-yard run (Max Gilbert kick), 4:32
FOURTH QUARTER
ARK — Max Gilbert 22-yard FG, 3:42
AUB — Chas Nimrod 14-yard pass from Byrum Brown (Doug Stein kick), 1:44
Arkansas Stat Leaders
Passing
K. Jackson – 17/28 154 Yds
Rushing
B. Russell – 27 Car 121 Yds 1 TD
K. Jackson – 11 Car 59 Yds
S. Smith – 8 Car 14 Yds
T. Lockwood – 1 Car 10 Yds
Receiving
D. Faupel – 3 Rec 61 Yds
C. Marshall – 4 Rec 29 Yds
B. Russell – 2 Rec 28 Yds
J. Hawkins – 5 Rec 27 Yds
Defense
J. Smith – 6 Tkl
C. Stoutmire – 6 Tkl
M. Mitchell – 6 Tkl
J. Howse IV – 5 Tkl 1.0 Sck
H. Osborne – 3 Tkl 1.0 Sck
Q. Rhodes Jr – 2 Tkl 1.0 Sck
K. House – 2 Tkl 1.0 Sck
Auburn Stat Leaders
Passing
B. Brown – 13/22 125 Yds 2 TD
Rushing
J. Cobb – 14 Car 88 Yds
B. Brown – 9 Car 16 Yds
Receiving
C. Nimrod – 4 Rec 54 Yds 2 TD
J. Johnson – 2 Rec 22 Yds
J. Cobb – 2 Rec 22 Yds
K. Singleton – 3 Rec 21 Yds
B. Cain – 2 Rec 6 Yds
Defense
C. Anthony – 10 Tkl 1 TFL 1.0 Sck
K. Harris – 10 Tkl
L. Bradley – 10 Tkl 1 TFL
R. Pleasant – 9 Tkl
A. Jordan Jr. – 8 Tkl 1 TFL
E. Melendez – 6 Tkl 1 TFL
T. Dupree – 6 Tkl
X. Atkins – 5 Tkl 2 TFL 1.0 Sck
N. Johnson – 3 Tkl 1 TFL 1.0 Sck
| Team Stats | Arkansas | Auburn |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 19 | 14 |
| First Downs | 21 | 12 |
| Total Offense | 358 | 229 |
| Total Plays | 75 | 45 |
| Yards Per Play | 4.8 | 5.1 |
| Rushes | Yards | TDs | 47 | 204 | 1 | 23 | 104 | 0 |
| Yards Per Rush | 4.3 | 4.5 |
| Comp | Att | TDs | 20 | 28 | 0 | 13 | 22 | 2 |
| Passing Yards | 154 | 125 |
| Yards Per Pass | 5.5 | 5.7 |
| 3rd Down Conv. | 3 | 15 (20%) | 2 | 9 (22%) |
| 4th Down Conv. | 3 | 4 (75%) | 1 | 1 (100%) |
| 2-Point Conv. | 0 | 0 (0%) | 0 | 0 (0%) |
| Red Zone TD | FG | % | 1 | 4 | 83% | 1 | 0 | 50% |
| Turnovers | 0 (+1) | 1 (-1) |
| Fumbles Lost | 0 | 1 |
| Interceptions | 0 | 0 |
| PR Yards | 68 | 7 |
| KR Yards | 17 | 64 |
| Total Yards | 443 | 300 |
| Punt Average | 36.0 | 51.0 |
| Penalties | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Possession Time | 29:02 | 10:58 |
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