Auburn Three Keys: Arkansas

Three-keys-Auburn

The 1-1 Auburn Tigers look to bounce back from their defeat at the hands of Georgia as they host the 1-1 Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday.
Here are the three keys to a Tiger victory:

By Steve Wright

Limit turnovers

The main reason that Arkansas picked up a huge win against Mississippi State last time out was their ability to create turnovers defensively. They had four against the Bulldogs. This was a week after picking up a pair against Georgia in a game where they hung around for a half with the presumptive best team in the SEC East before fading late. They will give the ball away – they have turned it over five times in two games – but Auburn needs to be smart with the ball in order to put this one to bed early and not let the Hogs stick around.

Win on third down

The Razorbacks have been opportunistic enough on defense to win, but their offense isn’t converting in key situations. They got a good performance from QB Feleipe Franks last time out – he went for 212 yards and two touchdowns at a 71% completion percentage – but they were also just 5-of-14 on third down. This killed a lot of their promising drives and is an area where the Tigers can attack to keep the Arkansas offense on the sidelines.

The Chad Morris factor

Chad Morris was dumped less than two seasons into his head coaching stint with the Razorbacks last November. He was 4-18 at the time, trying to build a program that was in the depths of the SEC cellar and needing time to do so with his own players. Morris has been cordial about his dismissal, but you can bet that there is a need inside the Auburn offensive coordinator to get one over on his old team – and his old employers specifically – in a big way. Morris knows the Fayetteville players’ strengths and weaknesses, factors that will be important come Saturday.

Saturday‘s game kicks off at 3:00 PM CT (4:00 PM ET). Watch on the SEC Network.

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