Auburn Football vs. Arkansas: 5 Keys to Victory
Here we give our five keys to victory for Auburn football today as they take on Arkansas at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Auburn football has a huge game against Arkansas today and a win would boost the respect for this team the rest of the season.
Arkansas is coming off a big win against Ole Miss, and they’re hoping to stay in the SEC West race with another big win.
With that, let’s look at five keys to Auburn football getting the win today at against Arkansas.
Run the Football Well
No duh, right?
We’ve been talking about it all week, but if Auburn is going to win this game today they’re going to have to run the ball well.
Arkansas has been terrible at stopping the run all year, and even they know that this game depends on how well they stop the run.
Gus Malzahn said on Gameday this morning that Kerryon Johnson won’t be 100 percent, which is not good news for Auburn fans. I think they need Johnson to be healthy and effective to win this game.
However….
John Franklin III
If Kerryon Johnson isn’t healthy, then I think Auburn needs to let John Franklin III loose.
I understand that Kamryn Pettway can probably pound the ball up the middle for four or five yards a pop, but if this offense is going to be explosive today, we need to be able to stretch the field with runs on the outside.
That means John Franklin III needs to be involved in the game plan to keep the defense from just loading the box to stop Pettway.
Catch the Ball!
One things that killed Auburn football in the four overtime loss to Arkansas last year was dropped balls.
Sean White has been very efficient throwing the football this year. When he makes a good throw, his wide receivers need to catch the football.
If Auburn football wins this game it will be because they ran the football well, but I think White throwing the football will be a key to opening up that running game.
Our wide receivers have a been a little bit better at hanging onto the ball this year, let’s just hope they don’t decide to take a step back this weekend.
Bring Down Austin Allen
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It’s not just enough to get to Austin Allen as he’s proven all year that can make difficult passes under pressure, we need to bring him down for sacks.
If Austin Allen has time to sit back and throw the football, he will tear us apart. That’s no knock on our secondary, he’s just been that good.
I also don’t think we can just rely on our defensive line to sack him, we’ll need to bring a linebacker or safety on blitzes to get to Austin Allen.
Convert in the Redzone, Hold Them in the Redzone
Something that has been a problem for Auburn football over the past two-plus season is scoring touchdowns in the redzone. They did a much better job of that against Mississippi State, and we’ll need that to continue today.
Arkansas has been one of the worst at preventing teams from scoring touchdowns in the redzone this year. Hopefully that works to Auburn’s advantage.
On the flip side though, Auburn has to hold Arkansas to field goals when they reach the redzone. This offense is going to move the football, but Auburn needs to keep them out of the end zone.
Next: Auburn Football vs. Arkansas: Gameday Information & Reading
There you have it – hope Gus Malzahn gets a chance to read this before the game.
War Eagle!