BY BRANDON HUGHES FOR THE OBSERVER | PHOTO BY ZACH BLAND, AUBURN TIGERS
AUBURN — In its best overall performance of the season, the Auburn Tigers (6-4, 3-4) dominated on offense, defense, and special teams to defeat the Arkansas Razorbacks (3-7, 1-6) 48-10 to become bowl eligible and record its first three-game win streak in the SEC since 2020. The Tiger offense piled up 517 yards, its most in an SEC road game since gaining 629 yards in 2017, also against Arkansas. Auburn’s 354 rushing yards marked its most against a Power Five opponent since gaining a program-record 543 yards in 2016, against … yep, Arkansas. Auburn’s 38-point margin of victory is the most over an SEC opponent since 2019. The opponent? Arkansas (41-point margin, 51-10). The 48 points scored was the most against a conference opponent since scoring 48 against LSU in 2020. Auburn scored 21 points in two different quarters in a game for the first time since the LSU game in 2020.
“Coach Freeze, his track record speaks for itself,” Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne said postgame. “To be honest, I don’t really know how much he is calling [plays] … but I know he’s calling some plays. He’s calling some good ones. He’s dialing up the defense right now, and it’s fun to play.”
Not to be outdone, the Auburn defense owned the line of scrimmage, hitting Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson early and often, compiling five sacks, and limiting the Razorbacks to 1 for 12 on third-down conversions. The defense held the Arkansas offenses to a three-and-out on its first four drives of the game. Auburn’s defense has now recorded five sacks in back-to-back games for the first time since 2018.
Auburn edge rusher Jalen McLeod led the defensive effort with nine tackles, a career-high three sacks, four tackles-for-loss and a forced fumble. He was asked after the game about coming into a visiting stadium, silencing the crowd and seeing the stadium empty at halftime. “You feel like a menace,” he said with a smile. “You feel like a bad man.”
Before the game, the Tigers preached getting off to a fast start, and that is precisely what happened. Receiving the opening kickoff, the Tigers set up on its own 25-yard line. Just like the previous game against Vanderbilt, Auburn started the game with a Thorne keeper around the left end for an eight-yard gain. Following a false-start penalty, Thorne hit wide receiver Caleb Burton on a slant for 45 yards. Thorne would run it in six plays later to give the visiting Tigers a 7-0 lead. It was the team’s third straight opening-drive touchdown.
The defense held the Razorbacks to a three-and-out on its first possession when the Auburn special teams got in on the fun. Keionte Scott ripped off a 74-yard punt return to put the Tigers up 14-0 less than five minutes into the game. Scott’s return helped Auburn grab its largest first-quarter lead in an SEC game since 2019. It was Auburn’s first punt return for a touchdown since Quan Bray against Louisiana Tech in 2014 and its first in an SEC game since Chris Davis returned one against Tennessee in 2013.
Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze called it before the Tigers arrived at Reynolds Razorback Stadium. “I told (Scott) this morning at the hotel — I swear I did — I told him that you are going to either return a punt for a score or return one that puts us in field-goal range.”
Scott backed up his coach. “He challenged me in the hotel,” Scott said postgame. “He said he needed elite play out of me. I accepted that challenge and told him, ‘Let’s make it happen.’”
Following another three-and-out by the Arkansas offense, the Tigers covered 56 yards in six plays to stretch its lead to 21-0 after Thorne found tight end Rivaldo Fairweather for an 11-yard touchdown pass.
After holding the Arkansas offense to yet another three-and-out, Auburn was moving the ball on its way to another score when a Thorne pass was intercepted by the Razorbacks’ Dwight McGlothern, who returned the pick 42 yards to the Auburn 22-yard line. Just when it looked like Arkansas had life, the Tiger defense allowed only two yards on three plays to force a field goal, which put Arkansas on the board, making the score 21-3.
That is where the score would remain at the close of the first quarter, marking the third straight game the Tigers scored 14 points in the first quarter. Auburn didn’t have 14 total points in the first quarter combined in the previous seven games. The Tigers have now outscored its opponents 49-6 in the previous three games (Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and Arkansas). Auburn’s 21 first-quarter points were the most by the Tigers in the first quarter of an SEC game since scoring 21 against Mississippi State in 2017.
After trading punts on the subsequent four drives, Auburn began its drive on its own five-yard line. The offense drove the ball 73 yards on 13 plays to the Arkansas 22-yard line, where it settled for an Alex McPherson field goal, putting the Tigers up 24-3.
With just over a minute remaining in the half, the Auburn defense wasn’t done yet. Facing third and 17, McLeod sacked Jefferson, forcing a fumble recovered by Auburn’s Marcus Harris. That fumble recovery extended the Tigers’ turnover streak to 19 straight games, the longest streak since an 18-game string in 2007-08; the school record is 33 games (1997-99). The Tigers would settle for a McPherson field goal on the drive to send the Tigers to the locker room up 27-3. McPherson’s field goal was his 17th successful kick in a row, breaking the previous Auburn record of 16 surpassing Daniel Carlson.
“Being able to go out there and trust the operation every time you walk out makes it easy to do your job whenever you feel like the others around you are gonna do theirs,” McPherson said. “That’s really our mojo right now, being able to protect, snap, hold and allow me to kick the ball. It feels great.”
The second half picked up where the first half left off. Following an Arkansas three-and-out, the Tigers moved 67 yards in nine plays, capping off the drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Thorne to wide receiver Ja’Varrius Johnson extending the Tigers’ lead to 34-3.
On its following possession, the Razorbacks were putting together its best drive of the game when, at the Auburn 17-yard line, Zion Puckett forced a fumble from Arkansas running back Raheim Sanders. The ball laid on the ground for a moment before being picked up by Caleb Wooden, who returned it 74 yards to the Arkansas 11-yard line. Auburn needed only one play to capitalize when Thorne hit Fairweather for the pair’s second 11-yard touchdown connection of the game to make the score 41-3.
Aubur’s defense came up with its sixth three-and-out of the game, and when the Tigers got the ball back, it continued to pour it on as the offense promptly drove 65 yards on eight plays (all runs), with running back Brian Battie capping the drive with a seven-yard bulldozing touchdown, giving the Tigers’ a 48-3 lead.
Arkansas would score its only touchdown of the game on the following drive. Backup Razorback QB Jacolby Criswell found Isaac TeSlaa for 11 yards two plays into the fourth quarter, making the score 48-10 to finish off the scoring for the game.
Next up: Auburn goes for its 800th win in program history this week at home against New Mexico State. Kickoff is set for 3:00 on the SEC Network.
